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Old 06-25-2018, 10:55 PM   #1
chansdaman
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Default Rocksteady

Just installed a flex fuel kit for my bugeye. Donnie from rocksteady patiently and promptly answered this newb’s million questions. The kit was expertly package and put together. Came with straight and 90 degree bend hoses, fuel line, zip ties, etc. If you are looking to buy a flex fuel kit, please check out Rocksteady!
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:53 PM   #2
ARKTiKPENGUiN
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chansdaman View Post
Just installed a flex fuel kit for my bugeye. Donnie from rocksteady patiently and promptly answered this newb’s million questions. The kit was expertly package and put together. Came with straight and 90 degree bend hoses, fuel line, zip ties, etc. If you are looking to buy a flex fuel kit, please check out Rocksteady!
Planning on using their rotated exhaust kit so this makes me happy to hear they build good kits and are willing to help!
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Old 06-09-2020, 05:32 PM   #3
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how happy are you with the fuel flex kit?
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Old 07-10-2020, 09:03 PM   #4
lamp
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how happy are you with the fuel flex kit?
I bought one and it failed withing a few weeks. No reply from the seller.
$300 down the drain.

Instead I'd recommend just buying the Innovate MTX-D, ECB-1, or ECF-1. The MTX-D is less expensive, comes with a gauge, and is a MUCH better product. I bought an ECB-1 4-in-1 gauge which includes a Wideband, Boost, Ethanol Content, and Fuel Temp. The Innovate gauges have a 0V to 5V output for Ethanol Content so you don'e even need to buy a converter like this Rocksteady thing.

So here's my experience with the Rocksteady kit. I purchased the RST flex kit April 18th, 2020 for $300. The kit arrived a few weeks later and was installed same day. Rocksteady sent everything needed for the installation and I had it up and running in about an hour. The most difficult part is deciding where to mount the Ethanol sensor. I was happy to see that the kit came with the nice Continental ethanol sensor.

After installing the the ethanol sensor, the converter takes only minutes to install. It just plugs in at the Ethanol sensor and then at the Rear O2 sensor plug.

I launched Romraider and saw the ethanol content sensor was sending signal. Cool.

It took me a few weeks to get my Carberry Flex Fuel tune ready. I had some mechanical issues to overcome and some tuning to do in preparation for the flex fuel setup.

So about 6 weeks after installing the kit I flashed my Flex Fuel map and fueled up with a few gallons E85. The ECU read NO ethanol content. I tested with my Multimeter and found no voltage at all at the rear O2 sensor signal wire that RST uses for ethanol content. huh?... what did I do wrong? I had 12V and ground at the rear O2 and everything was good with the tune.. Did the sensor already fail? WTF?
I bought another ethanol sensor (GM AC Delco sensor this time) but still no signal.

So on the Rocksteady site it says, "this item is guaranteed against manufacture defects replacement converters will be shipped after troubleshooting is done with technical support."

I emailed Donnie 3 times at 2 different email addresses for support troubleshooting the issue. I don't want my money back, I just want the product I paid $300 for to work as advertised.

It's been 3 weeks now and Donnie hasn't even bothered to reply. Maybe he's on vacation or something? Whatever.

Eventually I just gave up and bought an Innovate gauge. Both of my ethanol sensors are functional with the Innovate gauge and I'm now running flex fuel. I'll update the post if something changes but as of 7/10/2020 I've heard nothing from RST.
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Old 03-17-2021, 07:19 PM   #5
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Yeah... hate to bring up a dead thread... but I have a dead Rocksteadytuning flexfuel kit that died after a couple weeks as well. Rocksteady disappeared and never returned any emails.
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Old 03-17-2021, 09:53 PM   #6
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Yeah... hate to bring up a dead thread... but I have a dead Rocksteadytuning flexfuel kit that died after a couple weeks as well. Rocksteady disappeared and never returned any emails.
Dude, this thread is not dead. Avoid rocksteady tuning. Bad service, no support. Buy the Innovate gauge and never look back. I've been daily driving my flex fuel car since my last post with no issues. E85 is really fun btw!

At least you can use some of the plugs wiring from your rocksteady kit to wire up your new setup. Or you can just call iWire and tell them what you need since they stock all of that stuff.
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Old 03-18-2021, 01:22 PM   #7
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I almost think he closed his doors. I ran his rotated kit which was pretty much a good experience and I'm still running an ethanol sensor of his that's just a Continental sensor with the rear o2 PnP harness, I made my own fuel lines and integrated it all myself and it still works. But yeah, hearing more and more of this out of Donnie.
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Old 03-18-2021, 03:40 PM   #8
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Maybe you guys can help? My Rocksteady flex fuel kit started showing less than 50% of the correct ethanol value. I was driving down the highway with e80 in my tank when all of a sudden the ethanol value dropped to 40%? WTH... it then just kept going down. I asked my builder and he said that the kits aren't waterproof and when they get wet, it can cause incorrect values. (It's been raining here non-stop for days.).

Here we are two days later and it's still showing the wring value. Does anyone know where I can get parts for this kit? I already replaced the main ethanol sensor, but another part of it is malfunctioning.
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Old 03-18-2021, 04:02 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnymac View Post
Maybe you guys can help? My Rocksteady flex fuel kit started showing less than 50% of the correct ethanol value. I was driving down the highway with e80 in my tank when all of a sudden the ethanol value dropped to 40%? WTH... it then just kept going down. I asked my builder and he said that the kits aren't waterproof and when they get wet, it can cause incorrect values. (It's been raining here non-stop for days.).

Here we are two days later and it's still showing the wring value. Does anyone know where I can get parts for this kit? I already replaced the main ethanol sensor, but another part of it is malfunctioning.
There are no parts to buy for that kit, it is home made.

There are instructions online on how to make your own. I suggest you do that or buy another kit. I can make you a flex module to cut yours out and substitute with the new one, or i can make you a whole flex kit minus continental sensor which you have, as well as fuel lines. Pm me if interested. FWIW i am running my own diy flex kit for 32k miles and not one issue. I am ashamed to say but it is still in a ziplock sandwich bag stashed between battery and chassis (the module). Why fix something that works.. but sooner or later i will have to tend to it. Its just that it worked when i tested it and it hasnt stopped working since

I would not suggest buying cobbs kit. It is riddled with problems @650$

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2867369

Another option is innovate gauge. If i recall it had an output for ethanol content (so module inside).

Last edited by Rexy18; 03-18-2021 at 04:10 PM.
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Old 03-18-2021, 04:05 PM   #10
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Old 03-22-2021, 06:33 PM   #11
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My ethanol content has always read low. I have fresh E85 in the tank right now from basically the most trusted station in the entire Denver area and it is literally always, rock on 85% content. You can bet on it. And my AP reads 72%.

Sensor has the Continental logo on it, I assume it's widely replaceable. I just told my tuner about the variation and it runs fine.
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Old 03-25-2021, 01:11 PM   #12
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Does anyone know what would cause the Raw Ethanol Content readings to spike from 0-100%? I have swapped out the actual flexfuel/ethanol sensor and both sensors cause my readings to be all over the place... throwing a CEL. So frustrating.
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Old 03-26-2021, 03:14 PM   #13
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How is it grounded? Like cobb thru a connector or gnd ring to chassis?
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Old 03-26-2021, 05:52 PM   #14
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How is it grounded? Like cobb thru a connector or gnd ring to chassis?
It plugs in just like the COBB version to the TGV.
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Old 03-26-2021, 11:35 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lamp View Post
Dude, this thread is not dead. Avoid rocksteady tuning. Bad service, no support. Buy the Innovate gauge and never look back. I've been daily driving my flex fuel car since my last post with no issues. E85 is really fun btw!

At least you can use some of the plugs wiring from your rocksteady kit to wire up your new setup. Or you can just call iWire and tell them what you need since they stock all of that stuff.
The innovate gauge looks like a good way to do it. Where can I find installation instructions? How does the ECU read the signal?
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Old 03-27-2021, 01:01 AM   #16
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Assuming its grounded properly something is malfunctioning. I would get the innovate solution, but i have no clue how it mounts. I assume instructions are on the websites where it is sold.
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Old 03-28-2021, 01:12 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rexy18 View Post
Assuming its grounded properly something is malfunctioning. I would get the innovate solution, but i have no clue how it mounts. I assume instructions are on the websites where it is sold.
Yeah, Innovate Motorsports website has been down for days.... can't find the installation manual anywhere for reference.
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Old 04-08-2021, 08:49 PM   #18
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Update.

Managed to get in touch with Don from Rocksteady. He was very kind and apologetic about being awol for the past year. I explained to him that I was having trouble with my RST Flexfuel kit and he gladly sent out a brand new kit (minus the sensor). I was very excited because I had had nothing but problems with my RST Kit. It threw so many CEL's that I was going nuts.

Replacement kit arrived very quickly. -A new V3 kit!!! Installed it and bam... CEL instantly. The kit showed 0-100% raw ethanol bouncing all over the place. CRAP.

SO I sent him another message and he was again helpful and apologetic. He said another customer also had the exact same problem with his latest batch. So he sent me a third kit.

This kit arrived and worked... for 4 days before it crapped out. This kit just gave up entirely and showed 0% ethanol when my tank was full of e85.

I wrote back to him again and never heard back this time. Oh well... not to worry, I have moved on and upgraded to the lesser expensive Innovate MTX-d gauge/kit.

The Innovate MTX-d kit is available on Amazon for under $200. Works great!!! In fact, it turns out the the turbo boost issues that I've been having were related to this stupid RST kit. I could not get full boost out of my FP Blue no matter what I did. Couldn't get over 24psi for over a year. I spent thousands on upgrades. Install the Innovate kit and instantly my car came alive. As it turns out, the RST kit was never showing the correct ethanol content of my fuel... The RST kit showed that I had 78% raw ethanol in my tank... the Innovate gauge shows 67%!!! But, since it's actually correct, the car pulls better. I put 93 pump gas in my car which brought the ethanol level down to 20%. WIth E20, I can still get over 24 psi of boost!!! (With the RST kit and e15-20, I could never get more than 19-20 psi and the car pulled like ****.).

I am not slagging RST, Don tried to make it right... but that flexfuel kit is garbage. Completely unreliable. If you are running an arduino/RST/DIY COBB style kit variety, beware that the code you're using to run the kit may not be reporting that correct ethanol %... That will possibly hurt you in the long run. (I have been through 2 DP's, new EWG, Uppipe, mulitiple dyno runs trying to correct my lackluster boosting. Once I got rid of the RST Flexfuel kit boost levels went up dramatically!!).

Good luck to everyone! I can't believe that anyone would buy the COBB kit for $600 or even the RST kit for $350 when the Innovate one is less than $200. I wish I knew about the Innovate one before I messed with the RST kit.
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Old 04-09-2021, 09:47 AM   #19
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That's frustrating. Like I said he gave me just a sensor and pigtail harness with my rotated kit but it's been reliable for me. I made my own fuel system.
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Old 04-09-2021, 08:33 PM   #20
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Glad it worked out for you. I almost bought innovate to make work with my setup but opted on making my own arduino. 33k miles later and it’s been rocksteady.

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