Their website states “Factory OEM and OBD2 not supported!!!” on the ordering page. It’s intended for programming Megasquirt/Microsquirt and Speeduino ECUs. These are made to be flashed over and over again, where the stock ones are not.
https://www.efianalytics.com/register/viewProduct.jsp?productCode=TunerStudioMSUltra
Folks, I think we need to step back from the discussion about “should you do this”… There is a whole separate discussion to be had about what’s the best approach. But ultimately each woodgasser has to work with what’s available to them. In some areas of the US, 92-96 V8 Dodge Dakotas were/are plentiful, and it’s easier to follow Wayne’s layout than to innovate. Indeed there isn’t another factory-stock V8 light truck that I know of. Your other choices are to engine swap, or deal with the stock power output of a 4 or 6 cylinder. I think we should embrace the swap, its not that hard to do. If you can build a gasifier and mount it to a truck, you can swap a motor. Gauges and controls are the hard part, but not impossible.
Let’s set aside the notion of “this isn’t the right approach, just get a Dakota”… those who can do that, are doing so. If you instead have access to very old vehicles with carburetors, you’ll be learning to make those work instead. That at least gets you around emissions. But a lot of folks are surrounded by cheaper newer vehicles. The discussion at hand is, what vehicles from 96 onward are candidates for conversion? For a lot of folks there are few other options.
This is also not about money. Those of us in this to save money are used to working with 30+ year old vehicles regularly, gasoline or otherwise. But the market has shifted to where a mid-90s truck may cost the same or more than one from the mid-00s or even early 10’s. I just paid $2,000 for a 2004 Suburban 2500 6.0L 4x4 truck. The body is rough, frame is solid, engine runs perfect. I can’t get anything comparable from the 90’s for less than that, and I wanted into the newer platform anyhow. I’ve owned the 90’s versions and they have their own problems. I feel confident I could run woodgas on this vehicle with no major issues, except where to mount it… It’s not a pickup. Maybe a swingaway bumper mount.
But what about the folks that aren’t here to save money? This is freedom fuel, but not free fuel. It all costs time and money anyhow. I’m not talking about spending 50K, but maybe around 15K. What is the best woodgas vehicle option in that price range? I bet that opens up the market beyond 90’s Dakotas. You can get already engine swapped vehicles for a little over that cost, or get the donor + swap an engine for about half or 2/3 of that.
Bottom line, woodgas can run almost anything. Restricting it to mid-90’s Dakotas has never been practical in Europe, and is increasingly less practical here. Let’s explore our other options.
