I think the instructions said to solder the wires, should I get the wires cut and connected normally then?

I'm also wondering what kind of voltage I should be seeing from the yellow wire as a reference point.

Thanks.

 

When I was 10 I loved to work on all kind of electronics, including wiring and circuit boards. Back then I used to do way better soldering jobs than the one above. Before continuing troubleshoooting your O2 simulator you should fix those connections, maybe you'll find the root of your problems right there.

 

Lobux just wondering why is soldering a wiring harness is a bad idea?

 

The solder wicks up the wire underneath the insulation and creates a stress point that cracks and breaks over time. Time depends on the wire gauge, number of strands, the amount of vibration, and the strain relief on the wire. All modern aircraft use crimped connections because they're more reliable and don't break wires under the insulation where you can't find the break. All the wire connections on the harness in any Toyota product are crimped - they used to crimp and solder the battery connections, now they don't even do that. 100% crimp because a proper crimp is more reliable.



I spent 5 years as a bench electronics technician in the Air Force. I've soldered millions of joints, and been to a couple of different soldering schools. If It were possible to do this right, I'd've learned it by now, but military aircraft designed and built after 1985 all have crimped connectors. The 135's I worked on all got completely rewired because they had soldered harnesses that got too expensive to maintain. Granted aircraft are extremely high vibration, but the OP is having issues right now, and if the connections were good crimps, I doubt he'd have a problem at all.

 

Thanks for the information. I was not aware of that. I will not solder wires together if it is possible to crimp the together from now on.

 

Lobuxracer, what is your opinion on the wire tap solution from this manufacturer?

http://www.posi-lock.com/posiplug.html

 

Other than their rather large size, it looks to be a more advanced version of the Scotchlock vampire tap in blitz's picture. Without actually testing it, I can't say much of anything about it.

 

I got the o2 simulator wired again, this time no solder. drove the car for a while and the CEL didn't go away, so I reset the ecu yesterday and just let it sit in the garage after I made the sure CEL was gone. This morning once I start the car CEL popped right back up. What are the expected Voltage behaviors when the car is running/not running?

 

There is two trip logic on O2 sensor signal failure, so there is something else wrong. You should not see a CEL immediately for a secondary O2 sensor signal issue. I would be checking the heater circuits to make sure the sensors were not damaged on install. A failed heater circuit will definite trip the CEL instantly.

 

Or wrong wires also get Cel instantly .

 

Let's assume the wiring is good now. We're on round two with it.

 

I don't really get the CEL instantly after a reset, I parked it overnight, which I assume the ecu does diagnostics while not running? Usually when I reset it, I get the code the next day regardless of how I drive. Putting the multimeter to 20v with the car running, I get .366 then it drops to 0, then .336, drop to 0 and repeat. I assume that's normal?

 

Yes, that's normal. The ECM does nothing while the power is off. The diagnostics only run while the engine is running. There is a DTC that gets set in a pending mode then when it repeats it gets hard set. You should not see it on a single start, it should take multiple key cycles to detect.

 

Basically I let did the ecu reset via the 2 fuses. Started the car and let it run for 2 mins on the driveway while I put the covers back on in the engine bay. Then I drove the car back into the garage and let it sit till this morning. This morning when I got in the start, I started it, and right after i disabled the traction control the CEL and check VSC came on again.

Should I check the heater circuit still? How do I go about doing that?

 

Did you check the codes to be sure it's the O2 simulator causing the problem?