5ktq electrical problems update (not fixed)

[Cody Forbes]

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> This one's really been bugging me. I love troubleshooting (hence why I
> own some audis), but it seems that we don't have the data we need yet.
> If the problem really is ignition, then why not measure parameters
> effecting that system? I haven't seen any posts yet that detail voltage
> or signal to the coil, or from the crank sensors.

I haven't been able to find any details on what to look for exactly in my
Bentley regaurding the coil voltages. I never though to check the crank
sensors. The Mac-11 gets its RPM signal from one of the crank sensors, no?
If so then I doubt that is the issue because my EFI steals the tach signal
from the Mac-11 and reads dead accurate with what I hear by ear and what I
see on the cars tach. I will check them none the less though today. I'll be
working on the car @ about 3pm so expect some results posts at about 3:30 or
4pm.

>Those would be my
> first two locations to measure. If those are producing/recieving the
> signals expected, I'd then look to the wiring between them and the ECU.
> Perhaps you could measure the signals *at* the ECU when driving. If that
> all checks out, the ECU itself would be my next target. You've probably
> swapped a spare in already though. In theory you could pull a few key
> components off the car (distributor, coil, crank sensors, and ECU) and
> do all the testing on the bench. To me it seems odd to put so much
> effort in to looking at alternator wiring and such (which may help the
> problem, but certainly isn't the most likely cause).

Like I said above the EFI ECU steals tach from the Mac-11 and the laptop
readout seems to be accurate. Hehe, you hit that one though, I've tried 3
different Mac-11s, 2 QLCC and 1 stock FWIW. The alternator stuff isn't so
bad, I took the dust cover/air duct off of it, and afterall it's a 5k so I
don't need to jack it up to fit under the front.

>
> After all, the car starts.....I'm guessing that the voltage during
> starting is far less than the 12.6 volts that have been causing problems.
>

Agreed, thats whats really killing me here! My father (who couldn't tell the
differance between an ECU and a computer monitor - after all hes on AOL,
lol.) keeps insiting that the charging system is bad because he thinks the
ECU absolutely needs 13v to function, then I ask how come it starts on  less
then 12v and he can't answer. I came up with the whole alternator wiring
thing after I decided to go on a rampage cleaning every electrical connector
I could get my hands on, and after touching the alt the car ran fine. Could
have been co-incidental.

> Also, since the same symptoms existed prior to the EFI swap (wasn't that
> posted at some point?) I would rule out the EFI system as being a
> contributor. Of course, if you really wanted to solve things, you should
> talk to Javad and see about getting a beta version of the direct fire
> setup :o) That would pretty much get rid of all the current ignition
> components, except the two crank sensors. Just a thought.
>

Yep, same problem on CIS, though I didn't know it at the time. All I knew
then was the CIS was going funky on me (pressure going down for now obvious
reasons) so I started replacing CIS stuff, then said screw it and went EFI
ahead of schedule. I would LOVE to get rid of the factory ignition if I
could find something that matches my criteria. Numero Uno is its GOT to be
knock sensing. I'm a high boost kinda guy ;-). My EFI is MegaSquirt, and
there are a ton of related ignition systems (MegaSpark, MegaJolt,
MegaJoltEDIS, and about 3 more), but the ones that are knock sensing don't
play friendly to 5cyl, and the ones that are 5cyl friendly aren't knock
sensing. I did find one I love (Tomtek) but I'm not electronics savvy enough
to impliment it (only 1 has been built, only stuff thats availible for it is
the gerber files for the PCB and the schematics). Hey Eric (Fahlgren) wana
build me a Tomtek ignition? Hehe. Another Mega ignition is under
development, UltraMegaSquirt, that takes the exsiting EFI, adds ignition and
a crapload of featues, and put it into the same (or simmilar) box slightly
smaller then a VHS tape. I'll most likely nab one or 2 of those for my cars
if they come out before I get somebody to build me a Tomtek. How far along
is your setup Javad? Will it operate separately of 034EFI, or are they
intertwined?

> --
> Dan Cordon
> Mechanical Engineer
> University of Idaho - Engine Research Facility
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