Quote:
I may have fried the autobox ECU by earthing a lead I should have fed.
The guys who fixed my immobiliser said they could fix it (for a rather steep price) and this would be needed because the trans ECU was matched to the car. But I bought a second hand trans ECU off ebay for not a lot and it seems to (mostly) work. Only a road test will tell if it's good enough or whether I have to go, cap in hand, to the expensive guys again!
The "mostly" bit involves the self test on startup. If working correctly, the Sport mode light on the dash should light up briefly when the ignition is turned on, then extinguish once the self test is complete (a few seconds) it doesn't do this at all, but the sport mode light DOES work if you engage sport mode! (which it didn't with the proper ECU in the circuit)
What I am afraid of, is that the mismatched ECU is not compatible and as a result the trans will default into limp mode, which is the "Winter" setting, meaning it will ignore 1st and 2nd when in D and pull off in 3rd gear, slower than a snail on Mogadon! If this DOES turn out to be the case, then i'll have no choice but to spend the money on getting the original ECU (which i've kept carefully, just in case) repaired and put it down to experience. But circa £180 is a bitter pill to swallow! Especially when you consider that if i'd spent the £6 on an interactive wiring diagram a few weeks sooner, I wouldn't have made the mistake I did!
Steve
Remember this from P18?
I'm beginning to wonder if this mismatched 2nd hand ECU is responsible for my transmission woes! Certainly the box itself seems to work, there's no slipping and the fluid is staying clean and red. But the shifting, controlled as it is by the ECU, is erratic at best, there is that false neutral between 2nd and 3rd and lately it has defaulted to limp mode a couple of times too. Switching off and restarting seems to fix it in the short term. Also the "self test" function is still not working.
Now it's all running and driving, I may have to visit the expensive experts and see what they say. They are only in Staffordshire , so not too far away.
The fuel pump is still noisy as a loud thing, but it's still running and doesn't get hot so I'm learning to ignore it (still got a spare in the boot and tools to replace it though!)
Apart from that, the only problem I have to report after 500 miles covered, is that the steering, once more than 30 degrees away from dead centre in either direction, is UNBEARABLY heavy! Everything WORKS, there is no play, the car drives true, even "hands free", it self centres fine, you just need to be Charles Atlas to drag it round corners and tight parking spots are a nightmare. I've tried a bigger, standard Sprint steering wheel but it's no different, even slightly worse as the thinner stock wheel is harder to grip!
Everything in it, with the sole exception of the rack itself, (and the upper column) is either new or nearly so and everything is standard except for poly in the front tie bars and solid rack mounts. The tracking is spot on, tyres correctly inflated. It's not even a "Quick Rack" just a bog stock Dolomite one.
If I had to guess, i'd say one or more of the (new) balljoints is partially seized as the further you turn it, the stiffer it gets. I will need to investigate this, it didn't seem to be noticeable when the car was up on stands. Suggestions anyone?
Steve
PFA