Please Help me Figure out why I'm Getting Resets!
 

Ever since I swapped to a 1.8L turbo. I've been having a problem with getting really bad resets. The resets happen randomly anywhere from 3k-5k and under any amount of load. When it resets that tach drops off and the car lurches real bad almost making my Girlfriend hit her head on that dash. LOL

Stuff done to try and Fix issue:
Added ecu grounds and cleaned grounds on engine
Cleaned grounds at battery and added an extra
Plugs gapped to .020
Switched from cops back to stock ignition setup to eliminate maybe a back cop or harness
Switched CAS with a known working one (Not Tested need to borrow a Timing Light)


Other strange things going on:
The only other strange thing besides the resets is that i never had my MS properly screwed down, so today when i had everything apart I screwed the MS down to the floor board which in turn would obviously ground the case. Went to start the car and I was only running on 2 cylinders??? Left the car running went over to MS and wiggled the wires... nothing. Unscrewed the MS from the floor board and bingo firing on all cylinders instantly. That symptom is repeatable by re-screwing the MS down. I don't know if that is related to my resets but I figured i would mention it. After I saw this happening I tried isolating the MS case from all metal by wrapping it in a towel. Still got resets...

Thanks for any help

Do they show up in a datalog?

my guess is that something on your harness is fuxd

Oh ya... Its the real deal. By looking at the data log would you be able to tell what was the cause? or does the data log just confirm what I already know?

I believe it wont, it'll just show a reset most likely. Is the harness attached firmly? Check for any shorts.

Are the resets consistent? Sometimes I get resets and sometimes I dont. Sometimes I'll get 2 while the car warms up and none later. Sometimes i'll be just fine then all of a sudden get 5-7 resets in a row in like 30 seconds to a minute. None seem to affect the way the car drives...

I'm beginning to think that moisture is the cause to my MS problems. If I bring my ecu in every night and keep it near the heater, it'll be fine the next day. If I leave it in the car over night or longer it seems to reset more. If I leave it in the car for 2 days sometimes it wont even turn on til I "warm" it up or "dry" it out or something.

I've cleaned and cleaned the flux off the board and it has improved dramatically, but not fixed. Could your issue be similar?

Ill try brining it in over night and seeing if that helps... Also noone thinks this case grounding missfire issue is of any concern?

I would certainly think the case grounding issue is a concern. But I have no idea what the problem is.

Ya, that grounding issue has got to be a concern. Is there perhaps a lead on the bottom of the board that isn't trimmed short enough or something making contact with the case? Perhaps could it be that you didn't use a mica insulator somewhere? <--I made this bonehead mistake on my idle TIP120.

BTW, is this a pnp or a diy ms? is it standalone or parallel?

One other thought...have you tried swapping out your spark plugs completely? This is something I haven't tried yet and I hear that it helps a lot with resets. Also, again, make sure you dont have any flux left on your board if you used it to assemble the MS.

Diy standalone built by braineak. Tried new plugs aswell. What does the middle led indicate on a diy standalone Ms? I noticed mine gets really dim after about 5 minutes of driving...

middle one is for warmup, if its on that means your car is in warmup mode.

what firmware are you running?

Have you checked the resistance between those two transistors and the heatsink?

If they are less then a certain point they will cause all sorts of issues.

Firmware is hr10G. I had a break through it think... I took my MS in the House to warm up just to see if there was maybe some ice or something messing it up. When i looked into the MAP sensor I saw A little blue circle. Turn the MS upside down and gave it a good shake and a piece of wire covering feel out. Brought the MS back outside figuring that must have been the issue. Went to start the car and it's misfires this time with the case no where near ground. Went under the hood with th car running and found that all sparks are sparking and the injectors for is not doing a damn thing. Know i know it could be a stuck injectors but seeing as it only starts to miss fire when i mess around with the MS I'm thinking that is the cause.... Any thoughts? I going to look over some wire diagrams now...

After looking at the diagram I just went out and confirmed that injector 2 is also not working... Where should i start now? My map sensor is also working normally as it was before i removed the wire insulation....

Was the MS modded with the .1uF capacitor to be able to run hr10g code?

Can you pull the MS out of the case (remove the two post on the DB9, then unscrew the four screws on the db37 side and slide out) and take a picture of the top and bottom of the board.

+1

If this conversation goes to PM, can the results be put into here for closure? I get occasional resets under boost, and am waiting to see this thread out. Thanks

Yes i did that mod about 7 months ago and have been running hires ever since with no issue until now... I'm working on pix. Give me 5 minutes to find my camera...

PIX of my board... (Braineack's Handywork i wish i could take the credit)

http://i44.tinypic.com/amp7vr.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/jzegau.jpg

Also all the insulators seem to be in order....

ah guess i cant read...so it's a new issue. i don't see anything odd on the board.

I had something simliar happen to mine, where I didn't plug the db37 in all the way and shorted a circuit. I had a pair of injectors lock open as the transistor on the circuit failed. took me a long while to figure it out, it may be what your looking at if this is a new thing...

any change you can log it trying to crank and idle?

yes I have to go to class now... On my way back im going to borrow a friends MS PNP and pop it in. If everything is solved I may just drop the $700 and be done with it...

You're ignoring the obvious here- your Miata thinks you're spending too much time/money on your girlfriend and not enough on upgrades. It's trying to kill her off to get more of your attention.

This is sounding suspiciously more and more like my issues but more severe. My MS started only running 2 cyls one day on my way to class, had to pull over and pop the stock ECU back in, ran like a champ after I did that.

I see something hazy like excess flux around your DB9 connector. The troubleshooting section of the megamanual says that excess flux absorbing moisture causes most of these weird unexplainable issues.

My resets are getting progressively worse. Just took the car for a spin around the block after not driving for 3 days, got 12 resets in like 5 mins AFTER warmup.

The only update i have is that it is in fact somewhere within the MS or the boomslang. I popped in my buddies MS PnP and no more miss firing. I didn't get to drive the car and see if the resets went away but I'm willing to bet they have... I need to flash my fuel and timing maps onto his pnp before i can drive and stupid me forgot the get his pnp serial cable.

What's the best way to clean flux off my board? Rubbing alchohol and a tooth brush? Just give the board a gentle scrubbing?

That should work very well.

Dont forget to mention it needs to be 90+% alcohol. Anything lower doesn't even phase it. Paint thinner also works... and gasoline I hear.

Vodka worked wonders for me. Board is flux free...

Ok defluxed the board. Going to test it. I doubt that helped so what is the next step? I took apart the adaptor harnes and everything seems fine. I also studied the MS board fr bridged soldier and nothing. Is there a circuit for the 2+4 injectors that i can test? Also the is zero resistance between those two transistors and the heatsink...

Did you use a meter to check the TIP125's for resistance against the case? Or just visibly observe that the mica insulators are in place. Please, be more vague. :)

The one for boost control doesn't have any continuity between it and the case. However it does have about 450ohm or so of resistance when checked against the heastsink.

Ok here is full updated list of what i tried:
Added ecu grounds and cleaned grounds on engine
Cleaned grounds at battery and added an extra
New spark Plugs gapped to .020
Switched from cops back to stock ignition setup to eliminate maybe a bad cop or harness
Switched CAS with a known working one
Switched to the 270ohm ignition resistors
Defluxed board with 92% isoproyl twice
Reflowed both db37 & bd9 Connector soldier joints
Completely removed EBC circuit
Tried low-res firmware
Checked standalone adapter harness from breaks or shorts
Made sure transisters had zero resistance to heat sink
Made sure others weren't grounding out
Triple checked for bridged soldier
Switched back to cops
Resoldiered ebc circuit back in (working same as before)

Initial problems is still occurring. Hard resets at approx. 4.5-5.5 rpm.
I fixed the missfiring by cleaning the board, but the problem that i started with is still there. WTF do i do know?!?!?!?

They should have infinite resistance, not zero resistance. The Megamanual tells you the specs to check them against with your meter. If you've read it. It's like 50 or 60 Mega ohms. A lot. I have a strange feeling you still haven't checked them right...

Glad to see cleaning the flux did something since I mentioned it like a broken record...

So is this plugging into your stock ECU connectors through a 64pin tyco connector? If so, you may consider working something out so that you can run 2 dedicated 16g or larger grounds straight through the firewall to the round point on the intake mani.

Perhaps I missed this from earlier, are you using an LC1? Could something in the wiring with this be suspect?

I have even noticed resets when plugged into my stim...do you have a stim to play with things?

I have a strange feeling you still haven't checked them right..
Care to point me in the right direction? I cant seem to find it in the megamanual...


So is this plugging into your stock ECU connectors through a 64pin tyco connector? If so, you may consider working something out so that you can run 2 dedicated 16g or larger grounds straight through the firewall to the round point on the intake mani.

I guess i will have to try that next...

Perhaps I missed this from earlier, are you using an LC1? Could something in the wiring with this be suspect?

Lc1 Wired in the engine harness... Ill give it all a check

I have even noticed resets when plugged into my stim...do you have a stim to play with things?

No Stim Sorry

Hmmm mega manual mentions something about a bad power source as well. I remember kinda ghetto rigging the 1.6L Alt Power wire to fit the 1.8L ALT I'm now using. I think ill start there tomorrow...

Repaired ALT still getting resets. I was playing around in a datalog I took and notice that the graph for "porta" is a solid steady line then start to go crazy only just before and just after a resets. What does "porta" mean?
Here is a datalog with a reset that i just took. Im using an lc1 0-5v if ur interested in seeing that. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for the help guys. I think where getting closer.

RapidShare: Easy Filehosting

Thats nice, but what did you clean the flux off with?

-------

Mike, if you want to borrow my Stim you let me know.

:)

http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/V3assemble.htm

On porta,b,c,d: https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/t25662/#post304658


If no insulator were installed on q9 and q12, it wouldn't boot up. You can simply pull those transistors, they has no use with the hi-res code.


can you post your msq, it looks like it's running ok now besides that reset.

Wat? They drive the fuel injectors.

they drive the PWM circuit. they are not needed and cannot be used with HR code.

this is how all my boards look that i build with HR code:
http://www.boostedmiata.com/MS/built...005%20copy.jpg


Mike do me a favor and check the resistance between IAC1A and the end the resistor on JS8. Do the same between IAC1a and the other resistor on +5v.

This is the dumbest part of the assembly ever.

I had so many problems with these transistors grounding out. In the end I wound up using the nylon nuts from the MAP sensor, and black electrical tape instead of the mica insulator. Luckily its been working. If I ever do it again, im gonna use some ram sinks glued on with some AS5 adhesive.

Working on pulling those two transistors now... Also i know where js8 is but what is IAC1A? sorry for the dumb question...

You should measure the resistance first to see if that's the problem. That way at least you'll know if it was the problem. UYB. Megamanual can tell you what IACIA is faster than I can.

they had like 30,576 something resistance... Also when i pulled them it seemed like there was a little moisture in between it and the insulator... It seems like iac1a is pin#25 on the db37.

Resistances from pin#25 on db37 to 829ohm JS8 side of cap & 1304ohm ground side

Also if that circuit with the IAC1A has anything to do with the idle control I would like to eliminate that too if possible... I dont have an iac or plan on ever running one.

I will work on posting up an .msq for you guys in a bit.


*Edit:
Just got back from a drive. I must have fixed something but not the resets... I have a switch inturupting my boost controller ground wire so i can run less boost in the cold. Well just recently when ever i would switch it on and off the car would instantly reset. Tach drop out the whole nine. Now just going for the drive I could flip the switch as many times as i wanted and no resets from that. However Im still getting the rpm related reset and the squiggly "porta" line. IDK if that has anything to do with it or not. One other thing I though i should mention. Today I put a piece of cardboard in to block half my rad and my car started to idle super rich all the sudden. Loaded up megatune and my IAT was at 107 degrees. My IAT wire is in a spot where it got moved during the cardboard install. As u can see its back to normal but could that be an issue relating to the resets??? It seems like I'm listing the smallest random things but it maybe significant you never know...

Oops didnt realize non-paid members could post files...

I'm still getting the resets... I cant imagine what is doing this. Anyone want to throw in a long shot?

No idea. Possibly a noise issue. Like maybe you need a capacitor on something. I've always read "capicitor on JS8" or something like that. No idea what it's about, but I here all the highres fanbois need one. $0.02.

I looked at the msq and log. msq looks ok, though your ve table is gay, almost as bad as your spark map. How you got some of those values I dunno. Roll the dice 3 times and add them up?

Mike are you sure that cap on your board is a .1uF cap? that thing is mighty large, if it was anything other strength, it's possible you're filtering out the 2nd trigger signal from the CAS.

The idle circuit is simply that FET on the heat sink with the three wires going from it to Q4. Remove that and you have no more idle control circuit.

Basically I want you to measure the resistance of each resistor on the TACH input circuit that goes to JS8. There's a 1K resistor inline and a 470ohm resistor pull-up. I want to make sure those are correct.

You do not need to remove q12 or q9, since you did, the wetness you felt was heatsink compound.


I think it's time you flashed some new firmware, reload your msq, and look over your grounds more closely. I also again suggest you send the msq and log to Matt Cramer for review.