Ive got a weird problem with my car whats been going on for a few months now.

i got a new chip and the car wouldn't start.

but it works fine on a spare p8 i have

the chip was replaced but the same problem persisted

The ecu went to the tuner and was tested there on a car there and all was ok, but it was suggested i replace the baby board as there was a suspected intermittent fault with it and i might want to replace it for ultimate reliability.

so..

ecu was returned and it still wouldn't start

after weeks of waiting for a "different tuner" to send a new baby board it was fitted and..












it still wont start


what happens is the ecu monitor shows no faults, the is no fuel pump "prime" but dose clunk and powers when the engines turned over

BUT WORKS FINE WITH THE P8


Any sugestions ???

and anyone ooop north who would kindly test my ecu for me ??

its a late 4x4 l8

 

different wireloom? would that matter?

 

Try the wires from the ecu mate common fault on them dont which one tho lol,also try the relays next to the ecu,maybe try getting an auto electrican to check your wiring mate

 

assuming its a 2wd where does the ecu wires go to? and what relays/ecu's come off the ecu

 

cant see how it would be either of those as the l8 came out of the car originally and worked fine, only tested afterward with the p8

 

Are you using the same chip out the L8 in the P8. Does it work with your original chip out of your original ecu?

 

No the chip in the l8 is a new l8 chip, i broke the original chip so i bought the new one

 

Any one got a old stage 1 chip they dont need i could borrow??

 

Does it have spark at the plugs????

 

With the l8? im not sure havent realy checked, im convinced its the chip/board tbh

 

Right,

the ecu has been tested and works fine,

the is a spark with the l8 , but i dont have the p8 to try anymore

ive tried a different pump with the same problem

there is still no voltage at the pump with the ignition turned on , but there is when the engine is turned over

Secs monitor comes on and shows no faults,

ive checked fuses etc

im total stuck now i dont know what else to try

 

i know this probably isnt right but always worth checkin, but is your chip fitted into your ecu the right way? had a mate that had one in the wrong way and his wouldnt go! just a thought!!!

 

Ben, have you had the phase sensor off? If so, there is a very good chance you have plugged it in backwards inside the distributor.

 

No stu nothing like that has been changed since it has ran fine, only the iscv has been modified

 

The only reason a P8 would fire a car where the L8 wont is when you have a serious sensor error such as bad phase or crank. Worth a try at this juncture i guess.

 

Ok so your saying that the ECU is definately ok.
Firstly, when you say there is no power to the pump with the ignition on, that doesn’t mean there is an issue, it won’t always power up to prime if it doesn’t need to.
If it’s getting power when your cranking over then I would think that everything is ok (where are you taking the readings from-at the pump?)
I had a VERY similar issue with my 2WD not that long ago, which one of the previous owners could never get to the bottom of, but now it’s fixed.
The car wouldn’t start sometimes, and the fuel pump did make a “clunk” noise, so I thought it was ok, but when I tested the voltage it didn’t show anything (because I tested it with the ignition on and not when I was turning it over-now I know better)
Anyway to cut a long story short the fuel pump was buggered, please make sure this is working as it sounded like mine was, and I wasted a whole heap of time because it was working intermittently and looked like I was getting fuel at the rail, but not enough to start the car properly. Also what condition are the plugs in, if they have been soaked in fuel they won’t work very well.

 

I had a fault on my car and it wouldnt start.The fuse holder for the fuel pump was corroded.I cut it out and put a new one in and it was ok.

 

my wifes car was not starting some times it just did not start other times it started then died again and it turned out to be the original ford alarm relay i unplugged it and plugged it back and now it works fine and this also stopped the fuel pump working might be worth a check

 

Cheers for the help

i have a new phase sensor stu, but whilst i didnt know what the fault was i didnt want to remove to much, but i will try that.

The Ecu is 100% working rog,

i though the pump my self its a brand new grp a one, i put the old one back in with exactly the same fault.

when the car turns over the is NO signs on it firing at all, not even a cough or a splutter

Im going to try relays again, the voltage at the pump on turn over is 12.7v , would that suggest all is well with that? or could the alarm still be stoping it? as i had started to suspect a faulty alarm

 

Whats the wiring like on the coil Ben? Mine did this other day, didnt sound like pump was priming, and was just turning over, had every fuse out relay etc,checked the wiring on the coil and wire was not even in the plug lol, worth a try. i have GRPA one on mine

 

Ok so the pump is getting voltage when you turn it over.
From memory the ecu gets a signal from the CPS which will prime the pump etc...
I would "assume" that if it was getting voltage when your turning it over that this part of the cycle is ok. As you have said checking the relay that controls this is a good idea, but it must be working before it's getting the 12.7 volts as it's activated as soon as the ignition is switched to pos. 2 and when you turn the engine over.
Also when you crank it over next time, pull out one of the sidelight bulbs, bend the little contacts and plug it into one of your injector connectors on the loom, you should see the bulb flash to indicate that the injectors are getting power, and therefore opening to let the fuel in.
It's starting to sound to me that it's not a problem with your fuel pump or pump wiring, but something elsewhere, I could be totally wrong tho....

 

Thanx for everyone's help

its much apreciated , but still havent had any luck

i disconnected the phase sensor, and now the pump primes and spluters a bit! so im thinking it is the phase sensor! but the rotor arms broke so hopefully get on on sunday, and il let you know how i get on

 

Still no luck

all sensors are changed , timings been checked

Now ive tested the injectors and they dont seem to be firing??

Defo got a spark , fuel at the fuel rail, any suggestions what this might be?

 

Right.......we need to get this fixed!
When your ignition is on your injectors see (or should) a constant +12 Volts, it is the EARTH side of the injector that is switched by the ecu which will operate the injector. So firstly it is unlikey that both of these isn't working.
Either you have +12V and no earth, or switched earth and no +12 Volts.
if you can find out which of these you have then it'll give us a clue where to look.
If you have a multimeter, earth one side to the battery or other point on the car so you can be sure it it getting a good earth, then with the ignition ON try all 4 injector plugs and find out if you have any +12 Volts anywhere.

Like i said it's easier to check like this as it's a constant 12Volts, so you can see it easily on a multimeter.

 

Also, the constant +12volt supply comes from the relay under the dash(can't remember the colour), all the injectors are connected to this same supply. There is a fuse for this also. It's the one right next to the yellow fuel pump relay and fuse that you've already checked.
If it is getting +12Volts, i'll have to go away and have a look at some old posts and diagrams as I can't remember much about the earth side off the top of my head. Hope this helps.

 

cheers rog

hopfuly have some time to try some things tomorow

could the iscv affect anything like this? as its the only other thing ive messed with and not changed/tested?

 

Might sound like a stupid idea so dont slate me on this , you havnt got your iscv wire mixed up with the phase sensor wire as i did this years ago when i had my engine bay stripped down and got them mixed up .

 

Hmmm I've heard of people doing this with the CPS and phase sensors (as they're beside each other) and possibly ISCV, but not too often. From memory the ISCV is grey plug, Phase sensor is black, and CPS is white. Worth a check i suppose.
Personally I don't see why the ISCV would effect it, not ever seen anything like that happen in the past anyway. The car should start wthout it connected, it'll just die if you don't hold the throttle open a bit, i ran my car like this for a while when i was too lazy to change it.

 

right then!

Ive checked the plugs there all right,

Theres no live at the plugs, ive tried the bulb in them and theres nothing there

What do you think would be causing that?

Could it be the ign amplifier?

Cheers ben

 

When you say "no live" do you mean +ve with the ignition on?
The (+ve) is common to all the injectors and is supplied by the relay next to the fuel pump relay. If this is the case, either the relay is fucked or it's not getting any power in the first place.

 

sorry rog i wrote that on my phone

there is a live at the injectors, when tested with a multimeter about 11v iirc

 

Just to confirm, have you changed/checked the crank sensor? Before i go looking at other possibilities.

 

Yes, the crank sensor has been changed

 

Hmmm ok from what your saying it has a problem with the -ve pulsed feed from the ecu, so either its the ecu that's knackered (but your convinced its ok?) OR whatever input to tell the ecu to open the injectors is at fault. It can only be ths from what you have said. I knw the cranks sensor/crank pulley has some bearing on this but i'll have to look into it further to see what effects this TBH.

 

I have a better diagram but the disc and saved copies are at work

http://www.siipicossu.com/manuaaleja...ediagramL8.pdf

 

ive tested the ecu in another car, as everything seems to point at that so i had to see it for myself

Ive changed the injectors to greys as well with no change,

 

stupid question but have u checked the coolant temp sender at the back of the head
i had a bad connection on mine and it stopped it from starting when all else was checked and found to be perfect

just a thought

 

i havent tried that no, but a do have a new one to fit

Bit of a update today !

Big thanx to dave easton who kindly came over to help try a few things!

We tried a few different things and actuly got the car to run for about 5-7 seconds, not to shure how though