After seeing several DME failures...

Please be more specific and break it down by number and year.

KJZ78701 wrote:


In the southeast we have had 6 failures of the early DME, 3 failures of the late DME, 1 failure of the 88 DME, and 3 88 DMEs found with illegal aftermarket chips rendering them useless due to not having the stock chip.

Thanks Jason

What options do you see for those with early DMEs?

Continue as is if you are making good power. I have one racer in the Southeast who has a motor being run by an early DME which makes about 139 avg hp. He is also always in the top 4-5 with podium competitiveness in a field of 10+ racers at Road Atlanta.

The power is still there with the early DME, you just don't get the benefit of the extra 150 RPMs. I always shift at 6k so I rarely need the extra 150. I raced up until Watkins Glen (2016 Eastern Champs) on the late DME, which has the same rev limit as the early DME, and never saw an absolute need for the extra 150 RPM. In my experience, I am wasting RPM above 6k adding wear and tear to the engine and burning/blowing out more oil. My oil consumption each event went down when I started shifting at 6k rather than carrying my upshift to closer to redline.

You can source a late AFM for cheap ($40-80) and then purchase one of these new DMEs if you want the best parts, but it wont guarantee you will make more power.

www.ebay.com/itm/1986-Porsche-944-n-a-Ai...MVFXHqHC&vxp=mtr

What I meant was:

What options do we have if we have an early DME and it breaks?

Is it as simple as plug and play with a new DME / AFM combo?
Can I reman my old DME before I even get to the track? (Clean, inspect, resolder)

You can clean, inspect, and fix broken solders on the early DMEs if you like. Repairing the OEM is no problem so long as you don't modify for other purposes. I don't know if anyone has tracked down one cause of DMEs to stop working other than overall age and fatigue. We cant point to one particular chip, component, or solder that fails which is the prevailing cause and can be inspected for future failure on currently working DMEs.

The late DME and AFM will install without problem into a car which had an early DME and AFM. You just have to match a DME and AFM together by early and late due to the output voltage change between early and late years AFM. All other connectors and functionality are the same.