Haltech User of the E6X -- Report your problems here
09-11-07, 03:09 PM
#1
BDC Motorsports
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User of the E6X -- Report your problems here
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=681290, 2nd post -- See the boost spike on the graph?
I've seen this same kind of boost spike reported on the MAP sensor before on a car I tuned out in OH in May time. It lends me to believe that there may be an issue with the E6X since that is one of the two consistent factors between these two cars.
Basically I'm wanting to get any and all reports back from those of you that've either owned an E6X or have worked closely with them that can give any definitive problems that might be related to the system, whether they seem innocent, inconspicuous, or not. I've heard of people complaining in the past, here and there, but nobody's really ever given me hard facts or clear symptoms.
B
I've seen this same kind of boost spike reported on the MAP sensor before on a car I tuned out in OH in May time. It lends me to believe that there may be an issue with the E6X since that is one of the two consistent factors between these two cars.
Basically I'm wanting to get any and all reports back from those of you that've either owned an E6X or have worked closely with them that can give any definitive problems that might be related to the system, whether they seem innocent, inconspicuous, or not. I've heard of people complaining in the past, here and there, but nobody's really ever given me hard facts or clear symptoms.
B
09-12-07, 01:07 AM
#3
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i've talked to a Haltech technician in Temecula CA who had told me that the ECU's ignition output transistor used for the leading side frequently goes bad... It did for 2 e6x's that I've shipped out for repair... caused some tuning headaches, obviously.
09-12-07, 03:48 AM
#4
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=681290, 2nd post -- See the boost spike on the graph?
I've seen this same kind of boost spike reported on the MAP sensor before on a car I tuned out in OH in May time. It lends me to believe that there may be an issue with the E6X since that is one of the two consistent factors between these two cars.
Basically I'm wanting to get any and all reports back from those of you that've either owned an E6X or have worked closely with them that can give any definitive problems that might be related to the system, whether they seem innocent, inconspicuous, or not. I've heard of people complaining in the past, here and there, but nobody's really ever given me hard facts or clear symptoms.
B
I've seen this same kind of boost spike reported on the MAP sensor before on a car I tuned out in OH in May time. It lends me to believe that there may be an issue with the E6X since that is one of the two consistent factors between these two cars.
Basically I'm wanting to get any and all reports back from those of you that've either owned an E6X or have worked closely with them that can give any definitive problems that might be related to the system, whether they seem innocent, inconspicuous, or not. I've heard of people complaining in the past, here and there, but nobody's really ever given me hard facts or clear symptoms.
B
The boost spike you see on the graph in that thread wasn't recorded by the Haltech or the Innovate LMA-3 I had hooked to the car when it was on the Mustang dyno. That spike was only seen by MAP sensor that the dyno operator was using. It was consistent on all runs but has never been reproduced by either the Haltech or Innovate loggers. In short we believe it never happened and was a flaw with the dyno operators MAP sensor. It's certainly not a Haltech issue.
09-12-07, 07:18 AM
#5
The boost spike you see on the graph in that thread wasn't recorded by the Haltech or the Innovate LMA-3 I had hooked to the car when it was on the Mustang dyno. That spike was only seen by MAP sensor that the dyno operator was using. It was consistent on all runs but has never been reproduced by either the Haltech or Innovate loggers. In short we believe it never happened and was a flaw with the dyno operators MAP sensor. It's certainly not a Haltech issue.
09-12-07, 09:31 AM
#6
Ive never had any issues with mine. I had a thread in here for my intial start up which ended up being a broken ECU (shipping damage). Once I had a funcitonal, non-UPS-soccer-ball ECU in the car it worked fine. I simply spent 5 minutes setting up the triggers and the car fired up instantly.
I've since had zero issues with trigger noise (thus far) and no ECU related problems. Some issues with Halwin tuning software (dropping offline randomly and freezing) but thats software - not the the actual ECU.
All in all I think its a decent entry level unit. No complaints here.
I've since had zero issues with trigger noise (thus far) and no ECU related problems. Some issues with Halwin tuning software (dropping offline randomly and freezing) but thats software - not the the actual ECU.
All in all I think its a decent entry level unit. No complaints here.
09-15-07, 10:41 AM
#7
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Ive never had any issues with mine. I had a thread in here for my intial start up which ended up being a broken ECU (shipping damage). Once I had a funcitonal, non-UPS-soccer-ball ECU in the car it worked fine. I simply spent 5 minutes setting up the triggers and the car fired up instantly.
I've since had zero issues with trigger noise (thus far) and no ECU related problems. Some issues with Halwin tuning software (dropping offline randomly and freezing) but thats software - not the the actual ECU.
All in all I think its a decent entry level unit. No complaints here.
I've since had zero issues with trigger noise (thus far) and no ECU related problems. Some issues with Halwin tuning software (dropping offline randomly and freezing) but thats software - not the the actual ECU.
All in all I think its a decent entry level unit. No complaints here.
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09-17-07, 11:59 AM
#8
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https://www.rx7club.com/haltech-forum-62/should-i-even-install-my-e6x-356717/
It's pretty interesting going back and reading some of the posts made on this forum about the X, and to see the same symptoms I was having on mine. Pretty freaky.
It's pretty interesting going back and reading some of the posts made on this forum about the X, and to see the same symptoms I was having on mine. Pretty freaky.
09-17-07, 12:24 PM
#10
Meh.
My take on it is if you've spent the money on the unit, you're happy with its functionality (ie. no need for extra inputs, closed loop boost control and other goodies of the E8 or E11) but you can't get the trigger noise issue solved - just buy the external reluctor. At that point its a cheaper option then changing the ECU altogether.
A local and I had a discussion about this and he had recently setup one on a mitsu (IIRC) that was using a motronic trigger. Now if you think our ignition signal is noisy - you should see that bad boy!! But after tweaking the gains and filters it gets a clean, repeatable and reliable signal all day and night.
I just don't see that its as drastic an issue now as it was or may have been when they were first released. I mean, if its ENTIRELY based on the unit and its internal reluctor being junky - why does mine work? Is it a freak unit? (not being smart, geniunely asking) There's also two other's up here in Ontario running the X that have similar stories (setup woes, but now its functional) so maybe its Ontario's gamma rays keeping the signal clean?
My take on it is if you've spent the money on the unit, you're happy with its functionality (ie. no need for extra inputs, closed loop boost control and other goodies of the E8 or E11) but you can't get the trigger noise issue solved - just buy the external reluctor. At that point its a cheaper option then changing the ECU altogether.
A local and I had a discussion about this and he had recently setup one on a mitsu (IIRC) that was using a motronic trigger. Now if you think our ignition signal is noisy - you should see that bad boy!! But after tweaking the gains and filters it gets a clean, repeatable and reliable signal all day and night.
I just don't see that its as drastic an issue now as it was or may have been when they were first released. I mean, if its ENTIRELY based on the unit and its internal reluctor being junky - why does mine work? Is it a freak unit? (not being smart, geniunely asking) There's also two other's up here in Ontario running the X that have similar stories (setup woes, but now its functional) so maybe its Ontario's gamma rays keeping the signal clean?
09-17-07, 12:53 PM
#11
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Meh.
My take on it is if you've spent the money on the unit, you're happy with its functionality (ie. no need for extra inputs, closed loop boost control and other goodies of the E8 or E11) but you can't get the trigger noise issue solved - just buy the external reluctor. At that point its a cheaper option then changing the ECU altogether.
A local and I had a discussion about this and he had recently setup one on a mitsu (IIRC) that was using a motronic trigger. Now if you think our ignition signal is noisy - you should see that bad boy!! But after tweaking the gains and filters it gets a clean, repeatable and reliable signal all day and night.
I just don't see that its as drastic an issue now as it was or may have been when they were first released. I mean, if its ENTIRELY based on the unit and its internal reluctor being junky - why does mine work? Is it a freak unit? (not being smart, geniunely asking) There's also two other's up here in Ontario running the X that have similar stories (setup woes, but now its functional) so maybe its Ontario's gamma rays keeping the signal clean?
My take on it is if you've spent the money on the unit, you're happy with its functionality (ie. no need for extra inputs, closed loop boost control and other goodies of the E8 or E11) but you can't get the trigger noise issue solved - just buy the external reluctor. At that point its a cheaper option then changing the ECU altogether.
A local and I had a discussion about this and he had recently setup one on a mitsu (IIRC) that was using a motronic trigger. Now if you think our ignition signal is noisy - you should see that bad boy!! But after tweaking the gains and filters it gets a clean, repeatable and reliable signal all day and night.
I just don't see that its as drastic an issue now as it was or may have been when they were first released. I mean, if its ENTIRELY based on the unit and its internal reluctor being junky - why does mine work? Is it a freak unit? (not being smart, geniunely asking) There's also two other's up here in Ontario running the X that have similar stories (setup woes, but now its functional) so maybe its Ontario's gamma rays keeping the signal clean?
Mine would only show the hiccups, and would have breakup under high power runs.
My car would run fine for the most part when just on 12psi and pump gas. I did, however, but only a handful of times, get breakup when on these lower settings.
Needless to say, with the power I am shooting for and was putting down...there is no way that E6X of mine was staying in my car. It's way too important to be smooth when you are putting down that much power. I didn't want to think about an intermittent glitch that could occur at any given time.
09-17-07, 01:10 PM
#12
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Generally a decent experience with my E6X, but did have an injector driver fry recently which stuck the #1 injector wide open dumping fuel into the motor. Haltech US fixed it in about a week though for $75.
Periodically (every few weeks) I have to adjust my gain trigger settings; sometimes 2 works and other times it needs to be 0 otherwise I get sporadic RPM readings and no-start situations. Maybe I need better shielding, don't know!
Periodically (every few weeks) I have to adjust my gain trigger settings; sometimes 2 works and other times it needs to be 0 otherwise I get sporadic RPM readings and no-start situations. Maybe I need better shielding, don't know!
09-17-07, 01:28 PM
#13
Never dyno'd the car but its a 1/2 bridge S5 keg with a T04-R running 14lbs on pump fuel. Stock coils/ignitors with 9's all around.
Its off the road now for paint and methanol, but the X will be staying in. I suspect in its rough tuned state the car was running just shy of 400whp. I only plan on breaking the 300ft'lb mark with the car in the spring though.
The other setups I mention are both single turbo cars, not sure of their dyno numbers but would suspest them to be in the 350+ range also. Not gobs of power but stout nonetheless. Now, talking 500+ is a different ball game.
And sure, reliability in an ECU is a major factor. I'm just saying I have achieved reliability with the X in my situation, thats all.
Its off the road now for paint and methanol, but the X will be staying in. I suspect in its rough tuned state the car was running just shy of 400whp. I only plan on breaking the 300ft'lb mark with the car in the spring though.
The other setups I mention are both single turbo cars, not sure of their dyno numbers but would suspest them to be in the 350+ range also. Not gobs of power but stout nonetheless. Now, talking 500+ is a different ball game.
And sure, reliability in an ECU is a major factor. I'm just saying I have achieved reliability with the X in my situation, thats all.
09-17-07, 02:31 PM
#14
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Never dyno'd the car but its a 1/2 bridge S5 keg with a T04-R running 14lbs on pump fuel. Stock coils/ignitors with 9's all around.
Its off the road now for paint and methanol, but the X will be staying in. I suspect in its rough tuned state the car was running just shy of 400whp. I only plan on breaking the 300ft'lb mark with the car in the spring though.
The other setups I mention are both single turbo cars, not sure of their dyno numbers but would suspest them to be in the 350+ range also. Not gobs of power but stout nonetheless. Now, talking 500+ is a different ball game.
And sure, reliability in an ECU is a major factor. I'm just saying I have achieved reliability with the X in my situation, thats all.
Its off the road now for paint and methanol, but the X will be staying in. I suspect in its rough tuned state the car was running just shy of 400whp. I only plan on breaking the 300ft'lb mark with the car in the spring though.
The other setups I mention are both single turbo cars, not sure of their dyno numbers but would suspest them to be in the 350+ range also. Not gobs of power but stout nonetheless. Now, talking 500+ is a different ball game.
And sure, reliability in an ECU is a major factor. I'm just saying I have achieved reliability with the X in my situation, thats all.
BDC was tuning it when it let go on the dyno and just before that we tuned it in to 14psi on pump only. On a Mustang dyno, it was 374/306. So add about 10% to those figures and you'll get your standard dynojet readings, as Mustangs read about 10% lower.
Last summer when the rear plate cracked...it was at 18psi on 110 leaded, and around 475whp.
When it cracked the front plate, the car was at 20psi...so we were up there in the numbers. 60/30ish mix of 93/methanol.
With my setup, I've spent too much time and money for things of a freak nature to go wrong. I built my car to be right the first time, and with 2 motors later, the Haltech is the only thing in the chain that hadn't been addressed. So this time around...if I no longer have the issue, then I'll know for sure what the issue was.
09-18-07, 03:15 PM
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I had the trigger noise issue on my fc as well. I tried everything, I super shielded the cas wires and everything. The issue was the cas it self. There was no magnetic resistance at all when I took it out and spun it by hand. I got another cas, and adjusted the magnets closer to the teeth and have not had an issue yet.
The only other weird issue I've had is while I'm driving with the laptop connected. Every once in a while it will not read positive boost (load) on the big dial. My boost gauge (mechanical) in the car would read 5 psi and the computer haltech gauge would still read -9. I checked in the fuel map and sure enough the bar were being highlighted to the correct load level but for some reason the gauge on the computer would not.
The only other weird issue I've had is while I'm driving with the laptop connected. Every once in a while it will not read positive boost (load) on the big dial. My boost gauge (mechanical) in the car would read 5 psi and the computer haltech gauge would still read -9. I checked in the fuel map and sure enough the bar were being highlighted to the correct load level but for some reason the gauge on the computer would not.
09-18-07, 03:23 PM
#16
My E6X has been working great. Had a few trigger issues (I was used to E6K with the gains at 2), that I resolved by moving CAS magnets closer and setting gains to 0.
No problems since then, aside from the brutally bad halwin software. Long live DOS!
No problems since then, aside from the brutally bad halwin software. Long live DOS!
07-22-08, 11:14 PM
#18
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I am having issues. I can spin the cas by hand and until about 1k rpm the ecu will pick up the signal. I've read that its the internal reluctor so I might get an external reluctor and see if that works.
07-23-08, 01:42 PM
#19
BDC Motorsports
Thread Starter
Could also be the magnets in the CAS are too far away from the pickups. Might also be trigger gain settings. Try 3 and 4, respectively.
B
B
07-23-08, 04:04 PM
#20
Gotta pipe up on a few things here.
Its very ironic almost a year ago I was posting about the solidity of RPM readings I could achieve on the E6X.
Earlier this year I popped an engine on a road trip at 6psi, 4500rpm, 50-60% throttle while passing a truck. Felt a minor split second hesitation and it cooked a front (2mm, 2piece Mazda) apex seal. At that time I was also running the external RA10 reluctor adapter (thread on install is here...). There was no explanation for the failure aside from the tach dropping during the hesitation. The tach drop had never occured on the car -ever- in the past.
I rebuilt it, continued driving and had BDC come up to tune it in May. We ran into the same issue (minor, random hesitations) but didn't blow anything up the first day of tuning. We found some damaged wires on the CAS, I swapped it out for a good one, and I immedeatley had trouble with noise. Not only that, but strange things started happening in the datalogs. I could log idle for 5 minutes, find 8,000RPM spikes littered through out, and also find IGN advance (to the max allowable) littered throughout. And no, they didn't occur at the same places in time.
Next tuning session we removed the RA10 due to Brian's suspscion of it causing problems, and ran into an even more pronounced signal issue. It would actually backfire hard when the tach would drop and there didn't seem to be any reason for it happening. Wiggling the alt. wires however would reproduce the tach drop consistently. BUT, after going home and re-routing everything to as far away from CAS wires as possible, it would still happen all the time, randomly.
The other thing to note, was after tuning, Brian had home and trigger setting of 2 (can't recall filters....) and the car would "work" well aside from the tach bullsh*t. But it wouldn't start cold with these settings (wouldn't get RPM signal) I eventually had to get them cranked up to 5 with filters of 2 to get it to start cold.
Drove it like that (5 and 2 settings) for a few weeks and it mysteriously disappeared, never burped, never hesitated, nothing. Then one day driving home from the movies granny shifting at 4K I heard audible knock from the engine, and blew a rear seal. Later playing with the timing light I found the ECU would advance roughly 50*, then come back to normal after a few seconds.
I have no explanation for the degrading performance of the ECU, aside from perhaps some type of damage occuring from the damaged CAS I used for a while. It worked well - at one point - but has completely left me not trusting the unit after my years of use.
Its very ironic almost a year ago I was posting about the solidity of RPM readings I could achieve on the E6X.
Earlier this year I popped an engine on a road trip at 6psi, 4500rpm, 50-60% throttle while passing a truck. Felt a minor split second hesitation and it cooked a front (2mm, 2piece Mazda) apex seal. At that time I was also running the external RA10 reluctor adapter (thread on install is here...). There was no explanation for the failure aside from the tach dropping during the hesitation. The tach drop had never occured on the car -ever- in the past.
I rebuilt it, continued driving and had BDC come up to tune it in May. We ran into the same issue (minor, random hesitations) but didn't blow anything up the first day of tuning. We found some damaged wires on the CAS, I swapped it out for a good one, and I immedeatley had trouble with noise. Not only that, but strange things started happening in the datalogs. I could log idle for 5 minutes, find 8,000RPM spikes littered through out, and also find IGN advance (to the max allowable) littered throughout. And no, they didn't occur at the same places in time.
Next tuning session we removed the RA10 due to Brian's suspscion of it causing problems, and ran into an even more pronounced signal issue. It would actually backfire hard when the tach would drop and there didn't seem to be any reason for it happening. Wiggling the alt. wires however would reproduce the tach drop consistently. BUT, after going home and re-routing everything to as far away from CAS wires as possible, it would still happen all the time, randomly.
The other thing to note, was after tuning, Brian had home and trigger setting of 2 (can't recall filters....) and the car would "work" well aside from the tach bullsh*t. But it wouldn't start cold with these settings (wouldn't get RPM signal) I eventually had to get them cranked up to 5 with filters of 2 to get it to start cold.
Drove it like that (5 and 2 settings) for a few weeks and it mysteriously disappeared, never burped, never hesitated, nothing. Then one day driving home from the movies granny shifting at 4K I heard audible knock from the engine, and blew a rear seal. Later playing with the timing light I found the ECU would advance roughly 50*, then come back to normal after a few seconds.
I have no explanation for the degrading performance of the ECU, aside from perhaps some type of damage occuring from the damaged CAS I used for a while. It worked well - at one point - but has completely left me not trusting the unit after my years of use.
07-23-08, 05:42 PM
#22
Because although I'd never experienced issues with my own, I kept seeing person after person havng trouble and thought I'd take an extra insurance step to make sure it didn't happen on mine.
Also, I didn't have it on from the beginning of my install. Last year (when I made the earlier posts in this thread) I was running along just fine without it, but I blew an engine for seemingly no reason. I thought it was bad injectors....had them checked, they were fine. Thought it was a fuel pump (running a walbro back then) so I chagned it out into another car and it seemed to hold great pressure at 15lbs...............the only other missing link was a strange trigger event causing a misfire - so I went to the external adapter.
Insurance can't always save your ***!!
Also, I didn't have it on from the beginning of my install. Last year (when I made the earlier posts in this thread) I was running along just fine without it, but I blew an engine for seemingly no reason. I thought it was bad injectors....had them checked, they were fine. Thought it was a fuel pump (running a walbro back then) so I chagned it out into another car and it seemed to hold great pressure at 15lbs...............the only other missing link was a strange trigger event causing a misfire - so I went to the external adapter.
Insurance can't always save your ***!!
Last edited by classicauto; 07-23-08 at 06:03 PM.
07-24-08, 07:15 PM
#23
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New Problem!
I finally got my car started yesterday. Thought everything was good and I was gonna be able to zero the timing today. I go to start it up and all I get is cranking. I did still have my laptop hooked up but I didn't worry about going online yet. I noticed the keyspan blinky light wasn't on. I tried going online and nothing. I figured the ecu wasn't getting power. I ended up tracing a good 12v from the source all the way to pins 7 and 25 on the connector for the ecu. i checked all the fuses and grounds, all were good. I have no idea what happend overnight. Could the ecu be fried? Any suggestions? 
