hi guys new to the forum,,, ive owned a 3rd gen RX7,,,1 year,,,,rebuilt the engine myself i know quite a bit about the car,,,
just started down the road of tunning.
ok here goes,,,,
ive just bought an apexi power FC,,, right i installed it in the car an as usual with these ECUs i had idle issues,,,i fixed that with tweaking with the throttle idle screw and airbypass screw,,,,, now i have a bigger issue,,,when i drive the car and put my foot down i can hear what sounds like an alternator belt slipping (sort of squeeling,,,not really loud but i can hear it),,, and the exaust temprature light starts to flash.... now im not keyed up yet with the full ins and outs of this ECU,,, but im reading the apexi FC uses the exaust temprature light to notify of proplems,,,,(i.e sensor problems),, ive checked the sensor monitor screen and nothing looks out of place,,,or what i can see anyhow,,,
my car is japanese 1993,,, the apexi is also japanese 1993-1995,,, do i need to alter any wires or anything,,,, any input with greatly be appreciated,,,any at all,,,,im thinking of talking to dragon performance... thanks guys...
by the way,,,ive switched back in the standard ECU and car runs fine.
Err... I really wouldn\'t drive your car too much more with the Apex-i PFC installed.
You need to have these ECU\'s mapped to your car as they only come with a very basic map. I suggest that you run your stock ECU and make arrangements with a company that has a knowledge of Apexi hardware and RX7\'s to get it mapped.
If you don\'t you risk doing some serious damage.
The noise is probably as you say the belt, so easy checked and fixed.
It has been known that when the cat is done away with the metal sensor that went in it is just tucked up under the car out of the way. Make sure this is not daggling on floor or grounding as that will trigger lights off. Tape it up and secure it. If not the light is a knock sensor light and should be tuned asap to stop detination. Drive it sesibly until tuned, it is probably you are getting boost spike at higher revs esp now you have a much freer flowing system. MUST put the Apexi ecu back on. The stock ecu will not handle your mods and theres every chance you will damage her.
The idol issue, you are supposed to run the car on tickover and let the ecu sort its self out, its like a self learn mode. There are others on here far more knowledge than me, Im sure they will step forward with more help.
but i thought the base maps would be very safe,,,,surely they would pre-program the base maps so that you can safely install it in your RX7 without the engine blowing up,, the weird thing is ,,,the sound sounds like a sort of air leak,, squeek,,,,,
but only does it with the power FC,,,im gonna try locate where the sound is comming from,,, i spoke to dragon performance,,,the guy there i spoke to said the idle control valve can make strange noises,,,ill look into that,,what about any of you guys that installed your own power FC\'s.......did they work just fine no problems,,,,,,no exaust warning lights???
If the idle is high or fluctuating the noise could be from the airpump kicking in and out. Maybe try disconnecting the air pump and see if it still does it.
For the red heat warning light to flash, you will either be maxing out your injectors or getting over 60hits of knock. Check your commander peaks by clicking up on the monitor screen, then after a drive see what inj duty and knock maximum values you have had. Anything over 100 knock can be considered as real knock, but the apexi is just being conservative witht the 60 reading and then again you could just have a faulty sensor or something loose in the engine bay.
The base map is supposed to be nice and rich for most basic mods, but the timing can be a little too advanced for comfort and that maybe the cause of your knock. In this case you have 2 choices, learn to map and buy a wideband lambda logging kit and maybe even the dataloggit for ease of tuning ........ or simply get it tuned by someone that knows what they are doing ;)
Good luck sorting it,
Paul
Perhaps I wasn\'t clear in my first post.
You shouldn\'t run an apexi on the base map for very long or very hard - if you do some reasearch the base map is intended to get you to the "power excel" center so that you can get the ECU mapped to your car with it\'s individual configuration.
By no means should the base map be used for WOT driving or testing the boost. Every car is different and even if you have the same mods as the next person the condition of your engine and how the system all fits together will be very specific meaning that the base map has no chance of being able to control fuel or boost.
For example how can the apexi come with a mpa suitable for a car with air filters + cat back and a map suitable for a full decat + filters and another map for a car with a larger IC and decat.
IT CAN\'T and DOESN\'T The base map will work to get you (off boost) to a tuning shop.
The stock ECU has as much chance of controlling everything as the apexi. (until you get it mapped)
The point im looking at here is,,,ive only got cat back exaust so far,,,i was doing the ECU as a first step,,, why would the ECU cause an engine squeel,,,, i was hopeing that maybe someone has had same problem. I wasnt planning on going racing with this new ECU but i thought it would run my car fine until i do my other mods... im gonna try find where the squeeling is comming from
Does it squeal at idle? and if you swap the ECU back to stock does the noise stop?
Even if you only have the cat back I would say the best route would be to get someone to map the apexi - that would be money well spent!
I installed my PFC without any problems. You NEED to obey the idling learn process for this as it is mentionned on about every FD website on the Net and in the manuel. True, it takes half an hour of your time to have the car just sit there and run, but it saves a lot of trouble afterwards.
PFC\'s have 2 presettings, BAse and Mod Map
Base replaces the stock map + some bolt ons (filters, backbox and downpipt), Mod Map will cover (filter, HF cat,DP,Backbox and Intercooler) and still be to rich)
Reset it and go over the learning process again is my advice
and too rich is as bad as lean...
hmmm not really Monkey man , going lean will see you detonate or blow a apex seal and cause major engine damage, going too rich will either make you engine splutter and run like a real dog and maybe cause wash in your rotor housings eventually if running rich for a very long time cause fuel to be diluted in your oil. So running lean is sooo much worse, you can get away with running rich for a few hundred miles, where as running lean will cause you engine to ping in a matter of seconds, so I rather run rich.
But I think the general view is put the apexi on and drive to a tuner to have it mapped you gain gas mileage and more power. I wouldnt run with the stock ECU to great a chance to ping your engine with your mods
the mod map on the PFC is a "little\' to rich. Some guys in the US have the mod map retuned or \'leaned out\' for some better mileage or performance.
The mod map was made to be the "jump board" for those with serious modifications which anyhow need a dyno tune, let\'s say a \'you-gotta-start-somewhere-map).
It will do just fien if you have all the bolt ons what it was written for (+ some backfiring,lol)
Right im gonna reset the power FC,,,(i presume you do that on the commander,,,and start the whole idle learning again,,, guy at dragon motorsport said idle control valve can make a squeel,,,,,ill play around over next few days,,,and then post back my results,,,thanks all the guys that took time to post on my thread. thanx
I have been \'backfiring\' on the mod map for a number of years now.
Mind you, I have the exact list of mods, downpipe, filter, hf cat, back box, intercooler etc....
Would like to get it mapped if it would make it run a little smoother in transition, but if all I get is improved fuel consumption, then I wonder if it is worthwhile?
Richard
combined with some ignition finetuning I think it can affect your powerband as well
right update,,, i got the apex to log tha largest reading of knock.....im getting a value of 199 and the squeeking noise sounds like its comming from the downpipe.,,, im thinking the car is really knocking here!
sorry guys was logged into my brothers account but that is me TIGER18