looking for any advise anyone will give as my car seems to be plagued with problems and as soon as i try and sort one, another comes up, really getting fed up with it now.....

all started as an auto and converted it to manual, new 6 puck clutch, light flywheel, full oil and filter change and fluids all round,

i have changed the ECU for a spl racing one, dual cone filter, big core ally rad and silicone hoses, SS decat exhaust jap speed end cans, other than that its just cosmetic changes...

since doing the changes its now idling at 2k rpm and the viscous fan stays on from the first turn of the key and its really smokey through the exhausts on idle looks simelar to steam on a cold day but a bit thicker, still white and gets worse when you put your foot on the throttle smells like burning petrol to be honest, and while idling you can here a kind on thump through the exhaust every 3 or 4 seconds, i have been told so many different possibilities that i dont know which way is up, been told it could be the tubs, but have not driven it since the change of everything, only started it, also it could be an open vacuum line, havnt completly deleted the AIV so thet have open lines.....i just really dont know what to think.....

please some one help as i just want to drive my car as its been sat on my drive now for nearly a year!!!!!:surrender::sad:

make sure the chipped ecu is for an auto if its for a manual it will trigger the fan and can do all sorts of weird things

thats a good point actually ill have to check about that.....

right well i have done all i can today, i have adjusted the idle screw and it made no difference no matter which way or how much i turned it stayed idling at 1800 rpm, wouldnt move even after i left it to get warm, also the smoke stopped for a few seconds but as it warmed up it went back to normal, i have changed both the sensors on top of the hard water pipes to ones i know work, and still nothing.....im borrowing a standard ecu from a mate tomorrow (the original one from my car) so will see if that makes any difference, i also noticed that when i was by the idle screw there was a bit of smoke coming up from where the passenger side tub sits, same smoke as from the exhaust but very little, im guessing this is leading to turbo oil seals.....if this is the case then i think it will be time to throw in the towel as after all the money i have spent i just cant afford tubs and to pay to get them done.......:death:

Is your ignition timing right after having converted from auto to manual ? You may be 10 or 15 degrees out - that will mess up tickover.

Also, altering the tickover screw only works when the solendoid/valve that automatically controls tickover is disconnected.

How much has the car been run since the work - there may be a bit of oil around in the intake/pipes/turbos etc

 

There may be more than one problem here, but starting with a known, good standard ECU has to be a starting point.

since doing the work its been nowhere and don't know about the ignition timing, wouldnt know how to check? I'll try the standard ecu tomorrow but I really know anything about mechanicals so don't understand or know what in looking for and as I live in the middle of no where there are no garages I can even get it to, im close to the point of just giving up now though and breaking it..... its the not knowing what im doing which is the toughest.....

Edited November 2, 201213 yr by silver_surfer

since doing the work its been nowhere and don't know about the ignition timing, wouldnt know how to check? I'll try the standard ecu tomorrow but I really know anything about mechanicals so don't understand or know what in looking for and as I live in the middle of no where there are no garages I can even get it to, im close to the point of just giving up now though and breaking it..... its the not knowing what im doing which is the toughest.....

 

I think you need to find someone local-ish with some diagnostic knowledge to help you out.

Hmmm that's one prob I have as there is noone about here....dunno what to do, gonna sleep on it and figure out if its worth struggling on at more expense or cut and run.... =(

where about's are you mate? My mother lives in Carmarthen and I'll be back in Wales first weekend of Dec

just the other side of carmarthen mate village called brechfa....

cool, well hopefully you've got it sorted by then but if not I'm sure I could swing by

Nice one mate cheers for that, will keep you posted may end up fixing it Clarkson style at this rate lol

If you are running a chip that's going to be fuelling for 360bhp then it's going to be expecting you to be running higher boost (more air in from higher boost requires more fuel). If you have no boost controller or mig tips then it's definately not the chip you should be running right now it will just overfuel. Standard boost needs a standard chip.

 

If you have no joy getting a standard ECU and currently have a socketed ECU (the chip can be pulled out and we can show you which one if need be) then John Dixon or JeffTT may be able to help. JD's sending me a chip for mine with a completely standard map to drop in.

 

As said already just try to find or borrow a known working standard ECU first then let us know if it works or not.

Standard boost needs a standard chip.

 

sorry, that's just wrong. Doesn't make a difference

i was thinking that esp at idle, as the chip is based on providing fuel to the boost proportion of the rev range. the idle would still be the same. if anything it would cause the car to make black smoke on high level rpm. is that correct?

 

 

have you checked through your breather system, pcvs etc?

Can you explain? If a standard chip is chucking in the amount of fuel for the amount of air flowed at 9psi then you turn it up to 14psi and uprate the chip accordingly (to increase fuel flow I thought) you'll get more or less the same AFR right? How can a chip designed to run on higher boost not overfuel a lower boost application it wasn't designed for? Don't read this as me being argumentative

like i said the richer afr is for the boost proportion of the rev range therefore wont effect idle.

You posted while I writing my post. It's still the wrong chip for his car as far as I can see

well yeah il gibve you that, and a faulty chip could be part of the problem but i think this is more breather and gas mixing related rather than electrical.

Cheers for the advise guys I have my standard ecu back to try and also been told it could be because the car has been sat for so long and not run at all could be condensation in the exhaust to got fresh fuel ecu and gonna leave it running for a bit and see what happens.....fingers crossed

Can you explain? If a standard chip is chucking in the amount of fuel for the amount of air flowed at 9psi then you turn it up to 14psi and uprate the chip accordingly (to increase fuel flow I thought) you'll get more or less the same AFR right? How can a chip designed to run on higher boost not overfuel a lower boost application it wasn't designed for? Don't read this as me being argumentative

 

the ecu is essentially a bunch of tables, it looks up the amont of air being read by the MAF and supplies an amount of fuel. The stock ecu only holds these tables up to the equivilant of stock boost, ie 9psi (note it does not do this on pressure, that would be a MAP based system). An aftermarket ECU extends these table to have additional references for more air being fed through the MAF eg by upping the boost

so the problems I've read are

 

viscous fan running - normal

high idle - not normal

small pops/thudding on idle (result of the above)

condensation - normal

 

have you actually driven the car?

 

If you have a genuine ECU problem it'd probably drive crap, but give it a go as it may show other problems which will make the diagnosis easier.

 

PS finish removing the AIV and make sure you don't have any vaccum leaks

this morning i went out and topped up with £20 of high octane and changed the ECU back to the standard one and the following happened...

firstly the idle has set its self back down to about 650rpm and is running steady,

i left the car running for a good 45 minutes (i cant drive it as need to bleed brakes, connect clutch booster and sort rear hicas lockout bar)

it got upto a good temp and didnt go over at all, engine ran sweet as a nut,

there is still a vapour coming from the exhaust but not as bad, and after running for a while it went to just a whisp.

when putting your foot on the throttle and reving it came back but still not as bad then lessened again,

the intermittent whumping seems to be only coming from the drivers side exhaust, almost sounds like a deep poppoing??

and i noticed there is a bit of water in the exhaust after it running, its smell free and not oily just sooty from the exhaust...?

here is a video of the vapour at its worst today.....

cheers for all your help guys and sorry im so clueless!!

 

glad you got it sorted fella, tbh that exhaust gas looks normal for a cold day to me so i wouldnt worry