well its probably to soon to tell but after my recall was completed today(good experience) in a 79 degree day --driving 10 miles , winding her up some, redline x 1 , coolant temp at 175 mostley hit 180 one time, oil temp 180F. This is cooler than it whould have been before---but futher observations will follow. Trying to confirm if the new flash does turn the fans on sooner.
olddragger

 

Just sit it at idle for a while and see what temps the fans turn on ........

let us know OD !

 

plan
OD

 

It appears there is no change in fan activation with the new flash in relation to temps. Have not tested loads etc but doubt that would affect them anyway.
OD
go ahead Phlash

 

it isn't doing squat power wise...

 

I've just installed the Mazsport Cooling Fan kit. After about idling it for 5 mins. I have a CEL. OMG!!. Tried to take off the negative terminal of the battery a couple of times but the CEL just keeps coming back.

Now the Car is running on Safe Mode, can't even go past 60km/h. Can anyone help?

 

Has anyone had problems at idle with the cooling fan mod?


Symptoms:

1. Idle dropping to points where the engine can stall.
2. Batt voltage also dropping when the rpms drop.

The symptoms ONLY happen when the radiator fans are activated. Otherwise my idle is perfectly smooth and rpms vary only by 10-50. Because the cooling fan mod activates the fan a lot more than stock, I basically had crappy idle whenever it wasn't cold outside and I was at a stop light.


To test, I swapped out the fuses to the OEM ones, and most of my idle issues are gone. Of course, with the OEM fuse, the fans can come on, but at lower speeds. I ran like this for two days and I was fine almost all of it. One time it came close to stalling then went back to normal immediately after. This was still much better than getting close to stalling at every stoplight..

I have a feeling it's NOT the cooling fan mod that is causing the problem, but the car being unable to run the fan at max speed. Is it possible my alternator can't keep up with the power draw of the fans at idle? I went to autozone and they said my batt and alternator checked out OK.

 

Things to check:

Did you connect the ground? Are you sure it is making metal frame contact?

Did you seat the controller switches properly - pushed them down tight and all the way into the slots properly? Are they in the right slots?

Did you overbend or stretch and possibly break one of the wires? Did you cut a big enough slot/groove in the fuse box to get the wire out without pinching/cutting?

That about all that can go wrong unless the sensor itself is not functioning properly

 

Sounds to me like you have an idle issue that is being exacerbated by the alternator's extra pull on the engine when the fans come on.

I can notice a very slight idle pulse when the fans come on in mine, but never feeling anything like the engine is about to stall. I just notice the fan noise, but no real engine drag.

I think you have to go back to basics to see what is causing to low/rough idle in the first place - injectors, plugs, coils, MAF? I suspect foiling plugs.

Also, if I recall correctly, you run an FP60 (1.5 oz)/2-stroke (2.5 oz) premix blend. You may have some carbon buildup in the motor and on the plugs. You might want to increase the FP60 amounts (4oz/tank) and reduce the 2-stroke amounts to see if that cleans things up some (plugs included if you do not replace), which should help idle quality.

 

Are you sure your battery is up to par? The car will run as you describe if the battery is bad or low; no battery = surging and idle stall. Just wondering if the electrical surge from the fan engagement is causing a voltage drop

 

Plugs are just a few thousand miles old, same with the coils. MAF isn't really used, int-x is used for management.


I'm hoping it's that easy - how would I check for sure? Autozone already said my batt looked okay.

 

Good possibility - a weak battery will cause a more sudden load on the alternator when the fans come on as the battery might not be able cover enough of the current surge.

Could be bad/marginal battery - or - if you haven't driven the car much lately, it could be that the battery is just not being kept well charged. If so, a good long drive could be in order (or an overnight battery charger session)

 

i worked at an auto parts store and though they can say that your battery is "ok", there is a pretty large range of "ok"ness if that makes any sense to you

how old is your battery? and did you get the new one with increased cranking amps?

 

Are you sure?
When you are using the int-x management, it does use the stock MAF sensor input data - I would think any engine management system would still need air flow data from somewhere.

 

I am not sure, but I think the MAF is only retained for sub systems like abs or the like, but i don't think it would effect idle since the int-x controls it, and it's MAP based.



mike, it's the upgraded batt. I am not sure how long I've had it, I would guess ~1 year.

 

I just got my G-Tech Pro SS in the mail today. After I calibrated the RPMs, I did a test run. The RPM signal seems to work fine when the car is moving, but if I'm at idle, the G-Tech thinks my RPM is moving around randomly. Also my ScanGauge II would sometimes get messed up. When I contacted ScanGauge company, they said that sometimes happened when it gets erratic voltages.

 

the G Tech does not measure RPM directly, it can't read anything if the car isn't moving because the internal accelerometers are static, if the car is moving and the engine is idling free (neutral or clutch disengaged) from the drivetrain then it's only measuring the accel/decel of the rolling chassis, nothing more

 

It has to be able to measure rpm even when the car isn't moving - because the way you calibrate is by reving the car to two specific rpm points (while still in neutral). The reason I brought that up was because even the G-Tech can't figure out anything when I'm at idle.

 

Are you thinking the stock computer (or ECU) since you have added the int-x?

I am referring the the Mass Air-Flow (MAF) sensor. The MAF is a sensor, not ECU, that feeds airflow and air temp data to the ECU (whichever one you are using including int-x) so that the ECU can control fuel delivery in the correct amounts (for correct air/fuel mixture).

When the MAF gets dirty, it will send inaccurate readings to the ECU, thus the incorrect amount of fuel will be provided to the engine - causing a less optimal Air/Fuel mixture. If it is just a little off, you may not notice it much up in the RPMs (other than a little less power), but this condition usually shows up more dramatically at idle via a rough idle.

You may already have knowm this, but it seemed like we were talking past each other so I thought I would clarify my comment - hope it helps.

 

that is correct--the pcm(doesnt matter which) still uses the sensors the engine has including the maf.
Dont exclude vacum leaks.
olddragger

 

scott checked for vacuum leaks and didn't find any. I cleaned my MAF (using real MAF cleaner, not brake cleaner) less than 5000 miles ago when I replaced the housing the MAF sits in.

 

The MAF is completely ignored by the Int-X.
The PCM still reads it, but can't use it for anything since it no longer has control over the fuel and spark.
I've played with its output values at idle and it has no effect on idle speed.

 

how does the int-x compensate for the temp changes? I am thinking cold cranks and temp changes during driving--say from the mountains to the beach the same day?
olddragger

 

it's guessing, if it doesn't have a direct pickup for RPM then IMO it's not fully accurate, certainly not enough in the idle range to be used as a troubleshooting device

theose things have notoriously given low engine output readings for RX-8s

 

^^ hell...the coil wire pickups on most dyno's have problems at high RPM's on this car.....ever wonder why you see so many power vs speed dyno's