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EFI Tuning Fundamentals

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I'm tuning an engine for in a demolition derby car. I a little confused about if coolant temperatures gets really hot, how can I keep engine from going in limp mode? also how much fuel and timing do I remove stop building heat?

Running leaner would cause more heat to be packed into the cooling system - err on richness its not like you need to worry about bore wash in a demo derby car :)

Running too little timing could cause you to overheat the exhaust side of the head / headers

Your best bet is to improve the cooling system past what the factory system currently does

if its a demo derby car - and the rules allow - ive seen people replace the radiator with a 44 gallon drum in place of the back seat (making DAMN sure its locked in place) and then pour concrete into the sills and doors of the car (works best with some sort of larger engine not a 4pot)

You could also link a resistor wheel up in place of the coolant temp sensor to trick the ecu into thinking the temp isnt changing - but this will end up going horribly wrong if you dont have enough cooling for the engine anyway.

Its a demo derby car - think butcherous hacks cause its not like your going to have a working car at the end of this thing :)

Thanks for info. Have to have radiator in stock location. I figured out that I have to zero out at high temps. temperature based spark correction and temperature based iat based fuel enrichment, and cat enrichment is

cut the cat out if you have the time - or unbolt it and knock the guts out of it - then you can ignore cat enrichment.

temp based spark correction - leave that in there - because the limp mode would probably not bother with that table

If you have an airflow meter car - see if you can make sure its not in an area that will be mashed up otherwise limp mode kicks in - maybe some plastic downpipe bends to relocate it somewhere away from mashable areas?

cut the exhaust back a bit so if you get mashed from behind it wont bend/crimp it and restrict the engine

not sure what engine your using - but limp will probably trigger if the auto fails (if you have one) or any of the major sensors start reading way outa spec or full or 0

if you have the spare time/parts to weld/motivation - you could install a strut brace in the front to try and prevent the strut towers folding into the engine too quickly as well

at the end of the day - you want to have fun for as long as the other players will let you survive :) Its probably not worth over-thinking things too much and just do safety and reliability things - if you could - try and relocate the radiator tho - its going to die real fast in the factory location lol :)

Have fun - let us know how you go and how well it went and what you end up doing to the car before hand - Im curious to know :)

Be (as) safe (as you can)

A couple of other dodges - using an extra quart, or two, of higher viscosity engine oil will give a little more time before piston and/or bearing seizure, as will adding a generous measure of anti-scuff lubricant.

I've seen some high mileage engines, that had plenty of bore wear, actually boil darn near dry and still run, which we partially put down to oil splash helping cool the pistons and keep the bores awash with oil.

Sorry I didn't give all info on engine. It's a 2002 6.0, stand alone harness. In a 2002 Ford crown Vic. zombies out of the hood.

can some someone look at this file and see if it will work for a derby engine? i bought computer already programmed. I'm just beginning tuning and not real sure what I'm looking for.

thanks

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