ALFAGTV6.COM

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:29 pm

ok ill start here..ive had it with killing ignition modules on the stock 83 gtv setup...and now it seems ive about killed the last one i care to buy...the ECU inside the car now has a clicking sound that is MPH based and a tad annoying at low speeds where its able to be heard...if you know what the cause or fix is speak up....the bosch ignition box on the fenderwell of the car is my real issue..im on my 4th or 5th unit all dieing about the same way...once warmed up a short time after that will spike the RPMS and then kick in the rev limiter..the previous box did it at about 3000rpm this box currently will do it at 4k rpm if its cool outside and warmed up and 5krpm if its hot outside...
at this point im at wits end with the problem and looking for a fix

in my possesion is a 87 gtv6 harness,ECU,ignition module, dist,plenum, and EVERYTHING associated with the engine since it came with the engine thats now in the car and the 83 stuff was installed instead of the harness....what im wondering is .....is the 87 setup more stable with less problems or am i looking at a whole new barrel of monkeys...

another thougth of mine was can i just swap the components and the wire ends or is it a 100% diferent harness.....can i just swap in the ignition control from the 87 into the rest of the 83 system?

Sporttunergtv6 · Post by **Sporttunergtv6** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:02 pm

your fuel pump hose isnt kinking up is it?
v

I am an idiot! this was supposed to pop up under a different topic... late night browsing is highly discouraged.
v

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:20 am

well i re-routed the fuel line from the tank to the pump and filter it no longer does a U-turn..and it all new tubeing...if its kinking i wouldnt know where/why

when the problem is present (after good and warm)ive watched the problem closely and the tach in the car will litteraly spike up extreamly fast..basicly it will rev normal to a point then the tach will spike and rev limiter kick in causeing it to well run like its on the limmiter...its as if the ignition control box is sending a false signal to the ECU and then to the tach causeing this problem

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:38 am

That sounds like a problem I had with a motorcycle of mine. The crank position sensor would fail when hot but run fine when cold (95 Triumph trophy 900).

Do you have an extra distributor you could try? The ecu's rpm pick up is there I think.

hth,
Scott

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 5:15 pm

i wish i did...the other dist i have is the 3 wire 86 unit

ive now aquired a new problem where the car does funky things when makeing a left and trying to accel...but rights it doesnt do it...its an odd loss of power combined with a rev limiter cut out and something else but ive yet to understand it enuf

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:22 am

That's starting to sound like a loose connector. One thing I've noticed about older cars is that blade connectors, the female side, lose their grip. This is due to a number of things like heat, corrosion, fatigue, etc adding up to either a high resistance at the connection or no connection at all.

To fix this stuff can be as simple as disconnecting then reconnecting. Also helpful is a pencil eraser to clean the male side of the connectors. Try closing up the female side of the connectors too, but be careful as you just want to close up the female part not crush it.

hth,
Scott

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:58 am

any thoughts on what connectors to look at?..cause it runs flawlessly, corner as hard and fast as ya want..accel hard all the way up to the stock rev limiter untill its about time for the fans to kick on and then BAM problems till its cooled down for a few hours

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:30 pm

I'd try every one between the dizzy and the module, then to the engine. also recheck your grounds...maybe between module and fender.

Have you tried isolating your module from engine heat...maybe just a piece of cardboard from frame rail to hood and radiator shell to up against the master cylinder. Nothing pretty until you see if it works. It wouldn't be a fix, but a dodge, but if it works?!?! Later you could make something decent looking with some fresh air to it. an idea....trash it if ya wanna.

hth
Scott

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:09 pm

a heat shield sounds like a good idea...ive been thru the connectors with no signs of anything...and was wondering if the left turn issue could be something in the tank?

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:22 pm

you can test the tank part by filling it up and taking a drive

the connectors may not look bad....now that you've gone thru them drive the car and get it hot like before and see if that helped.

see 2 reasons now to drive your alfa

another thought.....if the crank position pickup in the dizzy is too far from the star wheel on the distributor shaft that could cause a problem. thing is i dont know how the ecu gets its crank position info. if its magnetic, and i think it is, there will be a steel 6 pointed rotor on the dist shaft and next to it a box thats maybe a half inch square with wires coming out and going to the plug on the outside of the distributor. that box should be about .050 from any of the rotor points (inches).

let me know what you find.

scott

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:29 am

ok i got a little more detailed into it..all isues atart just befor the mep guage reaches 175(normal op temp)..prior to that it runs/drives like it should pulls hard accels hard and is an overall blast to drive..once in the 160 range the rpms get litteraly doubled on the tach above 4-5k and lefthand accel is put in check by the same tach rpm multiplication but to a much greatter effect..by 175 temp the lefthand problem is bad enuf that shifting must be done prior to 3k and straightlineing must be done befor 4k...im going to do some ignition modual box swaping and see what happens..cause i have a box here that was malfunctioning at 2500-3000 but i never pinpointed the problem...with me new found temp proven issues on this box im going to see if it does it by temp as well

i still cant explain the left hand turn issue tho...right handers will go all the way to the straightline rpm but lefts wont...some lefts force me to shift by 2500rpm...takeing all the fun out of the car

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:48 am

well just got back from a test run...its not the temp of the box its the temp of the car so scratch the heat shield idea....both boxes problems kick in at the same time...im not ruleing out that the boxes are bad but that something is triggering them to be bad or causeing them to die....

the dist is a 6 pointed start with a reversed 6 pointed ring 2 wire dist...same gap?

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:34 pm

You have a pointed ring around the star? If so just make sure you have the same gap all the way around.

Also while you're there check to see if the distributor has any play side to side (radial play) The specification should be in your shop manual (mine's not handy) but shouldnt be more than .002-.003 inch. If its ok then you wont feel but maybe a slight click. if you feel it move then there is too much play and that can mess with the pickup. Also the hotter the engine gets the worse the play will get as the aluminum dizzy housing will expand more than the shaft with the heat.

I don't know how it fails ,but do you have the resistor type distributor rotor and a spare you could swap out?

hth
scott

MR2 Zig · Post by **MR2 Zig** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:03 pm

something is telling me that this is in part, if not whole, the distributor/ crank pick up. No I don't know why.

scott

sh0rtlife · Post by **sh0rtlife** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:14 pm

im starting to think that way as well

i took it for a run on the freeway an hour ago about 25 miles ...when i got off the freeway it would NOT repeat the problem cause the car wasnt at the 175 mark...took a hard left with out even a hint of error..had dinner got back in the car and drove home....its definatly heat thats haveing the effect..cause tonight i proved that anything below the 175 mark has zero issues....the real question is....is it the fan kicking on..or perhaps the ECU adjusting something when it gets that hot..or perhaps a bad temp sender to the ecu...something inside the dist thats not likeing the heat

either way im stuck scratching my head...as the weather gets cooler the problem isnt realy an issue...come summer again it will be a problem

posible swap?..and looking for a fix