HKS EVC IV Setup Instructions
By Andrew Lee
: This method worked for me and two other owners of Z's. Your car may or may not work with this method. Please be careful when making the learning mode runs. The author assumes no responsibility for whatever happens when following these instructions.
1) Who installed the EVC? I made sure that the solenoids were bypassed. Otherwise, my actuator will get confused because the EVC is sending info, which is correct, but the ECU is also sending boost info too, which will confuse the actuator. I remembered that stock boost with actuator only is approximately 6 psi. The 9.5 psi in a stock Z is gotten by the solenoids controlled by the ECU adding 3.5 psi.
2) I find that making the run on a straight road is crucial. I was careful doing this run. Watching out for other cars, people, animals, etc. I made sure it was safe first. It was best to have someone in the car with me to keep an eye on things. I made sure I had enough room to go 100 MPH and enough to brake and stop.
3) I made sure I cleared the memory by Mod-Alt-SBC when the unit was off. Now I turnned on the unit and pressed Alt-SBC. I should see an "L". I made my run now. I don't boost until 3rd gear. I would run from 2500-7200 RPM in 3rd gear. I heard a beep at about 3500-4000 RPM but I DO NOT STOP until 7200 RPM (JWT chip redline). I pulled over to side of the road. I now saw an "H". I did the same exact thing again. No boost until 3rd gear and run same RPM range. The EVC beeped when I let off the gas at 7200 RPM.
4) Now if I have done everything correctly, the unit will show me the stock boost pressure, about 0.40-0.50 bar (kg/cm2). Then it will switch in about a few seconds to the manifold pressure (vacuum in mmHg).
5) I am now ready to set my numbers. I would be conservative unless I had cold weather, good gas octane, or aftermarket intercoolers, 555cc injectors, and bigger turbos. Remember 1 kg/cm2 = 14.22 psi. So I set my #'s accordingly. The EVC has dual settings for a low boost and a high boost. I read the manual for setting those levels. I set the high first, then set the low. I remember that the low cannot exceed the high and that SBC in low will only work if it is equal to or lower than the high setting.
6) After my high boost setting, say 0.95 kg/cm2 for 13.5 psi, hit Mod button and that puts me in the offset display. Offset is very crucial because each car's turbos are setup differently. On the Z, I find that the length of the hoses to the turbos have an effect. Typically on the Z, the offset which worked was 118-120.
7) I hit Mod after setting the offset and that puts me in SBC display. Some people leave that at 0.00, which means no scramble boost. I used my judgment when setting this. Remember a blown engine is no fun and pretty expensive. The next display after pushing Mod is the seconds of scramble. If no scramble, leave that to 0.
8) After the seconds, the next display after pushing Mod is the warning boost level. I set this with caution. Be conservative. When boost exceeds this level, a warning beep sounds, display turns red, and the EVC turns off, so back to stock boost.
9) Now I am all setup. So I did the same with the low boost sequence.
10) Now I am ready for test runs. But first I lock the Auto Adjust because otherwise my offset will change. But I don't want that, do I? NO WAY. Ok, so I do that by turning the EVC off. I made sure my car was either running or the key was in the acc position. Press Mod and at same time toggle the back switch from SW to PO. Let go of the Mod button and push the toggle back to SW. I am now locked.
11) I boosted in 3rd gear and had someone in the car looking at my EVC display. I kept full boost, ie pedal to floor, until it stabilized. On my car, it will jump up to 0.03-0.04 bar and drop immediately to the preset number.
12) If the boost stabilizes too high, turn the offset the next higher number and do runs until this stabilizes around the preset number. If the boost stabilizes too low, turn the offset to the next lower number and do runs until this stabilizes around the preset number.
13) I NOW HAVE A BOOST CONTROLLER THAT WORKS, hopefully, if I have done everything correctly. If still not working, I would recheck the installation again.
14) Please feel free to e-mail me with any responses as to how your EVCs are working after trying this method.