Someone told me you have to clip pins on the PFC in order for it to work correctly. And that most places will clip them for you.

Can anyone tell me what pins need to be clipped?

 

Isnt clipping the pins just another way of "cutting the four wires"?

 

Ray Lockhead removes the four pins that connect to the wires most of us just cut therefore when you buy a PFC from him you don't need to cut any wires. Cutting the wires does the same thing for you.

 

OK. So which wires do I need to cut?

 

The picture they send with the ECU has a pic of the computer NOT the wiring harness. So I just clipped those Pins.

 

http://westpenn.rx-7.org/ApexiPFCpinout.htm

This worked for me.

David Ieroncig

 

I would suggest rather than clipping the wires that you carefully remove the pins from the harness (as I did) so you can go back to stock if necessary. A replacement harness from Mazda will put you out around 1000 bucks not including labor. You need a very small screwdriver to do the job but it's worth it in the end.

 

I pulled the pins off the Power FC itself, instead of the car's harness and it works fine. Cool thing about it is I didn't have to cut the factory harness and I can test it in any car that way.

 

Can someone explain why we need to remove these pins at all in the first place? I have my PFC and commander still in their boxes *sigh* and want to install them just as soon as I get my Defi boost gauge installed. Is there a central repository for info on installing this?

After I plug the **** in, is there anything I need to do? I have a relatively unmodded FD (dp only, as far as intake/exhaust mods go), so will I need to do anything to the PFC to make it work, or will simply plugging it in make it go properly?

All help is appreciated, as I want to be able to contribute to this forum when I've got some experience under my belt.

 

About the wires, check this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=31642

No central repository on the installation. Hopefully we'll get a FAQ together soon (need more hours in the day!). As for the settings, go to my site and print out Base Stock and Base Mod. Compare these with the settings in your Commander. More than likely you'll see the Base Mod's numbers. You'll probably be better off with Base Stock if all you're running is a DP. Now go grab a stiff drink and start changing values cell by cell.

When you start your car up for the first time it will idle funny for about 15-20 minutes. This is normal. It is also common for the car to idle fast or erratic even after this period of time. If this happens do a search because it's been discussed numerous times. Some have suggested to just drive the car around for a few days to see if the PowerFC will correct itself. Others have suggested tweaking the idle mechanically.

 

So, I have a couple more questions...

- Does installing the PFC and cutting the appropriate 4 wires disable AWS? If so, is there any detrimental effect? I blip the throttle when AWS kicks in, but I'm not sure if disabling it at the computer will make any difference.

- Wire 3J seems to be a CA emissions thing (EGR). Will this affect my ability to pass smog here? I'm really adamant about remaining smog legal, so this is important to me. I don't plan on making this a pure track car, so it has to be smoggable.

- I noticed that skotx says that some folks can have an erratic idle even after the "self-learning" period that the PFC goes through. Any idea why this happens? What percentage of ppl have it happen?

I'll do some searching, but anyone with off-the-cuff knowledge about these things is welcome to post.

Thanks,

patrick

 

WestPenn Represent! heh, sorry couldn't resist.

 

- Does installing the PFC and cutting the appropriate 4 wires disable AWS? If so, is there any detrimental effect?

Yes it disables AWS. No it doesn't cause any problems.

- Wire 3J seems to be a CA emissions thing (EGR). Will this affect my ability to pass smog here? I'm really adamant about remaining smog legal, so this is important to me.

There are guys on here in CA with the PFC that pass emmisions. They could help you more than me, but from what I've read the only real problem is that the check engine light does not come on for 3 seconds when you start the car with a PFC installed. This is a problem in CA if you get a really **** inspector (huh huh, he said **** inspector).

I noticed that skotx says that some folks can have an erratic idle even after the "self-learning" period that the PFC goes through. Any idea why this happens? What percentage of ppl have it happen?

Chuck, aka The PFC Man, has stated that this is due to the engine getting too much air. You compensate by adjusting the idle set screw or air bleed screw, according to one of Chuck's previous posts. This apparently happens to a lot of FDs, but it didn't happen to mine.

Sorry for dominating the conversation, but people are oftentimes pretty quiet around here and I like to help when I can.

-Scott

 

Hey, no worries about conversation domination...I'm just looking to get more info on this. Once I've installed it and work through any problems I have, I might be able to lend a hand too. Always nice to give back.

Anyway, so it seems I just need to either push the pins out of the PFC harness or clip the wires on the ECU harness (right? not the PFC harness?), then plug her in, fire the car up, drive around a bit, make some hard runs and see how my baby's running. This sound about right?

Patrick

 

Read the other thread. To my knowledge we've only got one confirmed report of a PFC shipped with Base Stock, so we need to kill the hype of them shipping two different ways. All the ones people have gotten recently have been Base Mod.

 

ok, for those of you that "clipped" or removed the pins on the PFC, where did you do this at -- in the connector or on the board??

it seems like you would need some very small cutters to cut the pins in the connector. i've removed the top off of the PFC and the pins are soldered onto the board. it seems like it might be easier to "clip" the pins on the inside at the board. pushing the pins in from the connector seems like it would bend the pins on the inside of the PFC at the board and possibly cause them to short against another pin.

can someone please give me some details on how they did this? i don't want to cut the harness wires in the car, so i'm thinking of clipping them at the board & pulling the pins out once their clipped, but i'd like to know how others have done it.

thanks.

 

I thought that the "clipping pins" referred to the pins on the PFC harness. I think you can push the pins out of the harness altogether (with patience...most of the time the pins are barbed and are a PITA to get out). I could be wrong on this, so make sure to wait for a reply from someone that's done it :P

 

OK, I have to chime in here...

This isn't that hard!

The best way to do this is as follows.

1) Look at the diagram and your PowerFC box and figure out which pins you don't want.
2) Now look at the yellow wiring harness connectors on the car and match em up to figure out which wire in the main harness each corresponds to.
3) Now here's the fun bit... look at the wire side of the yellow connectors... if you use a small screwdriver you can unclip the edges/corners and flip up the back end (where the wires go in).
4) Using a tiny screwdriver, insert it from the "pins" side of the yellow connector and slide it in there and release the little springy bit. Use a bright flashlight and you'll see what I mean.
5) While gently pulling on the wire, work the small screwdriver in there and you should be able to release the individual wire from the harness.
6) Use electrical tape to cover the exposed pins up.
7) Repeat for all wires you want to remove.

This is WAY better than trying to CUT anything and it's 100% reversible in about 5 seconds. (Just make sure you know which wire goes in which hole!!!)

Regards,
Brian

 

Well put Wargasm. This is EXACTLY what I had done, except I used heat shrink tubing to cover the exposed pins rather than electrical tape just to be safe.

 

why not just push the pins out of the PFC harness? or is there no harness? I dunno, I haven't even unboxed mine yet

 

The PFC doesn't come with any harness. It's just a box. So the best solution is to remove the wires from the factory harness as I described.

B

 

Ok cool...good to have that clarified. I've also heard of such a tool as a pin puller that's usually available at electronics stores (i.e. not radio shack) which can make the pulling and insertion of these pins much easier. I'll report on that once I get around to doing th install of my PFC.

 

Trust me all you need is one of those tiny little screwdrivers.