Found this company over the weekend, Dynamic EFI, who are building a better ECM.
I have thought for some time that it would be very interesting to hook a laptop up to a GM TBI wiring harness and create software that would be much more flexible in terms of engine management. It’s obvious the factory GM ECM is not designed for performance modifications – most obviously seen by the difficulty in getting a TBI engine with an aftermarket cam to idle properly.
Aside from the obvious labor problems of merging a laptop with a TBI harness, and writing the software, the biggest problem with this idea is the robustness of the factory ECM. GM ECMs are unbelievably hardy – they work in all types of temperature extremes and physical shocks for years. A standard laptop is just not designed to take that kind of abuse for an extended period of time.
It looks like the folks at Dynamic EFI had a similar idea and have solved the problem. They have created an add in board that is soldered into a factory ECM and solves many of the problems when using a GM TBI system on a performance engine.
Right now my friends and I are all extremely busy trying to get everything setup for summer, but as soon as time and money allows I think I’m going to purchase one of these computers, install it in the Scout, and see how it works. If it does work correctly, I will be in the market for two or three more.
If anyone out there has used a Dynamic EFI EBL system, please feel free to comment – I would love to know if these systems are as trick as they appear to be.
Dynamic EFI makes a great plug in setup for TBI. I have an older model which requires chip burning on my 90 2500 4wd 350 Chevy with a 3″ headers back exhaust and Holly 670 TB on a modified stock intake manifold. More power and better milage. The newest version is program on the fly and I’m going to get one for my latest project.