SS AFC installed, now it wont connect??

[TSchiewe]

SS AFC installed, Now having problems??

So its 4:00am here. I just finished installing my ss afc. Everything is soldered and heat shrinked wraped, everything is looking good. Now since its winter here, i figured i would load the WinterFMIC map before taking the car our for a spin ebcasue the preloaded map would of been way to rich.

So i fire up the R4 Controller software, open the map and it wont let me connect to the ecu. I have the right com port selected (#3), i've installed the serial to usb drivers, i've triple checked all the soldered wires. I searched and came to this thread and it basically describes my problem:

"OK, I tried to connect to this through my laptop last night, but was unable to connect. I had all the cables connected, and the ignition in ACC position. I selected the correct COM port, and click connect. A red bar shows up and counts down from 10 to 1, then an error dialog pops up saying something like "Error: unable to connect to ECU. Check power to ECU and that all cables are connected"
from peepsalot.

He fixed his problem by both increasing the bits per second from 9600 to 128,000 and having the key in the ON position with the car off.

Did that and got the same thing. So i reinstalled the R4 Software and driver and still got the same error. Im really not sure what else i can do, other than go and try a different serial to usb cable. I'm also using Boot Camp to do this but that shouldnt have anything to do with it, becasue it is basically a Windows XP computer partioned on my mac HD.

On a side note. When i turn on the car, its throws a CEL at idle. Is that normal from after resetting the ecu and installing the afc?

Thanks for the help, and sorry if there is any spelling mistakes, I'm super tired and going to bed. I'll try and deal with this in the morning.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I'm no pro but I would first prove that the OS setup on the laptop is really OK by maybe borrowing another straight up Windows unit, test the cable with something else to prove it's OK & lastly, the CEL at idle bothers me most. That doesn't strike me as normal if everything wired up how the afc needs it and/or it didn't have one before the install. My first guess would be the wiring based on that. I know you triple checked what the instructions said but I have read lately about some afcs that had wrong wiring instructions that came with them. Not sure if those were ss but it'd be worth checking out before determining the issue is with the afc. Again, I'm no expert but these were the things that caught my attention in your description.

 

[TSchiewe]

Okay so im sitting my garage checking my wires again. Ive got

Black/Red ecu wire t taped into black.
White ecu wire t taped into red.
Lavender/White t taped into yellow/black.

Pink/Blue Cut with the Pink going to the O2 sensor side and Pink/Blue connected to the ecu side.
Green/Black is cut with Green to the maf and Lavender connected to the ecu side.

Now looking at the how to and the instructions, those all seem fine to me. I have my vacuum source t taped into the BPV. So maybe one of my connections isnt soldered rright? Im totally confused.

 

[low_psi]

You need to figure out what the CEL is for. You should not have any and an incorrect wire for the AFC can trigger a CEL. I reccomend rechecking the wiring using Pin#s since sometimes the wire colors on the PCM are incorrect.

Also try connecting the serial port to the AFC, then plugging in the USB and then loading the R4 software. Sometimes you have to connect things in a certain way for everything to be kosher.

Will the car start?

 

[TSchiewe]

When i was checking everything i was following CasopoliS's ecu wire schematic. So im positive they are the right wires. Here it is for reference:

Man this is driving me nuts, Im going to try and get a friends windows laptop later on today and try it all over again with that. The only other think i can think of is the previous owner when hooking up a NB a/f guage and i think the greddy profec spec B had also tapped into the O2 sensor. I might of a connection there maybe, im going to go check that but i doubt it.

 

[CitizenPro]

Have u tried connecting to different COM ports? I used 5 & 6 at times, its stubborn. And what Marc said, will the car start?

 

[TSchiewe]

oops didn't see that, Yes the Car will start. I tried all the com port then when looking in CP->system->hardware->and the serial to usb thingy, It was com3 right on it. So i was using the right com port, all the other ones just said it can connect. That on counted down fro 10-1. So i think it was communicating some how.

I just checked the o2 side sensor connection and it seem a little shody, so im ging to try and clean it up and re solder it with the other two connection farther up the wire while the afc wire at the beginning. Maybe that will help.

 

[S.A.MSP]

i use Com port #8, the key is in "On" position (the one before start up), try that.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

1. did you install the software that came with the serial to usb cable? check the software and drivers.
2. what OS are you using?
3. close all other system tray or background programs which may be using open com ports. palm pilot sync items are notorious for this.

 

[TSchiewe]

Yes i installed all the drivers that came with the software, Im on a mac but i have i also XP installed on my computer threw boot camp, so i use that. And i dont have any background program running.

 

[S.A.MSP]

i know the software isn't MAC compatible but i don't see why it wouldn't work when you have XP running on it

 

[TSchiewe]

Thats what i thought, and its not a virtualization of xp on my mac while running leopard, Its totally independent from mac.

 

[S.A.MSP]

did you switch the com ports in your device manager to com 8?

 

[S.A.MSP]

start-control panel-system-hardware-device manager-ports-usb to serial-port settings-advanced and from the drop down list select com 8 even if it says (in use) then hit OK

 

[TSchiewe]

OKay ill try that when i finish re soldering the o2 sensor side connection of pin 60. and get everything plugged in again

 

[TSchiewe]

Update:
So ive got the sensor side of the o2 (pin 60) re soldered. After connecting everything back up. The car starts up and seems to idle fine. No problems but is still giving me that CEL.

Also i tried what low_psi. I did it in that order, first the serial then the usb to computer then open the R4 software and got the same error.

I also did what you suggested S.A.MSP, to changed the com port from 3 to 8. then did the order low_psi suggested. And go the same error also.

Im starting to think its either XP or the driver/cable. Im going to go around town and look for some new serial cables to try with it. Maybe that will make a difference....and if those dont work i will borrow a friends Dell computer and install all the stuff on his and see if that changes anything.

Wish me luck.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

i use the radio shack cable/software and XP

 

[S.A.MSP]

me too, i've never had an issue with the Radioshack cable on XP and there are alot of people using it

 

[Captain KRM P5]

Yes i installed all the drivers that came with the software, Im on a mac but i have i also XP installed on my computer threw boot camp, so i use that. And i dont have any background program running.

are you running an emulator to run XP? i would almost guarantee thats the issue.

 

[TSchiewe]

No its not an emulator. I have my HD partitioned so about 3/4 are set to mac OS and the last 1/4 to XP. So basically when you start my computer you can either choose Mac or XP, and choosing XP will boot into Windows just like any windows computer.