Sunday 21 June 2020

Speech Therapy

So Zedster has started stuttering again - time for therapy...

Last time this happened, I improved the security of the coil pack plug and that seemed to fix the problem - until now. So I decided to make it even better - the cable to the coil pack has always been pretty tight, so I convinced myself that was the problem and decided to try get some slack into the system.

I cut off the existing plug, bought a new one with wires already fitted, dug out the soldering iron for the wires, more holes in the bracket I made previously for another cable tie and voila!

Before                                                                         After


Looks much better, less stress on the plug - good, huh? No. Made no difference - back to square one.

I have previously replaced all the HT leads, spark plugs and coil pack so it seemed unlikely to be them. To be sure, I took all the plugs out, checked them for any obvious problems - all fine. Checked the resistance of the HT leads - all seem reasonable.

The next step was to try use the Emerald datalogger software. I have tried this before and, to be frank, without experience, it never really helped but I'd run out of other ideas.

So out for a short run and, amazingly, I may have found something:


That yellow trace is the throttle position and that is what happens when my misfire occurs - it should be a nice, straight yellow line (purple is RPM) but it's spiking down - either the TPS sensor is kaput or my wiring is. The ECU is getting a signal to say I'm taking my foot off the pedal, so it shuts off the fuel but then, milliseconds later, it gets a full signal again and pumps a load of fuel in. Because it is reacting so quickly, I get the stuttering/misfire effect. Sounds plausible?

To be honest, I suspect my wiring more than the sensor but as it is fairly cheap and simple to replace, I've ordered a new sensor. If I'm right, I'm a fricking genius!!

While mucking about, I've broken the connection to my temperature gauge (wonderful) and I also have the dread of my first ever MOT in the next few months and I have a few issues:

1. My horn isn't working.
2. My high beam isn't working.
3. My reverse light isn't working.

The first 2 are wiring issues (who'd have guessed?!) and the reverse light is a physical problem; the cheap light unit has always had a defect meaning the bulb doesn't get held in place well and keeps dropping out. I've got a cunning plan to fix that...

And my Alps trip may be back on!! German/Australian guy checked with immigration and they said he would be OK to cross borders and France has dropped it's quarantine rules (I think -  the wording is a bit ambiguous), so we'll make a call nearer the time.

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