Ok, my car is dead! Seriously, I just spent the entire day working through a number of issues with my SC'd S2K. We started at 10:00 AM and had to quit at 8:00 PM the total job should have run 3 or 4 hours to change the pulley, belt, Fuel pressure regulator, install new ECU and Serial gauges and then tune the car. Jeff forgot to tell me to bring my stock FPR to install so that was the first issue - an on and off 2 hour hunt for a Fuel regulator that would fit the stock fuel rail. Then a change of spark plugs, then once on the dynpack was mounted the tune began. then the real culprit for most of my problems with the car showed up, after a series of start stop issues that looked like a faulty AEM ECU, Jeff set me up with a Beta test unit and he tuned my car. After we did a street run and he checked everything, we drove back to the shop, swapped phone numbers and when aI went to start the car - it was dead! the same problem ;as the previous ECU. A bad timing count from the crank sensor. He has rounded up a new sensor and will be installing it tommorrow. ( I spending another day here in Strasburg), Hopefully, I will be ok and back home tommorrow. but it that does solve the issues, the Dragon may not be in my future!
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ah geez that blows, sorry dave, hopefully you get it sorted tomorrow. one way or the other you have to show up though. rent a hertz vette and you can be the pace car
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Well, i sit a Evans Tuning and am looking at a hugh problem. My car is dead. Jeff can't figure out what the problem is and it looks like I will be leaving it here for him to sort it out. The fix; short and long term may be go all the way back to stock, which leaves me with the question of just why the hell doesn't anything work on my car except the stock ECU? Jeff is going to try a series 1 ECU to see if it will work, but he is not confident. As it is, I am out of time, money and patience and at this point I will likely be cancelling my trip to DBR. I am just so disappointed and frustrated. I never thought I would reach this point with this car, but mayby its time to move on. (sigh).
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Sorry to hear that, Dave! Hopefully he can get it sorted in time - got a week left, right? Would hate to see you miss this one!

 

keep your head up dave, and come on, you can still come even if you don't have the car running

 

Patrick, I appredciate the support. I arrived home last night at 10:45 PM - with my car. Jeff got it running, and for themost part, running well. I stillhave issues, but they are not related to the tune or anything Evans Tuning did. I am currently making 354 hp and 211 lb/ft torque. and oh, does the car run soooooooo smooth and quick. i do howeverhave an over heating issue I need to overcome before a 700 mile one way trip. But first, the tune -


As you can see, it builds power very linerally. but the Series 2 AEM ECU would not tune my car. For whatever reason, that Jeff Evans could not flesh out, the series 2 unit I purchased, and an addition one he installed both failed to correctly count the teeth in the crank. Even with a new crank sensor, the series 2 unit failed, but an AEM series 1 1052 unit he had (different architecture) succeeded in recognizing the crank and now my car runs better than it ever has. Now, that I have gauges that tell me what my car is doing, I know I have an overheating issue. My possibilities are a bad radiator cap, improperly bled coolant system, a failing therostat, or just plain poor air flow though the radiator. Overheating occurs only when air temps are high, and I am WOT. I have observed temps above 210 (four bars). running on cruise for 4 hours last night on interstate, the highest temp observed was 202. Normal operating should be around 187, but going down hill at highway speed I actually saw temps as low as 185. It has me a little baffled and I want to know I am safe before leaving next week, so if anyone here has advice, post up - I am all ears.

 

sounds like pretty good news overall dave normally when you have issues with the cooling system, wont it heat up at idle and then cool off at speed? yet your car needs to be going downhill at speed to cool off? i guess you have to check all those things you mentioned - rad cap, air in the system, thermostat...but what makes you think you might have something blocking the airflow to the rad? is there some new supercharger accessory in front of it now?

 

Yes there is a hugh heat exchanger between the radiator and the grill. Personally, I think it's a bad radiator cap. My tech uses vaccuum to pull the fluid through the engine, and the themostate typically just goes bad. You don't drive 4 hours with one stuck closed, and if they stick open i don't think you would get over heating problems. If it isn't the rad cap, then it is likely an air flow problem unique to my heat exchanger mounting and front-end design, but I am really guessing on that one.

 

i thought that was the typical behavior for a broken (stuck open) thermostat? in any event, is it fixed yet?

 

you may be right, also, I wonder if I should get a Mishmoto fan switch (turns fans on at lower temp). Guess I need to get some more info and have a long heart to heart with my tech.

 

Dave - have you posted up in the engine management forum to see if anyone else has experienced the crank trigger problem with the series 2?

If yours is the only case, I would be concerned about the issue resurfacing as it would almost certainly be something about your particular car if that were the case.

have you popped on a new radiator cap to see if that changes anything yet?

 

Dave - have you posted up in the engine management forum to see if anyone else has experienced the crank trigger problem with the series 2?

If yours is the only case, I would be concerned about the issue resurfacing as it would almost certainly be something about your particular car if that were the case.

have you popped on a new radiator cap to see if that changes anything yet?
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Jeff Evans is the beta tester for AEM. He says he has never seen this issue with the AEM series 2. We changed crank sensors and still have the issue, but the AEM series 1 and the stock ECU both start the car with no problem, while two different series 2 AEM units experienced the problem, which I beleave is a diagnostic/programing problem with the series 2 unit that has just surfaced. Keep in mind that most of the S2000 out there that were tuned with AEM are stillusing series 1 ECU and for all the hype, the series 2 is relatively new, being used in cars that are relatively rare. this means that those that experience the crank problem that I have are few and far between. I have posted my experience up in the FI forum. the over heating problem is not the fan switch (checked that out yesterday, and it comes on at 190, shuts of at 180. I run the car to work this morning trying to overheat it and couln't get it over 193. So I really am stumped as to why it would overheat last Saturday. To be fair, the ambient temp was higher then, the car was in city traffic, and I had just done a full hour of in and out of vtec testing the ecu and tune for Jeff to make sure everything was ok. the heat issue was the only event that happened and after the car cooled down it made the 4 hour drive back home. I'm guessing it is working an air bubble out, so I'm keep and eye on it and see if I can repeat the issue, but if I can't make it happen again, or if I find it and fix it, I AM COMING TO DBR! And I believe the rad cap is good, but I may order one anyway.

 

I've been busy. Got the Modifry dash mount to bolt my Droid X mount onto. Worked out pretty well, although it crowds the top climate control knob a bit more than I'd like when the stereo cable is plugged in. Also added an additional 12v socket as the one behind the driver's elbow is quite possibly the worst placement they could have devised. There's just enough room behind that panel. If I ever want to remove it, a replacement panel would only be a few bucks.







(more pics here if you're curious)