Dave's SE - REBORN

[Magpie]

All good news by the looks of it. My ECU still needs to be mounted properly however it sits behind the cover plate as is still very secure. Now that the E85 install is happening the ECU and IO expander will be mounted securely.

So the engine issues how are they going?

[davekmoore]

Yes, I also believe this is all good news, apart from the expense of having to pay to get work redone. Still waiting for the original Haltech man to supply the mounting kit to go under the bash plate. When he installs that I will NOT be having him do anything further with the tune, as Daniel Deckers achieved in 5 minutes what the original guy had taken 5 months not to achieve.

As far as the motor is concerned, all the seals went in at the same time as a full rebuild after the big blow up at Winton. The seals should now be right, apart fron the weep from the oil pump and a small leak from the rear main seal which will have to wait. It got a forged balanced bottom end, double valve springs, baffled sump, stronger clutch, blah, blah, blah. It seems to run strong and smooth now the valve clearances are correct and the tune is right. Hopefully the mechanical parts will prove to be longer lasting than the oil seals.

[Magpie]

I think the best news is all the issues have been found and there is a plan. Nothing worse than trying to manage the unknown.

The head failure in mine has resulted in the air box being fabricated and the benefits of the airbox will be worth the head failing in the first place. But like you I could do without the bill associated!

[davekmoore]

The car ran flawlessly all day at Winton on Sunday. Fastest in Open class (but yet again, the only entrant as no-one else is daft enough to build a car for this class, especially a road car like mine). Still being out-paced by better drivers in less powerful cars so there's a clear need for some driver training.

In what must surely now be one of the last failures discovered from one of my bad contractor choices, the driver's side seatbelt tower bolt chose Sunday to work itself loose, revealing that the thread was completely stripped - a massive safety issue. Really hoping a specialist can clean up the thread inside the tower without the roll bar having to come out.

[Magpie]

Good news on the ECU issues, still can't catch a break though

Hopefully my car will get down your way and we can exchange notes.

[davekmoore]

Things definitely seem to be going in the right direction though. For instance, I'd managed to refit the Nautilus horn myself and discovered its value on Sunday when a slower car turned hard left in front of me on a corner exit. He simply hadn't seen me but he certainly heard me, and turned hard right out of the way.

Perhaps this is a sign of the future becoming simpler, as last year he'd have probably just have taken me out.

[davekmoore]

Turbo oil return pipe has failed, despite assurances this would never happen again. This puts oil all over the hottest parts of the exhaust at full chat. Neither I nor the marshalls nor fellow drivers are all that happy with the resulting smoke screen. High temp pipe going on shortly to replace the sh*t thin walled OEM pipe.

[davekmoore]

Car drove home fine two days ago but wouldn't start the following morning or since. Not the slightest sign of any cylinder firing.

Cranks at normal speed.

Battery is good.

Fuel pump is running and it smells of fuel and the plugs are wet with fuel when removed.

There is spark when cranked with a plug out on top of the rocker cover.

All fuses, connections checked. EFI relay subbed for a known good one.

Recently installed COPS found to be a loose fit on the plugs. Removed screw-on tops from the plugs resulting in a much tighter fit.

Haltech and flex fuel sensor have power to them.

Still no start.

Thoughts appreciated please.

[93_Clubman]

Dave, the following MX5 engine won't start diagnostic checklist might help:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1P63nz ... edit?pli=1

[Magpie]

CAS sensor? Do you have a noid light, this will confirm injectors are firing.

I keep these 2 tools in the car especially at the track.

1. EQP-025 Electronic Fuel Injector Probe http://www.plusquip.com.au/products/test/eqp-025-electronic-fuel-injector-probe/


2. EQP-016 Ignition Quick Probe – Coil Over Plug http://www.plusquip.com.au/products/test/eqp-016-ignition-quick-probe/

[davekmoore]

Thanks guys. It ran ok the night before so I reckon some sudden failure must have happened.

No sign of faulty connections.

There is crank.

There is fuel pressure and fuel and spark at all 4 cylinders.

Surely there'd be at least some signs of at least one cylinder attempting to fire, even if the fuel and/or spark are happening at the wrong time?

Are there any sensors which are known to fail after being parked overnight?

[Magpie]

I have had 2 CAS sensors fail so far.

One exactly as you described, however I did not pull a plug out and check for fuel. RACQ came out, the person put on a noid light and since it did not light up indicated that the injectors were not firing. The injectors are controlled by the CAS.

Second CAS failure was stranage, car ran but coughed, splutered, burped and farted. Once it was sort of driveable it could not go above 5,000. I spent almost a whole day looking into the issue a miss that started at about 5,000. The same miss that developed late in the session at SMP South, Eastern Creek and again at the recent MX5 club track day. Pulled plugs out, checked the gaps no change, swapped fuel no change, was about to swap COP's around but tried a new CAS. Problem solved.

I now keep a spare CAS sensor in my track toolkit.

[davekmoore]

I'm actually hoping now that this is down to the CAS as everything else seems to be working.

Although Supercheap have the CAS on eBay they don't have them in-store.

So is there anyone around or passing Mornington Vic today or tomorrow who might lend me a spare (or even the one on your car) to test?

[davekmoore]

No indication on the rev counter when cranking at normal speed. Does this further point to CAS failure?

[Black_Penguin]

Rev counter doesn't show engine speed when cranking normally. So no sign of CAS failure there.