Old Autothority chip

[HawaiiScott]

Hi all, I just got my very first 911 (1985 Targa) last week and needless to say I am very happy! I was going through some of the parts/service records from the previous 2 owners and found something interesting. Apparently the original owner bought a K and N intake, Autothroity MAF and chip in 1996. He installed the intake and and MAF in 1996, but never installed the chip. The second owner (2004-2018) never installed the chip either. I have the chip and I'm wondering if I should even bother installing it. The car has been running without it for 22 years since the intake an MAF upgrade. The engine runs strong and there are no issues (passed PPI). Would there be any negative impacts of installing the chip now? It is a custom chip designed to work with the intake and MAF. Just wondering if anyone has any advice. Thanks!

[proporsche]

Hi Scott Autothority chip was my 1st chip in my 911 back in the 1990`s but the programs since then improved very much.
Then i used to have PowerChip from orange county Calif..but even those are hard to compare to Steve Wong`s chip .He has the latest super duper programs ..my 911 has never ever ran better after getting one from Steve...

Ivan

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

+1 from everything that I've heard and read, Steve Wong is the most popular and best performing one out there.

[HawaiiScott]

I'm not really looking to buy a new chip right now. Just wondering if the old chip is worth putting in after 22 years.

[proporsche]

yes ,you might get some better response compare to the stock chip.all you have to do is try...Never work on chip replacement with ignition on.....

[zedsn]

If you have a stock chip you will notice the difference with the autothority. If it were me I would try it out and see. You can always go back to stock.

[proporsche]

the only question is if it is the correct chip..since the 2 owner before you did not installed?

Some chips are longer and shorter 12-14 prongs...The only way to find ot is to open you pc,be gentle with those alu.clips and to open also not to much force..search the net for disassemble procedure..
Ivan

[darrin]

careful with this -- It's my understanding that the Autothority MAF requires a custom chip to work (i.e. you can't simply install an autothority MAF with a stock chip as the custom chip translates the maf output for the DME and the MAF has different output than the stock AFM) -- Suspect that if you open the DME you'll find that the chip that's in there is not a stock chip.

[HawaiiScott]

Originally Posted by darrin

careful with this -- It's my understanding that the Autothority MAF requires a custom chip to work (i.e. you can't simply install an autothority MAF with a stock chip as the custom chip translates the maf output for the DME and the MAF has different output than the stock AFM) -- Suspect that if you open the DME you'll find that the chip that's in there is not a stock chip.

Right so the chip i have is labeled "custom" and I'm assuming its for the MAF but was never installed. I guess I'm just going to have to open the DME and find out what's in there. Thanks!

[175K911]

Way back, Autothority used my ‘86 on their dyno as the test bed to develop the MAF software. In exchange for several days of dyno runs, I received the first MAF (and Al Collins gave me his 930 to drive those days).

The MAF will run on the stock software, just not really well. I have 3 chips for the MAF- one for stock engine, one for SSI and sport muffler, one for SSI, sport muffler plus 964 cams.

I recall from the dyno pulls that when we put the SSI/sport muffler on, the engine ran quite lean in the 3500-4500 range. Dialing in more fuel in that range really fattened up the midrange significantly, the tune of 20+ additional ft-lb of torque. I’d have to dig into files from 30 years ago to find the actual dyno charts.

The end result of all the dyno work with the MAF was that on a stock engine there were small gains, but not nearly enough to justify the $1500+ cost of the kit. However, the MAF really made a difference as other mods were made. As I said, we found another 20 lb-ft with the exhaust, then another increase with cams (don’t recall numbers). They noted that the SSI gains were greater with the MAF than they see on stock intake engines, likewise with the cams.

That was more than 30 years ago when the software tools were rather crude compared to what someone like Steve Wong has at his disposal today. But I’d still recommend opening the ECU to see what’s in it. Any chance the previous owner had a different exhaust in the car and this chip was for that exhaust?

BTW, I still have that original MAF stored in my basement. Took it off when I’d sold that first ‘86 in ‘94 to a friend who didn’t want it. Was that really 23 years ago??? Wow

[175K911]

OK, here’s a trip down memory lane. Just pulled out my Autothority software from decades ago, still have it.
Top chip is the MAF with SSI
Bottom is the MAF, SSI, 964 (the C2 in the label) cams.

Yes back then there were no fancy labels printed, simple early technology.

[HawaiiScott]

So I did more digging and found the receipt for the "custom' chip. It stated that it was to fix a "pinging" problem. Anyway, opened the brain and found there was an autothority chip in there already. I swapped the old one with the new one and everything seems to be fine. No noticeable performance gain, but I've only driven the car once since then.

[tributeventures]

Would you be able to take some pictures of the MAF installed on the engine. I have an Authoroty MAF in my garage and not sure I want to install it. My car is 1985 Carrera.

[darrin]

Originally Posted by tributeventures

Would you be able to take some pictures of the MAF installed on the engine. I have an Authoroty MAF in my garage and not sure I want to install it. My car is 1985 Carrera.

Do you have a chip that's specific to the Authority MAF? See my post above

[ischmitz]

My guess based on what I am reading:

Original owner bought the Autothority MAF upgrade. It came as a package (chip, MAF) and after everything was installed the car started pinging. This could be for a number of reasons (poor gas, too aggressive tune, engine full of carbon, etc.). Then Autothority sent another chip with slightly less aggressive ignition map to deal with the complaint.

Bottom line: As others said a MAF conversion requires a different chip where either the maps are completely changed or the math is corrected because the MAF response function is very different from the AFM response function.

Regards,
Ingo

[ALEX P]

I've got an Autothority MAF which I bought on here installed in my car and it ran really badly with the stock chip and the Autothority chip so I had the car live remapped to fix all running issues.

In fairness it was also after an engine rebuild with lots of other non-standard parts.

There should be some installation instructions and photos of an Autothority MAF installed here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/608436-autothority-maf-setup-instructions.html

P.s. MAF kits are not popular with the guy who mapped my car as they can be a proper PITA.

[HawaiiScott]

Originally Posted by darrin

Do you have a chip that's specific to the Authority MAF? See my post above

Yes, the chip is specific to the MAF. I will take some pictures of the MAF tonight.