Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: EC2 problem

 

If you're sure you're below the staging point, turning off the secondary switch should do absolutely nothing. 

That’s what I understand as well; the secondary are already off.  But it does close the circuit to pin30, although I’d assume that below the staging point this should have no effect.

 

Turning off the primary injector switch results in engine faltering badly, almost as though it’s running on only one of 3 rotors, changing mixture doesn’t seem to help, engine will die on 4-5 seconds. 

 

If you're running mismatched injectors (primaries one type, and secondaries another), then you can expect a change in mixture when turning off the primary switch.  The change can be drastic enough to kill the engine.  I used to have to turn the mixture knob 180 degrees to compensate for the difference between the Mazda 550's and the MSD 52 lb (525) injectors.      

 

You've said that this is all just like it was on the dyno, but did you actually turn off injectors when it was on the dyno?                                  

They are mismatched, but just switching from 550’s (mine flow-tested at 570) to 525’s should not                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              be that drastic an effect.  That should be only a couple of “”hours” on the mixture knob.  Also, I’d expect turning off the primary would then result in a leaner mixture, and the symptoms all point to richer; although that is hard to verify for sure because it doesn’t run long enough; although I turned the mixture knob both extremes with little result.

 

Yes, we tested the individual injector banks a number of times and had no problems.  Although; I can’t say for sure that we did it below the stage point.  

  

I know it's not what you want to hear, but since you tried the B controller with similar results, I would bet you've got something wired wrong.  I'd pay particular attention to the injectors, and disable switches.  I would pull off the EC-2 connector, and the injector connectors, and use an ohmmeter to make sure the injector signal pins go to the correct injectors.  I'd also verify that the injector power from the disable switches goes only to the proper injectors.  In other words, primary power only to the primary injectors, and the same for secondary. 

 

The wiring harness from the EC2 has connector plugs to the injectors and coils at the firewall that can only connect one way.  At the injector end they are different lengths so it is clear which plug goes on which injector.  I have removed and re-plugged all of these to insure that they were firmly seated and in place.  The only individual connectors are at the switches, and I checked all those yesterday.  But something is different than on the dyno.

 

Of course I’m looking for a simpler explanation, but maybe there isn’t one.  You’ve got me thinking that I did have to take the pins out of one side of the plugs to pull them through to the engine compartment.  The plugs are marked A, B, C, and D. and the wires were marked to match.  I, of course, got them back in correctly, right?  I’ll have to check.  One plug was done at a time so there is no possibility of primary and secondary being intermixed.

 

 Finally, with NO power being put on the EC-2 wiring, I'd ohm the pins of the plug for shorts.  In other words, put one lead of an ohmmeter on a pin of the plug, then touch the other lead to every pin around that pin, particularly the ones next to it on the same row.  It's very easy to get a solder bridge between a couple pins, and that could cause some very unpredictable behavior, depending on what gets shorted together.

 

Other than being unplugged, and plugged in again a couple of times, nothing there has changed, so I don’t expect any solder bridges, but hey, who knows what mysteries may be lurking.

 

Questions-

 

Does the cold start switch function normally?   Since this is used with the injector disable switch, it could cause problems if it's not working properly.  

 

Cold start works just as it should.

 

Have you tried the disable switches above the staging point?

 

No; haven’t gone there yet because I’m still running without fully functional EM2 awaiting new chip.  And it didn’t seem important to go there when there is clearly a problem here.

 

Thank you for giving this so much thought.  It is appreciated.

 

Al