Ricktalife's EPIC fails and maybe a build thread too

[yudkib]

sucks dude...
i had a not-so-fun problem like that myself... borrowed a compression tester which had an extended reach adaprer you threaded on to it. well, little did i know at the time, the adapter was stripped as s***, so when i went to pull it out, the whole thing just spun.

well, after about 1.5 hrs of playing with it and tugging at it, i finally got the adapter off the main connector, leaving the adapter stuck in my spark plug hole... two hours later, after removing the valve cover and gripping the inside threads with tape wrapped needlenose pliers, i finally got it unthreaded from the plug hole, and 20 mins later i had it out. worst 4 hours i ever spent on a compression test.

moral of the story: THOROUGHLY inspect any borrowed tools, especially if you get them from an auto parts store. and dont use their POS compression tester.

 

[Ricktalife]

yea it was one of the most frustrating problems i've had with this car... and I have had some doozies.

 

[Ricktalife]

Prepping myself for the AEM install by reading all I can about the unit... I'm excited to see how much improvement it will give compared to the AFC.

 

[Ricktalife]

Completed the removal of the AFC and installation of the AEM this weekend. It's not working yet lol but I am still pumped after seeing all the s*** this thing can do!

 

[Ricktalife]

Still don't have the AEM working yet... I'm going to contact tech support if I can't figure it out by tomorrow.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123789772-Information-for-AEM-F-IC

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

good luck man.

 

[719prottege]

what afc did you have before the fic?

 

[justanothermp5]

split sec im assuming...not really many other options out there

 

[yudkib]

you would be correct.

 

[Ricktalife]

Yea I had the AFC because I was looking for simplicity, and that was perfectly suitable. Now I'm looking to make a bit more power and have more control, so I chose the FIC since I found it for an even swap of my AFC. I consider myself to be quite the tech savvy individual, but I really have to do my homework with this thing.

 

[Ricktalife]

Finally got the car to start. I tweaked a bunch of settings so I'm not sure which one fixed it lol, but I emailed tech support anyway to see if they can help me tame this thing. I haven't driven it yet, since it threw a CEL and was idling crazy rich (10's) so it's probably a p0172 system too rich. If I can get tech support to help me connect to the ECU, maybe I can fix this s***.

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

Keep us uPdated, it will help the community alot.

 

[Ricktalife]

Yea I think once I get this figured out I'll post a thread with all the knowledge I've gathered. That should help out anybody that decides to pick up this EMS for their MSP.. assuming I haven't driven away all the people that were considering it by posting these issues lol.

 

[719prottege]

yes please do i am really wanting to get the FIC. that would be awesome

 

[Ricktalife]

Well looks like I'm once again living up to my thread title. EPIC failure. I contacted tech support for the 2nd time today about the FIC, and told them that the car would start with the FIC connected, but with the jumper it would not. They assured me I must have a loose wire somewhere, so I inspected the connections and I believe I found the problem. One of the wires I was supposed to tap into had already been cut when the AFC was installed. It is all hacked up and the jackass that installed it (not me) decided to cut it about an inch away from the end of the harness where the ECU connects. So I need to make it work this time and leave it be for good. Oh and the wire I'm talking about is solid pink with a blue stripe (ECU pin #60). It is named "Linear Lambda VG", and the wire leading from the FIC is known as "Bank 1 oxygen sensor modifier". I would bet that poor connection was the reason it is running so rich at idle.

Oh and to top things off, my car has been sitting for a few days now and the battery is dead after I've tried starting it several times. Awesome.

 

[yudkib]

at least youre learning. i learned a lot about my car wiring stuff in - and i didnt even make it to AFC's and FIC's.

 

[Ricktalife]

Yea true. I really need a 2nd car though lol.

 

[yudkib]

once you sell the mazda (itll happen eventually) the thing youll be happiest you learned was "dont mod your daily". i learned it on my mazda too, and its not a mistake ill make twice. so, got a maxima for now since itll never break (ever), and ill pinch pennies toward a gte is300

 

[Ricktalife]

Hah, that was the original plan. Just to keep it simple with an exhaust and some gauges. That plan went out the door fast.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

Hah, that was the original plan. Just to keep it simple with an exhaust and some gauges. That plan went out the door fast.

I reverted to that plan... only took me about 2 years.