Eco Block from crawford performance

OK so I received my Q3 yesterday for my '06 2.7L Pre-Runner. Today I had the chance to install and have a few pictures to share. Here is the hardware I received...










Now for the install, which was simple enough, but if you feel that something was done incorrectly comment so no one else makes the same mistake. The only tools that I used were a phillips head screw driver and a 10mm wrench. The wrench is for the battery terminal connector and the screwdriver is for the MAF sensor screws.



First step. I used the 10mm wrench to disconnect my supply and left it disconnected for roughly a half hour or so.



Second, I used the screw driver to remove the screws from the MAF sensor in order to slide it out of the intake housing. Note that the clip near the sensor holding the wiring in place can make it difficult to completely pull the sensor out. I did not have to remove the clip but merely fed some of the slack wiring through it so that there was enough length to remove the MAF sensor without damaging it.





Now place the Crawford Q3 on the MAF sensor in the according direction, so that the side with the o-ring is facing downward (towards the airfilter). After the Q3 is in between the MAF and the intake, use the screws that come from Crawford Performance to tighten everything in place. It should look like this...



Now that the Q3, MAF, and screws are fastened together and the 30 minutes had past I reconnected the terminal to my battery and fired up the engine. I was able to drive around the block and make sure there were no initial hick-ups and so far no engine light or problems of any other breed.

I have a daily round-trip commute of 85-100 miles every day and will be able to record a good amount of gas mileage data. For a base line, the upgrades I have on my vehicle that alter factory performance is comprised of a LCE header, AFE Pro Dry air filter, and recently I had to replace one of my cats and welded in a federal Flowmaster. My average MPG since 2009 has been 22 MPG, 50% city to highway miles, with 265/70r16 Cooper AT3 tires 112T service rating.

I will post updates on my gas mileage and thoughts to this thread

 

This is a good opportunity to clean your MAF as well.

 

Real world Eco Block results:

Tank #1: 90% highway - 300.0 miles - 17.64 gallons - 17.0 mpg

Tank #2: 90% highway - 269.6 miles - 13.48 gallons - 20.0 mpg

The second tank was only 3/4 of a tank but I wanted to get a feel for my highway mileage so I filled up early. Both tanks used BP gas and were from a road trip, starting in Cincinnati, OH headed on I-75 North into Michigan and back. For those of you not familiar with Ohio, this is about as flat of a drive as it gets. It rained hard on me during most of the first tank and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the lower gas mileage or not. I'm beginning to think that the ECU played a larger part in the lower than expected first tank results as it was still "learning" how to adjust to the Eco Block. I'll keep an eye on my gas mileage over my next few tanks and try to get 1000+ miles of results. Also, just to note, no other changes were made to the truck other than the addition of the Eco Block. For comparison sake, my last non Eco Block tank was 15.77 mpg and that tank was about 75% highway. My next few tanks should also be in the 75% highway range and should give me a good look at whether or not the Eco Block is going to actually improve my gas mileage. I'll keep filling up at the same BP station by my house in order to limit as many variables as I can. Full disclosure though, I will be changing my oil this coming weekend. While I don't think that's going to impact my gas mileage I figured it was worth noting. So far, I'm pleased with the early results of the Eco Block but only time will tell if it actually works or not.

 

The only thing I am concerned with after all the reasons why it will and won't be possible to get accurate readings is one thing that was mentioned:

Will the truck just recalibrate itself to go rich again once it learns the eco block?

Secondly and slightly related what happens if you DO or DON'T unplug the battery after install?

 

The ECU only checks up on itself when its in closed loop fueling. During open loop fueling there is no look up table for the ECU to compare against so it cannot make a trim. At the moment, computers can only do what they are told... a little stupid they are

As for disconnecting the battery. When the o2 sensor comes up to temp, the ECU will immediately trim the fuel to match the air fuel ratio in the closed loop look up table. I never disconnect the battery but it will not hurt anything if you feel the need.

 

Yes the truck will relearn from the closed loop mode. 4x4wire has a good description of the ECU operation and how the vehicle will apply trims.
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/4Runner/tech/OBDII_ECU/

 

Is closed loop fueling not where we are looking for the gains? Daily driving?

 

The ECU will relearn closed loop fueling and apply those offsets to the open loop table.

 

Okay. TDC I'm not ignoring your link I am just going to read it later.

 

Ok, I've got about 1700 miles since installing the ecoblock. I did no other changes to the truck since installing. Buying my gas at same station, same pump, and I've averaged 18.5 since truck was new, never noticed a change in winter gas, so we might not use that here. Truck has 60,000+ miles.
1st tank- 19.6 mpg, 60/40 city to highway, cruise set at 77 on highway
2nd tank- 18.2 mpg, 80/20 city to highway, hauled ass this tank getting kids to school and practices, I knew this was going to be a bad mpg tank, I figured low 17s, was surprised by the 18.2.
3rd tank- 20.14 mpg, 50/50 city to highway, cruise set at 77. Basically my best mileage ever since new. Only one tank has ever been close, and on that tank I tried taking off slow and kept cruise at 65 when on highway.
4th tank- 18.94 mpg, 70/30 city to highway, cruise set at 77.
5th tank- 20.08 mpg, 50/50 city to highway, cruise set at 77
So before eco block, averaged right at 18.5, since ecoblock 19.3. I have not changed driving habits or any other part on truck.

 

That is a really good product report. Thanks a ton for taking the time to post it for us! Definitely seems in the realm of possible. Thanks again.

 

There will be some gains in closed loop from the Ignition and cam timing advance.

 

Same here... thanks for taking the time to put this together for the community.

 

Any dynos lined up?

 

Not at the moment, still waiting on a manual gearbox truck

 

I'm there in June...more than happy to hop on that Dyno of yours Quirt.

 

can you run some before and after auto?

 

Come on by then

 

The automatic will not give us repeatable numbers on our DynaPack dyno so there is not much of a benefit to be had.