Newbie experiences
Discussion
Hi guys, just picked up my Chim 500, thought I'd share with you a couple of my experiences in the last 3 days of ownership and also thank people here for their comments, which saved me a headache!
After picking up the car, I found the MIL light faintly flickering and a couple of times the car would kick (as though it just had a single 1 off missfire) I filled up with petrol and couldn't start the car MIL light was on. I let the car cool down (I don't think this had anything to do with it) but then it started.
I had a browse on this forum and decided that it could be either the lambda sensor or corroded pins on my ECU.
I found the ECU (just thrown in behind the battery) and removed it (the pins did look very cruddy, obviously form some water ingress) so I took it into the kitchen to give it a good clean - closed my door (obviously locking myself out of the car, cause I had no battery!) and spent the next 10 minutes trying to work out how to get back in my car!
After cleaning the ECU and refitting, the alarm went off on the car and no matter how much rearming and disarming, I had no fuel pump noise when I turned the ignition (I presumed the imobilisor was preventing me starting the car). So after owning the car for 24 hours I managed to lock myself out and also b*gger it up so it wouldn't start! Took the ECU out again and refitted it this time the car started - loveley. Suddenly I'm back to being the happiest man again and even better the MIL light thing had gone. - Thanks to this forum for diagnosing this problem from previous posts.
But then my idle speed didn't seem right! After driving and pulling up at a roundabout (or whatever!) the idle would stay at about 2000 revs for 5 secs and then drop back to 900 or so. After reading more posts here I realised that the ECU reset to defaults and would have to relearn - which it only does after the engine gets to 90 degrees temp. Getting the engine to this temp wasn't easy, 'cause my fans seem to kick in at about 90, but you were dead right, my ECU did relearn itself and it is running absolutely great now - and again thanks to this forum for previous posts.
At the moment I'm so chuffed with my car, I'm going back to polishing things and leaving complicated bits alone for a while, but I'm sure I will have loads of questions, once I've finished polishing my Plenum chamber and swirl tank :-)
Sorry for the edit your last comment was a bit sensitive!
After picking up the car, I found the MIL light faintly flickering and a couple of times the car would kick (as though it just had a single 1 off missfire) I filled up with petrol and couldn't start the car MIL light was on. I let the car cool down (I don't think this had anything to do with it) but then it started.
I had a browse on this forum and decided that it could be either the lambda sensor or corroded pins on my ECU.
I found the ECU (just thrown in behind the battery) and removed it (the pins did look very cruddy, obviously form some water ingress) so I took it into the kitchen to give it a good clean - closed my door (obviously locking myself out of the car, cause I had no battery!) and spent the next 10 minutes trying to work out how to get back in my car!
After cleaning the ECU and refitting, the alarm went off on the car and no matter how much rearming and disarming, I had no fuel pump noise when I turned the ignition (I presumed the imobilisor was preventing me starting the car). So after owning the car for 24 hours I managed to lock myself out and also b*gger it up so it wouldn't start! Took the ECU out again and refitted it this time the car started - loveley. Suddenly I'm back to being the happiest man again and even better the MIL light thing had gone. - Thanks to this forum for diagnosing this problem from previous posts.
But then my idle speed didn't seem right! After driving and pulling up at a roundabout (or whatever!) the idle would stay at about 2000 revs for 5 secs and then drop back to 900 or so. After reading more posts here I realised that the ECU reset to defaults and would have to relearn - which it only does after the engine gets to 90 degrees temp. Getting the engine to this temp wasn't easy, 'cause my fans seem to kick in at about 90, but you were dead right, my ECU did relearn itself and it is running absolutely great now - and again thanks to this forum for previous posts.
At the moment I'm so chuffed with my car, I'm going back to polishing things and leaving complicated bits alone for a while, but I'm sure I will have loads of questions, once I've finished polishing my Plenum chamber and swirl tank :-)
Sorry for the edit your last comment was a bit sensitive!
Glad that you managed to sort out the "issues" so quickly. However, you dont need to worry too much about the "fiddly" or "technical" bits as much as you might in another car. In generaly they are pretty simple cars and the knowledge that is kicking around is enough to fix even major problems for a reasonable sum.... so dont worry.
As for the ECU - if the idle problem re-occurs then do the normal stuff like HT leads, give it some good Johnny-large-potatoes and even the sparks, but if that doesnt cure it (and it might not) then get it to an ECU specialist like Mark Adams. Not only will he diagnose the real problem, but he can re-map the ECU a little to improve running and performance - not necessarily make it faster (though he can do this too!) but sort out the program to make it a little easier on the idle / RPM limit etc..... worth the investment.
As for the ECU - if the idle problem re-occurs then do the normal stuff like HT leads, give it some good Johnny-large-potatoes and even the sparks, but if that doesnt cure it (and it might not) then get it to an ECU specialist like Mark Adams. Not only will he diagnose the real problem, but he can re-map the ECU a little to improve running and performance - not necessarily make it faster (though he can do this too!) but sort out the program to make it a little easier on the idle / RPM limit etc..... worth the investment.
I'm pretty sure the idle thing is sorted now, after taking the temperature up on the car (presuming the ECU re-learnt itself) and everything is fine.
I'm quite looking forward to working on the engine and just got the Steve Heath book, so will check out which bits I can polish without too much trouble :-)
As a separate topic, my Spark plugs leads are quite nasty looking (poor condition) I don't suspect anything wrong with them, but they don't look nice, so I thought I might get some new ones, I was thinking about getting some thicker leads (performance from magnecor) does anyone have recomendations or do's and don'ts on this?
I'm quite looking forward to working on the engine and just got the Steve Heath book, so will check out which bits I can polish without too much trouble :-)
As a separate topic, my Spark plugs leads are quite nasty looking (poor condition) I don't suspect anything wrong with them, but they don't look nice, so I thought I might get some new ones, I was thinking about getting some thicker leads (performance from magnecor) does anyone have recomendations or do's and don'ts on this?
Glad you got it sorted.
The Magnecor leads are very good, and give smoother running, you can buy them from www.actproducts.co.uk talk to Tim Lamont. Its also worth swapping the coil for the Bosch equivalent, as the unmarked standard ones are abit poo.
HTH
MOD.
Edited for probs with web link!
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:23
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:23
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:25
The Magnecor leads are very good, and give smoother running, you can buy them from www.actproducts.co.uk talk to Tim Lamont. Its also worth swapping the coil for the Bosch equivalent, as the unmarked standard ones are abit poo.
HTH
MOD.
Edited for probs with web link!
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:23
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:23
>> Edited by MOD500 on Friday 26th March 13:25
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