garagestmarien

Thank you runsgrateasanut, 

Last August I fitted a new alternator and Varta blue Battery. Charging and Battery power is fine.

Sorry, I should have added. Fuel line was checked and new filter fitted.

Also, I have built a new exhaust (cats to tail pipes) including new sensors front and rear for each bank.

Fuel economy is as normal for this car.

Last year after many faults I found and repaired the dreaded ECU capacitor problem.

For the last year the car has run perfectly.

But, over the last few months it has developed a random strange starting problem.

Many times it starts up okay, occasionally it seems like the engine locks up for a second. If I let the starter keep going it then turns over normal, but starts with a bit of a loss of power, then kicks in and is fine again. Sometimes if I am quick enough and it locks up when starting, I let the key go and then start again and it starts as normal.

Last year when I had the ECU fault, everything was replaced, timing belt, rotor arm, dist. caps, leads, plugs and the temp sensor for the gear box. Throttle body was cleaned, oil and filter changed (Mobile 1 5w30) and everything else was set as per the workshop manual and of course all new caps in ECU.

I am scratching my head as to what this starting problem could be, can anyone help / advise.

Well, I did another run to France and back. About 2000kms total.

The trac light and abs problem turned out to be a broken front brake back plate that was twisting back and forth and pulling on the abs sensor wire.

Finally set the tps up properly.

Had a broken egr pipe, which i removed and blanked off.

Finished the new stainless dual exhaust system including 120 cell race cats. Notice more power at 4000rpm and above. Below I don't feel much difference).

The car flew through its yearly test, emissions good.

The 2000km trip was flawless. Average speed over 200km runs on the trip on some motorways 130 -170 (80 - 110mph).

So no difference noticed with the egr removed.

Average consumption on 98 ron 1ltre to 11km (about 28mpg) So everything seems fine.

So I think I can safely say the problem is solved.

22 hours ago, Newbie1 said:

A great result. Anyone keeping a car over 15 years really should pull the ECU(s) every now and again and inspect them, if only to ensure that no water has made its way into them, which is no uncommon given their location in footwells and firewalls.

Now, are you going to offer your expertise at fixing LS400 ECUs to the good folks here?

Always happy to help if I can.

1 hour ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Great photo's of the ECU.  The PCB doesn't easily seem to lend itself to being held in a revolving clamp with the two ribbon connectors to a second board.    How did you work on it if you don't mind me asking?

I stood it like a book to be able to remove the old capacitors.

I also stood it like this to fit the new ones in, but only soldered the bottoms of each capacitor.

Then I let it sit solder side down flat on the table while i did the inner solder joints.

Hope this informs.

Well, did a 1000km trip Yesterday.

Car runs fine. After 400km the trac light came on, then after filling it stayed out for another 400 or so. It may be due to all the adjustments i did before working on the ecu.

The car is back home now, so I will go over it and make all the correct adjustments.

It ran the whole journey perfect, even being in traffic jams at Paris and Antwerp.

So I think I can safely say, the main problem was solved and it was all down to leaky caps in the ecu.

Average consumption was 30mpg which is pretty good I think. Mostly done on cruise control at 130kph.

Update. Nearly solved.

I have replaced the ecu and the car now runs fine. 

It appears to do what it should.

But on second day of test driving, my trac off light and abs light came on. After i had stopped for a while the car started up and everything was good again, but after a 30km drive the lights both came on again. I have to check for codes, but wonder if this is a coomon fault. These are the only lights to come on.

23 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

I would be interested to see photos of your work with the Caps.  Good idea to photo just in case you forget which way round the Capacitors sit.  I'm probably running on borrowed time, as like you I've had the caps for two years?  

The other thing you could have checked is your Battery earthing terminal and all other earths.On an MR2 an earthing problem  could lead to a fire and on the Suzuki Wagon R a poor earth has been known to earth via the throttle cable. This is just a thought and probably can be debunked as having any relationship to your symptoms.   

It is fairly easy to do the caps and get them the right way round. The caps have a striped side for - and usually the negative lead is shorter, but i would never judge them that way, stick to the stripe on the side. In the same way the board is quite well marked to show the - connection for each cap.

Yes, I also ran on borrowed time and think I have now paid the price. My ecu is finnished, tomorrow I post it to my other half who will fit it and run the car up and film and report back how it is. She has had full instructions and training from me, so I have no problems there. If everything runs well, then I will be off to get the car in about 3 weeks.

As regards to the terminals on the car, before I knew the ecu was at fault (although I still dont know if this is the cure, but fingers crossed.....) I cleaned every contact and plug I could find. I also replaced the neg wire on the Battery with a nice 50sq,mm section cable to body and engine, so I know circuit wise everything should be good. Also total new ignition components, alternator (Gen Denso) and Battery (Varta blue). Throttle body has been cleaned and engine full service, air,oil,fuel filter and Mobil 1 5w30 esp oil.

Mechanically the engine is perfect, just weird electronic problems, which with luck I have cured.

Pics show before, after (where you can also see the repaired tracks I did) and last one, just sprayed with pcb laquer.

6 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

If you are not savvy with PCB track repairs, correct capacitor polarisation,type and voltage ratings and fine soldering do not attempt the repair yourself, the boards are multi layer and easily damaged beyond repair.

Thank you steve.

As I said at the begining of my post, haven't been on here for a while. But I still have the caps I ordered back in 2014 so only have myself to blame.

Being a research and development engineer for electric buses, cars and bikes the pcb is no problem.

I have cleaned and checked the tracks and all is good. Now replacing the caps.

Then when ecu done, post it to france to be fitted and tested on car and if all good, I go back and get it in a few weeks.

Okay,

Back from france minus the car.

On stripping and checking the ecu, I found 2 capacitors leaking and some pcb track damage. So I have brought the ecu with me to repair, then take it back and fit it.

I think maybe there should be some rule, that if any odd problems are experienced,  the ecu should be checked first (unless it has already had the capacitors done).

I was convinced mine was good and I was wrong. I still don't know if this will cure the problems I am having, but I think it is highly likely.

It will be about a month before I can get back and try, but I will post the results.

Update.

Still problems.

Today went to the shops 10km deive, everything fine.

Leaving the shops to return to the house and less than 1km and the check engine light and trac off light came on. The car surged and cut on the throttle a couple of times, and then did what it did before and run with very little power.

I think it sets itself in 2nd or drive as acceleration is non exisitant, but eventually it slowly picks up speed. This is quite a problem in this part of France as it is very hilly.

I got the car back to the house, checked everything I could which looked fine. Checked for and stored codes, none found.

After about 30mins I strated it up and everything running fine again.

So, now I am wondering if I have ECU problems. I plan to take it off in the next day or 2 and check if I have capacitor problems. I can't think of anything else.

I also have to return back to Netherlands next week for work, but think I will have to go by train or fly, my confidence in the car at the moment is at an all time low.

I do hope someone can offer me advice on maybe something I have missed.

Well, everything seems to be running fine now, but a new question now arises.

I decided to adjust the throttle/gearbox cables and the tps.

I notice that if i try to adjust the tps by the book, it cannot be done, as the play in the linkage gives about a 4 mm gap before the throttle shaft starts turning. So I can't adjust by the book.

Or am I doing it completely wrong?

Okay,

I am back.

I left for France and drove 880kms without any problems.

Then the car sat for 2 days. Today 27/6/2017 the plan was to go to some shops 30kms away. After about 10 kms the loss of power and missfire cam back and to not be stuck in the middle of nowhere I turned round and slowly drove back to the house. Had a cup of coffee and then went to check the car. As before, it started and ran perfectly. This time i had more than half a tank of fuel, so i could rule that out and also no pressure built up in the tank. The last 2 times this has happened, the car has run faultless for many kms. So off on the journey to the shops again. This time made about 20kms trouble free, then it started jerking up and down the revs, so i pulled in to park and take a look, as i was parking it cut out completely. So I waited a few minutes and restarted, which it did, but held the idle at 1800rpm, i stopped and restarted 2 more times and the same thing. So i figured these were enough revs to make it back to the house where my tools were so i could take a better look. Long story short i made it back. Another cup of coffee and then back to check. Started and ran fine, so i deceided to take a closer look at the connectors. But first i unplugged one coil and founf the car wouldnt start, so plugged it back in and unplugged the other one. The same, wouldn't start, which makes me realise that before when i thought i had lost 4 cylinders, must be wrong as i would not have been able to start it. So while it was idling normal i looked at the vacuum lines and electrical plugs, When i touched the plug on the tps it cut out straight away. It restarted and then when i moved the plug about the idle would go up and down and the roughness would appear that i had before. So i removed the plug and checked the wire and terminals which all looked fine. but i cleaned them up anyway. Since refitting the car runs fine and no amount of wiggling causes the problem again. To the poimt if i unplug the tps while the engine is running the revs rise and when i plug it back in it goes back to 650rpm (at normal temp). So it looks like that may have been my problem all along.

Tomorrow I try to reach the shops again and see what happens. If all is good, I may just order new tps and traction tps modules to be sure.

I will let you know how it goes, I hope this is the answer and I would really like to end this post with FIXED IT! We will see and on one note, to date, I still haven't found the charcoal cannister.

John

Just as a matter of interest, can anyone tell me where the charcoal cannister is located.

1994 ufc10 engine with traction control. I have looked around the engine bay and cannot see anything.

So far, no codes stored. I tried the normal set up and the other one where you get live codes while driving and so far nothing. Car is still running fine since i filled up.

But the charcoal cannister is something i haven't checked yet, which i will do next.

What I described as pressure in the fuel tank was definitely positive pressure. You could feel it blowing out.

I haven't tried releasing the fuel cap and replacing when the missfire occurs, because since I filled up, I haven't had the problem.

Obviously I need to completely fill the tank so I can the next time see how much fuel I use compared to the gauge reading, which I suspect has changed what it shows slightly.

As for the missfire, I think it is 2 cylinders from each bank as in disconnecting one coil. The engine is still very smooth which I think would rule out random cylinders.

Which leads me to thinking it is electrical and just coincidence with it happening while low on fuel.

Today it seems to have run fine on the way to work, which while this is a good thing, what I really need to know is what is causing the problem so I can get my confidence back.

Also the 2 times this misfiring happened I had check engine light and trac light on, which I don't think a fuel problem would cause. (1994 OBD1 system). On checking, no codes were stored.

It's a weird one, or maybe my car just doesnt want to go to France

Thank you all for the replies.

My comments as follows.

The fuel filter is new. It is a K&N race one which has more flow than standard and uses hose clamps instead of the unions. My old filter was 23 years old and nearly fell apart when i eventually got it off. I will post some pics sometime. In fact everything on the car is original, therefore 23 years old, which is a pretty good advert for the quality of Toyota parts.

When I changed the filter, i let both pipes run out a bit to make sure no muck was in them, so am sure no dirt went through the system.

I haven't used injector cleaner and I do have a set of caps to put in the ECU, just haven't got round to it yet.

My fuel cap is the screw on type that has a ratchet so you can only tighten it the same amount each time you use it and to be clear, when i unscrewed the cap at the petrol station, the air was under pressure in the tank and it took a few seconds before the pressure stopped. For this reason I didn't take the cap straight off, rather waited for the hissing to stop. Now it was a hot day and the tank was pretty much empty, but i do wonder if that much pressure should have built up. Is there a vent somewhere?

I have also been all over the car tonight and cleaned all connectors, mad new earth cable for the Battery and just for the hell of it, changed every fuse.

The ignitors are the only thing I haven't changed, but tonight I cleaned and swapped the plugs over.

Starts fine, idles fine, revs nice. So I will see what happens tomorrow on the way to work.

But I am always open to any suggestions from anyone for other things to look at.

Yes, brand new air filter. Throttle valve cleaned out. Throttle position sensors adjusted and also throttle and gearbox cables.

The 2 times I have been low on fuel, the orange light has only just come on after the misfire starts.

On filling it looks like I am almost empty.

But still find it strange that it's fuel related.

The only parts I haven't changed are the ignitors.

Yes the leads are new and correctly routed with no damage.

It feels like a bank of 4 out as it is the same sound as when I previously tried with one coil unplugged at a time.

It is drivable but with severely reduced power. But got me home.

This is what confuses me, it seems like one bank of 4 are going out and yet seems to have happened only when I was really low on fuel. Maybe that is a coincidence as I can't see a fuel problem causing the misfire.

Hi all,

Quite a while since I have been on this forum.

I have an odd misfire problem. I have looked through the topics but cant find anything that resembles what I have.

So, I have built a complete Stainless steel manifold back exhaust system, using magnaflow parts.

Done a full service, correct oil and filters.

During this time the Battery died and I ordered and fitted a new one. Varta blue G7.

Then found the alternator was not working, so now have a genuine Denso one on. Now everything fine.

But after the car warmed up it was losing 4 cylinders, so I suspected, plug leads or coils. What I found was everything was original, so 23 years old.

So I have fitted new rotor arms, dist caps, leads, coils and spark plugs.

The car ran perfect for about 3 weeks, then the misfire came back when warm. Checked at work and the opinions was maybe dirty connections. So cleaned all connectors, although they looked fine.

But this did happen when I was low on fuel.

Since then another 3 weeks without any problems until yesterday shortly after leaving work, 4 cylinders again and again I was low on fuel. So filled up and car seems good again.

Now, when I filled up (weather 32degs c) i noticed a huge amount of pressure come out of the tank. More like i was emptying a compressor.

So the 2 times i have had this misfire seems to be when i was low on fuel, but i dont understand how i would lose 4 cylinders with a fuel problem. (It looks like my fuel gauge is not reading the same as it used to, which may or may not be due to the new Battery and alternator, which means I may be running lower than I think I am).

If i stop the car and then restart it runs fine again for a bit, then misses again.

When the misfire happens I get check engine light and trac off display. I have checked, but there are no stored codes.

Its a weird problem and maybe I have not explained it well enough, but this weekend I am on holiday with it and going on a 1000km trip to France. I hope to make this without issue.

So if anyone has any ideas I would really welcome them.

Just to add, the fuel filter was also replaced. Only thing not touched is the ignitors.

John

Hello,

Quite a long time since I have posted.

I am building a complete stainless steel exhaust for my car (1994 UFC10) including cats and using all magnaflow parts.

I ordered 2 new downstream lambda sensors and have received 4 wire ones (probably 1995 on), where I have 2 wire ones.

My question is, can I use these sensors and just not connect the heater wires. Or is the signals different.

Yes a photo.

It is an August 1994 model.

The foglights in the bumper are held at the top with 2 screws. The German hand book says take these out and then just pull the lights out.

So far it seems impossible.

As far as I can tell, the lamps next to the headlights are driving lamps that come on with full beam.

I am slowly getting through some lighting issues I had.

I want to change one of the bulbs in the front fog light (in bumper).

My car is a German import, so only have a German owners manual, which roughly says take 2 screws out from top and pull light out.

Well I have tried this and tugged and levered for 2 days with nothing.

Am I missing something, is there an easy answer.

If not, it may be quicker to remove the bumper.

I have the head lights out and cannot even get the rubber cover off the back of the fog light.

Help!

I have finally taken the integration relay off.

Opened it up hoping to find a resistor problem, but have found a small transistor burnt out (more like exploded).

I now have a new question.

Do I need this relay.

I don't have auto headlights, I don't have dimmers or anything else that I see should be with it.

Is there a problem bypassing it?