Check engine light issues

[El_Freddo]

G'day all

Tonight I picked up Ruby Scoo. Upon warm up when I pressed the throttle to pick up revs to 1500rpm it held for a second then dropped back to idle without me changing my pressure on the accelerator pedal. After that happened the check engine light came on. I warmed up some more then drove off - I wanted to get warm too (its cold at night in the snow for some unknown reason :P)

After about a half hour drive to a mate's place I checked the codes - I got 21, 22 24, 31 and 13. Maybe these are my tatt's numbers?!

So after finding thread on early EJ codes (in the electrical section) it has come down to issues with:

21 - Coolant temp sensor or circuit - which pisses me off as I had just replaced this before heading up to the snow. But I understand if the frozen state I got the radiator and engine in to caused this

22 - Knock sensor or circuit

24 - Air control valve or circuit - I've had this one before I replaced the temp sensor... so I'm guessing its an ongoing issue

31 - Throttle position sensor or circuit.

13 - Cam position sensor or circuit.

I'm wondering if the cold has caused some moisture to build up in the plugs. I've currently sprayed WD-40 in the injector plugs, AFM plug, air control valve plug and TPS plug. I have not re-checked the codes since doing this, although I'm sure it won't amount to much.

Surprisingly Ruby Scoo still goes ok - not a torquey as I *think* I remember, but that could just be me asking a little too much of my subi again.

I drove her yesterday for a good 3-4 hour drive from one mt to another without any problems or codes. Hopefully these problem don't prove to be a huge issue as I'm about to drive off mountain at 4am for a 9am start in melbs - fun fun.

Any ideas as to what I can do in the short term? I don't have my manual for the EJ with me but I'll have access to it on friday. I'm also thinking that I won't be online til friday at the earliest - so I'm after some basic tips that might solve the problem.

Cheers

Bennie

[AndrewT]

That many codes....they could have built up over an extended period of time and some might be very intermittent, whens the last time you read the codes?
Might be worth resetting the ECU then driving for abit until the light comes on again and checking codes again. Then you can narrow down what the immediate problem is. Nothing worse than working on 10 unrelated problems at once when many of them may not be related to the actual problem at hand.
Naturally you ultimately want no codes, but this should help to deal with the most important first.

[AlpineRaven]

Ive never seen that many codes eh...

I would suspect the weather would have a play with that kind of thing.... do a battery dance and see what happens.
cheers
AP

[El_Freddo]

That many codes....they could have built up over an extended period of time and some might be very intermittent, whens the last time you read the codes?
Might be worth resetting the ECU then driving for abit until the light comes on again and checking codes again. Then you can narrow down what the immediate problem is. Nothing worse than working on 10 unrelated problems at once when many of them may not be related to the actual problem at hand.
Naturally you ultimately want no codes, but this should help to deal with the most important first.

The last time I checked codes was early June when I replaced the temp sensor, I only had the air control valve at that point...

Totally agree with the 10 unrelated problem, its a PITA when you've gone through the motions only to find it was a false reading.

And how long do I have to disconnect the battery for to clear the codes? 30 seconds? An hour???

Ive never seen that many codes eh...

I would suspect the weather would have a play with that kind of thing.... do a battery dance and see what happens.
cheers
AP

Yeah I'm thinking it could be moisture related. I have just removed the blanket off the engine that acted as some form of insulation. That said I don't know how many codes were there before the check engine light came on. I was surprised the EJ was still running with that number of codes being displayed - that makes me think there is something minor wrong with each sensor that's effected. All the plugs are in the same general area too.

And what's a "battery dance" AP???

Cheers

Bennie

[AndrewT]

This is a direct quote from a user on RSlibertyclub.org. His post was made into a sticky thread and I beleive most people take it for gospel.

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How to reset the ECU
To erase trouble codes from the computer you have two ways. The first I have not verified, but I'm sure it works.
ECU clear memory procedure is as follows for auto and manual transmissions:
1. With engine at operating temperature, turn engine off. Place gear shift lever into park (auto transmission cars only).
· Locate the two ECU check connectors, for most cars they are located under the steering column and consist of a black plastic male and female connector, and a green male female connector. The exact location of the connectors varies with the different year models, but generally they are located under the steering column on the drivers side.
NOTE: sometimes they are still taped over with some small amount of plastic tape, so look hard, they will be there!
With the ignition OFF connect black to black and green to green.
· Turn on ignition, do not start the engine, (and for auto transmission, cycle the gearshift lever from park to neutral and back to park ), depress the accelerator pedal to full throttle and hold for a few seconds, and then release. Start engine and then drive for at least one minute, keeping road speed above 10 mph.
· ECU is now re-set.
· At this point the check engine light should start to flash the all clear signal (steady 1/2 second interval flashes). If the check engine light does not flash, or indicates some other sequence, there is a fault present in the system, and should be checked for necessary repairs.
· Once done, stop the car and turn off the engine.
· Disconnect the plugs.
The way I usually erase the codes or "Reset the ECU" is by doing the infamous "battery dance."
NOTE: Do this on a "cold" engine. Leave it sit overnight and do it in the morning.
1. Disconnect the negative battery terminal cable for 45-60 minutes.
2. Reconnect the negative battery terminal cable.
3. Turn off all your accessories.
4. Start the car, but DO NOT touch the throttle at all.
5. Let the car idle for 10-15 minutes, or until the car is at normal operating temperature. Again, do not touch the throttle.
6. Turn the ignition key to the "OFF" position. That's it

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[El_Freddo]

Hmmm... Might be worth the cold walk out to the car to disconnect the battery!

I'll see how it goes tomorrow morning I guess.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Well the battery disconnect last sunday night didn't do anything. She drove well all the way into melbs, got good fuel economy but is not running properly, still smooth but not all the ponies are there - you can hear it in the exhaust too.

She's also pretty hard to start when cold. Usually about 4 crank rotations (well it sounds like it anyway) before she fires and idles. Now it has to be cranked for ages, fires strongly then dies, do this five or six times then a bit of throttle before it'll run VERY poorly, after a little bit of barely holding the revs at idle it'll pick up like old times and idle properly. If you try to drive the revs dive when its cold - after a warm up of a few minutes (10-15 depending on the weather) she'll drive like usual, just not with all the ponies at home.

Tomorrow will be a testing of all the problem sensors and go from there. Might see if I can get some decent ones from PAP to get me through till the end of the season...

The multimetre should show a dud sensor right? I won't be able to warm up the wreck but I'm sure the throttle sensor, cam sensor and knock sensor don't need to be warmed up. I should go looking for my manual and do some reading since I'm now home...

Cheers

Bennie

[maxxair]

best of luck there... letus know how u get on.

[d_generate]

Blocked catalytic converter?

[El_Freddo]

Blocked catalytic converter?

Can a cat converter seriously pull that many codes?? I don't think that's a problem, I just had a cat back exhaust put on and no report about a blocked cat - although they would've been looking from the rear of the cat, IF they took the time to have a gander...

I've been looking at prices of the various sensors and other bits needed - I'm VERY scared for my bank account's health!

I want to replace the knock sensor, throttle position sensor, cam angle sensor, temp sensor and the air idle control valve. The AICV price is gastronomical IMO!

Everything else seems to be good. No rubbing through of wiring and associated protective covers anywhere that I can find. I'm pretty sure the extreme cold has knocked these nearly malfunctioning sensors over the edge

I just hope I can get her started for saturday - need to head off mountain to vote Damn election!

Cheers

Bennie

[RSR 555]

hey Bennie.. try and get hold of a good known ignition relay. I know it sounds weird but with that many codes it has to be a power supply issue.. IMO

[El_Freddo]

Ignition relay - just the little relay box under the dash?

I've got a few ideas floating around at the moment. 2 to be exact! The one ^

And replace the first code displayed - the temp sensor - might pull the other sensors back in line. Could be completely wrong but I'm willing to give it a go as it could save me a pot load of money.

Now just to get one orders, posted up then fitted while parked in the snow... fun fun!

Cheers

Bennie

[RSR 555]

haha.. have fun in the snow

The relay is normally under the dash on the right hand side of the steering column and they are the light brown in colour ones.

[AndrewT]

Remember this is in an L series so when Benny did the wiring conversion the relay could have ended up anywhere.
Benny, it should look like this - http://specificdesign.com/images/non_bu ... _relay.jpg
I too have heard of the ignition relay causing issues with EJ's running badly before, although I don't think I've experienced it myself. If you can get a new one for a good price it might be worth swapping it out for piece of mind.

[RSR 555]

Yeah thanks Andrew.. that's why I wrote 'normally' as I have seen Bennie's car when he was over and we had that cruise up to the lake.

I wouldn't buy a new one unless you had tried a good known one (say from a good friend or the like) as they aren't cheap.

[FROG]

Got one here Benny pm me an addy and I'll send it down fir postage
Part number on it is 24232AA000 it's brown and has 6 pins

- -
- -
I I

Pins kinda look like that ^
cheers
Andy

[AndrewT]

yeah damn right they aren't cheap. I bought one from Subaru years ago when I was sourcing all the parts for my first EJ20G conversion and it was $60! Even worse, stupidly I discovered afterwards that I actually already had one

[FROG]

Think they're $80 now

[AndrewT]

Found a pic of your actual one Benny lol (I think). Near the bottom right of the pic.
Couldn't spy it in any of the other pics of the harness after you'd mounted it in the car tho...

[El_Freddo]

Thanks guys - I know which relay it is and I know where I've located it - above the driver's right foot. I guys that's an advantage of doing your own conversion...

FROG - I'll send you a PM after this thread - thank you, it'll be much appreciated!

Cheers

Bennie