Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) 4/4 or +4?

Peter, I’m wondering why Omex sets Lambda to 1. What I have learned is that a slightly richer mix with a Lambda value in the region of 0.9 provides more power and a slightly cooler running engine. If you can play with your ECU, have you tried her when using such a richer mix like 0.9?

Tim, I will check the revs at speed in fourth gear. You are right, in third gear she pulls with great joy.

Thank you for interesting reading! I have upgraded my big hobby 4/4 in different ways (including Librands “pipeline”) and it is now so nice to drive. Some of it can be seen her: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0Y5ON9t3ZpIR

Hi Oylo, very nice pics. Among others I like the ones driving in the snow, cheese and wine on the hood and of course the aurora borealis shot.

Probably they are aiming for the perfect mix. A bit difficult to make any direct comparisons because of the different input systems. Interesting reading at http://www.ngkntk.co.uk/index.php/technical-centre/lambda-sensors/how-does-the-lambda-sensor-work/

I think that I have just stumbled across another subtle difference between the 1.8 and 2.0 that might be worth a mention.

Since owning my car I have been on an obsessive mission to eradicate the pre-ignition that affects my engine. I have tried just about every trick in the book and then some. Although it has been improved significantly from the early days particularly with help from the factory, there is still a tiny bit remaining on occasions. After endlessly trawling the Ford forums for info on the dreaded Duratec pink there was a pattern regarding the 1.8’s that very often could not be fixed despite their owners relentless endeavours. This had been gnawing away at me for a while and curiosity got the better of me last week when I embarked on another little experiment that I had been musing over for some time. On the face of it a crazy thing to do but I loaded a standard 2.0L Plus 4 tune into a spare ecu and dropped it into the 4/4.

And what a surprise, it ran like a dream. And guess what, my last bit of stubborn pre-ignition had gone...totally! Typically previously when cursing say at a steady 2000rpm with the ecu in closed loop mode ( I assume), if I lightly pressed the throttle when the conditions were right there would be a brief metallic “clink clink” for a fraction of a second until the knock sensor retarded the timing. Barely audible I know and I’m sure most owners may not even care or notice but for Mr Picky it was really really annoying, a real spoiler hearing the pistons rattling. Now it is a delight to drive with just a deep exhaust note whenever the peddle is pressed. The other curious thing was the running temp was 4/5 degs down (I’ve had an obd reader connected) . So I suspect the lambda parameters may have been set different on these two engines and the 1.8 is configured to run leaner? I’m guessing but with a subtle tune difference and also the TB restriction, perhaps Ford intentionally de-tuned the 1.8 for economy.

The Mustang with Ecotec engine we hired in the US in April would pink badly in sports mode in similar circumstances. It was very annoying at times.

I would like to do this standard 2.0L Plus 4 tune into a spare ecu. How do I do it?

Where do I begin…. The way I put maps into my car is by using the little interface box in the pic below. I had some ecu issues in the early days with my car and finding help or information for a Morgan ecu’s was almost impossible so have now knocked up this little device that allowed me to play. I must add the caveat that I know diddly squat about electronics or cars and would not advise anybody to mess with their ecu without the advise from an expert.



I acquire my spare ecu’s by looking out for suitable donors from good quality second hand Ford units that come up for sale from time to time. With the aid of various bits of software this device allows me to install Morgan maps into the Ford ecu on the bench. It also enables me to delete the old PATS immobiliser data so I can re-program a fresh set of key chips.

I must reiterate that the reason I put the Plus 4 map into my 4/4 had nothing to do with performance but curiosity as to why Plus 4’s do not have a history of pinking but 4/4’s have. I already had the Viezu Morgan generic performance remap anyway. (and just for info I recently learnt that the map was developed on the car in the photo that belonged to a very well-known TM sage )

For the record a quick layman’s update regarding running with the Plus4 map in the 4/4. I experienced no driving problems at all with this map over the relatively short period that it had been installed and it ran very well. The only thing that I did notice when hooked up to a reader was the long term fuel trim had about a 10% positive drift. My car normally runs around a sweat 0% with a 4/4 map so I believe this may be a false positive. Thinking about it this is what you might expect I guess as the ecu is aware that a 10% reduced volume of air is entering the engine compared to what it would normally expect from a 2.0L. Therefore the ecu is reporting it's attempts to correct a lean condition, I may be wrong? However it was still within the ecu /lambda’s control range (circa 25% I believe) so it was happy. There were no fault codes generated.

I would have been happy continuing to run the Plus 4 map but…… As said I had a very nice Viezu remap that was a little “fruiter” than the standard tune that I am also reluctant to move away from. So I had another bright idea last week. I sent the two files off to an online tuning house requesting if they could put the closed loop lambda and timing parameters from the Plus4 across into the re-map. That way I would have the best of both worlds, the open loop performance parameters and the closed loop from the Plus 4. And that is where I am at the moment. Over the weekend (these guys are brilliant and work Sat/Sun) I have tested 4 different variations so far and am having a job keeping up with them. Each test has taken a 20 mile trip. The process is continuing at the moment and I have another 2 variations still in my inbox to test. Hopefully I will get my ideal tune at the end

PS - I have put spare ecu’s in the For Sale section in the past .

Thank you for info.

I have this annoying metallic sound from the engine when I press the throttle pedal. It will be less if I use 98 Oct gasoline. The engine is a bit trimmed with complete Librands and K & N. Is it possible to buy an ECU ready configured from you when you get it perfectly? (have the best of both worlds, the open loop performance parameters and the closed loop from the Plus 4)