m R g S r

My setup:
AEM 1052 (bought used)
new 255 intank pump
new ID 1000's
Used rsx typs S coils

So my car was tuned by miller on wednesday. When I first got there the radiator fan relay went bad along with the heater blower motor relay (they got water in them from when I relocated my fusebox) I replaced the heater blower relay, and hot wired the radiator fan to ingition + so it runs all the time.... and they work fine now.

Anyway while driving up my street the next day, the car lost all power, bogged, like someone turned the key off. (It was not turned off, and no my knee didn't hit it). I turned the ignition off, back on and the car started up.
Okay wierd freak problem. No biggie.

Went to drive the car again later, and after about 15-20 mins of cruising, the car starts breaking up really badly, as soon as i tap the gas it bogs, backfires and misses.

But that went away a few seconds later.

Later on in that drive, about 10 mins, the car lost all power again, this time the rpm display went blank, the car was still in gear and driving, but the engine was not running. I turned the key, popped the clutch while rolling and it started back up and continued driving.

So the engine cutting out has not happened again, but the bogging has. I noticed that while driving, at no specific load or rpm, when it does cut out, it seems like the EMS is losing power.
I noticed this because the serial gauges freeze at whatever point they are displaying, until i guess the EMS re-gains power and sends the signal back to the gauges, then it is fine.

My fusebox is relocated along with my battery, but I don't think that is the problem, because when the ems does go "offline" none of the other accessories cut out. The radio still works, my serial gauges still have power, etc etc. I figured it may be another bad relay in the main fusebox, but there is no relay for the ECM. Only a fuse.

Also, when I did relocated the fusebox, I did not splice any of the connectors that go directly from the harness into the box. I only spliced the ones after that, which go to the rad fan, a/c fan, abs sensor etc.

I checked all grounds to the engine, they seem fine. I removed G101 on the back of the head and sanded the contact points. I also added another ground directly from the battery to the front of the head.

Could this be an AEM problem? Or alternator possibly? I tested output with a voltmeter, and it reads 12.9 volts while not running, and while running 14.3.

underpressure02

This may sound dumb but have you tried to start the car and tap on the aem box and see if the problem occurs?

Did the aem box get wet? Did you open it to switch the jumpers for COP? If not did the person you got it from send it to aem or do it themselves?

m R g S r

I haven't tried tapping the box. It is not mounted because there are no mounting tabs on the box, so i pushed it up into position where the oem ECM lies and put the plastic kick panel back on, which keeps it in place. So there is a chance that it is jumping around slightly. But all the connections are secure, no loose connections at the EMS.

No the box didn't get wet, it's inside the car. I didn't switch anything, the person I got it from had it on his boosted ap1, i bought it from him. The stickers on the AEM box are not torn like the box was opened, so I don't think he did it himself.

scmil95eg

After I had about 70,000 miles on my 1070 box, it started doing the same thing you're describing. It died about 5 times on me during normal driving, then one day I went to start it up and I had absolutely nothing. fuel pump didn't even prime.

i put the stock ecu back in the car and sent the 1070 back to AEM.

AEM said my box checked out OK, but my calibration was making my injectors lazy...???? lol
I still haven't figured that one out, but I have the same calibration back in the same 1070 box and my car hasn't died since....

not sure if that's any help to you, but that's what happened to me.

underpressure02

I was more going down the path of something loose inside the box. By tapping on it it may cause the issue to occur.

I have had AEM since the begining and never had this issue. I had some other strange things occur. I would also try reloading your map and see if the issue goes away.

blaze the chemi

I have an original 1010 box that one time decided to change up my entire maps one day while driving. No clue as to how it decided to re-map everything. I limped all the way to the tuner shop, luckily I was headed there anyway. AEM stated that they have never heard or seen anything of the sort, but it hasn't happened since then and I upgraded the version from 1.03 to 1.11. This happened over 4 years ago.

Does your ECU have power and a ground to and from the unit? At least check those to make the connections haven't changed/frayed/faulted.

I too had my AEM just held into place by the kick panel for years without any issues except for the one I mentioned above.

tony1

Didn't your motor blow last time on the dyno?

Sounds like you might find out what caused the motor to go in the first place. I think i'd send the EMS back in for inspection..

m R g S r

Yeah but that was a slow long death, too much timing in the basemap. motor slowly melted the pistons on the way there, and the boost on the dyno must have just put the finishing touches on it.

This time everything was perfect, made a shitload more power on the same boost level.

I think it's an AEM issue, or a faulty main relay, but I don't have another car currently to pull the AEM and send it out for inspection.

R@mon

had a similar problem on a shop car recently, ended up being faulty wiring for a aftermarket alarm in the car.more specifically, a loose ground wire for the alarm.

Turbo-charged

when i had AEM in my car....everything ran fine. suddenly the car went from going 9.6 or so to 10.2 or so. just didnt feel right. had weird inconsistency's in what seemed to be the "tune" did all of the normal trouble shooting, everything checked out fine.

borrowed another one of the same model AEM box, uploaded my exact same calibration, went to the track and the car went 9.6-9.7 every pass.

needless to say that was the last time i used AEM in that car.


i wouldnt drive the car if i was you, until you get it solved. sounds like another engine melt down waiting to happen

m R g S r

yeah im not...im driving my moms car, and in the process of getting a 2010 genesis coupe 2.0T :D

underpressure02

Did you send the box back? updates?

m R g S r

I did pull the box down today and inspected the wires going into it...because the car died twice on me on the way home after hitting some big bumps. And the power to the ECU would cut after every bump. So I figured it was a loose connection.

But when I pulled the box down all connections were fine. while the car was idling, i knocked on the box. nothing happend. i hit it a little harder, and bam, the car stalled. It then took forever to restart and was running really rough. so i knocked on the box again and it stalled again.
I said that's enough and pulled the box and called AEM. I will be shipping it back tomorrow. This is B.S. that AEM produces a product that has so many things wrong with it. On the scale that honda ECU's are produced and the amount of failures they have, AEM looks like total **** compared to them. And it's not like the AEM is cheap either. WTF AEM!>!?!

This is actually the first problem with my AEM EMS, but I am speaking in general, how many threads or weird issues are there with the AEM? I hear about them constantly! It makes me feel kind of unsafe running this product in my car now.

blaze the chemi

It does suck when an glitch like this happens, but AEM isn't the company making the boards. I can't remember the company's name off hand. There are plenty of good units out there that do work and Honda's ECU is not able to do some of the things AEM's does.

It's like the dizzy's that Honda has, most can handle the crazy HP we shoot for, but some of them out there can't handle it and we have to make changes to the system.

Hopefully your issue will be resolved and everything will be copacetic upon your unit returned.

underpressure02

AEM has had their issues just like other companies but they stand behind their product and have always fixed any issues I have ever had. I would send it back to them and see what the problem is with the box before you jump on the I hate AEM bandwagon.

m R g S r

well i do right now because it is causing me not to drive my car...so i have to send it back to AEM and wait, without a car, to see whats wrong with it and then how much it is going to cost to repair, and then go back to my tuner after i load the maps i saved on my computer just to make sure nothing was messed up in the map uploading/downloading process. it's a headache, and i don't see people with hondada/oem ecu's having these issues.

But i'm hoping they have a quick turn around and i get the car back up and running so i can actually enjoy it lol

Rtype16

Just thought I would pop in and say a few things since I saw this post. Some of the things which I saw that just sparked my interest is the used EMS. Probably came at a great price, but with used things you can never know where, what abuse they have had before, or even if the box is up to date with the latest revisions among other things associated with buying used parts. Another thing is the used RSX coils now from reading all the way through this doesn’t seem to be the problem, but this box was designed for the S2000 not sure what your car is. Although they look very similar and close to the S2000 they aren’t exactly the same. The other thing is the wiring I would almost say 99% of the time a problem with an ECU of any type is usually in the wiring. The water getting inside the fuse box may have shorted something in the harness or made it all the way back inside the box and shorted a power or ground lead in the EMS. You can never really tell unless AEM has the box back to inspect it.

Now some things about the AEM with standalone EMS units I can say that AEM has one of the highest number of units out in the field. Its kind of like the news you only hear the bad things. People chime in every now and then to someone having problems saying my EMS works great like some people have done here, but you rarely get the threads just stating hey my car works fine. With all companies when there are so many of a unit out in the field unfortunately sometimes there are problems, but AEM backs their product if it is AEM's fault they will take care of it for you.

One thing you may want to check out. Although the plugs are pushed in all the way to the EMS there is a very small tab which locks the pins in place on the connector. If you have pulled on the wiring harness to disconnect the plugs or if they were under stress when the EMS was pushed into place the tab may have broken off. Although the pin seems to be in all the way it may be getting a intermittent connection. You may want to try and gently pull on each wire to make sure it is still in place and locked in.

I am happy you are sending the unit back to get checked out and once you get it back you will defiantly be happy.

Rtype16

One thing I would like to share about Honda. Yes they do have problems all manufacturers do. Of course you arent going to find someone coming on Honda-Tech saying hey my Ignition switch is faulty or something to that effect. They have service bulletins and if it gets further out they issue a recall on a car. Most service bulletins get fixed without you even knowing when you bring your car in for service. Just for fun lets take the 2004 Honda Accord. Technical Service Bulletins we will just list a couple of categories cause the list is huge. Maybe not as big to make it a recall, but a good number of vehicles have to be subjected to this to bring a Service Bulletin.

Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10018873
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10017428
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10018257
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10018164
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10016353
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10015291
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014746
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014750
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10018086
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014473
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014475
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014474
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10011250
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014106
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009053
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009023
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009027
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014236
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014238
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014235
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009144
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009083
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009067
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10009072
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014210
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014209
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10014311
Electrical System NHTSA Item Number: 10005025

Okay just one category. Look here for more if you want to check

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs/tsbsearch.cfm

m R g S r

i read on s2ki to use the rsx typs S coils as an upgrade to the ap1 coils...and that's what was lying around the shop, and they cured the misfire problem we were having at 7500rpm's. so i kept them in the car.

thanks for the heads up, i sent the box out today. wont be at aem until tuesday,

Ben@psi

GL

blaze the chemi

Any updates to the situation?