DodgeForum.com - what's the best engine check gadget.....

Megasquirt is a fuel/spark managment unit. Done correctly, it's a complete standalone unit that will completely replace your PCM. It does have plenty of datalogging capabilities, just like a regular scanner. But if you aren't looking for a replacement PCM, you don't want to get it just for engine monitoring...

I used the scantool.net setup until it was stolen about a year ago. Only ran $60 or so for the equipment, and there was plenty of free software on their site that worked great. I later got the digimoto software as well for a little more money, and it did have some nice tools that made it worth it. If you have more than one car that uses a different OBD protocol though, you have to buy a seperate unit.

www.obd-2.com is another one that I know a lot of Neon owners use. Alex Peper has a great reputation as far as customer service and tech support. And you can get a unit that will read all cars, including the newer CAN setups, for under $250. If you just need one for your Neon, you're looking at half that. This is the route I'll be going, since the Neon uses, ISO, the truck uses VPW, and my next car (by summer I hope) has a CAN setup... Not sure what the Mini uses, but that will be the wife's next car...

For both of those setups, you will need a laptop (or PDA for the scantool units). We're not talking a top-of-the-line laptop either... just a 386+ computer running Windows 3.1 or higher that you can pick up on ebay for $50. Be sure to read the requirements before you buy, don't take my word for it...

For dyno tuning, $100 an hour isn't all that bad, as long as the tech knows what he's doing. You can do some tuning with the cam gears, and should. Leave the timing belt cover off so you can make the adjustments. The other things you can tune are fuel control and spark control. For fuel, most people use Apexi SAFC (I used the HKS Super AFR until it was stolen...). Don't expect ot get a lot out of it though unless you're running exceptionally lean or rich already. There's only one piggyback unit out there that will advance timing on the Neon, the SMT-6 by Perfect Power. Only a handful of people have got it to work on their Neons, and support from the vendor is a joke. Unless you are doing high compression or boost, there's really no need to have a timing retard unit like the MSD DIS-2.

Most dyno shops will charge extra if you want to use their wideband O2 unit, maybe $10-25 for the session. It's only really worth doing if you've done anything to really affect the air/fuel ratio. With the Magnum head on there, you're going to be getting a lot more flow than your PCM thinks you should, so it might be worth your time just to see what's going on in there (and whether a fuel computer is needed). If you want to use your own WBO2, there are a number of units out there, depending on your needs. Mine was a Zeitronix, stolen before it was fully installed...

Best of luck!