EJ20G "RobTune" Info

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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by cj91legss »

I'm kind of curious to see if the problem would go away if you got rid of the coil pack and ignition converter. Swap to wrx coil on plug and run the 4 wires from the ecu to the igniton coils.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by wtdash »

cj91legss wrote:I'm kind of curious to see if the problem would go away if you got rid of the coil pack and ignition converter. Swap to wrx coil on plug and run the 4 wires from the ecu to the igniton coils.
Someone else will have to test this. I'm not going to mess w/the existing system to that extent. FWIW, the EJ20K engines (successor to the EJ20G) used the coil pack too:
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Last edited by wtdash on Mon May 26, 2014 2:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Ok, Been running good for awhile now ....... Until ........ The car started studdering , Stumbling , misfiring, sounding like its running on 3 cylinders. After 20-30 minutes of driving. No CEL's, smells rich.

Checked the plugs , OK , put new ones in. The Car has brand new MSD Coilpack & 8.5mm wires.

Yesterday I found that one of the wires on the coilpack had a bad connection and the brass was blackened from electrical arcing, cleaned all 4 , squished the wire clasps tighter and re-fastened. Took for a hard boot around for 10 min, no problems.

Then the wife drives the car to school and 20 minutes later it starts studdering again. After school it drove fine, 15 minutes later, same thing :!:

Ohmed out the wires, all within 10 Ohms of each other. 681-691 Ohms. Checked the Primary coil, got 0.2 Ohms between 1-2 & 2-3. 0.7 Ohms between 1-3. Couldn't get anything on the Secondary coils as my meter must not be suitible for it :?:

Oh Also, I did a D-Check and after a min of driving the CEL comes one , left it running , tried to read the code but it flickers much faster than in the U-Check mode. I thought it read 43, but there's no such thing. So I assume its 44 - MAP Sensor

It has RobTune , so I'm not sure if the fast flashing light is an ECU issue or what. But when I shut the car down , disconnect the D-Check , connect the U-Check. No Codes are present :smt120



I dunno, the wifes audi just got a huge spike through the bald winter tire and her summer wheels have a crack in one. If I don't get this fixed quick she wants to take both vehicles off the road and running to MITSUBISHI TO BUY AN RVR :smt022
:smt100

Thanks for listening :mrgreen:
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by ScottyS »

Sounds like something is heating up and losing connection. Could be a problem created by or related to your previous bad connection and arcing. I would check/replace plugs/wires and examine wiring harness connections to the coil pack.

If you can substitute a coil pack that would be a top item to test. When you have arcing and high peak currents going on for a long time that circuits are not designed for, you can expect the materials to break down.

I run an OEM Diamond coil pack and regular wires. I've also rehabilitated the pins in the coil pack connector, as they can corrode/fray/etc over 20+ years.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

True, I will check those. I also have 2 connectors plus the butt connectors since I spliced in longer wires and the factory connector onto the MSD Coil pack. That way I can switch back to the stock coil pack.

So maybe I'll stick the stock one back on there and the old NGK wires and see if it re-occurs
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by wtdash »

Hi, Are you using a Rob Ignition Converter or ??
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Yes I am using his ignition converter
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by rob »

Next time you run into this, see if you can isolate the issue to a specific cylinder by pulling plug wires. If you can do that, then you can try moving components around to see if the misfire follows. This would be a good way to check if the problem is in the converter itself. For example if you found misfire on cyl#1(or#2), then to test the converter you would swap the ECU pinnings of the yellow wires. If the misfire was on #3 or #4, you would swap the green wire pinnings. If the misfire jumps to the other cylinder, then it is problem source is the converter or related converter wiring. If that is the case, then send me an email :)
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Perfect, I got a 3 phase electrical exam to study for. But hopefully can squeeze some time in to figure it out . I'll post results when found . Thanks so much :!:

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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by legsportwag »

CFK wrote:Ok, Been running good for awhile now ....... Until ........ The car started studdering , Stumbling , misfiring, sounding like its running on 3 cylinders. After 20-30 minutes of driving. No CEL's, smells rich.

Checked the plugs , OK , put new ones in. The Car has brand new MSD Coilpack & 8.5mm wires.

Yesterday I found that one of the wires on the coilpack had a bad connection and the brass was blackened from electrical arcing, cleaned all 4 , squished the wire clasps tighter and re-fastened. Took for a hard boot around for 10 min, no problems.

Then the wife drives the car to school and 20 minutes later it starts studdering again. After school it drove fine, 15 minutes later, same thing :!:

Ohmed out the wires, all within 10 Ohms of each other. 681-691 Ohms. Checked the Primary coil, got 0.2 Ohms between 1-2 & 2-3. 0.7 Ohms between 1-3. Couldn't get anything on the Secondary coils as my meter must not be suitible for it :?:

Oh Also, I did a D-Check and after a min of driving the CEL comes one , left it running , tried to read the code but it flickers much faster than in the U-Check mode. I thought it read 43, but there's no such thing. So I assume its 44 - MAP Sensor

It has RobTune , so I'm not sure if the fast flashing light is an ECU issue or what. But when I shut the car down , disconnect the D-Check , connect the U-Check. No Codes are present :smt120



I dunno, the wifes audi just got a huge spike through the bald winter tire and her summer wheels have a crack in one. If I don't get this fixed quick she wants to take both vehicles off the road and running to MITSUBISHI TO BUY AN RVR :smt022
:smt100

Thanks for listening :mrgreen:
Sounds exactly like my issue....

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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by rob »

legsportwag wrote: Sounds exactly like my issue....
You have an ECU error code. Check the code, troubleshoot and fix as necessary.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

21 AFR at idle !?! You sure that LC-1 is working ? Have you done a free air calibration or is it actually that bad ?

Mine says its 14-15 AFR at idle , the difference is mine has no CEL , that what makes it tricky ! Although it did in D-Check, not U-Check.

Is that a problem rob ? Am I doing something wrong that there would be a code but the CEL flickers so fast , then nothing in U-Check ?

Going to the Canucks game tonight and I might brave driving the car to my parents house and see what happens :smt065
Last edited by CFK on Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by rob »

CFK wrote:Or he's just on accessories , unless you took the photo mid shift . CEL comes on with accessories no ?

Cause you'de be running quite lean :!: just a pointless picture I believe :mrgreen:

No, the engine is running in his video. You can see the RPM, engine vacuum and the CEL doesn't spastically flash with the key in acc.

And yes, there is something wrong with the AFR value. I doubt the car would idle that lean. It is likely a measurement error of some kind. My suggestion is to first fix whatever is causing the CEL, then figure out what is wrong with the AFR gauge.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Ha , dammit, noticed that as soon as I posted it. Didn't even realize it was a video , so I edited my last post lol :oops:

My iPhone screen is scratched up and it's sunny , I swear !

And it's hailing in my eyes ! Ya .....' :mrgreen:
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by rob »

CFK wrote:21 AFR at idle !?! You sure that LC-1 is working ? Have you done a free air calibration or is it actually that bad ?

Mine says its 14-15 AFR at idle , the difference is mine has no CEL , that what makes it tricky ! Although it did in D-Check, not U-Check.

Is that a problem rob ? Am I doing something wrong that there would be a code but the CEL flickers so fast , then nothing in U-Check ?

Going to the Canucks game tonight and I might brave driving the car to my parents house and see what happens :smt065

No it isn't a problem to not have a CEL. You likely won't when you have ignition problems. If you are dropping 1 cylinder, it should run and drive ok. If you are losing 2, it will barely run. You can try it, pull a plug wire and see if it matches what you are seeing. If not, then pull two, preferably 2 paired from the same coil (1&2 or 3&4) and see if it behaves the same. At least that will give you an idea if you are running into an ignition issue.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by legsportwag »

Code 43 (d-check only). No cel otherwise (u-check is clear)... If you click the pic its actually a video... This one was taken after 15min idle time... Again this is a video, please click and watch them both.
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Last edited by legsportwag on Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by legsportwag »

I can assure everyone my car runs as it should, minus the random issue mentioned earlier
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Well I haven't drove my car on any long trips since, but many 1/2 & hour drives and the problem hasn't re-surfaced. But the today I think the Culprit May have shown his Face :!:

CRANK PULLEY WOBBLE

So if the pulley is not so Harmonic , or the keyway for the sprocket is worn, wouldn't that throw off the crank trigger and it wouldn't run properly :?:
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by ScottyS »

Ah, the trials and tribulations of owning 20+ year old cars.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by kimokalihi »

Negative. The crank sensor reads the crank sprocket, not the pulley. Unless its extremely loose to the point that the crank sprocket is somehow coming out away from the block enough to pass in front of, rather than below the crank sensor. And I doubt that's possible. The belt would hold it in and the crank pulley would likely fall off at that point.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by James614 »

+1. I forgot to torque down my pulley once, and the engine had a small amount of occassional vibration but didn't really run worse. When it was idling you could see it wobbling a little.
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Right , the sprocket . Not the balancer . Ok that makes sense. So if your keyway was super mangled on the crank and the sprocket was floating around then it might be possible. But ya, then it would be constant , not intermittent .

So I will fix my car so it can eventually break down and then I can diagnose the problem lol :mrgreen:

I drive the hell out of it numerous times and it will not studder when you want it to !

It will just happen when I'm actually tryin to make it somewhere ! Murphy's law
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by cj91legss »

My crank sprocket has a whole tooth of play on my White 93, lately I'm finding a lot of shit wrong with it, and it runs like crap. the Key way is over widened, practically advances and retards timing based off acceleration and deceleration...
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by CFK »

Ya I didn't run it very long , so I'm hoping it didn't damage the crank. If so, I will be trying out the Locktite keyway repair kit. But hopefully it's just the harmonic balancing pulley.

I would upgrade to a lightened unit instead of the stock 2 piece, but I have lightened flywheel. So I'll probably just throw on the spare factory one I have.

I'll be sure to reply when I figure out the actual studdering issue, thanks !
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Re: EJ20G "RobTune" Info

Post by robertpaige »

I'm only getting spark on first two plugs, 3 & 4 are not sparking.

Everything installed with the Robtune. What am I missing?
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