Experience with DERF Tuning
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,620
Likes: 4
From: Miami, FL
Experience with DERF Tuning
Looking for some tuners in the Miami/Broward area. Saw the tuning thread but only see two main places, Racelab which I will pass, and JDM. Not sure if JDM is still in business/tuning. Im reverting back to stock and decided to keep the Aem Ems so pretty much need to adjust the timing/map sensor/WOT settings. I can tune the a/f for daily driving but don't feel comfortable messing with the ignition/timing.
Update:
Two weeks ago, I went on a Saturday to get tuned by Fred "Derf Tuning". I told him I wanted to switch out my map sensor to OEM since I was going back to factory and wanted to get some cash selling my used OMNI sensor. After about 15-20 minutes of unsuccessfully getting the car started with my OEM map sensor, I installed the old one back. Should have known then something was up but continued. He ended up tuning my car and it made stock with aem ems 206hp. He related the low HP to the engine age which can be true. Engine has 158k miles on it. Ended up paying him his rate and drove home. That’s when I noticed something off with the tune.
1. Cruising at partial throttle, my A/F was 13-14. I know from exp stock should be 14.7 at partial throttle and can even be closer to 15 when cruising for max gas mileage. Ended up getting home and noticed my O2 feedback was set at 14.7, but the tune wasnt even close to that. With 02 feedback on, the car ran around 12.5-13.5 cruising around.
2. PSI load points were never changed. He just piggy backed my old tune and went from there. I had 8 points above 0.0 psi which were not able to be used. He said it wouldn’t make a difference but i find that somewhat hard to believe those 8 points cant help somewhere with the ignition/air fuel for maximum efficiency.
3. Idle was A/F was bouncing around from 13.5 to 15.5 back and forth every 7-10 seconds.
4. Power band on dyno wasn’t smooth. Multiple small dips and imperfections. Even his friend helping him setup the car for tuning said after looking at my 206hp dyno that I should be around 215 if things were adjusted. I thought Fred would continue to adjust it but he was finished once he hit 206hp.
5. No knock control setup. Which leads me to my next big issue.
So i thought, maybe he didn’t take much time at partial throttle so at least wot should be ok to take the car out and have some spirited drives since all he focused on in the tune was WOT.
So this past weekend, I took the car out and ran it hard. Unfortunately, while running the car on third gear at around 8700rpm's (90ish), I heard a noise and lost power in the car. The car still was running but heard knocking. I ended up slowing down and turning off the car. I noticed while i was slowing down my oil pressure gauge was around 6-9psi. I quickly checked the oil once i stopped and it was around the middle to the top X. Then i noticed under the engine a small puddle of oil. Had the car towed home and it looks like my s2k has a blow engine. Rod knock was the diagnosis from my friend with a potential hole in the block due to the low oil pressure/oil leak. I’m taking the car apart now to see the damage.
In the end, I can’t say the tune caused this to happen, but before this, I never a issue with the engine. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up and if anyone needs a tune, to go to Racelab from my exp. I would have used him but we had a mis-communication on the dyno a few years ago. Racelab is legit and would advise anyone to go to them before Derf eventhough the price is cheaper with DERF.
Vid of my engine noise.
http://youtu.be/KeUUu044Y0A
Now have to look for a AP2 motor to upgrade.
Update:
Two weeks ago, I went on a Saturday to get tuned by Fred "Derf Tuning". I told him I wanted to switch out my map sensor to OEM since I was going back to factory and wanted to get some cash selling my used OMNI sensor. After about 15-20 minutes of unsuccessfully getting the car started with my OEM map sensor, I installed the old one back. Should have known then something was up but continued. He ended up tuning my car and it made stock with aem ems 206hp. He related the low HP to the engine age which can be true. Engine has 158k miles on it. Ended up paying him his rate and drove home. That’s when I noticed something off with the tune.
1. Cruising at partial throttle, my A/F was 13-14. I know from exp stock should be 14.7 at partial throttle and can even be closer to 15 when cruising for max gas mileage. Ended up getting home and noticed my O2 feedback was set at 14.7, but the tune wasnt even close to that. With 02 feedback on, the car ran around 12.5-13.5 cruising around.
2. PSI load points were never changed. He just piggy backed my old tune and went from there. I had 8 points above 0.0 psi which were not able to be used. He said it wouldn’t make a difference but i find that somewhat hard to believe those 8 points cant help somewhere with the ignition/air fuel for maximum efficiency.
3. Idle was A/F was bouncing around from 13.5 to 15.5 back and forth every 7-10 seconds.
4. Power band on dyno wasn’t smooth. Multiple small dips and imperfections. Even his friend helping him setup the car for tuning said after looking at my 206hp dyno that I should be around 215 if things were adjusted. I thought Fred would continue to adjust it but he was finished once he hit 206hp.
5. No knock control setup. Which leads me to my next big issue.
So i thought, maybe he didn’t take much time at partial throttle so at least wot should be ok to take the car out and have some spirited drives since all he focused on in the tune was WOT.
So this past weekend, I took the car out and ran it hard. Unfortunately, while running the car on third gear at around 8700rpm's (90ish), I heard a noise and lost power in the car. The car still was running but heard knocking. I ended up slowing down and turning off the car. I noticed while i was slowing down my oil pressure gauge was around 6-9psi. I quickly checked the oil once i stopped and it was around the middle to the top X. Then i noticed under the engine a small puddle of oil. Had the car towed home and it looks like my s2k has a blow engine. Rod knock was the diagnosis from my friend with a potential hole in the block due to the low oil pressure/oil leak. I’m taking the car apart now to see the damage.
In the end, I can’t say the tune caused this to happen, but before this, I never a issue with the engine. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up and if anyone needs a tune, to go to Racelab from my exp. I would have used him but we had a mis-communication on the dyno a few years ago. Racelab is legit and would advise anyone to go to them before Derf eventhough the price is cheaper with DERF.
Vid of my engine noise.
http://youtu.be/KeUUu044Y0A
Now have to look for a AP2 motor to upgrade.
Community Organizer
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 5,507
Likes: 231
From: Miami, FL
B.R.I.A.N is a local member here that does EMS tuning.
B.R.I.A.N. tuning facebook page
He's tuned quite a few cars, including Bad1flip's ITB AP2 (if you wanted an S2KI member to reference).
B.R.I.A.N. tuning facebook page
He's tuned quite a few cars, including Bad1flip's ITB AP2 (if you wanted an S2KI member to reference).
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,535
Likes: 9
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 486
Likes: 0
From: Miami, FL
Im tuned by Brian and have been tuning with him for the last 2+ years. Anyhow I'd go with Brian, Kenny, or racelab.
How come you wouldn't want to go to racelab? Great people and super knowledgable
How come you wouldn't want to go to racelab? Great people and super knowledgable