SOK 3.2 - Modern Improvements?

[pcarenthuz]

Hi Folks, first post...

I've got a '82 911SC with an '84 Carrera 3.2 engine that features a Superchargers of Knoxville SC kit (no longer in business, I know). Looking back too, I wish I hadn't performed the engine swap but that was more in the days of my youth. The car is still spectacular though both inside and out so it's hard not to love her still. Fast forward to today:

1. I've never been super satisfied w/ the overall performance of the kit and I think some of this stems from the "Mustang" type fuel pressure regulator that accompanied the kit and dialing that thing in is a bear.
2. I also, back when I rebuilt the 3.2 engine, installed Turbo-era (930) camshafts
3. Emissions have been heck; especially CO levels

I know seem to have a faulty ECU and am seriously thinking abut the Canems pluggable ECU upgrade @ Canems Engine Management Solutions Many things are appealing with this ECU including the fact that it plugs into the factory harness and ignition and fuel parameters can be dialed in precisely to my application.

Some questions I have:

1. Has anyone yet used the Canems 3.2 ECU product and if so, are you satisfied?
2. Has anyone figured out a better way to get fresher/outside air to the engine when fitted with the SOK? I've always thought that drawing in that underhood hot air can't be doing anything any good.
3. Any other more current/modern suggestions with the SOK kit?

Thanks much,
Pat Arnold
Annapolis, MD, USA

[Tippy]

AFAIK, the 930 cams are smaller than your original Carrera 3.2 cams.

If you put those back in, you should get a very nice bump in power.

[JFairman]

Originally Posted by Tippy

AFAIK, the 930 cams are smaller than your original Carrera 3.2 cams.

If you put those back in, you should get a very nice bump in power.

True, I think the '84 3.2 cams are the same grind as SC cams. For all around use most people have liked SC cams best in a 930 for the last 25 years or so.

[JJ 911SC]

Pat,

Which kit do you have? Whipple, Auto-rotor or Auto-rotor with Intercooler?

[pcarenthuz]

How about a reply 1 year later? Sorry about that! Somehow I missed your question. In any case, I have a Whipple w/ IC. I have since installed a Canems LTD ECU.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by pcarenthuz

How about a reply 1 year later? Sorry about that! Somehow I missed your question. In any case, I have a Whipple w/ IC. I have since installed a Canems LTD ECU.

Better than no reply back at all.

[onboost]

Originally Posted by pcarenthuz

How about a reply 1 year later? Sorry about that! Somehow I missed your question. In any case, I have a Whipple w/ IC. I have since installed a Canems LTD ECU.

So then how do you like the Canems LTD ECU, what has your experience been?

I've always thought that an ECU that could be adapted to the factory harness would be a good way to go.. as short of data logging etc.. the factory harness had everything you need to run the car.. and it worked so why recreate the wheel? The limiting factor had always been the ECU.

Also, did you ever figure a way to get fresh are to your supercharger? A friend whose 930 was twin-turbo'd decide to run 1/4 windows with NACA ducts piped through the rear wall into the engine compartment. Although not for everyone, it didn't look bad and it did the job for him.

[pcarenthuz]

So once again I reply months later.

So how do I like the Canems ECU? This is sort of a loaded question and I'll explain why. I bought this ECU well over one year ago. I'm torn because I really dislike putting negative things out on the internet about products particularly when there could be relatively easy answers to issues. In the end, one primary problem with Canems LTD, IMO, is their customer service leaves much to be desired. Read on for an honest reporting on the course of events.

The good --The jointly developed DRH Performance/Canems ECU dropped directly into the 911 harness as advertised and with the base tune the car started up right away. Because I'm running forced induction I had Frank Smith of TechFS here in Crofton, MD get the car dialed in on the dyno. Frank is the real deal. All good and the car ran really nicely for a few days. Then suddenly one evening it wouldn't start and after I got it home it would only start intermittently. After eliminating nearly everything including new crank position and TDC sensors I called David @ Canems and explained the situation. All good still in that he said to please send the unit back to him and he would test it. So I sent it back and he did test it. He let me know he couldn't find anything wrong with it and agreed to send me a new replacement ECU just in case. This was great news and I was very happy with the customer service at this point. I received the new ECU and I had the same intermittent issues. Fast forward several mos later and I finally determined the entire issue all along was with a pushed out pin in the engine bay harness where the new MAP sensor plugged into the factory harness (I did away w/ the barn door AFM as part of this ECU upgrade). So everything up to this point was actually on me, my issues, my fault and a good overall experience with David @ Canems LTD. Additionally, we located a couple of vacuum leaks including on the intake side of the blower. These were also mitigated but the tune we developed early on worked against these leaks and therefore we unknowingly were compensating for them in the development of the tune.

The not so good I was naturally excited to find the pushed out pin in the harness and expected that to solve all of the problems when I repaired it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The car did start but because of the original vacuum leaks I mentioned just above we had to go back and start adjusting a good number of the ECU parameters. This is where things started going crazy. In particular two main things started happening. A set of parameters for closed loop idle control would not stay as we input them. They seemingly changed to random settings. Additionally, we started having similar problems with settings we obtained during the throttle position (normally closed and open) settings. They would not work consistently either. We spent hours across many different days working on this and trying to make sense out of what was going on. At times, the ECU would become unresponsive with the PC software and we would have to recover from that. Finally, I had an idea to reset the ECU to factory settings. You can accomplish this through a round about way of setting a password for the unit and then telling the PC software you've forgotten the password. Once we did this and brought our tuning file back in all of the ill behaving settings started working fine and stayed as we input them. But then just as quickly they started becoming erratic again.

Anyway, I know this is a long post and perhaps sounds like a bit of a manifesto. Throughout all of the section above labeled "the not so good" I tried to get in touch with David @ Canems. Multiple phone calls were placed with voice mails left as well as numerous emails. I even contacted a distributor of his products in the UK and that guy actually replied to me and let me know that he had passed my message on to David/Canems. So for weeks now I have not heard from David/Canems. In our last correspondence he sent me a link to an minor update to the PC programming software and alluded to being able to send me a firmware update for the ECU itself. Nothing, nada.

So now my 911 sits. It will start on a warmer day and idle okay. Not great. And it's all good on the upper end as I wind her out. This morning when it was 25* F out, nothing. Frank Smith is an amazing engine builder, race car driver, and tuner. The guy knows his stuff. He's convinced me to give up on this ECU and seek out something else. Now I'm on a hunt for an AEM solution with a custom interface harness.

Anyway, I thought I would share my story as I know folks have asked about the Canems ECU as well as their customer service. David was good in the beginning and perhaps grew frustrated with me later on. I simply don't know. I do know I spent nearly $2000.00 with him and for that I would think that answering the phone or returning my calls or responding to my emails wouldn't be too big of a favor to ask.

Pat Arnold
Crofton, MD, USA

[Ferrino]

Thanks for the feedback. Disappointing that you haven't received a good level of customer service from David. It's a pity, because the Canems is one of only 2 ECUs I know that will digest the "129+1" Carrera flywheel VR sensors for timing (the other one is the VEMS).

[Tippy]

To their defense, I read these issues aren't solely on Canems. Many others (aftermarket EFI systems) have issues too.