danteisme

iTrader: (2)

What did you use? i'm wanting to do the same thing, ever since i put the cap on my truck it squats with those stupid stock leaf springs.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

Oh, and updating for the car issues. I'll write more details after I do some more driving around with my scanner hooked up in the live feed mode and get some more information. It looks like when i get the crazy hesitation/bogging/backfiring/no power it is when the car is attempting to go into closed loop mode. After the car fights with itself, it states OL drive conditions on the scanner and it goes back into open loop and the car runs fine. So, all of my issues are coming from when the car is attempting to go into closed loop. However, it does not attempt to go into closed loop all the time. Normally with here and there driving (30 minutes or less), the car doesnt try to get into closed loop, it just stays in OL and says either OL-Drive conditions or OL-CL not ready on the scanner.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

Did you tap into any wires for your VAFC or on the harness you were using?

You're OBD2a I believe...maybe try another ecu? If you dont know anyone with an ecu to borrow and you're willing to pay the cost of shipping back, I'll send you my ecu to swap in and see if there's a difference? Just let me know and i'll pull it from the car.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

I did have one wire tapped for the A/F gauge but i removed the tap and fixed the wire. The VACF was tapped directly to the harness when i got the car back, but i removed that and repaired the wires. Its a boomslang harness now.

I am OBD2A, i havent had any luck so far finding a spare ECU. I would definitely pay the cost of shipping if you are willing to do that. that would be awesome!

tony_2018

wheelers 5 leaf, bilsteins 5100, sumosprings bumpstop. i think if i get taller tires it'll bump it up another inch.

jdmark1

iTrader: (2)

Yea like I said in my comment a few up, I think it's an ECU issue. I'd open it up and just have a look around to see what's up. I bet swapping in enjoytheridedc2's ecu fixes the issue

tony_2018

Considering you had electrical issues in the past that involved the ecu, its best to open it up and see.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

That is the exact leaf pack i was considering, you should def post a picture so i can see how it looks.

I'm hoping swapping the ECU fixes the issue, then i'll just need to track down another ECU.

ECU pics from last night.





Can't say i've ever really opened one of these up, but I dont see anything glaringly wrong?

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

PM me your address and i'll pull the ecu out either this evening or tomorrow morning. I'll ship it out tomorrow afternoon.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

I'm just adding some more observations. So, when my car acts all goofy and sputters and dies etc..., it only does it under load when its trying to get into closed loop. If i pop in the clutch or put it in neutral, it free revs with no hang ups. As soon as i put it back in gear and try to go (if it is still trying to get into closed loop) it hestitats and pops and sputters. The closest thing that i can describe the sound to is it sounds almost like launch control. Obviously, no where near as loud.

tony_2018

Try to find a way to see if your fuel is cutting out

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

That's exactly what it sounds like until i take the load off the car, then all is fine. I'll have to see if my scanner can show anything related to fuel in it's live feed function.

MotorMouth93

iTrader: (1)

Under load an engine uses much more fuel than just revving in neutral, I think it's worth checking the fuel pressure at the rail under load. Think about how much throttle input it takes to maintain 4000rpm in neutral vs trying to accelerate from 4000rpm....the throttle will be open more, therefore letting in more air, and requiring more fuel.

jdmark1

iTrader: (2)

Yea, it wouldn't hurt to check the fuel pressure at the rail. Though I doubt it has anything to do with the ecu not getting readings from the O2 sensor and staying in open loop, it's still not a bad preventative maintenance thing to do. Have you gotten the loaner ecu yet?

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

ECU loaner should be here this week. I was working on bleeding out the cooling system on the car yesterday and luckily enough the car started to act goofy while i was directly in front of my fuel pressure gauge. When the car started to stumble and nearly stop running, fuel pressure gauge stayed constant. I also checked the gauge while i was revving the car. The gauge would spike but then level itself out to a constant pressure reading.

MotorMouth93

iTrader: (1)

Also how is the oil pan leak?

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

I just checked on that this morning. I still smell a faint smell of oil hitting the exhaust somewhere, but there is no more oil puddle under the car when i park it. I've put about 600 miles on the car now since getting it back on the road. I'll get the car up in the air this weekend and take a closer look.
And i did check the oil level too, because the first thing i thought was, "oh crap, i hope the reason i'm not seeing oil on the floor of the garage isnt because there is no oil in the car now" lol. Oil level was right where it needed to be.

I really hope i get this odd issue straightened out with this open loop vs closed loop nonsense. At that point, small oil leak aside, the car is 100% mechanical wise. When the car is running in open loop, the car runs really well. It just still has that hiccup occasionally when it tries to get into closed loop.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

ECU is boxed and on its way to be shipped. I'll PM you the tracking info.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

fantastic, thank you for this!!!

Adding some more observations while i'm driving. I put some miles on the car with my scan tool connected in "live" mode to see what things were reading out as. Which doesnt mean they are reading correctly, but its a starting point. I missed the picture of the first screen, but here are the ST and LT fuel trim and O2 sensor readings right after startup before the car really gets warmed up.





And after the car is at operating temp. The really is no change.




I still have to go through the manual to see if any of these readings are in range with what they are supposed to be. I think its worth noting that whenever the car has its issue and tries to go into closed loop, the readings for the primary O2 sensor go to something like -36 and bounce around. I am 90% sure the readings for the secondary sensory stay at 0. I'm on "staycation" from work next week so i plan to do some further investigating into this car's odd issue.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

Update: so the oil leak is still definitely there. I parked the car for about 2 days and you could see the oil under the car. With that in mind, is it easy or feasible to straighten out my current oil pan lip? Or should i just start saving up for a new one?

I also disconnected the VAFC 2 for about a week now, just to doubly check it is not affecting the open loop / closed loop issue. It is not, but i did find out something else. When i had my car tuned with the VACF2, i am thinking it was for peak hp and tq, or this guy had no idea what he was doin. I didnt know much about cars then, so i just assumed being a professional tuner that he tuned it the best it could be. Well, it runs and drives SO MUCH BETTER without the VAFC2 plugged in. The power is delivery is smooth, VTEC doesnt punch you in the face like it did with the VAFC... Overall, it is just a nice smooth transition throughout the RPM range whether i am just driving or aggressively driving. The butt dyno says no loss in HP, not noticeably anyways....so i think i'm going to leave that disconnected.

tony_2018

uuugh...how the hell did I missed that you have a piggyback on there.....keep it off for now.

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

I tried to take a couple of videos of the car acting up. You may need to turn up your speakers to hear it in the first video, the second video is pretty noticeable.



And a couple of new pics because why not.

Supporting the people that help me out


And a pic of the car from my front porch, looking very dirty.

GreatWave

iTrader: (5)

I love that new decal!!

danteisme

iTrader: (2)

Let me know when you guys get another DB8 R in, there is a couple parts i'd like to snag i think.

GreatWave

iTrader: (5)

Will do man! Not on this next container, but probably on the November/December container.