Jump to content

Car Enthusiast Club [Now Motorcycle friendly!] - First thread to 150k! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

techswede
Go to solution Solved by techswede,
26 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Don't lump me in with them. I'm an enthusiast of mechanic design, be it engines, weaponry, or productive machinery. Not a guy with a wrench that reads the marketing garbage AFE/insert other "enthusiast" brand that can't legally warranty half of their products.

 

I fail to see a correlation between people screeching variations of "forced induction is more efficient!!! Reclaimed energy!!!" and anything I've said.

If you can't be civil. Please leave

 

Edit. That goes for everyone in the thread

On 3/15/2023 at 3:46 PM, Bitter said:

I think we can all relate a little. 

Only when I'm on company time

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

We have an older customer who drives a bunch of Uber, I ask her if she's worried driving so much "oh no I have a dashcam that'll catch anything". Installed like this pointed exactly like that. Everytime it comes in I point it back at the road and everytime she comes back it's just like that.

IMG_20230322_091521.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Also car shopping, down to between a 16ish base Civic 2.0 CVT or a 16ish base Mazda 3 2.0 6spd AT. Leaning towards Mazda because not CVT. Nearly the same MPG on paper, hear the 3 is a more lively car.

Opinions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Bitter said:

Also car shopping, down to between a 16ish base Civic 2.0 CVT or a 16ish base Mazda 3 2.0 6spd AT. Leaning towards Mazda because not CVT. Nearly the same MPG on paper, hear the 3 is a more lively car.

Opinions?

CVT in the 2.0s is much weaker.

 

Previous gen 3s are pretty good if you can deal with the shit tier infotainment that takes minutes to boot.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, vetali said:

CVT in the 2.0s is much weaker.

 

Previous gen 3s are pretty good if you can deal with the shit tier infotainment that takes minutes to boot.

Can I replace it with a single or double DIN head unit without excessive fuckery?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Bitter said:

We have an older customer who drives a bunch of Uber, I ask her if she's worried driving so much "oh no I have a dashcam that'll catch anything". Installed like this pointed exactly like that. Everytime it comes in I point it back at the road and everytime she comes back it's just like that.

Checks out

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Shoe added for scale. This is getting old really fast. Magic elixirs did not help. Maybe not a seal leak? Going to look at a 2018 Mazda 3 this weekend.

IMG_20230323_211648.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Must admit, even though a Model A is overall simpler to work on, swapping radiators isn't.
Removed the old one today and that was a bit of work with all the stuff I had to remove just to get it out including the hood itself, wiring harness for the headlights and horn too because of how they are routed.

It's all good though, it's out and the new one is ready to go back in later.
 

"If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first"..... Nirvana
"Whadda ya mean I ain't kind? Just not your kind"..... Megadeth
Speaking of things being "All Inclusive", Hell itself is too.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bitter said:

Shoe added for scale. This is getting old really fast. Magic elixirs did not help. Maybe not a seal leak? Going to look at a 2018 Mazda 3 this weekend.

Or stop running over smurfs.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, vetali said:

Or stop running over smurfs.

You sure it wasn't a case of a Smurf hiking their leg on the tires where it was parked?

"Hey - Get away from my car" and the Smurf ran away......?

"If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first"..... Nirvana
"Whadda ya mean I ain't kind? Just not your kind"..... Megadeth
Speaking of things being "All Inclusive", Hell itself is too.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

We've been slow so I finally got time to look at the S10 today. Minor vacuum leak was one of the issues. I had 2 leaking injectors and 2 restricted injectors. Thats why fuel trims were so wonky. Also figured out it uses a 1 wire O2 sensor. Thought those things went the way of the dinosaur once OBD2 came out, but nope. Still on a 99.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, vetali said:

We've been slow so I finally got time to look at the S10 today. Minor vacuum leak was one of the issues. I had 2 leaking injectors and 2 restricted injectors. Thats why fuel trims were so wonky. Also figured out it uses a 1 wire O2 sensor. Thought those things went the way of the dinosaur once OBD2 came out, but nope. Still on a 99.

I'm sure it'll be purring away in no time, can't say I've seen injector issues on the 2200's but anything is possible when they get old.

Yeah, def have not seen a one wire sensor in a long long time, 3 wire and 2 wire, lots of 4 wire, 5+ wire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Bitter said:

I'm sure it'll be purring away in no time, can't say I've seen injector issues on the 2200's but anything is possible when they get old.

Yeah, def have not seen a one wire sensor in a long long time, 3 wire and 2 wire, lots of 4 wire, 5+ wire.

I had my advisor take them to his old work and ultrasonic cleaned them. Flow rates aren't great, but they are even so the PCM should be able to correct. Its running a lot better now, but still not great. I don't remember how to test a single wire O2 sensor. Its reading really spike-y like a bad O2. Went to order one, saw its a one wire... and decided not to.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, vetali said:

I had my advisor take them to his old work and ultrasonic cleaned them. Flow rates aren't great, but they are even so the PCM should be able to correct. Its running a lot better now, but still not great. I don't remember how to test a single wire O2 sensor. Its reading really spike-y like a bad O2. Went to order one, saw its a one wire... and decided not to.

I believe it's differential between the wire and ground, so dodgy grounds to the engine, rusty exhaust, crusty threads, etc can mess with them. Normal sensor voltage range for a narrow band tho, 0-1 volt roughly with the normal .450-.550 being around stoich so you should be seeing cross counts rich/lean of some number a second. Using an o-scope is going to work better than data on that S10, it's too slow to really see what's going on.

Some cars, japanese especially, you can HEAR the rich/lean switch at idle as the engine speed rising and falling like 25-30 RPM back and forth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bitter said:

I believe it's differential between the wire and ground, so dodgy grounds to the engine, rusty exhaust, crusty threads, etc can mess with them. Normal sensor voltage range for a narrow band tho, 0-1 volt roughly with the normal .450-.550 being around stoich so you should be seeing cross counts rich/lean of some number a second. Using an o-scope is going to work better than data on that S10, it's too slow to really see what's going on.

Some cars, japanese especially, you can HEAR the rich/lean switch at idle as the engine speed rising and falling like 25-30 RPM back and forth.

The thing is rust free so its not that I would think. Sensor looks aftermarket as F. Really spikey rich/lean on the scan tool to the point where I would call a bad O2 on a typical 4 wire. But like you said could just be the refresh rate of the ECU communicating. Maybe I will throw a scope on it to see how its reading.... nobody has used the scope at our shop lol.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, vetali said:

The thing is rust free so its not that I would think. Sensor looks aftermarket as F. Really spikey rich/lean on the scan tool to the point where I would call a bad O2 on a typical 4 wire. But like you said could just be the refresh rate of the ECU communicating. Maybe I will throw a scope on it to see how its reading.... nobody has used the scope at our shop lol.

Ah shit I use the one on our snap on scanner all the time! It's great! 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, vetali said:

The thing is rust free so its not that I would think. Sensor looks aftermarket as F. Really spikey rich/lean on the scan tool to the point where I would call a bad O2 on a typical 4 wire. But like you said could just be the refresh rate of the ECU communicating. Maybe I will throw a scope on it to see how its reading.... nobody has used the scope at our shop lol.

meanwhile me over here buying a $30 mini oscilloscope to troubleshoot a radiator fan issue

"If a Lobster is a fish because it moves by jumping, then a kangaroo is a bird" - Admiral Paulo de Castro Moreira da Silva

"There is nothing more difficult than fixing something that isn't all the way broken yet." - Author Unknown

Spoiler

Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.6 GHz - Asus P9X79WS/IPMI - 12GB DDR3-1600 quad-channel - EVGA GTX 1080ti SC - Fractal Design Define R5 - 500GB Crucial MX200 - NH-D15 - Logitech G710+ - Mionix Naos 7000 - Sennheiser PC350 w/Topping VX-1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 3/23/2023 at 9:29 PM, Bitter said:

Shoe added for scale. This is getting old really fast. Magic elixirs did not help. Maybe not a seal leak? Going to look at a 2018 Mazda 3 this weekend.

-snip-

Newer Mazda 3's seem pretty solid. Never hear of people having trouble with them. And they are simple... just fwd small engine, and traditional auto trans, so probably pretty easy to work on? 

"If a Lobster is a fish because it moves by jumping, then a kangaroo is a bird" - Admiral Paulo de Castro Moreira da Silva

"There is nothing more difficult than fixing something that isn't all the way broken yet." - Author Unknown

Spoiler

Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.6 GHz - Asus P9X79WS/IPMI - 12GB DDR3-1600 quad-channel - EVGA GTX 1080ti SC - Fractal Design Define R5 - 500GB Crucial MX200 - NH-D15 - Logitech G710+ - Mionix Naos 7000 - Sennheiser PC350 w/Topping VX-1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bitter said:

Ah shit I use the one on our snap on scanner all the time! It's great! 👍

I never really dig that far into a diag #flatrate... almost broke one out to check cam and crank signals on one of those front bank misfires on the V6s. If I was hourly or if they wanted to do an advanced diag charge to customers I'd probably bother. Plus modern Honda (like 16+ depending on the model) refresh so fast on the scan tool that its almost impossible to read. Like MAF readings on the turbos fluctuate a ton at idle, its normal according to what I've read. But near impossible to get a reading on the scan tool due to how fast it refreshes. Just don't really need to use a scope for 99% of the stuff I do.

 

Speaking of the front bank misfires. Seems to be a theme lately. The Accord ended up being a damaged head from improper rocker arm installation during a spool valve replacement by another tech. There was 2 Odysseys that all had the parts canon thrown at them. Told my advisor that at min need to replace with all OEM coils, plugs and injectors before I will continue diag due to how high the failure rate on aftermarket coils and injectors have been for us. The 3rd was a pilot that also had the parts canon thrown at it. Ebay spark plugs and coils, injectors, front cat. Swapped plugs and did a cam/crank relearn and misfire improved. Test drove it and I was about to ship it... went and hit vtak on it and nothing but white smoke filled the road. Pulled it into the shop and the overflow tank was about to spill over. Pull the cap off and put my fill funnel on it and had nothing but combustion gas coming up when revving.

6 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

meanwhile me over here buying a $30 mini oscilloscope to troubleshoot a radiator fan issue

Those cheap ones are nice from what I've seen. I remember in college you were looking at spending 2k min for a DSO.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, vetali said:

I never really dig that far into a diag #flatrate... almost broke one out to check cam and crank signals on one of those front bank misfires on the V6s. If I was hourly or if they wanted to do an advanced diag charge to customers I'd probably bother. Plus modern Honda (like 16+ depending on the model) refresh so fast on the scan tool that its almost impossible to read. Like MAF readings on the turbos fluctuate a ton at idle, its normal according to what I've read. But near impossible to get a reading on the scan tool due to how fast it refreshes. Just don't really need to use a scope for 99% of the stuff I do.

 

Speaking of the front bank misfires. Seems to be a theme lately. The Accord ended up being a damaged head from improper rocker arm installation during a spool valve replacement by another tech. There was 2 Odysseys that all had the parts canon thrown at them. Told my advisor that at min need to replace with all OEM coils, plugs and injectors before I will continue diag due to how high the failure rate on aftermarket coils and injectors have been for us. The 3rd was a pilot that also had the parts canon thrown at it. Ebay spark plugs and coils, injectors, front cat. Swapped plugs and did a cam/crank relearn and misfire improved. Test drove it and I was about to ship it... went and hit vtak on it and nothing but white smoke filled the road. Pulled it into the shop and the overflow tank was about to spill over. Pull the cap off and put my fill funnel on it and had nothing but combustion gas coming up when revving.

Those cheap ones are nice from what I've seen. I remember in college you were looking at spending 2k min for a DSO.

The bulk of what I do is diag and the scope is an awesome tool. I want to get a setup with with an amp clamp and ignition pickup so I can reference to cyl1 and diagnose certain things better, which the snapon scanner can do I just need to drill into what probes to buy for it for that, in my spare time.

 

Do your scan tools not let you save the data as a log file then view it? I do that all the time with the snappy scanner, it's got network share folders where it saves all the code scans, screenshots, scanner data, etc so I can pull them up on the shop PC and really pick through them to see if things correlate to help point toward when the issue is happening what else is happening kind of things. It's really come in handy to say pickup on which of the 4 wheel speed sensors is dropping out since I can't watch and drive at the same time, also means that's a single tech test drive and not one to drive and one to watch which is a huge waste of time. I'm not the fastest guy but I try to be thorough and efficient because you don't get paid the 2nd time and customers really hate surprises after you've sold the job.

 

Coming in to fix after someone else already 'fixed' is such a pain in the ass cause it's like "ok buddy, what did you fuck up AND what was the actual original problem that still needs fixing". Like the time I went on vacation and the office printer stopped printing, someone said 'I can fix it' and installed like 30 different printers which I had to delete, reboot, delete, reboot, and then scrub all the different printer softwares that were making virtual printer ports from the USB port and janked up all the available system resources....all to only find out it was a USB cable that had been kinked a hard 90 for years and finally gave up the ghost. Like 2 hours for a bad USB cable when it would have been a 5 minute fix had no one touched it. Pretty much everything I work on is "pre-fixed", got a rusty Cobalt which Pepboys has been servicing. Smelled gas around the car, has a large evap leak code, assumed it was from that. Lifted it, nah son they patched the pressure and return lines with rubber hoses from about mid-car to the fuel tank, just shoved it right onto the rust with a single worm clamp and had the idiocy to charge for it. And left a tierod jam nut loose. And have sold her 4 different tires over the past couple years. And probably everything else I haven't seen yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Bitter said:

The bulk of what I do is diag and the scope is an awesome tool. I want to get a setup with with an amp clamp and ignition pickup so I can reference to cyl1 and diagnose certain things better, which the snapon scanner can do I just need to drill into what probes to buy for it for that, in my spare time.

 

Do your scan tools not let you save the data as a log file then view it? I do that all the time with the snappy scanner, it's got network share folders where it saves all the code scans, screenshots, scanner data, etc so I can pull them up on the shop PC and really pick through them to see if things correlate to help point toward when the issue is happening what else is happening kind of things. It's really come in handy to say pickup on which of the 4 wheel speed sensors is dropping out since I can't watch and drive at the same time, also means that's a single tech test drive and not one to drive and one to watch which is a huge waste of time. I'm not the fastest guy but I try to be thorough and efficient because you don't get paid the 2nd time and customers really hate surprises after you've sold the job.

 

Coming in to fix after someone else already 'fixed' is such a pain in the ass cause it's like "ok buddy, what did you fuck up AND what was the actual original problem that still needs fixing". Like the time I went on vacation and the office printer stopped printing, someone said 'I can fix it' and installed like 30 different printers which I had to delete, reboot, delete, reboot, and then scrub all the different printer softwares that were making virtual printer ports from the USB port and janked up all the available system resources....all to only find out it was a USB cable that had been kinked a hard 90 for years and finally gave up the ghost. Like 2 hours for a bad USB cable when it would have been a 5 minute fix had no one touched it. Pretty much everything I work on is "pre-fixed", got a rusty Cobalt which Pepboys has been servicing. Smelled gas around the car, has a large evap leak code, assumed it was from that. Lifted it, nah son they patched the pressure and return lines with rubber hoses from about mid-car to the fuel tank, just shoved it right onto the rust with a single worm clamp and had the idiocy to charge for it. And left a tierod jam nut loose. And have sold her 4 different tires over the past couple years. And probably everything else I haven't seen yet.

Yeah there is a snapshot feature, but rarely use it. Only time I had to was for what I thought was a warranty torque converter shutter but turns out they had their transmission serviced by aftermarket fluid at a fast lube so that got denied. Have a weird bug on the software that when I go outside of wifi range the software kinda soft locks and I can't interact with it. I can still view data, but when I click on something it crashes. We have no support ticket system for issues other than calling up special tools and equipment so its like, welp just wait and pray. Rumor is we are getting a completely new diagnostic software soon(tm).

 

Had a fun one this week. 22 CRV in for first oil change and a whole list of issues. Usually when the customer provides "the list" its just BS things you can't duplicate. But these were interesting issues. Passenger rear window inop, passenger seat heater randomly turns off, SRS light will come on randomly. Confirmed the window inop. Switched rear switches around and still inop. Its been quite frosty out lately so I figured they burnt out the motor when it was icy out. Kinda benched that diag because it was looking like parts required, and they don't pay me warranty time diag. Went on to the other ones. Hooked up the scanner and found SRS codes for open in passenger seat belt switch, and passenger seat heater current abnormally low. Checked for soft set connectors under the seat, everything looked good. Couldn't trigger any codes again.

 

Was curious and looked at the wiring diagram for the seat belt switch. Check everything that shares that ground and sure as shit, shares it with the passenger rear window. Its under the seat so I peel off the seat and some goomba at the factory decided they didn't want to tighten down the ground that day. Tightened it and checked for rear window operation and still inop. So I just said it needs a regulator due to the loose ground frying it. Got the regulator a few days ago and its fixed.

 

Don't normally see crap like that from Honda. Usually reserved for GM.

 

Then a new Odyssey PDI rolls in and I get treated by clips laying on the floor and floor mat anchors not installed.

 

image.thumb.png.d9332b60512e2b2941d033bdd0a10166.png

 

The good news is most of the newer gen Honda stuff is pretty well put together so far. Those outgoing models are the ones rolling in with weird issues. The new Accords are having weird software issues with the OTA system on half the cars we get.

5800X3D / ASUS X570 Dark Hero / 32GB 3600mhz / EVGA RTX 3090ti FTW3 Ultra / Dell S3422DWG / Logitech G815 / Logitech G502 / Sennheiser HD 599

2021 Razer Blade 14 3070 / S23 Ultra

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Dodge execs: so how ridiculous can we make it and still have a warranty? 
 

Engineers:

 

1BC8F007-DAFE-4058-9D8F-0D45BBE7AFA6.png
 

(referencing the new Demon 170: https://www.dodgegarage.com/srt-demon-170 )

"If a Lobster is a fish because it moves by jumping, then a kangaroo is a bird" - Admiral Paulo de Castro Moreira da Silva

"There is nothing more difficult than fixing something that isn't all the way broken yet." - Author Unknown

Spoiler

Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.6 GHz - Asus P9X79WS/IPMI - 12GB DDR3-1600 quad-channel - EVGA GTX 1080ti SC - Fractal Design Define R5 - 500GB Crucial MX200 - NH-D15 - Logitech G710+ - Mionix Naos 7000 - Sennheiser PC350 w/Topping VX-1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, vetali said:

Yeah there is a snapshot feature, but rarely use it. Only time I had to was for what I thought was a warranty torque converter shutter but turns out they had their transmission serviced by aftermarket fluid at a fast lube so that got denied. Have a weird bug on the software that when I go outside of wifi range the software kinda soft locks and I can't interact with it. I can still view data, but when I click on something it crashes. We have no support ticket system for issues other than calling up special tools and equipment so its like, welp just wait and pray. Rumor is we are getting a completely new diagnostic software soon(tm).

 

Had a fun one this week. 22 CRV in for first oil change and a whole list of issues. Usually when the customer provides "the list" its just BS things you can't duplicate. But these were interesting issues. Passenger rear window inop, passenger seat heater randomly turns off, SRS light will come on randomly. Confirmed the window inop. Switched rear switches around and still inop. Its been quite frosty out lately so I figured they burnt out the motor when it was icy out. Kinda benched that diag because it was looking like parts required, and they don't pay me warranty time diag. Went on to the other ones. Hooked up the scanner and found SRS codes for open in passenger seat belt switch, and passenger seat heater current abnormally low. Checked for soft set connectors under the seat, everything looked good. Couldn't trigger any codes again.

 

Was curious and looked at the wiring diagram for the seat belt switch. Check everything that shares that ground and sure as shit, shares it with the passenger rear window. Its under the seat so I peel off the seat and some goomba at the factory decided they didn't want to tighten down the ground that day. Tightened it and checked for rear window operation and still inop. So I just said it needs a regulator due to the loose ground frying it. Got the regulator a few days ago and its fixed.

 

Don't normally see crap like that from Honda. Usually reserved for GM.

 

Then a new Odyssey PDI rolls in and I get treated by clips laying on the floor and floor mat anchors not installed.

 

image.thumb.png.d9332b60512e2b2941d033bdd0a10166.png

 

The good news is most of the newer gen Honda stuff is pretty well put together so far. Those outgoing models are the ones rolling in with weird issues. The new Accords are having weird software issues with the OTA system on half the cars we get.

And a boot print!

I had a Ford Van in a few weeks back where the engine had ground and the body had ground, but the frame did not have ground...but only under load. Another shop had already thrown a fuel pump in it...twice so it ended up towed to us. Fuel pump driver module grounds to the frame, driver module is OK, wire harness at the connector has been poked and prodded and cut and jabbed so it's starting to rot out, I guess the crank/no start issue wasn't exactly new. I check the ground by back probing, I have ground on the power probe, I have ground when cranking. I check power, same deal. I now connect my 5 amp test light and wow I don't have light! My ground is suddenly power. I have voltage on the whole frame! So I wang a pointed body bolt into a hole in the frame and clip a jumper cable from the battery neg to the bolt on the frame and suddenly the van has a grounded frame and my light is lit and the engine can start. I just fabbed a new ground cable from the starter ground cable over to the frame on another hole that I cut some threads into. Good enough!

It wasn't a complicated diagnosis and I don't think I'd have just thrown a pump at it because the 'flow chart' is always to check power and ground AND check it again with a load. Phantom power or ground really is good at catching guys out. Same exact situation where a "shop" installed a battery, starter, alternator but it wasn't charging. Unloaded have 1.5 ohm from + to alt, loaded have nothing. No codes. Probe at alt, have charging. Idiot didn't tighten the nut on the starter where the alt ties into the battery cable. Enough contact to crank and start the engine but not enough to carry charging from the alternator. Also they had a 130A alt charging through a 10ga wire about 18 inches long taped to a 4ga cable and looped up and shoved into a void. I made a 4ga splice with some copper tube and solder pellets. That was a bit of an odd one and did throw me for a loop for a little until I caught myself NOT following the standard flow. Consistency is key, it's too easy to get distracted and run off on tangents, just follow the flow chart and always do every thing the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm using the O-scope next week to help confirm a dead module is dead. It has power/ground, next I'm going to scope for activity on the data lines to make sure it's getting data to/from it since it's literally just power and data. I'll setup all 4 channels, probe two channels on the two data lines to the module and probe two channels on the same data lines at the DLC and make sure it's the same between them all. Car's a real hunk of shit and we don't want to just throw parts at it willy nilly and hope for a fix, we want to know within reason that what we sell will fix it. Owner is a challenged individual and we're dealing with their mother but it's their money paying for the repairs (mostly). They work a menial job and collect scrap on the side, we're going to give them a load of scrap when they leave too just cause.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×