E6k ignition problem
 

I am having trouble with my E6k on my S4 N/A and wondering if any of you have seen this before. The problem occurs whenever you rev up the engine and hit about 4500rpm. Then the engine misses and bucks. You can even see the factory tachometer drop a few rpm then shoot back up.

I tried looking at the E6K Haltech logs and seeing if I could spot a cause but all the sensors/inputs seem ok. At first I didn't even know it was an ignition problem because the E6K seems not able to capture the events fast enough. it was only after looking at my G2X datalogger that I could clearly see that the ignition is dropping out. (The G2X is hooked up to the trailing coil tach output)

Here is a screenshot with the green trace showing rpm and the blue line is a trace of the throttle position sensor (which is steady)

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/photop...php?file=16183



Now here's the haltech logs of about the same time

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/photop...php?file=16181
http://www.trackhq.com/forums/photop...e=16182&size=1


You can see on the 2nd pic that I was able to capture a ignition drop out. Doesn't the Haltech get rpm data directly from the CAS? Shouldn't this mean either faulty wiring or faulty CAS?

At first, since this problem is not load dependant I swapped out the factory crank angle sensor. Still same problem. Then I thought maybe it was noise in the crank angle sensor wiring. So I tried things like disconnecting the alternator and regrounding the shield wire. Then I suspected old wiring, so I got some new shielded wire and rewired the CAS all the way to the Haltech. Well it is still doing the same thing. What I'm thinking now is maybe I have a bad Haltech. (Could it be a bad reluctor?) Too bad I don't own a scope. I was even thinking about going to buy one so I can see the ignition inputs and then look at the ignition outputs. But the price of a scope is almost the same price as a brand new Haltech!

Now some installation background:
Rx-7 was running fine before install.
Haltech is used, only a short harness was provided, which I then made most connections to the factory S4 PCM harness.
Car starts and idles.
Using S5 TPS and throttle body.
Haltech metric tap coolant sensor (new)
GM air intake sensor (new)
Rx-7 stock coils and CAS

So here is what I haven't crossed off my list yet:
Bad haltech
Bad ignition coils (doubtful since car was running fine on stock PCM)
Bad ignition wires (same as above)
Still bad CAS wiring (already rewired twice)

Now this is my first haltech install but from searching and searching, it seems bad CAS wiring would lead to igntion spikes and not drops? Same goes for bad igntion wires. Any other thoughts or ideas? Should I break down and buy a new Haltech harness? Anyone got a scope and is local (San Francisco)?!??!
I am going to try and see if if I can somehow use the G2X as a sort of graphing voltmeter/scope buy logging some of the wires/voltages from the Haltech wires but I don't know if this is going to work.

-Jack

You've got a trigger issue. The 3rd picture shows the drop to 500rpm.

Check the two gain settings in the ignition setup. They should be set to 1 and 2 respectively. Also check to make sure you don't have a problem with the connector or the wiring to the crank angle sensor. If you're still using the stock connector for the CAS, you may wanna ditch it in lieu of a new one from the Haltech's connector bag.

B

Thanks for the quick reply. I just checked my gains from a saved log and they were 2 and 2. I'll set them to 1 and 2 and check the car again.

Oh and I have already cut off the stock CAS connecter and straight wired it to the Haltech using shielded wire. Maybe I should just break down and get a new Haltech harness. In your experience, bad trigger and or wiring makes the ignition drop out at a specific rpm like that?

Well, if anything on the old K with gain set to 2 it would probably be ok, i would look into a faulty CAS, do you have a spare you could try out? Also, reducing the air gap between the sensors and teeth might help too.

You said you've used a "short harness" that you've spliced into the Stock harness? how about getting a brand new flying lead harness from your local haltech dealer and swap that out?

What are your settings on the Ignition Setup and what type of Ignition System are you using?

+1 to Claudio's post.

Ok well had a little time to work on the car. I've already tried another CAS so I decided to adjust the magnets, but that did not help.

Here is a list of what I tried the other day:
1)change ignition gain settings
2)Adjust CAS magnets
3)Rewire CAS again (3rd time) using bulk shielded wire, making sure to route wires away from alternator wires and ignition wires.
4)Moved Haltech power wire elsewhere
5)Moved Haltech ground wires elsewhere
6)Ran car with all alternator wires disconnected

Still no luck, I still am having the same problem where the ignition falters around 4500rpm.

Since both of you guys think its a harness problem (and I value your opinion) I am going to go ahead and order a new harness. I'll keep this updated.

As for ignition settings, it's the factory coils and CAS with the exact setup as BDC recommended except I had coil charge time of 4.5ms:

Trigger Input INTERNAL RELUCTOR
Trigger Gain 1
Home Input INTERNAL RELUCTOR
Home Gain 2
Trigger Mode ADAPTIVE
Trigger Angle 65*BTDC
Trigger Type MULTITOOTH
Number of Teeth 24
Tooth Offset 11
Spark Mode DISTRIBUTOR
Engine Type ROTARY
Output Type CONSTANT CHARGE
Coil Charge Time 4.5ms

Oh I forgot to mention I also disconnected the trailing coil harness plugs and ran the car just on the leading coils. I still have the same problem.

Using the factory CAS plug to wire the trigger harness? May want to ditch that and use a new connector clip. The 500rpm drop in that datalog shows me you've got a connection problem in the wiring itself. Ran into this very same thing on my last Haltech install when I used the factory CAS connector clip.. Cut it off, used a new clip, voila no problem.

B

Ok just thought I'd update.

I ordered and installed a new E6X wiring harness and adapted it to the E6k.
(thanks www.ludwigmotorsports.com)

The car fired right up and proceded to do the same exact thing. Although free reving it seemed to be a little smoother, I still had problems at aprox. 4500rpm.

Well the next day I decided to try and log some more data and but before that I tried playing with different settings again. I ended up setting the trigger gain to 0 and the problem went away!

Now I kinda wondered if this was the problem all along. Of course reading the E6K manual aftwerwards tells you to start off with a trigger gain of 0! I could have sworn I had already tried this though so I don't know if it was a combination of the new harness or I never did try a lower gain setting only higher ones. Just thought I'd share. Hopefully I'll get to tune it soon.

Dude, I've had the same problem, although not on a K, and blew enough motors that I lost count trying to figure it out.

Your last post has what helped me out towards the end....starting at the lowest setting and working up. But a word of advice, just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean its fixed. Sometimes I would drive the car for two weeks on a new gain/filter setting before the car would hiccup.

I'd recommend at least putting several hundred miles on it before you go hammering on it or you might just be picking apex seals out of your tailpipe :)

hmm interesting. if that doesnt fix it, try going back to the 6.34 firmware.

Uh......can you tell me how to do the firmware backdate?

Just an update. Went to infineon and the car seems to have no more ignition problems Thank you everyone for your help

Heres a new rpm snapshot of one lap.

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599...962092d2_b.jpg

is it still working good or was it a fluke?