Adaptronic esel039 - engine stalls when fans kick in

mrbrossnan · Postby **mrbrossnan** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:42 pm

hi,

im having an issue where the engine would stall when the thermofans kick in. no idle dip or anything, just went off leaving the fans on.
I noticed when the fans kick in while being dríven, the rev would surge up briefly like anti stall kicks in or something and then back to normal.

Ill get it tuned by the pro eventually but atm it just keeps stalling at the lights or whenever it's stationary, making it a nightmare to drive
it's a standard stg2 setup if it helps: esel039 + ID725s + Walbro 255 + MTX + MAC valve
any pointers on which area(s) to look at?

thanks heaps!

SlugRacer · Postby **SlugRacer** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:37 am

I had the same ECU in my SE and had the same issue. The Adaptronic can only bring both fans on together and not individually which causes revs to drop more than stock. My car would also stall occasionally when I used the power windows with the lights on. My tuner originally thought is was a faulty alternator causing the problem so a new (non ECU controlled) NA8 alternator was installed. This made voltage more stable but I was still getting occasional stalling. The problem ended up being a setting in the ECU which needed to be adjusted to make the revs drop slower. It would be best to ask timk here on the forum because he helped out my tuner solve this issue and will know what setting needs to be changed.

Postby **Okibi** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 3:06 am

This is what I have on my SE

In WARI > Idle tab.

"Open loop idle control"

Extra effort for Elec Load 1: 4
Extra effort for Elec Load 2: 3

Perhaps also look at your "Base idle value" and up the idle a fraction when the coolant is hot enough to trigger the fans.

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:22 am

Tim probably got the tuner to adjust the effort on calm down or something of that wording.

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davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:55 am

Such issues are not limited to Adaptronic. Despite me specifying that it must, my Haltech wouldn't control the alternator so the alternator needed to be modified. Now the battery goes flat within 5 minutes of the lights being switched on.

Add to that the driveline shunt when under light throttle and I'm near to rejecting the Haltech and looking for a refund.

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:05 am

Something is way wrong if your chewing that much power Dave. I'd be concerned where the energy from the battery is going or is it charging.

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davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:14 am

Alternator charges fine. Battery is in good condition. Tuner is investigating how the Haltech is interfering, since tha tseems ro be the only remaining possibility.

SlugRacer · Postby **SlugRacer** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:07 am

I originally had a Haltech PS1000 installed but the patch loom, which has the alternator control board inside, kept failing. Haltech support is hopeless for mx5s. An NA8 clutch type alternator will work if you can't get the alternator control to work

mrbrossnan · Postby **mrbrossnan** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:30 pm

thanks Okibi, ill check this out tonight.
was trying to diagnose the problem last night, it turns out the engine didnt stall when the fans turned on the first time, only the subsequent times after.

Okibi wrote:This is what I have on my SE

In WARI > Idle tab.

"Open loop idle control"

Extra effort for Elec Load 1: 4
Extra effort for Elec Load 2: 3

Perhaps also look at your "Base idle value" and up the idle a fraction when the coolant is hot enough to trigger the fans.