First race with new 213WHP NA Engine

[tb1999]

First race with new 213WHP NA Engine

YouTube Video

This is a bitter sweet video. My first event with a freshly built highly modified engine (read more here >> http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220779 <<) turned out to be a weekend of frustrating ECU calibration issues.

First off, I have an issue where the ECU shuts down and needs the ignition to be recycled for a restart. It seems to happen if the engine exceeds the rev limiter by 'x' RPM's, or it's a hard coded limiter beyond the one I can set using the SCT software that I have been using to tune the car.

Second, I seemed to develop a power loss issue 1/2 way through the race on Saturday. I looked into this when I got home today, and think it's a failed O2 sensor causing the fuel trims to go way out of range. It came and went during the race, but it was idling poorly. If I forced it into open loop, it ran much better.

I'll have to get to the bottom of these issues before oct 3rd, as I will be trying to get out to the track for some more testing.

Good news is, the engine is mechanically sound, and makes good power when the ECU is not flaking out. I'm hitting a top speed of 122MPH going into the bus stop, a good 10MPH faster than last year at the glen.

While I did not have too many good clean laps to get into a groove and really take advantage of the new engine during the race, I did knock off a full 3 secs from my best laptimes last year during a practice session on Friday. (another video soon to come) I think if I spent 2 good days just doing a time trial/PDX with the ECU working correctly, I could easily break into the 2:19's with this car as it sits. I still have some chassis development to work on over the winter. There are plenty of improvements still left on the table within class rules. And I'm about 150lbs overweight for my displacement.

I withdrew from Sunday's race. Qualifying was cancelled due to fog, and since I was having multiple problems with the ECU, I decided that a 15 minute race that I had little chance of getting a podium finish in was not worth the $$. The event was fully booked, and the track was crowded, having a power loos at the wrong time might cause an incident on track. Besides that, I was sort of playing russian roulette with the new motor since I had to jack up the rev limiter just to minimize the chance of the ECU shutdown problem.

I had yet to complete a full session without having the ECU shut down at least once.

Can you say "beating a dead horse"?

It was clearly time to go home......

[Sponsor]

[SYZ]

do you think the ecu is sensing false knock and pulling timing?

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by SYZ

do you think the ecu is sensing false knock and pulling timing?

Yep, I'm pretty sure I'm getting some false knock, but that's already been dealt with in the calibration. I limited knock retard to 2 degrees, so I know that's not the source of the power loss.

I think the 02 sensor is going bad, and the fuel trims are wayy off. It ran much better at idle, snap throttle etc with th 02 unplugged running in open loop.

At this point I'll need to spend some time going over all the basics, and make sure all the wiring/grounds are good, and have a look at the inputs and outputs with an oscilloscope. I have no DTCs to work with, and the datalogger traces I have when the PCM shuts down are all cut short by about 2 secs.

I guess there is a data buffer that is lost when the PCM goes down, so the log is missing the data I need to show what is going on when the shutdown occurs.......

This sucks.

[SYZ]

are you running leaded fuel? I messed up an already-older o2 sensor when I started running leaded fuel though the motor.

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by SYZ

are you running leaded fuel? I messed up an already-older o2 sensor when I started running leaded fuel though the motor.

50/50 mix of sunoco 100 UNleaded and 112 leaded. I didn't expect it to poison the 02 in such a short time span. Guess it doesn't take much.

[JibLxA]

So many Miata's! You owned them all though. But that looks so fun, wish I had a car to do that. I bet once you fix the ECU problems you'll be up there near the top. When you were running good you were just passing people left and right.

[Buickboy]

i enjoyed the hell out of that video.

hope you get the gremlins figured out

[norcalfocus01]

Damn that sucks. Hope you get all the bugs worked out before the next race.

[mikebontoft]

that sucks but DAMN that thing sounds amazing...... have any exhaust videos of it?

edit: oh wait I found it........YUM :)

[tb1999]

Originally Posted by Buickboy

i enjoyed the hell out of that video.

hope you get the gremlins figured out

Originally Posted by norcalfocus01

Damn that sucks. Hope you get all the bugs worked out before the next race.

Originally Posted by mikebontoft

that sucks but DAMN that thing sounds amazing...... have any exhaust videos of it?

edit: oh wait I found it........YUM :)

Hey, thanks for all the compliments. I'm working on fixing the bugs, but have not found an answer to the PCM shutdown problem.

I'm working on some leads, but no answers yet. I've got to know Ken @ Cosworth a bit over the past few months, so I might see if he has any info about this considering Ford owned Cosworth for a while.

I'll see if my account on FJ still works and see if I can get some answers there. The SCT Forum will not let individuals post, I can search but not post unless you are a SCT dealer.