Lotus SE ECU Problem
Discussion
I've got a problem with the ECU or memcal on my SE ECU.
My car has been running just fine for over the 1.5 years I've had it and I've run it with many different iterations of chips. Yesterday I replaced the chip in the ECU with another one with some modifications and things are not working right. Here is what happens:
*Check engine light comes on
*Fans come on with AC off, even while sitting and just turning the key to the accessory position. Very unusual.
*Car runs like crap, completely rich, obviously not using inputs to adjust A/F
*If I borrow another ECU the car runs fine. Have not tried just swapping out memcals, so, I have not isolated that.
I checked the chip connections and it has contiunity from the chip through the blue connector, to a pin stuck into the blue connector. Checked all pins, all good.
If I put any number of chips back in the memcal, including the stock one, it still does the same thing.
I'm thinking that the memcal is bad or the ECU has an issue. Bad day. Any suggestions on diagnosing this problem or where to source some new bits?
And, on top of that the right window won't roll up anymore, unrelated I think. And, my house has no water pressure for some odd reason! Dang it!
My car has been running just fine for over the 1.5 years I've had it and I've run it with many different iterations of chips. Yesterday I replaced the chip in the ECU with another one with some modifications and things are not working right. Here is what happens:
*Check engine light comes on
*Fans come on with AC off, even while sitting and just turning the key to the accessory position. Very unusual.
*Car runs like crap, completely rich, obviously not using inputs to adjust A/F
*If I borrow another ECU the car runs fine. Have not tried just swapping out memcals, so, I have not isolated that.
I checked the chip connections and it has contiunity from the chip through the blue connector, to a pin stuck into the blue connector. Checked all pins, all good.
If I put any number of chips back in the memcal, including the stock one, it still does the same thing.
I'm thinking that the memcal is bad or the ECU has an issue. Bad day. Any suggestions on diagnosing this problem or where to source some new bits?
And, on top of that the right window won't roll up anymore, unrelated I think. And, my house has no water pressure for some odd reason! Dang it!
As with my '89 non-SE, you may not get any trouble codes with the chip dead. There is no doubt, however, that your chip is not functioning.
And, "running like crap" is a relative opinion.
My car ran in "limp home" mode for 3 years and up to 100 mph. It wasn't until the Revs were going all over the place and couldn't hold an idle that the ECU indicated it had given up and had to be changed. Also the ECU had been going out piece by piece for years(An $80 box from Autozone worked.) Finally, when I changed to the No. 15, Marcus told me about the Limp home mode. Not discussed in the Service Notes.
I would change the ECU and the chip out first. Everything else is as expensive and much harder to install.
lotusman
'89 non-SE
And, "running like crap" is a relative opinion.
My car ran in "limp home" mode for 3 years and up to 100 mph. It wasn't until the Revs were going all over the place and couldn't hold an idle that the ECU indicated it had given up and had to be changed. Also the ECU had been going out piece by piece for years(An $80 box from Autozone worked.) Finally, when I changed to the No. 15, Marcus told me about the Limp home mode. Not discussed in the Service Notes.
I would change the ECU and the chip out first. Everything else is as expensive and much harder to install.
lotusman
'89 non-SE
Ron,
In case you can't find an inexpensive source, WC has it for $220.
www.wcengineering.com/esprit/memcal.html
Can't help you with the water pressure...
In case you can't find an inexpensive source, WC has it for $220.
www.wcengineering.com/esprit/memcal.html
Can't help you with the water pressure...
Dang Pete, missed that, thanks a bunch!!! I didn't know John had those, that is good to know. Check out the Jensen progress here:
http://forum.improvedtouring.com/it/Forum3/HTML/000182.html
Motor look familar? What do you think?
R
http://forum.improvedtouring.com/it/Forum3/HTML/000182.html
Motor look familar? What do you think?
R
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Ron if you spend ANY money on this, let me know. That's my bad memcal or ECU in your car, and I'll pay you for a replacement.
Guys, a little more background:
1. Ron has a 90 SE, I have a 93.5 SE. Ron has a chip in his (plus bigger turbo and exhaust), mine was completely stock. Both cars ran fine.
2. We put a less restrictive exhaust on mine, and installed one of Ron's chips.
3. I immediately got the limp home problem on mine with the new chip and exhaust.
4. We switched Ron's ECU and memcal over to my car, and with the new chip and exhaust it runs great.
5. However, Ron's car then went into limp home mode.
So, we have the situation where my ECU and memcal worked fine in my car with the stock chip, but doesn't work right in my car OR Ron's car with a new chip.
Any ideas? Is there any difference between the 90 and 93.5 ECU and memcal?
Jeff
Guys, a little more background:
1. Ron has a 90 SE, I have a 93.5 SE. Ron has a chip in his (plus bigger turbo and exhaust), mine was completely stock. Both cars ran fine.
2. We put a less restrictive exhaust on mine, and installed one of Ron's chips.
3. I immediately got the limp home problem on mine with the new chip and exhaust.
4. We switched Ron's ECU and memcal over to my car, and with the new chip and exhaust it runs great.
5. However, Ron's car then went into limp home mode.
So, we have the situation where my ECU and memcal worked fine in my car with the stock chip, but doesn't work right in my car OR Ron's car with a new chip.
Any ideas? Is there any difference between the 90 and 93.5 ECU and memcal?
Jeff
And, to make sure this thread doesn't go off somewhere - it doesn't work with any chip - stock, modified, Markus chip, my chip, etc. I have not been able to pull the memcal in Jeff's and put it into the ECU in my car to isolate either computer or memcal. I think this should be the next step. I just left out all the details of who's car since that might confuse people and I wanted to be focused on the problem.
Connections are good, I checked them all numerous times. Cleaned the contacts everywhere with electronic contact cleaner too.
Only thing I can figure is when I pulled Jeff's original chip I buggered the memcal or computer. That is the only explination because it worked fine, I pulled it, now it won't work in either car with ANY chip. However, I've done this procedure four times now and never had any problems not to mention the probably 30-50 times I've had my own chip in and out modifying stuff and putting it back it to check out out. Man do I need a socket external to the computer!!!
Jeff, I think we can solve the problem easily. Take the memcal in your car and put it into my car. If my car works, then we've got a memcal problem. If it doesn't work we do the same swap with the computer. One or the other is it.
And, I've got my Freescan cable assembled (soldered that last night with some beers, after working on the Jensen electrics) and we should be able to hook that up to both of them and check some stuff out.
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 17:27
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 22:42
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 22:42
Connections are good, I checked them all numerous times. Cleaned the contacts everywhere with electronic contact cleaner too.
Only thing I can figure is when I pulled Jeff's original chip I buggered the memcal or computer. That is the only explination because it worked fine, I pulled it, now it won't work in either car with ANY chip. However, I've done this procedure four times now and never had any problems not to mention the probably 30-50 times I've had my own chip in and out modifying stuff and putting it back it to check out out. Man do I need a socket external to the computer!!!
Jeff, I think we can solve the problem easily. Take the memcal in your car and put it into my car. If my car works, then we've got a memcal problem. If it doesn't work we do the same swap with the computer. One or the other is it.
And, I've got my Freescan cable assembled (soldered that last night with some beers, after working on the Jensen electrics) and we should be able to hook that up to both of them and check some stuff out.
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 17:27
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 22:42
>> Edited by rlearp on Monday 6th September 22:42
Sounds to me like the memcal got messed up somewhere in the numerous exchanges you guys made. I think your suggestion of swapping the memcals should lead to the problem.
Ron, how the heck are you ever going to finish the GT40 with all the projects you have? The Jensen looks like a fun project, and something you don't have to worry about if you mess it up at the track. Wish I was still in Raleigh...
Ron, how the heck are you ever going to finish the GT40 with all the projects you have? The Jensen looks like a fun project, and something you don't have to worry about if you mess it up at the track. Wish I was still in Raleigh...
I had a similiar problem. I fixed mine by disconnecting battery for a while. It was like the computer was confused. I had been switching out a single chip for a much larger one with multiple bank switching. I had been switching them back and forth quite a bit. Give it a try--costs nothing.
Rich Flowers
'95 S4s ...SHF63000
'79 JPs #040
Rich Flowers
'95 S4s ...SHF63000
'79 JPs #040
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