lord flashheart
02-25-2015, 02:08 PM
So im pretty pissed and need to rant a little bit.
Over the years i have been a loyal customer to AEM. I have probably referred hundreds of people and even had dyno shops start buying their product over the years. Not to mention probably purchased a few grand in products for my own use. So over the last 2 years i have been trying to make my tach work. I was told by the AEM tech support to wire in pull up resistors and try different resistors till i get it right. Look on their forums and get the same info.
Ok...
2 years later, still cant get it to work. I email the tech support, no response.
I email someone else he tells me to try different soft ware settings and resistances. Ok. Still dont work.
So i find a guy who is tech support to the forums and was helping someone with almost the same issue.
He says to use a oscilloscope.
Here is what i said to him
i dont have access to an oscilloscope, or a factory car to get the signal from. I was hoping someone could help me figure out why it seems to work fine for other people but not me.
I recieved awesome support when i couldnt get it running. Now that it runs its like no one in tech support want to take any time to help me. I kinda wish i would have put an emanage on the car.
Subarus and AEM components dont seem to get along. The F/IC has been well documented to have issues with the 90s subarus. Im a long standing, loyal AEM customer, and i was hoping to drive some of 90s subaru guys back to AEM. But I am at the point of giving up on it. I rather have 165hp in a car where everything functions correctly than a 400hp that has so many issues. Sorry im just frusterated. I have worked on this problem alot, and had our shop wiring and tuning guru on the task and he cant seem to figure it out either.
Anyways. Back on topic. Aside from an oscilloscope do you have any recommendations?
Any help is deeply appreciated.
You need to understand that you're working with a universal application that AEM does not support nor do we have experience with. *The proper way to troubleshoot this is to first, figure out what signal the tach wants to see and then second, configure the EMS-4 to deliver that signal. *That's exactly how we'd do it if the car was here for us to work on. *Because we don't have experience with the app you're working with, we do not know what signal it wants to see. *This is why an oscilloscope is necessary. *You can not expect the manufacturer of a universal ECU to know*what some random applications wants for a tach signal. *That's simply not reasonable or possible. *AEM will do what it can to support these customs setups but the ownus is on the end user to correctly install and configure the system and thoroughly troubleshoot any problems that may arise. *
I suggested you use an o-scope because that is the right tool to troubleshoot your problem. *An o-scope is an essential tool for doing custom installs like this and if you plan on doing more work like this in the future, getting one would be a very wise investment. *We have people who call tech support saying their engine won't start. *We ask them if they sync'd their igntion timing and they'll say "Well, I don't have a timing light..." and we'll say*"How would you ever expect to get this to run if you can't sync the timing because you don't have a timing light?". *If you don't use the right tools to do the job then you may not get it figured out. *Trying a bunch of different software settings and random resistor values with no real direction is going to be a larger waste of time and be more frustrating than using the right tools and procedures for figuring this out.
And finally, I verified with the tech support guys that you contacted them and were basically given the same info that I provided on the forum. *So you've be given the information you need to troubleshoot this and others have been given this same exact info and they've been successful with setting up and using a tach. *I can only suggest that you actually try to do what we're suggesting you do. *If you don't do what we've suggested you do then I can not guarantee that you'll get your tach to work. *We're not suggesting some longer, harder process for you to do to make your*
So here is what i want to say someone tell me if im out of line please:
Thanks for getting back to me.
I totally understand what your saying. Im not trying to argue with you but i want to point out the counter points on what you mentioned.
First, i have talked to 3 seperate people and your the Only one to mention an oscilloscope. I was trying "random software settings and resistances" because thats the information i was given on the forums and tech support.
Secondly, i understand thia requires a basic requirements of tools. However a timing light and a oscilloscope are very different. An oscilloscope is hardly a tool that most garages have. Your right, expecting a AEM to know every application is unreasonable. But so is expecting everyone who purchases the product to have every obscure tool that maybe required is also unreasonable. The EMS4 is targeted at a specific demographic. Lets be honest, this product is inexpensive to appeal to the budget minded import racers who dont have many options for engine management, who is installing it on a car in his garage. If this was geared towards race teams AEM wouldnt have sold a fraction of what they did sell. I will buy spend a few hundred bucks to get one. But i wanted to share my 2 cents on that.
Lastly i just wanted to rant a little. Not argue. I appreciate your help in this, i have been a customer for a long time and refered tons, TONS of people to aem. When i ran my own shop and people asked for recommendations i told them my car runs exclusively AEM products as well as in the car communities. Customer support is all about giving the illusion you care about the customer and their problems.
Like i said, if the doctor orders an oscilloscope then i will get one.
But i still dont have a car to get the signal from.
Anyone have thoughts on this? Should i say Fuck it and get rid of my EMS4?
Over the years i have been a loyal customer to AEM. I have probably referred hundreds of people and even had dyno shops start buying their product over the years. Not to mention probably purchased a few grand in products for my own use. So over the last 2 years i have been trying to make my tach work. I was told by the AEM tech support to wire in pull up resistors and try different resistors till i get it right. Look on their forums and get the same info.
Ok...
2 years later, still cant get it to work. I email the tech support, no response.
I email someone else he tells me to try different soft ware settings and resistances. Ok. Still dont work.
So i find a guy who is tech support to the forums and was helping someone with almost the same issue.
He says to use a oscilloscope.
Here is what i said to him
i dont have access to an oscilloscope, or a factory car to get the signal from. I was hoping someone could help me figure out why it seems to work fine for other people but not me.
I recieved awesome support when i couldnt get it running. Now that it runs its like no one in tech support want to take any time to help me. I kinda wish i would have put an emanage on the car.
Subarus and AEM components dont seem to get along. The F/IC has been well documented to have issues with the 90s subarus. Im a long standing, loyal AEM customer, and i was hoping to drive some of 90s subaru guys back to AEM. But I am at the point of giving up on it. I rather have 165hp in a car where everything functions correctly than a 400hp that has so many issues. Sorry im just frusterated. I have worked on this problem alot, and had our shop wiring and tuning guru on the task and he cant seem to figure it out either.
Anyways. Back on topic. Aside from an oscilloscope do you have any recommendations?
Any help is deeply appreciated.
You need to understand that you're working with a universal application that AEM does not support nor do we have experience with. *The proper way to troubleshoot this is to first, figure out what signal the tach wants to see and then second, configure the EMS-4 to deliver that signal. *That's exactly how we'd do it if the car was here for us to work on. *Because we don't have experience with the app you're working with, we do not know what signal it wants to see. *This is why an oscilloscope is necessary. *You can not expect the manufacturer of a universal ECU to know*what some random applications wants for a tach signal. *That's simply not reasonable or possible. *AEM will do what it can to support these customs setups but the ownus is on the end user to correctly install and configure the system and thoroughly troubleshoot any problems that may arise. *
I suggested you use an o-scope because that is the right tool to troubleshoot your problem. *An o-scope is an essential tool for doing custom installs like this and if you plan on doing more work like this in the future, getting one would be a very wise investment. *We have people who call tech support saying their engine won't start. *We ask them if they sync'd their igntion timing and they'll say "Well, I don't have a timing light..." and we'll say*"How would you ever expect to get this to run if you can't sync the timing because you don't have a timing light?". *If you don't use the right tools to do the job then you may not get it figured out. *Trying a bunch of different software settings and random resistor values with no real direction is going to be a larger waste of time and be more frustrating than using the right tools and procedures for figuring this out.
And finally, I verified with the tech support guys that you contacted them and were basically given the same info that I provided on the forum. *So you've be given the information you need to troubleshoot this and others have been given this same exact info and they've been successful with setting up and using a tach. *I can only suggest that you actually try to do what we're suggesting you do. *If you don't do what we've suggested you do then I can not guarantee that you'll get your tach to work. *We're not suggesting some longer, harder process for you to do to make your*
So here is what i want to say someone tell me if im out of line please:
Thanks for getting back to me.
I totally understand what your saying. Im not trying to argue with you but i want to point out the counter points on what you mentioned.
First, i have talked to 3 seperate people and your the Only one to mention an oscilloscope. I was trying "random software settings and resistances" because thats the information i was given on the forums and tech support.
Secondly, i understand thia requires a basic requirements of tools. However a timing light and a oscilloscope are very different. An oscilloscope is hardly a tool that most garages have. Your right, expecting a AEM to know every application is unreasonable. But so is expecting everyone who purchases the product to have every obscure tool that maybe required is also unreasonable. The EMS4 is targeted at a specific demographic. Lets be honest, this product is inexpensive to appeal to the budget minded import racers who dont have many options for engine management, who is installing it on a car in his garage. If this was geared towards race teams AEM wouldnt have sold a fraction of what they did sell. I will buy spend a few hundred bucks to get one. But i wanted to share my 2 cents on that.
Lastly i just wanted to rant a little. Not argue. I appreciate your help in this, i have been a customer for a long time and refered tons, TONS of people to aem. When i ran my own shop and people asked for recommendations i told them my car runs exclusively AEM products as well as in the car communities. Customer support is all about giving the illusion you care about the customer and their problems.
Like i said, if the doctor orders an oscilloscope then i will get one.
But i still dont have a car to get the signal from.
Anyone have thoughts on this? Should i say Fuck it and get rid of my EMS4?