so last night my car ran absolutely fine.

today, i got out my laptop because i haven't had time since my new tune to download a copy of the map to save. When i went to connect i realized i didnt have the serial number. I opened my ecu, and loosened the rtp board (its held in with the nylon screws), read the serial number, put everything back in, and connected and downloaded the map.

now heres where the trouble started...this afternoon i tried to start the car and it wont start. if i pump the gas pedal it will fire, idle roughly as long as i hold my foot on the pedal (if i let off it will die). When i can keep it on, you can smell the gas it is dumping in and see smoke out of the exhaust that reaks of fuel.

i figured i screwed up the map somehow, so i tried to download the base code, and got a "this is an unknown ecu" error. I then attempted to upload the copy i downloaded and that worked with no errors, but the car will still not run.

i then noticed that i have a solid CEL as long as the key is in the on position which i believe indicates an ecu fault. i checked the fuses and such and they are fine, the fuel pump primes fine, so it would seem the main relay is fine as well...

what the hell is going on?

cliffs since this is a long post
-car ran fine
-opened ecu to get rtp serial
-car wont start, but will idle roughly and be pig rich with foot on gas pedal
-solid cel

thanks for any help!

 

forgot to mention...the solid cel is on whether i have it jumped or not.

 

Sounds like a bad connection b/w the rtp board and ecu. I had the same thing happen once with a chip and it ended up being a bent pin.

 

Check the ribbon cable...board might be fubar.

 

i reopened it and all the connections seemed good. im at a loss of what to check.

the program doesnt run well on my mac, so im gonna try a windows machine and a wire to connect tomorrow instead of bluetooth.

what the heck causes these boards to die like this?

if it winds up being dead im up **** creek and the car is going away until next year...i have no means to buy another board.

 

I am going to bet that when you put the RTP back in the case you either have it screwed down tooo tight and it is grounding out on the lid or you put the screws on the lid on too tight and it is grounding out inside the ecu.

I would suggest unscrewing the lid and just let the lid sit there not screwed down tight and try to connect and upload the new map.

If you need it, I will send you the cal file so you know it is a good one.

 

I replied to your thread on my forum with things to try.

 

yeah john, if you could email me the cal file that would be great, my email is nbookbinder@gmail.com

or you want me to send you a message?

yeah i saw em, i wasnt sure if you were over on here or not so i thought i should cover all the bases.

thanks guys.

 

can the rtp be connected to out of the car via usb?

that way i could kinda lay it all out on my bench and make sure it wasnt touching any metal

im gonna go open it and lay electrical tape under the board.

 

I actually suggested that in my post on the NepTune forum.

 

haha yeah dont mine me am a little slow at times...

so anyway update and now im totally stumped. this is all on a mac by the way

i took the ecu out of the car, taped over about half the underside of the ecu lid with electrical tape, connected via USB, and attempted to download the base, and got the "unkown ecu message". i then opened my map, and uploaded successfully.

attempt #1 to download the base to verify = "unkown ecu"
attempt #2 = base code i uploaded appearing on my screen fine

so i brought the ecu out to my car, plugged it on the floor, turned key to ACC and no longer have the solid CEL, good news. Turn key to start car, and nothing. Try again, and i got about 1 second of cranking, then nothing.

I brought the ecu back inside, and downloaded base again...got "unkown ecu" error.

i proceeded to upload base again, download to verify, and again it would only download on the second or third attempts.

back in the car, still no solid CEL, but still absolutely no hint of starting.

what the heck?

 

Might as well just keep to the other forum.

 

yeah it looks like im gonna everyone in this thread is over there.

 

well just wanted to post up it appears i fixed this.

1 - it appears i definitely did ground the board some how. i layed electrical tape under the area of the rtp board.

2 - i had my tuner send me his copy of my map, and loaded that. still having weird basecode downloading issues, but things upload fine.

3 - at recommendation of my tuner i checked the ecu fuse and starter wires...fuse was fine, starter wire was off, but car still wouldnt start.

4 - then i realized the biggest issue was me...of course the car is 5 speed and wont start if your foot isnt on the clutch the car is parked on a hill so i was putting it in neutral and putting my left foot on the brake...stepped on the clutch and it fired right up

hey i didnt say i was the best mechanic ever lol.

 

 

Hahaha, at least you figured it out. Everyones had there share of stupid moments.