Getting closer........

[wmhjr]

Good luck Jim. You'll get it figured out - and then it's smooth sailing!

[Jim Nilsen]

The 1st time trying this morning it died in 2 seconds. 2nd time it died in about 30 seconds. By the time I unplugged everything and inspected the pins and grounds again, unloaded and loaded the program and tried 3 more times it decided to keep running and I took a ride around the block. It has a lot more power and it seems to run better all around. I may have to adjust the lash to 3/4 turn instead of 1/2 to see if it quiets it down a bit in the valvetrain. it is not too noisy but it just doesn't sound like they are all wroking the same. Could just be a break in thing as they all work their way into it all. I am also being very critical right now about everything.

We will see how it starts the rest of the day and if I get a good answer from somewhere as to what is directly causing the code 66.

It is saying it is supplying more than .25 amps and shutting down. Why it is supplying more than it normally did is still confusing me.

The battle is on and I am going to win again, I feel sorry for the gremlin that is trying to live in my engine because it is going to have to leave and go somewhere else.

[Jim Nilsen]

I just don't have any luck with new parts. I saw a leak under the car and thought OHH BOY the rear seal is leaking or the pan gasket, but NO ,The new oil pan is leaking from a spot on the weld at the very bottom. I recall looking at the inside of it before it went on and it had a spot that was a bit black inside from the weld. I thought it might be one of those places it just burned through and looked like it was filled and covered. It turns out to be a small drippy leak. Now to decide to either seal it with something or take it off and send it back for a new one.

It is not a real hard job to change the pan but it is a pain in the butt none the less.

I wonder sometimes if these places have a shelf with bad parts to send me?

At least it is not the engine or the gaskets leaking.

WTF will be next?

Can I have the 1st crack at the whip on the guy who is head of quality control !!!! Is there any quality control in this country anymore?

[Jim Nilsen]

Here is a pic of how to carry an engine in a Vibe. who would have ever thought to use it for this? Me of coarse and I actually thought I could when I bought it.

[srh3trinity]

How did you accomplish the engine in the back of your car and also, how are you going to get it out. I have a Trailblazer and I want to pick up an engine and I hate having to borrow a truck or wait around on somebody to do me a favor.

[Jim Nilsen]

How did you accomplish the engine in the back of your car and also, how are you going to get it out. I have a Trailblazer and I want to pick up an engine and I hate having to borrow a truck or wait around on somebody to do me a favor.

It was put in with a fork lift and I took it out with my engine picker. The engine was able to be slid back to the edge and had room to hook it from the top. You can pick really close to the top if you chain it right. You can also use a carb lift plate and a hook to make it as close as you can. If you have a gate that goes down instead of swings to the side would be helpful. An engine dolly that puts it lower would help too. I tested it with an engine that had no heads or valve covers and it fit easily, the valve covers almost had to be removed but it just made it in.

The biggest thing is to have something to tie it to and the Vibe has four hooks on each side to do that and I am not sure about the Trailblazer? You have to make sure it is in some kind of caster cups or a pan and some blocks to keep it from moving too. Look carefully at the pic and you will see how it was tied down and placed in the pan with the blocks. It never moved the whole trip.

Goodluck and be safe if you try to do it in anything including a truck, I have seen engines ruin truck beds from flying around loose and the driver thought he had total control over 350 lb.

Glad it has you thinking !!

[wmhjr]

Here is a pic of how to carry an engine in a Vibe. who would have ever thought to use it for this? Me of coarse and I actually thought I could when I bought it.

I think you're going to need to custom make headers to fit otherwise they're going to hit the floor

[Jim Nilsen]

I think you're going to need to custom make headers to fit otherwise they're going to hit the floor

At the rate things are going I might be putting it in the Vibe

I still can't find the reason for the ignition over current. The only thing that supplies the ignition current is the 6A box. I don't want to buy another one of those and I don't want to dig back into the wiring to take it out. I am going to go over the schematic tommorow and hope I can find something that is wrong. I have been over it many times and know it well. If someone else had put it in I would be still trying to figure it out but since I know all the wiring it is hard to see the forest for the trees so I will start looking at the forest again and see if a tree pops out.

Anyone want to give me a new EFI to test for ease of installation?
If your company is wondering how good your equipment is and the quailty control to make good ones you can send it to me and I will get a bad one if you made it and then we can trouble shoot and learn the hard way,LOL

Did I say I am sick of this crap

[NOT A TA]

Anyone want to give me a new EFI to test for ease of installation?
If your company is wondering how good your equipment is and the quailty control to make good ones you can send it to me and I will get a bad one if you made it and then we can trouble shoot and learn the hard way,LOL

Did I say I am sick of this crap

Good to see you're keeping a sense of humor Jim!

[Jim Nilsen]

Good to see you're keeping a sense of humor Jim!

It's a good thing that there is still some humor left because I am not able to make anymore sense of this than the creators.

What is Accel DFI and why does it exist? Who am I and why do I exist? Does Accel know who they are and why they exist? Questions you would normally ask about your thoughts on god and creation not about your car problems,LOL.

I am leaning toward the fact that the Accel gods made the codes just like commandments and it is writtten that it is an output driver that is bad.

ALL I WANT IS TO DRIVE MY CAR !!!!!!

[Bow Tie 67]

Jim,
Sorry I did not return your call, I was out of town all weekend with spotty cell service. Any updates?

Matt

P.S. I had a leak on my 4th gen pan at a repair weld. Cleaned it up and wiped it with a small dab of silicone, I know kind of back woods, but it did the trick.

[Jim Nilsen]

Jim,
Sorry I did not return your call, I was out of town all weekend with spotty cell service. Any updates?

Matt

P.S. I had a leak on my 4th gen pan at a repair weld. Cleaned it up and wiped it with a small dab of silicone, I know kind of back woods, but it did the trick.

Hi Matt, the leak in the pan turned out to be a star washer stopping the bolt from fully going down and sealing the threads up. The radius is very tight and you couldn't even get a socket on it and the open end wrench couldn't get it down either. I replaced it with an ARP bolt with the smaller head and it went all the way in and sealed. the pic and the black spot on the inside of the pan while inspecting it led me to think it was a hole. The oil coming down the side of the pan was invisible it was so thin and I didn't even see it while under the car but I just happened to touch the side of the pan in the right spot and felt it was slippery. A lucky find before I had all the other bolts off and the pan off.

I didn't have any luck with the new 6a box and coil but the builder gave me a couple more wild ideas to check and while going over them I found a loose rotor. It is so loose it is rocking and able to go back and forth about 20 degrees but it didn't ever seem to hit the terminals yet but hey had to be very close. I never saw a rotor get like that and it happened so fast it seems. The strange thing is that when I measured the slot that the rotor aligns itself on it is at least .050 wider than the rotor tab, so it could move back and forth if it isn't tight on the post it mounts on. It was always real tight when I got it but when I installed it the last time it went on easy but I didn't think anything of it and it really wasn't anywhere loose like it is now. I was excited about being so close to firing it up and it is something that has never been a problem before in all the years I have R&R them. very strange as to why it did it? It also explains why I couldn't see the problem and who would have thought it was the rotor if that is what the problem is. it could just be another one of the coincidences that was another problem ready to happen.

So hopefully it is the simple thing and it will all be good with a new one. It also would explain why it might run 10 seconds one time and ten minutes the next because reving it and a bump could have made it move.

I will feel so relieved and stupid at the same time as to not have noticed it and we will all have to add a bad rotor to the list for those who have one. You guys with cam and crank sensors have it so lucky. It sure was hard to miss it when I took it of this last time.

All in all the new engine runs great and has a whole bunch more torque. The builder told me that it is more than likely due to the longer rods than the heads. It is also much more fuel efficient if the VE table changes are any indication, all the values are less across the whole spectrum and my accelleration tables are off now too because of it.

My laptop power cord crapped out and the disc player also crapped out on it too. I have a new laptop coming and I hope windows 7 is a lot better than vista.

This is becoming really expensive lately and if anyone thinks they are going to spend less money once the car is on the road and going to the track or autox they are in for a big surprise. I was able to build it over a lot of years on very little money and to have fun with it is going to cost more but that is where all the fun is, Damn.

[Bow Tie 67]

Yep, on previous builds I would be carefull on what I spent after the car was " done ". With the racing gig, there are alot of consumables and up-keep. It's not like you just have to replenish cleaning supplies.

[Jim Nilsen]

Yep, on previous builds I would be carefull on what I spent after the car was " done ". With the racing gig, there are alot of consumables and up-keep. It's not like you just have to replenish cleaning supplies.

I've heard that you still need cleaning supplies for the racing gig , something about the passengers and their shorts comes to mind. LOL.

[Van B]

I've heard that you still need cleaning supplies for the racing gig , something about the passengers and their shorts comes to mind. LOL.

Believe me, I was more than concerned Matt would hurl in my car last week.

[Bow Tie 67]

Believe me, I was more than concerned Matt would hurl in my car last week.

Nice ............... I told Rubes I still felt like crap on Monday. But I wouldn't change a thing, I had a great time socializing. ( I think my liver may beg to differ though )

[Jim Nilsen]

I have a new name for the efi , ASSHELL DFI

I think they deserve it. It will take them a lot of kissing my rear to get me to stop calling it that. It is just too bad that one employee keeps giving me that attitude. Just when I thought he was getting better the disappointment comes back.

I hope it all gets fixed before the end of the month and it better work before the Motorstate or while I'm in Michigan spectating an event I should be participating in I am going to wear something to tell the world who made it happen.

Am I overeacting to this or would some of you be even more angry than I am? I know it comes with the territory building a car like this and I have come to expect delays and problems but this is wearing me out. I could have the whole interior and engine bay done for the amount of time I have chased the ASSHELL DFI problems. If they had to compensate everyone they have caused frustration they would get it together in a hurry to stay afloat. I just wish I didn't obcess about problems until they get solved like I do but it is the way I am, I like harmony and unity and work hard to try and get it yet it eludes me with this. What does it take to get good parts in this day and age other than luck? It's unfortunate that the real losers in this battle are the winners at the moment and it is sad that I have to even think of it that way but they just sold more parts and made more money and I feel like the loser again.

If this kind of thing was just happening to just me I would really feel like it was my ability but since it has happened to others I still hold my head up and know I am capable to get it going and get it to stay that way.

[Jim Nilsen]

I have calmed down a bit from yesterdays frustration and will be removing the parts from the car sometime today and get them out the door.

I can only hope they actually find something wrong. It is really frustrating when they tell you that they didn't find anything.

This is going to keep going on until it works as it is the only thing will make it right.

The time it takes is what is killing me now. With the events coming up and already having them booked it adds to the pressure to get it done. I know some of us want to meet deadlines we make and I have been there for years with that but when you really do have a deadline it makes it all the more intense for me.

I am going to just start working on other things and get them done and just lay the this down until it is ready to go back in and see if it runs or not.

I hope it will be the last time I have to do this and then move on.

All I want to do is drive my car and for what I have spent on this setup and the energy I have put into it so many other things could have been accomplished.

Thanks again to all of the help and support you have all given me.

[John Wright]

Is there another engine management system that will work with what you have in place?...I'd have ditched that thing along time ago...kudos for having the patience to tough it out this far.

[MonzaRacer]

As for me I am NOT buying multi thousand dollar FI setups.
Jim you can buy a Megasquirt from DIYautotune.com, it is pretty much compatable with just about ANY electronic FI part, Ford EDIS, GM DIS GM HEI, MSD distributor and for a HELL OF A LOT LESS.
figure a MS-II V3.57(all assembled, newer board with surface mount technology) for $411 for ECU (still need harness connectors and such but heck if your patient (as you have the patience of a saint on the DFI *****) and dexterity and smarts you can buy it apart and buy a kit for like $250 and solder it together your self.
you can actually buy for like $88 a jimstim, simulator to test with, it can be mated to wideband O2 sensors setup, etc.
looks like harness is $50-$65 , Relay board is $88,,,
So:
Megasquirt II V3.57 black $411
Harness $88
Relay board $88
Wiring bundle if needed $40
HMMM total to start $627
Idiots charge, extra parts
And such ADD another $1000(this is for "if we need it parts")
much less aggravation factor online open source forums for issues and you dont have to deal with a very complicated design like the DFI and it would be CHEAP for a a little over $1600.
considering the hassle the DFI is .
Honestly the injectors and all sensors must have specs you can program into the Megasquirt( I am assuming) and not have to change mujch of anything. it can and will control spark if you need a small cap distributor I have an older GM HD (ie MSD) distributor, lock the advance and let Megasquirt control it and use the MSD 6 box.
anyone having issues.
heck you can even use the GPIO board to run electronic transmissions if needed.
also look here and check links to forums:http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html