Okay...very weird solution to starting problem
08-21-2002, 08:52 PM
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Okay...very weird solution to starting problem
So...I just got my car fired up after it hadn't started in a couple of weeks. After all of the stuff I did recently (replaced DME relay, entire ingition system, fuel pressure regulator/damper, etc.) it still didn't start...I had it jumped from my other car since attempting to start it so many times had drained the battery. I said to my self "why don't I try turning it over while kicking the DME"? So...I sat in the passenger's seat kicking the DME repeatedly and she fired right up. So...maybe I have bad cold solder joints or something on my DME...you think?
08-21-2002, 09:05 PM
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I just took it for a spin around the block...of course I had to see the better side of 100 on a backroad, but...wow! I forgot what the car felt like with a solid (read good ball joints) front suspension. I have to go to the gym now...I guess I will drive the 951 since it appears to be fixed...if not it will sit in the lot until I get it started again, but f it...it will be worth it to drive over there.
08-21-2002, 09:12 PM
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I say bust out the soldering iron this evening and hit all the joints with some heat. Took me a little more than an hour, but I got every last one of them. At least you can rule that out if it does it again.
If it does, ****** up a new DME and try it.
If it does, ****** up a new DME and try it.
08-21-2002, 09:47 PM
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You know, I have the philosophy that things are in one of two states: working and not-working. Then when you smack things, it flips them between these two states. So when the state is unknown, or not the one you want, just smack it back into the other! 
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08-22-2002, 01:41 AM
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I'm disappointed in Danno for not using the proper terminology - as a GURU, you should be venting unparalleled wisdom.
This tried and true method of realigning the OR gates in the DME is referred to as the "SPOT" method - "Smack the **** Out of That".... First discovered by a British automotive component firm, Lucas, as a solution to most idiosyncratic and plaguing electrical problems. Years later, this highly regarded repair method would only be outdone in successful consistency by the infamous "Raytheon Reboot"... now more commonly referred to as "Power Off - Power On" - or, "PoO-PoO"
[Friday yet?]
This tried and true method of realigning the OR gates in the DME is referred to as the "SPOT" method - "Smack the **** Out of That".... First discovered by a British automotive component firm, Lucas, as a solution to most idiosyncratic and plaguing electrical problems. Years later, this highly regarded repair method would only be outdone in successful consistency by the infamous "Raytheon Reboot"... now more commonly referred to as "Power Off - Power On" - or, "PoO-PoO"
[Friday yet?]
08-22-2002, 04:27 AM
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Yeah...I just realized that I missed the 944 post...this should be 946. 5 more posts to 951! I like that spot thing...I had to use it again tonight...I went up to my friend's shop to "borrow" an M6x25 mm bolt to fix the ghetto rigged lighting ground (it was a wood screw that was way too small for the whole) that I had on my wiring kit that was causing my highbeams to flash whenever I put my turn signal on and cause sparks to fly out of my hood when I hit a bump, and I took a guy who works at that shop for a spin after I fixed the ground, of course I saw the better side of 100, and he professed to me that except for jeremy's supra (650 HP twin turbo monster) that it was the fastest car he had ever ridden in (this guy drives a 94 prelude non-vtec, or H23 for those in the know, so understand)...hearing that made all of my hard work I put in my car today seem like it was worth it. Anyways, I decided I should pull my car into my friend's garage an use his 19 mm 100 ft-lb torque stick on an impact gun to make sure my wheels were torqued on tight (I used a ratchet to fix them to the car but forgot to torque them), but when I went to start it, no start again...so I asked the shop owner to kindly hit the passengers floor board with his fist several times while I tried to crank the motor and after 10 seconds and 1 start and die, it fired up and hadn't had a problem since.
That said...I decided since I wasn't limited to a 2 mile radius of my house any more (my celica's fans decided to stop coming on this week, so it overheats if driven more than a few minutes...its fine for trips to the grocery store and local bars though), I would venture to Ocean City, MD, which is about a 30 mile drive to visit a couple of friends and have human contact since all of my roommates have been gone this week and none of my friends have come down to school yet (it doesn't start until the first week of september). My friends were both severly hung over from the night before, not drinking tonight, and one had already gone to bed at 11:00 (this is the guy who caused me to have half of my face nearly blown off with an aerosol can). My other friend who lives with him asked me if I wanted to go for a cruise to downtown to hollar at girls and look at all of the rice-mobiles and stuff, so of course I said yes.
[amaf mode]Now...I don't normally street race, but there was a lot of crazy rice to be had, and I would only race to 5 or 10 miles over the speed limit then cut it so as not to be particulary dangerous. My first encounter was a Mercury Cougar (early 90's with the mustang drive train)...flared hood, racing stripe, exhaust, and the word "latvia" written across the back...the guy was trying to get me to race for 30 or 40 blocks, and finally I gave in at a red light...I had him by 4 car lengths at 50. Next was a MKIV supra (couldn't have been a twin turbo) with a ridiculous body kit, loud *** exhaust, 19" or 20" chrome wheels, and a double park bench wing...after trying to entice me to a race at speed for several blocks (I wasn't trying to go much faster than the speed limit) I finally caught him at a red light...I was down for this...he got a bit of a jump on me, but I was able to get him by several car lengths by 50 MPH at which case I stopped racing...the guy was so ashamed of his all-show-and-no-go machine that he refused to acknoledge that he got beaten badly by a much older car with only functional modifications and wouldn't even look at me at the next light. Then came the attack of the v-tec machines...a late model integra GSR and a brand new civic si hatchback (god that thing is ugly...it looks like a sneaker)...the integra had something really wrong with it...it sounded like a rod knock or something...kind of a chainsaw-in-the-engine bay noise when he hit v-tec...but anyways, again I didn't want to speed in a populated city with pedestrians and drunk drivers, so I waited until a stop light, and I severely embarassed them both. Sorry for the long story of all of the cars I raced...I normally never do this, but my car was feeling very ripe tonight.[/amaf mode]
So, anyways, it looks like I'll be taking my DME apart sometime soon and re-soldering it, but for now I am content to tap on the floorboard when my car is acting like a bitch as it seems to work every time. Any advice on how to go about doing this without permanently damaging a functional but on its way out expensive piece of equipment is much appreciated. If anybody would be interested in buying the cliffnotes for this post (I know its very long) they are up on e-bay right now: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1556559247" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1556559247</a> . Peace!
That said...I decided since I wasn't limited to a 2 mile radius of my house any more (my celica's fans decided to stop coming on this week, so it overheats if driven more than a few minutes...its fine for trips to the grocery store and local bars though), I would venture to Ocean City, MD, which is about a 30 mile drive to visit a couple of friends and have human contact since all of my roommates have been gone this week and none of my friends have come down to school yet (it doesn't start until the first week of september). My friends were both severly hung over from the night before, not drinking tonight, and one had already gone to bed at 11:00 (this is the guy who caused me to have half of my face nearly blown off with an aerosol can). My other friend who lives with him asked me if I wanted to go for a cruise to downtown to hollar at girls and look at all of the rice-mobiles and stuff, so of course I said yes.
[amaf mode]Now...I don't normally street race, but there was a lot of crazy rice to be had, and I would only race to 5 or 10 miles over the speed limit then cut it so as not to be particulary dangerous. My first encounter was a Mercury Cougar (early 90's with the mustang drive train)...flared hood, racing stripe, exhaust, and the word "latvia" written across the back...the guy was trying to get me to race for 30 or 40 blocks, and finally I gave in at a red light...I had him by 4 car lengths at 50. Next was a MKIV supra (couldn't have been a twin turbo) with a ridiculous body kit, loud *** exhaust, 19" or 20" chrome wheels, and a double park bench wing...after trying to entice me to a race at speed for several blocks (I wasn't trying to go much faster than the speed limit) I finally caught him at a red light...I was down for this...he got a bit of a jump on me, but I was able to get him by several car lengths by 50 MPH at which case I stopped racing...the guy was so ashamed of his all-show-and-no-go machine that he refused to acknoledge that he got beaten badly by a much older car with only functional modifications and wouldn't even look at me at the next light. Then came the attack of the v-tec machines...a late model integra GSR and a brand new civic si hatchback (god that thing is ugly...it looks like a sneaker)...the integra had something really wrong with it...it sounded like a rod knock or something...kind of a chainsaw-in-the-engine bay noise when he hit v-tec...but anyways, again I didn't want to speed in a populated city with pedestrians and drunk drivers, so I waited until a stop light, and I severely embarassed them both. Sorry for the long story of all of the cars I raced...I normally never do this, but my car was feeling very ripe tonight.[/amaf mode]
So, anyways, it looks like I'll be taking my DME apart sometime soon and re-soldering it, but for now I am content to tap on the floorboard when my car is acting like a bitch as it seems to work every time. Any advice on how to go about doing this without permanently damaging a functional but on its way out expensive piece of equipment is much appreciated. If anybody would be interested in buying the cliffnotes for this post (I know its very long) they are up on e-bay right now: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1556559247" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1556559247</a> . Peace!
08-22-2002, 07:22 AM
#12
Nordschleife Master
Ribs, you put a wood screw into that machine screw ground tap? <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />
If you are still at the same water logged house and didn't bugger up the threads too bad let me know. I'll send you the stainless screw package all the later kits get. You have wiring harness #1. Your comments caused me to add the screws to the kit but I had no idea you were going with a true ghetto "solution" like wood screws!
<img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />
If you are still at the same water logged house and didn't bugger up the threads too bad let me know. I'll send you the stainless screw package all the later kits get. You have wiring harness #1. Your comments caused me to add the screws to the kit but I had no idea you were going with a true ghetto "solution" like wood screws!
<img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />
08-22-2002, 11:52 AM
#13
Ribs, this could all be happening because of the factory alarm system. the brain for this is mounted on the same metal bracket the cpu and klr are mounted on. next time it wont start, loosen the fuel rail cap and see if you have pressure. the alarm brain controls the dme fuel pump relay. my 951 had leaked battery acid on the klr and the alarm brain, i pulled the dam thing apart to find half the board missing. you can also take the old dme relay and pull the cap off, close the bottom contactor while cranking the car. if this is it, the car should stay running as the currnet thru the contactor will hold it closed and complete the circut. you can email me your # and i can explain in detail if you need. good luck
Aaron <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" />
Aaron <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" />
08-22-2002, 03:38 PM
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[quote]Originally posted by IceShark:
<strong>Ribs, you put a wood screw into that machine screw ground tap? <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />
If you are still at the same water logged house and didn't bugger up the threads too bad let me know. I'll send you the stainless screw package all the later kits get. You have wiring harness #1. Your comments caused me to add the screws to the kit but I had no idea you were going with a true ghetto "solution" like wood screws! <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
Dan, a few days after I talked to you on the phone regarding the faulty fuse socket, I was driving and all of the sudden my driver's side light went almost completely dim, while the pass. side light was fine. I pulled into a gas station to investigate, and the ground bolt had disappeared and was no where to be found (it seemed like the threads were stripped or something when I put it back on while installing the kit...it never stopped spinning when I was screwing it in) and all of the grounds were just dangling around. I had an extra screw from some interior trim piece that was very long sitting in my arm rest, and ghetto rigged it so I could make it to my house with both headlights on. My car died a few days later and I had forgotten about my ghetto rig. Last night when I installed the new stainless ground bolt that I borrowed from my friend's shop it screwed in tight and seems to have fully engagued the threads and doesn't seem like its going to come off for anything. I think I have it covered now, but thanks for the offer on the screw package...I moved to a house with no 2nd floor so I doubt I will have the niagra thing happen inside my house again as no water pipes run overhead.
[quote]Originally posted by alengyel:
<strong>Ribs, this could all be happening because of the factory alarm system. the brain for this is mounted on the same metal bracket the cpu and klr are mounted on. next time it wont start, loosen the fuel rail cap and see if you have pressure. the alarm brain controls the dme fuel pump relay. my 951 had leaked battery acid on the klr and the alarm brain, i pulled the dam thing apart to find half the board missing. you can also take the old dme relay and pull the cap off, close the bottom contactor while cranking the car. if this is it, the car should stay running as the currnet thru the contactor will hold it closed and complete the circut. you can email me your # and i can explain in detail if you need. good luck
Aaron <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks Aaron...I examined the alarm brain, DME, and KLR thorougly a few months ago and found all to be intact...its running for now, but if I have one more no-start requiring me to kick the floor, I'll be taking the DME apart and re-soldering it. I am pretty sure I am getting fuel but no spark when this happens (when I pulled the plugs yesterday after my last no-start the plugs were soaked with gasoline, telling me that I was in fact getting fuel).
I had a nightmare this afternoon right before I woke up that I was driving my 951 on a twisty back road and all of the sudden the engine died...I had to have been going over 100 MPH through some turns, and the engine dies, and my power steering pump stopped pumping, making it very hard to turn, and my brakes gave out...so I hop up on the center tunnel trying to turn with my left hand and stomp on the DME with my right foot...I get it started, but then the car crashes and I fly through the windshield and die. Luckily some girl called my phone and woke me up after I laid dead for no more than a few seconds.
<strong>Ribs, you put a wood screw into that machine screw ground tap? <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />
If you are still at the same water logged house and didn't bugger up the threads too bad let me know. I'll send you the stainless screw package all the later kits get. You have wiring harness #1. Your comments caused me to add the screws to the kit but I had no idea you were going with a true ghetto "solution" like wood screws!
<img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>Dan, a few days after I talked to you on the phone regarding the faulty fuse socket, I was driving and all of the sudden my driver's side light went almost completely dim, while the pass. side light was fine. I pulled into a gas station to investigate, and the ground bolt had disappeared and was no where to be found (it seemed like the threads were stripped or something when I put it back on while installing the kit...it never stopped spinning when I was screwing it in) and all of the grounds were just dangling around. I had an extra screw from some interior trim piece that was very long sitting in my arm rest, and ghetto rigged it so I could make it to my house with both headlights on. My car died a few days later and I had forgotten about my ghetto rig. Last night when I installed the new stainless ground bolt that I borrowed from my friend's shop it screwed in tight and seems to have fully engagued the threads and doesn't seem like its going to come off for anything. I think I have it covered now, but thanks for the offer on the screw package...I moved to a house with no 2nd floor so I doubt I will have the niagra thing happen inside my house again as no water pipes run overhead.
[quote]Originally posted by alengyel:
<strong>Ribs, this could all be happening because of the factory alarm system. the brain for this is mounted on the same metal bracket the cpu and klr are mounted on. next time it wont start, loosen the fuel rail cap and see if you have pressure. the alarm brain controls the dme fuel pump relay. my 951 had leaked battery acid on the klr and the alarm brain, i pulled the dam thing apart to find half the board missing. you can also take the old dme relay and pull the cap off, close the bottom contactor while cranking the car. if this is it, the car should stay running as the currnet thru the contactor will hold it closed and complete the circut. you can email me your # and i can explain in detail if you need. good luck
Aaron <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks Aaron...I examined the alarm brain, DME, and KLR thorougly a few months ago and found all to be intact...its running for now, but if I have one more no-start requiring me to kick the floor, I'll be taking the DME apart and re-soldering it. I am pretty sure I am getting fuel but no spark when this happens (when I pulled the plugs yesterday after my last no-start the plugs were soaked with gasoline, telling me that I was in fact getting fuel).
I had a nightmare this afternoon right before I woke up that I was driving my 951 on a twisty back road and all of the sudden the engine died...I had to have been going over 100 MPH through some turns, and the engine dies, and my power steering pump stopped pumping, making it very hard to turn, and my brakes gave out...so I hop up on the center tunnel trying to turn with my left hand and stomp on the DME with my right foot...I get it started, but then the car crashes and I fly through the windshield and die. Luckily some girl called my phone and woke me up after I laid dead for no more than a few seconds.
