Pinking/misfires

[campbellju]

After sorting out my alternator problem (belt tension slipped :roll I took the car out for a quick test drive and the last known problem is still there.

I'm wondering whether I need to get the igntion map re-done because the full Mallory system is more efficient than stock. I'm not sure if I'm getting a misfire or det higher up the range but at very light throttle doing around 60-70mph the engine occasionaly make a very load "toink" noise. It occasionally used to make the same noise when my distributor was knackered and firing randomly.

I'm wondering if on parts of the ignition map, the spark plug is now firing too early as at low speeds the Mallory system will fire a few times to make sure the mixture is ignited. At high loads it just makes a big charge which will ignite anything more easily than my povvy 0.6mm gap before.

Would this have any affect? Bascially am I looking for a hardware or a software fault as a starting point.

I can talk my way in to the cap or rotor getting worn too.

I need to get my datalogit working but there I seem to have a communication error between laptop and Dlogit, could be software or hardware again.

Just looking for a few ideas as starting points.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[campbellju]

From another car:

"It's likely to det MORE just after an ECU reset - the reason why cars tend to run better after the reset is they've 'forgotten' where to retard."

Do I need to do the idle learn mode on my PFC again? Anyone any experience?

 

[Dooie Pop Pop]

i know this might sound daft but is your wiring for the lambda sensor ok? when my belt shredded it took the wiring out with it.....

just an idea

 

[campbellju]

No daft ideas here Stu. Thanks, I'll check later.

Jim

 

[kirko]

did you get your datalogit software sorted as im having difficulty with mine at the moment

 

[campbellju]

Yep I did. The problem was my laptop serial port in the end. I borrowed a USB to serial converter from work and in minutes was up and running. Through the datalogit, it looks like its a dodgy TPS causing me the problems..... I think the Datalogit just paid for itself ;-)

What's your problem?
Jim

 

[kirko]

whenever i try do anything it just says 'com port not open' i dont think it has installed the drivers properly or something

 

[stevepudney]

whenever i try do anything it just says 'com port not open' i dont think it has installed the drivers properly or something

maybe just related to the serial Data Logit, it might be that the USB version is far more !plug & Play" I'm not sure but I always found I had to boot up the laptop with the USB/Serial cable connected to the laptop and the Datalogit and the data logit connected to the PFC (ignition on), then once the laptop had finished booting completely, start the Data logit software and "Read All"

If I had the ignition on and just randomly plugged it all together and started the software then I would get a message similar to 'com port not open', or something like that anyway.

 

[kirko]

i got it working this morning
i loaded the driver on the cd again
and then found an option to choose a different port and it seems to work

 

[Braveheart]

In responce to antgtir issue regarding "Hesitation between 3k to 4.5k rpm + Fueling issues??" I had a similar problem.
I picked up a GTIR last month and felt it was running a bit funky. It seemed to pick up ok at low revs but stuttered and hesitated badly between 4.5 - 5k rpm. When I layed off the gas the damned thing wanted to go. Not good when you are entering a corner looking for engine breaking. It was also idling high (1100rpm) and just felt a bit unwell.
The car it's self is bulk standard except for a mongoose exhaust (without cat) and sump guard but with a poor service history (jap 18k service). I bought it off a farmer who had owned it for 4 years and done 2k miles in that time. It has 60k on the clock, it was imported in 2002.
Anyway, given the service history and poor performance, I booked it in for the full boona.
Falkland performace changed all the fluids, plugs, point, air filter (now K&N) front disks and pads and rear pads. (disks and pads were well shot.... it was grinding along)
I was full of hope but the car was still running poorly.
It turned out to be the knock sensor (error code 34) This sensor they explained was there to pick up pinking etc and when triggered would retard the ignition timming by 6deg. It's meant to reset it's self but did not and I thing I will source a new sensor.
They reset the ECU and the error was gone. The car is now running fine. Much smoother, pulls all the way through the rev band and thankfully enters engine breaking now when I gas off. I did refrain from taking it out on the track at knock hill last sunday however as I have a sneaky suspition the problem would return plus I did not want to buy another set of brake pads so soon.

Hope this information helps and I may post it in a couple of other places on this web site.

Lang may your lumb reek... all the best Braveheart (Scott)