synergy 2a correct set up?

[geegee]

HAS ANYBODY got a modern day version of this FOR THE SYNERGY 2A?
this original review is great but does not refer to the 2a version?
How To set up a Synergy - the correct way.
I am posting this here because of the number of requests regarding "How To", but also because of several reports of problems after fitting because the correct procedure was not carried out. This info is provided by Ron with a new unit, but several are now changing hands on the used market.

Perhaps this could be posted as a sticky for future reference.


The Ronbox has 10 different positions (via the rotary control) for the tuning section.
Each position offers a different combination of-
· MAF boost (Low, Medium and High)
· Throttle response (Low, Medium and High), and
· Power (High or Very High).
Positions 1, 2 and 3 all give Low MAF boost, with either Low, Medium or High throttle response, and High power (note: this set is only used with a Bosch MAF sensor, if you have a Pierburgh unit go to)-
Positions 4, 5, and 6, which give Medium MAF boost, then the same as above, or-
Positions 7, 8, and 9, which give High MAF boost, then the same as above.
Last, but by no means least, is Position 10. This is the dragster setting. Low MAF boost, High throttle response, and Very High Power.

The correct way to set up this box of tricks is as follows:

Please remember that the ignition must be OFF before you make any changes.

After installing, switch the MAF section ON and the Tuning section OFF. You can’t set anything up correctly until you have sorted out the MAF section. The idea is to find out first whether you need Low, Medium, or High MAF boost. You do this by driving the car normally, and changing the setting on the rotary control until the car pulls OK from lowish revs without that “heart in the mouth” nothing is happening feeling. Note, for this part there are only three different settings, 1 (Low), 4 (Medium) and 7 (High). Don’t go any higher than necessary as this will only cause excessive smoke.
When you have found the correct position out of those three, then you can move on to the bit you’ve been waiting for.
TURN ON THE TUNING SECTION
Whichever position you have selected, 1, 4 or 7 can now be “fine tuned” to give you more control over how the car responds. The options are Low, Medium or High throttle response. Basically this is how the car responds to input from the throttle pedal, from smooth to sudden.

Each of the above three positions has two more positions under the same MAF boost band setting.
So,
Position 1, Low boost, Low throttle response, also has
Position 2, Low boost, Medium throttle response, and
Position 3, Low boost, High throttle response.

This is the same for position 4 (with 5&6)
And position 7 (with 8&9)

Try all three settings in the band that you have previously selected to see which suits your style of driving, and that’s it. Job done. Go out and enjoy.

[Dragrad]

I presume that you have been here.....

http://tuning-diesels.com/Ronbox2/rb2.htm

[marinabrian]

This assumes the Pierburg MAF is fitted, for Bosch MAF Synergy is a waste of time, period.

If you have a Bosch MAF leave the MAFAM section turned off
Brian

[rasa]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

This assumes the Pierburg MAF is fitted, for Bosch MAF Synergy is a waste of time, period.

If you have a Bosch MAF leave the MAFAM section turned off
Brian

i did not notice a difference with the mafam turned on, i had it turned on thinking it was helping(working) then when i got the 160 map tried it on and off, there was no difference, sold the synergy as was to smokey, there was a tiny difference in harsh power ie giving it the beans in the torque band.but i was like batman with his smoke screen coming out the back.

[websith]

I was so disappointed with the power output of my Rover 75 2.0 CDT Club, really slow acceleration and **** poor performance above 3,000 rpm. I had to put my foot to the floor in every gear to get it to move. I’ve had it now for 3 years.

25th July 2015 - I have now tuned my 2002 Rover 75 2.0 CDT Club and followed TO THE LETTER Rover Rons tune up instructions but in stages to feel the effect of each tune up element. The car has done 115,000 miles now.

Step 1 - Change PCV Filter with new toilet roll part.
Effect – Amazement, the car was totally different, more responsive and better performance over 3000 rpm.

Step 2 - Clean EGR valve. Well it had 1/4 inch of coke all round its orifice, you must have seen the pictures, and well mine was minging. I cleaned it by chipping off all the hard stuff first while dry then scrubbed it with old toothbrush and rags with hot soapy water (washing up liquid). Then I blocked off the vacuum tube to effectively disable EGR valve.
Effect – Total amazement. The power band came in gradually but with a steady huge increase in torque all the way to redline. 1000 to 2000 rpm power was also increased slightly, still had to floor it in each gear to wake up the 111 BHP but a much better drive all round.

Step 3 - Air inlet and Air Filter box butchery
I sawn off the air inlet from the front slam plate back to the engine cover (removed all the accordion crud). I also hacksawed off a small section of air filter around the MAF to enable easier access to unplug and plug in the MAF.
Effect - The car felt even more torque and revved higher and much quicker. The difference was felt in my seat for sure albeit slight.

Now the last step - Fit a Synergy 2A Tune box

The Ronbox Synergy 2A, 2 channel has 10 different positions (via a rotary control) . It also has an on/off switch for the 2 channels
Each position offers a different combination of-

• Channel 1 MAF boost On/Off (If a Pierburgh is used must be set to on always)
• Channel 2 Tuning On/Off

Position Torq Power
1 Low Med
2 Low High
3 Med Med
4 Med High
5 High High
6 Low Med
7 Low Med
8 Med Med
9 Med High
10 High High

Positions 1 - 5 are for an In-spec Bosch MAF
Positions 6 - 10 are for a Pierburgh MAF or a NAF Bosch MAF

Before fitting the Ronbox I ran with car MAF unplugged to see what happens. Well there was absolutely no difference to performance.

I fitted the Ronbox, took all of 15 minutes, the supplied instructions were easy to follow. Just check, recheck and triple check the connections before you start-up. I started with setting 5 as I have a Bosch MAF but no idea how accurate it is, just to experience full settings before anything else.

Now the Road Test
The power delivery difference was incredible and felt it in the seat immediately. However, the power band was steady and to be honest I expected a bit more kick from those 33 extra horses. I could actually hear the turbo from 2200 rpm whistling (never heard that before). The power delivery above 2200 after the turbo kicked in was awesome. I can feel the difference as it pushed me back in my seat, never experienced that before either. Wow this is looking good so far, my slow, lacklustre Rover 75 was starting to feel like a fun car to drive.

27 July 2015 - 05:00am Monday morning my commute to work is 210 miles which I do 3 times a week from Birmingham to Rhyl. Outward bound journey on M6, and coming home again I use all A roads don’t touch the M6 after 3pm. This is sooooo boring in a slow sluggish car!

I changed the setting to 10 thinking my Bosch MAF is NAF so let’s see.

I got on the M6 and accelerated full bore. Well my seat now has a huge dent in it where my ass was pushed into it along with a huge grin a mile wide lol.

The rev gauge went round so fast to 4500 in every gear I could hardly contain myself, whizzed passed everything on the road. Anyway, to cut a long story short after I found a little clear bit of M6 tarmac, I went for it. In 5th gear from 70 floored it. Well my hair went to the back of my head, and after a very short time I backed off my accelerator coz I bottled it at 128 MPH yes 128 miles per hour FFS!!!!! and it still had more to give. Before it would only do 95 foot through the floor. I haven’t done that sort of speed in 30 years and will probably never do it again, been there done it now, got the brown trousers and permanent grin to prove it. Don't want to give myself a heart attack (I'm nearly 60 you know).

I now have a fun car to drive and when it’s driven at a leisurely pace the power delivery is so sweet now. I can now change gear at 1500 rather than 2500 and each gear pulls like a steam train and I can really feel those 33 torqy horses now. My accelerator pedal hardly moves in each gear and I can now cruise at 40 mph in 5th gear without having change down all the time. I can now overtake with confidence and a smile and pull out onto roundabouts without scrunching my eyes up and expecting to lose my rear bumper.

I was very dubious about doing this entire tune up stuff but I love the Rover 75 and always wanted one. I was only prompted to doing all this due the poor **** performance. Why on earth did Rover not produce this car to go like this in the first place! I can but only imagine what the 2.0 CDTi does after these mods starting with 135 BHP up to 155 BHP!

My Recommendation - Follow Rover Rons advice to the letter and you won’t be disappointed. Remember though that you have to start with a car that runs properly before you add a tune up chip. In this instance I was NOT disappointed lol! Any car I have in the future will have a tuning chip added!

[marinabrian]

So by chopping off the air intake you will now leave yourself open to MAF sensor contamination and premature failure

How Synergy and other common rail "tuning" boxes operate is to intercept and attenuate the high pressure sensor signal.

This has the effect of the ECM "seeing" the HP sensor output as artificially low, so the HP regulator on the pump current is increased to compensate for this artificially low signal.

The result is, the injector pulsewidth is increased, and combined with the now much higher common rail pressure, excessive fuel is fed to the engine.

It is a crude and wasteful way to increase the power of the 116PS variant, and you will be seeing an engine output of approximately 125BHP as a result.

You may wish to have a read HERE and reinstate the air intake, as it contributes nothing but a psychological feel good factor, and was a modification championed by someone with a vested interest in selling replacement MAF sensors

Brian

Originally Posted by websith

I was so disappointed with the power output of my Rover 75 2.0 CDT Club, really slow acceleration and **** poor performance above 3,000 rpm. I had to put my foot to the floor in every gear to get it to move. I’ve had it now for a year.

25th July 2015 - I have now tuned my 2002 Rover 75 2.0 CDT Club and followed TO THE LETTER Rover Rons tune up instructions but in stages to feel the effect of each tune up element. The car has done 115,000 miles now.

Step 1 - Change PCV Filter with new toilet roll part.
Effect – Amazement, the car was totally different, more responsive and better performance over 3000 rpm.

Step 2 - Clean EGR valve. Well it had 1/4 inch of coke all round its orifice, you must have seen the pictures, and well mine was minging. I cleaned it by chipping off all the hard stuff first while dry then scrubbed it with old toothbrush and rags with hot soapy water (washing up liquid). Then I blocked off the vacuum tube to effectively disable EGR valve.
Effect – Total amazement. The power band came in gradually but with a steady huge increase in torque all the way to redline. 1000 to 2000 rpm power was also increased slightly, still had to floor it in each gear to wake up the 111 BHP but a much better drive all round.

Step 3 - Air inlet and Air Filter box butchery
I sawn off the air inlet from the front slam plate back to the engine cover (removed all the accordion crud). I also hacksawed off a small section of air filter around the MAF to enable easier access to unplug and plug in the MAF.
Effect - The car felt even more torque and revved higher and much quicker. The difference was felt in my seat for sure albeit slight.

Now the last step - Fit a Synergy 2A Tune box

The Ronbox Synergy 2A, 2 channel has 10 different positions (via a rotary control) . It also has an on/off switch for the 2 channels
Each position offers a different combination of-

• Channel 1 MAF boost On/Off (If a Pierburgh is used must be set to on always)
• Channel 2 Tuning On/Off

Position Torq Power
1 Low Med
2 Low High
3 Med Med
4 Med High
5 High High
6 Low Med
7 Low Med
8 Med Med
9 Med High
10 High High

Positions 1 - 5 are for an In-spec Bosch MAF
Positions 6 - 10 are for a Pierburgh MAF or a NAF Bosch MAF

Before fitting the Ronbox I ran with car MAF unplugged to see what happens. Well there was absolutely no difference to performance.

I fitted the Ronbox, took all of 15 minutes, the supplied instructions were easy to follow. Just check, recheck and triple check the connections before you start-up. I started with setting 5 as I have a Bosch MAF but no idea how accurate it is, just to experience full settings before anything else.

Now the Road Test
The power delivery difference was incredible and felt it in the seat immediately. However, the power band was steady and to be honest I expected a bit more kick from those 33 extra horses. I could actually hear the turbo from 2200 rpm whistling (never heard that before). The power delivery above 2200 after the turbo kicked in was awesome. I can feel the difference as it pushed me back in my seat, never experienced that before either. Wow this is looking good so far, my slow, lacklustre Rover 75 was starting to feel like a fun car to drive.

27 July 2015 - 05:00am Monday morning my commute to work is 210 miles which I do 3 times a week from Birmingham to Rhyl. Outward bound journey on M6, and coming home again I use all A roads don’t touch the M6 after 3pm. This is sooooo boring in a slow sluggish car!

I changed the setting to 10 thinking my Bosch MAF is NAF so let’s see.

I got on the M6 and accelerated full bore. Well my seat now has a huge dent in it where my ass was pushed into it along with a huge grin a mile wide lol.

The rev gauge went round so fast to 4500 in every gear I could hardly contain myself, whizzed passed everything on the road. Anyway, to cut a long story short after I found a little clear bit of M6 tarmac, I went for it. In 5th gear from 70 floored it. Well my hair went to the back of my head, and after a very short time I backed off my accelerator coz I bottled it at 128 MPH yes 128 miles per hour FFS!!!!! and it still had more to give. Before it would only do 95 foot through the floor. I haven’t done that sort of speed in 30 years and will probably never do it again, been there done it now, got the brown trousers and permanent grin to prove it. Don't want to give myself a heart attack (I'm nearly 60 you know).

I now have a fun car to drive and when it’s driven at a leisurely pace the power delivery is so sweet now. I can now change gear at 1500 rather than 2500 and each gear pulls like a steam train and I can really feel those 33 torqy horses now. My accelerator pedal hardly moves in each gear and I can now cruise at 40 mph in 5th gear without having change down all the time. I can now overtake with confidence and a smile and pull out onto roundabouts without scrunching my eyes up and expecting to lose my rear bumper.

I was very dubious about doing this entire tune up stuff but I love the Rover 75 and always wanted one. I was only prompted to doing all this due the poor **** performance. Why on earth did Rover not produce this car to go like this in the first place! I can but only imagine what the 2.0 CDTi does after these mods starting with 135 BHP up to 155 BHP!

My Recommendation - Follow Rover Rons advice to the letter and you won’t be disappointed. Remember though that you have to start with a car that runs properly before you add a tune up chip. In this instance I was NOT disappointed lol! Any car I have in the future will have a tuning chip added!

[websith]

I am happy with it the way is thanks. As I said I did the tune up in stages to make sure there was a physical difference. So far its never run so good. If the MAF fails then I will get another one simple as. The differences felt were physical not psychological, I do know the difference.

By the way how will the MAF sensor get contaminated when its on the other side of the Air Filter?

I am not selling this synergy thing all I know that this tuning chip has made my car go much better than its ever done before.

[DMGRS]

I think it's due to excess spray being able to make it's way past the air filter, for example in extreme rain while on the motorway etc.
The 'fluff' on the outside of the filter will only stop a finite amount of water from getting through.

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by websith

I am happy with it the way is thanks. As I said I did the tune up in stages to make sure there was a physical difference. So far its never run so good. If the MAF fails then I will get another one simple as. The differences felt were physical not psychological, I do know the difference.

By the way how will the MAF sensor get contaminated when its on the other side of the Air Filter?

I am not selling this synergy thing all I know that this tuning chip has made my car go much better than its ever done before.

Well, all I can say is don't come crying when your MAF sensor is wrecked then

I spent about sixteen hours with the test car tied to a rolling road when finessing the diesel tunes, and trust me when I say removal of the bellows does not increase power in the slightest, not one jot.

MAF damage is caused when road spray is ingested and atomised, this passes through the air cleaner and is then deposited on the platinum hot wire.

The result is an increase in resistance of the sensor wire, and as the MAF sensor is in effect a Wheatstone Bridge arrangement, adversely affects the output offset voltage and linearity of the device.

What you have to remember, the person who advised chopping off the air intake, is the same person who wants to sell you a Mercedes van MAF sensor, which has no inlet air temperature sensor, which is a compromise in itself that overfuels wildly at low speeds, and requires amplification of the signal to prevent the car running out of steam over 3000 RPM

I found the perfect placement for the Synergy unit removed from the one owner FSH 63,000 mile 75 116 I bought with high pressure pump failure....the bin

But if you're happy that's fine, we are all different at the end of the day

Best of luck

Brian

[websith]

Ok, thanks Peeps, will take all this advice on board. (Brian I have done a lot crying this year with this motor believe me)

I did a lot of checking on Tinternet before I went ahead with these mods and didn't really see many bad reviews on this Synergy thingy mabob.

My MAF is naf anyway so I will get another and see what happens. I didn't really understand all the techno speak but I appreciate your comments and will remove the synergy if I get problems (now I'm aware that it could potentially kill my car?). I must say although I love the 75 the stock performance is a total let down. That and all the other problems I've had with this car will not prompt me to get another one.

I've had the car for three years now and not spent much on it so far, exhaust, couple of tyres etc, but this year all the problems came at once. I need to get a year out of this one now that I've spent a bit on it. I thought I would get all these repairs done rather than buy another car for £2000 with potentially the same or more problems to fix. At least all the running gear should be ok.

The only thing that saved its life this year is the body work and the underneath are in tip top condition.

PROBLEMS FIXED THIS YEAR £1200 spent

1. Boot arm deep in water, filled back seat as well before I noticed it. Both rear light cluster gaskets fixed it.
2. Plenum with lots of water in it just caught in time before ECU fried, cleaned out all the drains and fabricated aluminium mesh covers for the open sides of the plenum areas, where the bonnet struts are.
3. Steering wheel vibration even with bottom gearbox mount arm replaced with OEM. Can't fix this really irritating problem and it seems nobody else can either.
4. Both rear springs broken. one broken in 2 places lol!
5, ALL 4 wheel bearings knackered.
6. New clutch including the expensive DMF
7. Both front discs and pads replaced
8. Both Droplinks
9. Lower suspension arm bushes.
10. New MAF ordered (£85 the BMW 525i one)
11. Both Brake pad sensors wiring **** so cut them off and tied together to keep the dash light off. Will check in future with the old fashioned eyeball test.
12. Brake ABS sensors replaced on both sides, absolute pig to get the old ones out.
13. New tyres all round

I have budgeted for new In tank and underbonnet fuel pumps as I am in that "mileage zone" I will change them both if one or the other goes.

Finally, My car is driving just how a like it at the moment, however, if my car exhibits any of the symptoms given in supporting posts I will certainly put the Synergy 2 in the round filing cabinet (bin) as advised. However, for the moment I will enjoy what seems to be superduperpower I've got until the car dies. I reckon "Its better to burn out than fade away!" If it lasts another 12 months all well and good and the money will have been well spent. If it dies in that time I will bite the bullet and get a 130 BHP Mondeo or Focus and be done with it and say adiós to Rover.

LATEST
30th Jul 2015 - 14:00 PM New MAF arrived and fitted it. Made a noticeable difference between 1000 and 2000 rpm for sure, power band seems a lot smoother now. Turned the MAF thingy off on Synergy 2 and made no difference so will leave it turned off.

I bought a K&N Filter but I am reluctant to fit it as a lot of peeps say the oil will kill the MAF, which I am inclined to logically agree with. The K&N people absolutely deny this will be the case and there are some who would agree with them. I reckon I will wait a while until the new MAF dies or a lot of time passes before I try this one lol.

Please leave a comment on K&N if you have experience with them thanks.

PS The last car I modified was in 1979 it was a Ford Escort MKII, Pinto 2.0 engine, high lift cam, twin 40 DCOE carbs, gas flowed head all ports!, limited slip diff axle widened arches front and back with big alloy wheels and low profile tyres etc. This thing did 2nd gear standing start wheelies!