avhart

Hi guys, well I have another problem and it goes like this. The car was working just fine for about a month then a couple of days ago it gave me a bit of trouble to start and on the road it wasn't driving good at all in the sense that it wasn't accelerating smoothly and not idling well so I brought it back home.

I spent this morning troubleshooting and found that the fuel pump appears to be working fine and I am getting a spark from both coils and the battery is strong but still it's just not starting up. It's catching and seems like it wants to start but it doesn't. My ECU was just recently overhauled by Soarer Surgeon in NZ and is not giving up any codes when I jump Te1 and E1.. Any ideas as to how I should proceed from here?

Yamae

Sorry for the trouble again. Although you find that the fuel pump appears to be working, have you tried to use some starting fluid? The reason why I ask this is that no error code is often related to the poor fuel supply issue. Also your words "it wasn't driving good at all in the sense that it wasn't accelerating smoothly and not idling well" remind me of the fuel supply problem.

Other than that I worry that the ECU was failed again.
Were you informed what was the cause of the failure of the ECU and how it was repaired?
Have you also checked the repaired portion by your eyes?
What I worry about is that the repaired portion was failed again due to some root cause which was hiding somewhere.

I remember an urgent request to come from a local shop owner who was badly complained by a customer. He initially replaced spark plugs and an ECU which was a good working used one. The car ran good for weeks but the ECU failed again. So I was called and I investigated the car using my electronics tools. I found that one of injector drivers in the ECU was damaged. I replaced the drive transistor and checked the current. It was more than twice of others. The root cause was the partially failed fuel injector. The layer short of the winding coil was causing the initial problem and this caused the excess current and damaged the driver.

avhart

Good morning Yamae and thanks very much for replying to my post. Let me tell you what I did this morning as a result of your suggestions. First of all I poured some gas into the hose in the attached pic and I managed to get the car started but I had to pump the throttle quickly many times before it did. I had to do that same thing with the throttle when I had a fuel pump failure the last time. This is my FORTH pump (all used)!

I don't think its the ECU because I have another one that's doing the same thing. I am ready to buy another pump but before I do can I ask you if you think, realistically, the problem may be related to either the MAF or Crank Position sensors?

Yamae

One idea to check the fuel pump is this. Without a fuel pressure gauge with a special attachment, you can check the functionality by this method although you have to be careful for the static discharge.

Regarding to the MAF, it would be the best to troubleshoot using another working good one. But I use a home made potentiometer which generates the simulated pseudo voltage to the ECU. In case of a crank position sensor, I simply observe the waveform using an oscilloscope.

avhart

I was more thinking along the lines of which one you think is more likely between the pump the MAF and the CP sensor.

If you had to guess that is. If you had to rank the possibility between the three...which is the more likely to fail. having all the information I gave you. Like which as a higher MTBF.

I'm not asking from a logical or engineering perspective but what your gut tells you.

Yamae

Your words, "it gave me a bit of trouble to start and on the road it wasn't driving good at all in the sense that it wasn't accelerating smoothly and not idling well" remind me of the insufficient fuel supply. Other words, "not giving up any codes when I jump Te1 and E1" remind me of the failed ECU or the fuel supply problem. Those two make me think of fuel supply issue first and next comes the ECU.

In case of a failed MAF, mostly you even can start the engine but it stops soon or runs poorly. In stead of the MAF's voltage, you can try giving a DC voltage using a potentiometer such as 1 to 2.5 volt to the ECU and see what happens. You should be able to control the rpm some changing the voltage after the engine is started but it stops when too high or too low voltage is given. In other words, you have to control the voltage trying to find the matched voltage to keep the engine running.

The possibility of the crank position sensor is not high, I think. If the sensor is failed, you can get the code as long as the ECU is fine.

avhart

My friend Yamae,

That is exactly what I was looking for. Your cooperation and willingness to help is astounding and I do not have sufficient words to express my appreciation. I know you are a moderator of this forum but you are much more than that to me and, I am sure, to a lot of others both here in the forum and in your personal life. There was no pressure on you to listen so carefully to my problems and continue to engage in supportive conversation with me yet you readily gave of your time and expertise without hope of reward. I'll buy another pump and be sure to let you know the results.

Thank you.
Anthony

avhart

Ok guys, for those who may be interested in my on-start issues an especially Yamae who made the ultimate suggestion - it was the fuel pump. I have to admit to a world of confusion because within the short space of time of within two years I changed 4, yes you heard it right, FOUR pumps. Some were used but most were new and none were OEM although one or two said they were. I didn't think it was possible for all these pumps to fail so completely so regularly! I really didn't.

Well eventually I got in touch with a guy from, of all places, Sharjah in the UAE and apparently he has great access to the market in Japan and through him I got a true OEM Denso pump that I installed and so far - no problems at all. So it was the fuel pump that was my biggest problem all along. I have attached a pic of the pump in question that eventually solved the problem and another of a "Denso" pump I bought new from Ebay that didn't last either.

paulo57509

Good to hear that you're back on the road. It's trying to have to deal with parts that aren't up to snuff.

FWIW, try to avoid buying parts from ebay. There are A LOT of reports of suspected counterfeit (but hard to detect) Denso, etc. parts floating around. Yes, a bit late for that but something to beware of in the future.

Yamae

Thank you for the update. Congratulations on your success. I'm glad that you made it.

Thank you also for the information you gave us. It sure tells us the fact that you pay for what you get. Most of aftermarket fuel pumps are not well made and we should avoid to use those. We can't expect those a lot. Your experience will help other DIYers too.

avhart

Hi Paulo thanks for your comment. But it would be unfair if I did not respond with my experience of Ebay. I have been using them for many years and have bought hundreds of parts and other items from them and never had a problem until this fuel pump thing (two of the four were bought there). So I have very positive feelings for them all told. I have seen a lot of negative things said about their sellers but if you look carefully at their profiles and check the Terms of Service before you buy I'm sure you'll be ok.

Still thank you and I wish you well.

avhart

Hi Yamae thanks for replying. Yes, it surely is now very clear that those aftermarket fuel pumps are just not up to scratch. Hopefully my newly acquired Denso will do the job long term. I appreciate all your help and I do hope my experience will also assist others on this forum which has been so helpful to me.