Living the dream

I just opened this months Evo to find that Tony's 'Living the Dream'

Why oh why did they bother with Chantelle when they could have given Tony his own show?

I reads like Tony Smith is about the cross the border, selling some Renaults and about to invest in some sporting BMWs and Audis.

I'm afraid I've become so depressed with the ongoing saga of my black GTA that I'm getting rid of most of my French stuff and will be buying German and Japanese to replace. Have somebody interested in the wide arch GTA, Clio will be going on e-bay shortly and A310 is in the for sale section on here. Will be keeping my black GTA if if I can't get it to go!

I thought it did go??!!!! What is the problem?

Wiring issues...

I'm afraid I've become so depressed with the ongoing saga of my black GTA that I'm getting rid of most of my French stuff and will be buying German and Japanese to replace. Have somebody interested in the wide arch GTA, Clio will be going on e-bay shortly and A310 is in the for sale section on here. Will be keeping my black GTA if if I can't get it to go!

Like peterg I'm guessing the black GTA is giving you even more problems, ECU maybe??? Nothing like a challenge, and electrical faults are the most challenging. If you are desperate to move it on .... .... ....

Yes its wiring problems. Can't get to the bottom of them. When you put any serious electrical loading on the system i.e. lights, wipers. it makes the engine run lumpy and misfire like the power to the coil is being affected or there is a short somewhere. All earths have been checked, cleaned and rechecked. This seemed to improve things a little but hard to tell. David is sending me over the wiring diagram used to get Peter G's running and I will be checking this against mine. I'll also be junking the plug-in connections and hard wiring the ECU into the loom. If this doesn't cure it its time for the swan-vestas (only joking!) Maybe EVO should have named my letter Living the Nightmare!

I'll also be junking the plug-in connections and hard wiring the ECU into the loom.

It was a headache troubleshooting that wiring and making it work in the first place. Aside the coil pack itself, there's only one possibility remaining so here goes.

1) The Ground comes strai tof fthe engine (checked)
2) The +ve comes from the starter terminal inside the right rear wing, via a relay.
3) This relay is switched by the same ignition signal as is used to power the fuel pump relay.
4) the fuel pump relay is quite elegant. The +ve side of the coil is powered with ignition, the ground is fed by the ECU two switch the relay.

My advice is to power the ECU manually by removing the relay and jumping the power connections. This also powers up the idlespeed valve and I *think* the injectors, can't remember for sure. This removes the switch that relies on the key being turned in the lock. Using the laptop you should now see the ECU functioning correctly when things are switched on (F2), however this will probably not help with running probklems because if the ECU is being affected, the fuel pump must also be affected.

scuse typos!

Tony, i'm not sure what martin means by "power the ecu manually", but if i were you i would run a 12v and earth directly from the battery to the ecu. I think it "might" also be advisable to disconnect the current 12v +ve supply from the ecu. I would also check that your charging circuit is good, have you got about 13.8 or 14 volts accross the battery when the motor is running, and is it still 13.8 when you apply some load, like lights and heater fan.

So now you should be assured that the ecu supply will be stable, seperate and of good quality as I guess is required as well as being seperated from the main loom which seems to be providing some interferance.

Worth a try ???

It should all work fine off the original plug, as does Peter's. The original ecu didnt cut out under load, and used the same power and earths. I know Martin said he had lots of 'issues' with the wiring, but I would look at anything that doesnt look right or 'added' on and check it against the installation diagram I did for Peter's..

Lighting relays, etc are all at the front. Not even connected in anyway to the ecu wiring, unless something has happened at the fusebox end..

The wiring to the ECU was a synch...it shouldnt be any different to the standard one if you use the plug. All you need is a soldering iron....clearly someone has over-complicated Tony's and made a mess!!

But Tony's not got a std GTA lump in there has he ? What changes/get-rounds were made , perhaps it makes a difference Are all the sensors the same ????