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AEM Infinity 6 Stand-Alone ECU

Choosing the right ECU for Project Civic

So the day has come.  The project has been moving right along with hooking up all the accessories to the motor, but a major part was always going to be the massive amount of wiring and trying to figure out how to control the rear differential.  After looking at many of the big names in stand alone ECU boxes, I finally came across one that MIGHT have the brainpower to do what I need to have done, the AEM Infinity ECU.  I looked at Autronic, Motec, ProEFI, and even something with more open-ended software like Megasquirt.  All of these could run the motor no problem, but to control the rear differential none of them gave me the control I needed on configuring the Low Side Outputs, and allowing me how I control those outputs.  Now granted…I could have programed an Arduino board to run piggy back to those boards, and to be TOTALLY HONEST, I may still have to do that even with the AEM Infinity, but on paper, it's looking like the Infinity might do it all for me.  Thinking logically, if all the ECU’s on the market are very close in performance than why wouldn’t I choose the one that offers me the most chance of getting it to run the rear diff and more tuning options with the software?

With the research done, and the ECU chosen I placed an order for an AEM Infinity 6.  It would have all the outputs and power I needed to easily control the engine. When you see the size of the ECU it's hard to believe the amount of computing power it has. This is such a nice bonus for anyone since you should be able to mount this just about anywhere with its size.

On the wiring side of things AEM offers some plug and play solutions using the Infinity platform, but if no plug and play is offered for your vehicle, then you have two options to choose from.  They have a harness pre-wired with most of the inputs and outputs you’ll need to quickly start wiring the motor, and they also sell just the pins and connector to build your own harness. 

I optioned for the pins and the connector and will be using a jumper harness I purchases from them as well for the J series Honda motors and modifying that harness to connect to the Infinity ECU.  Basically I’m making my own plug and play harness instead of hacking the factory plugs off.  I don’t believe this offers any advantage since no one could ever run the motor on a factory ECU at this point, but instead I’m doing it just because I think it will be a cleaner install. 

Now building a custom harness is a lot of work, but most of the information I need to make this happen I was able to find on AEM’s site.  They make a plug and play ECU for the 92-95 Civic, so I was able to get the factory-wiring diagram by looking at the install instructions for the AEM EMS Series II P/N 30-6040. 

The wiring for the Infinity 6 is found in the 408-page manual that comes with the ECU. 

Let me just say right now that even if you have NO INTEREST in purchasing an Infinity ECU one should read their manual.  It is a wealth of knowledge on everything from how basic sensors work, to setting up advanced safety controls, to basic ideas about tuning.  If you’re the typical person that takes instructions and throws them out…don’t.  Take the time to read that manual even if you have no interest in wiring or tuning your Infinity.

In summary I really have a lot of confidence now that this swap is GOING to happen with the abilities the Infinity ECU has. Stay tuned for future updates.