AEM Engine Management

Original Author: ddog777

A few years ago, Beau at Mental Addiction Motorsports decided to avoid the hassle of setting up AEM units for every customer and post a how-to so that everyone can do set one up. I have taken it just a little bit farther so that it works more in congruence with our stock sensors. For all those who wish to set up the AEM 1050 box (for Hondas) for their 2002+ Protege5 MT, just follow along. I don't know what differences there are for other model Protégés so don't ask me. For those who have never seen the AEM, just visit their website, www.aempower.com, and you can see all their neat stuff. They even have a forum so that all the tuners can share their setups and ask questions. It has been invaluable seeing as that our car is not officially supported. I have had to spend long hours over there making sure I got everything right with my setup and I am happy to now share what I learned. I am not sponsored by AEM, so I am receiving nothing for this and don't bother calling them asking for tech support on our car because it isn't "officially" supported, but on their forums you can acquire great knowledge and help. First off I thought I'd post a few screenshots of what it can do. later I will take pictures of the internal mods that need to be done on the 1050 box (resistor change and jumper setup) and also the pinout so that you can enjoy it on your car. Attached is a zipped calibration that works for my RC550s injectors. It still needs tuning because I'm not really a tuner, more of an engineer...

Special thanks to Beau for his hard work, Steve at NSNmotorsports for helping me understand how our sensors work with our stock ecu, and the guys on the AEM forums for their knowledge.

Use of my calibration is at your own risk. It is by no means a finished product.

This is our 3d fuel maps and advanced fuel trims. You can set these up as a table or as a map. Every section has an advanced section that contains 'trims' or multipliers so that you can adjust fuel, ignition, boost control, idle control, pump control, etc...I will only post a couple...

Here is a shot of the electronic boost control and traction control...

This is our basic idle setup. There is also and advanced section for setting up stepper motors and PWM motors(not posted). And here is also a shot of the accel pump feature (also has decel and fuel cut too).

Here you can set it up to trigger your solenoids if you have an automatic transmission (set your own points!). Or you can go to the nitrous map and set up for a shot of NNNOOOOSSSS!!!

The first picture shows knock control in the background (it can support duel knock channels!) and all the other sensors that you can set up in the foreground (like EGT fuel correction!). I'm not familiar with the J&S, but I think the AEM can do all that it can do, like retard timing, add fuel, etc...The next picture shows the output configuration. They can be setup up to work with switches too!

You must open up the AEM to make the necessary changes. This procedure may void your warranty. Be very careful in separating the two pcbs, gently rock the top pcb up and down until it works its way out (may take a minute). Then, make sure all the jumpers in the bottom pcb are set up as mine. Next, grab a 2200 ohm resistor and replace R4 on the bottom pcb. We have to do this because we are sharing weak crank signals with our stock ecu, this will increase the gain on the signal. Everything in red boxes in the 2nd picture should be the same as yours. You can now put it back together and begin your tedious wiring.
We will also have to wire in fast switching diodes on the two crank lines that feed the AEM so that the stock ecu doesn't receive feedback from it. You should wire the diodes so that only signal goes in, nothing out.

Here is the revised pinout. You will cut each wire from the stock ecu and send it to the AEM, unless I say to share it. Or, you can do what I did and cut up an extension harness so that you don't have to cut any wires from the stock computer. If you do decide to cut into your car's harness, be sure to solder and shrink wrap every joint after you have triple-checked the pin numbers. You must do this in order to rule out any problems you might have. I can't stress this enough!(pissed)

Here you go!(first)

Stock Pin#	AEM pin#
2	A2
80	A16
96	A17
47	A20
45	A22
41	A27
71	B1 (share)
83	B1 (yes that's right)
24	B2 (share)
101	B3
74	B4
100	B5
97	B9 (share)
51	B10 (share)
75	B11
26	B13
76	B20 (share)
55	B21 (share)
77	B22 (share)
54	B23
57	C3
59	C7
21	C8 (share with diode)
22	C9 (share with diode)
52	C12 (share)
Wideband	C16
MAPs	C17
MAP-	C18
MAP+	C19
58	C23 (share)
IAT	C25
38	C26
89	C27
85	C29
86	C30
90	D6
91	D9
Boost	D13 (1.5A max,  connect to switched power if solenoid requires more)
Boost	D16

For engine coolant temp, throttle position, and MAF voltage to the stock ecu I made a simple breadboard (1"x1") and made reference voltages for each pin by sending 5V from the stock ecu (pin #90 wasn't being used anymore; it's 5V and originally used for the sensors anyway). Through a combination of resistors you can send any voltage you want to the stock computer. You will have to do this so that the stock ecu is happy (no codes) and turns on the alternator. If you don't use your primary and secondary O2s, you can send voltages from this little breadboard as well so that it is happy. After I finished soldering the resistors, I melted hot glue over it to seal it up.

I have no idea what good timings and such are for the car...today I found out that running 13.5 afr at 14psi and 8 degrees timing is not good. I just now added some fuel and will be adjusting my timing maps.

Thanks this is some really great priceless info. and oh yeah 13.5 AFR at 14 psi is no good. Add fuel till you get to 11.5AFR accross the board at full throttle. Then gradually add timing to a max of 12deg. Pay attention to your knock activity in the data log. If it goes up significantly before you get to the 12deg stop and back it off. After those figures your on your own.

 

I just started trying to get one these to run right that was originally hooked by someone that had the instructions from Mental Addictions DIY AEM thread. It was wired with 22 AWG and all of the connectors that originally came with it are gone. Here is the link am not sure if they are what come with the kit http://aempower.com/ViewCategory.aspx?CategoryID=84 . It definitely needs some wiring help.
The two biggest thing I noticed with the car before it came back apart was a WOT the tachometer would jump to 6000 RPM initially and then go back to 3000 RPM the dyno really did not know what to do when this happened. And their also seemed to be no control over the IAC motor. The original map that came with it seemed to look way off no one scaled RPM and I think I going to try something besides a GM 3 bar since they are not known for good idle characteristics. The only thing I have noticed about your base map that it seems to have alot of spark advance at lower RPM's(below 3000) under boost have you had any knock problems at WOT?
Does anyone know where to get the parts needed for the Ford connectors so this could be made a cleaner connection between the stock harness and the AEM?

The original wire posting is not a good setup. I believe the bouncing tach is due to the diodes, one of these days I will swap in some high frequency diodes and see if that fixes it. I have never heard knock, you must remember that my compression is 8:1

 

FAQ

Q: Will the AEM delete the cam position sensor? anyway to get away with NOT using the cam position sensor with the AEM?

A: The CAM is needed to tell any computer where TDC of a particular cylinder is. Remember, the crank sensor only has 360 degrees, but each piston goes through 720 degrees in a cycle. If you take out the CAM sensor, the computer wouldn't know if it is at TDC of the compression stroke or exhaust stroke.

 

Q: Anyone ever figure out exactly what diode fixes the tach problem?

A: R4 is for the cam sensor, does nothing to help with the crank signal - try R2.

For the earlier (~99) 1.6 cars with the hall effect cam sensor set JPT2 to the 2-3 position. All pinouts are the same in other respects except these cars have no KS among other wires.

Use the FSM to determine the tach wire, refer to the AEM manual to configure one of your LSx outputs as a tach driver.

Frankly, you should use the AEM to turn the alternator on and skip all the diode silliness... I'll leave that for you guys to figure out, but I assure you it's not difficult.

edit: I'm going to go back on my statement having the AEM control the *generator*. The difference between a generator and an alternator is a built-in regulator. The Protege already has a transistor to control the stator's fielding, but the ECU is supposed to control it. For a generic modern alternator (I just dissected a Honda one) the regulator controls the voltage even without the ECU, although the ECU typically has a provision for being able to fiddle the field windings. I'm not entirely certain right this moment if I should try to run an off-the-shelf regulator on top of the existing generator (and would this require I remove the field control transistor?) or build a circuit to control it. Regardless, both are mundane applications of theory and nothing more.