So for about a week and a half now, my car hasnt started. Iv checked everything, and finally today i switched out my Power fc with my friends OEM computer, and the car started right up and ran awesome. put the power fc back in, didnt start. What could be wrong with my PFC?

 

Have you tried resetting the PFC, have you seen the exhaust light lit up, done a sensor check?

 

May not apply to you, and sounds too straightforward - but just check and make sure that the option for the "Boost Control Kit" is set to "No", or not present.

 

I'll follow up here, just to keep everything together. I stopped by to diagnose. After swapping out a few parts (coil, wires, plugs), we finally swapped ECUs and the car started.

Things that were noticed: The PFC stays on the Apex'i screen. He said that this symptom used to show up intermittently but now it's always like this. Also, I couldn't connect to the PFC via a datalogit.

So, I took his PFC home with me the other day to try it in my car. Same deal.

What I did notice is that when I key-on my car with his PFC, the fans run (on a cold car.) This doesn't happen with my PFC.

I opened up the unit and noticed just a trace of what looked like moisture-based corosion on the interior of the case, and a cold solder joint on what appeared to be the voltage regulator. I cleaned everything out and re-flowed the solder. Still nothing.

Seems Kaput. Brent, you're welcome to use the OEM computer for as long as you need.

 

From th description, the unit is used and hosed! Have you tried a known good PFC in his car??

 

the unit is used, but iv had it for probally about 6 months, and its just now giving me problems

 

my Power FC crashed for the second time in less than a year ..got it from RX7.com ...I wanted them to replace it the first time it crashed and cost me almost $200 to tow it back to my house ..instead they said they just wanted to reflash it ..and it crashed again a few days ago ..running a stock cpu right now ..car runs like crap cuz of all the stuff i have on it ..but it runs ..called RX7.com this morning ..talked to a girl ..she said there's something else wrong with my car .i said, no there isn't ..she said she'd have Chris call me in 15 minutes ..an hour later I called back adn got a recording which just gave me the business hours ..awesome follow-up and support !! i'm pissed ..and I'll let you know how this all unfolds ...it hould still be under warranty

~Josh

 

they generally dont crash, it either works or doesnt, unless user error (wiring loom mistake etc). if its freezing on the apexi logo it could indicate a loose plug or something is damaged/faulty. the freeze on the apexi logo also occurs when using the wrong version hand controller, but if its worked previously then obviously its not the wrong version

maybe open it up and look for burnt components/tracks

 

(1) Do you disconnect the battery before installing or removing the ECU/PFC?
(2) When plugging/unplugging into the PFC with the Commander or Datalogit, do you turn the ignition off first?

 

Did that. Nothing looked/smelled burnt. I re-flowed a couple of cold solder joints but no burnt traces that i could see. No exploded components.

 

(while it is admittedly a good idea) I have never disconnected the battery to swap ECUs.. In this case, just the ignition was turned off. Throughout the troubleshooting, however, the battery was disconnected for a period of time.

He did have a pretty loose (totally rigged) battery connection. I wonder if that may be the root cause of the failure.


You bet. The datalogit is finicky enough connecting to the PFC.