hey all i have a issue thats been plauging this ever since i've had it and its somewhat wearing thin
its been hard to pinpoint as its rather intermittent when it chooses to be

untill recently i had a rough idle on both fuels (duel fuel)
parts replaced,
leads ngk - approx 40 thousand ago
plugs ngk iirc - approx 40 thousand ago
both rocker cover gaskets\tube seals
known working maf
known working isc
new oxy sensor (maybe 3,000k's old)
known new working distributor

untill today where it is rather nasty and stalling at every set of lights unless i'm using both feet and manually holding the idle up. acellerating whilst using brakes, this isnt ideal..

drives fine when cold. once it warms up the fun and games start

also the auto is in turn shifting rather harshly too. a solid thump or bang
auto was serviced a short while ago and is full

in all honesty. i have no idea.. only thoughts that come to mind havent helped
even refitted the original distributor tonight with no change

i have a evoscan cable\software but for the life of me can't get it to sync to the rotten box of shit
as also if i bridge the plug out with a bit of wire to use the cel light for codes it wont share.
even if i unplug something to initiate a cel light\code

how rare is it to kill a ecu partially? as its driving like it would be if i had the battery disconnected
no fuses blown

so any pointers would be great.

oh and the car is
96 te exec
3.0 v6 4spd auto
with 351000k's on it

oh and i'm not using ethanol fuel or crap fuel.
i stay with caltex or shell as running on bp it refuses to run properly and last time i destroyed the maf and aircleaner on petrol!

also in regards to running rough
get the rev's up its fine.

and my fuel economy doesnt suck.
550k's to a tank of 95- prem ulp, petrol (typical fill is around 60litres)
500k's to a tank of lpg (typical fill is 62 litres out of a 65litre useable)

Check the basics checklist re; rough idle. Start simplest first. Vacuum leaks (Air), Spark, Fuel

1. Grab a vacuum gauge. Wait you've warmed the car up, watch the vacuum. You might have a shitty head gasket/some other vacuum leak that's not evident when cold. Make sure you're not losing vacuum, this will cause a rough idle/stalling especially when the car has warmed up.
2. Heat causes resistance; A: Are you sure your coil is good? Check the primary and secondary coil resistances when you've warmed her up. B: What about the power transistor? Are you sure it's OK? C. Wiggle the connectors on the AFM/Tps/ISC, make sure there are no bad connections.
3. Fuel > Well, it really doesn't sound like you have any kind of fuel issue, but A: d/c and check the nozzle of an injector? Make sure it's not full of rubbish. Bad spray pattern won't help.

Those would be my thoughts. Hope that helps.

Check the basics checklist re; rough idle. Start simplest first. Vacuum leaks (Air), Spark, Fuel

1. Grab a vacuum gauge. Wait you've warmed the car up, watch the vacuum. You might have a shitty head gasket/some other vacuum leak that's not evident when cold. Make sure you're not losing vacuum, this will cause a rough idle/stalling especially when the car has warmed up.
2. Heat causes resistance; A: Are you sure your coil is good? Check the primary and secondary coil resistances when you've warmed her up. B: What about the power transistor? Are you sure it's OK? C. Wiggle the connectors on the AFM/Tps/ISC, make sure there are no bad connections.
3. Fuel > Well, it really doesn't sound like you have any kind of fuel issue, but A: d/c and check the nozzle of an injector? Make sure it's not full of rubbish. Bad spray pattern won't help.

Those would be my thoughts. Hope that helps.

thanks for the input..
i don't have access to a vac guage. i'm planning to when i find it is spray some start ya bastard at the gaskets and see if the rev's pick up.

coil was a new unit. does the same on the coil that has done 340,000 that was originally on the car.
how would i check the resistances? as its a royal pita to get my distributor cap off due to lpg plumbing.

all connections were checked last night and wd40 sprayed in them
leads arent crossfiring either.

i've been able to rule out fuel issues to a point as i disconnected the pump at the tank. so my backseat currently isnt clipped in

Stalling hot, I say isc

What is the fuel pressure, have you got leaking or dribbling injector/s

madmagna


the thought has crossed my mind too.
what would a new one be worth? as i'm over swapping stuff on a hope it lasts longer than a week


nfi on fuel pressure or injector condition
i really just can't justify pulling them out till i'm certain its the problem. as i do a fair few k's in this weekly i need to find the issue.

just sucks its a 120k round trip to work\home and i have no car to borrow or any days off till after australia day.


i have been disconnecting the pump (sometimes stays like that for a week) to try to rule out a issue. it gets no better or worse.
i unplug it when on petrol at the tank electrically and let it use the fuel in the rails

well swapped out the isc again.
got one off a 2001 executive. done about 160 thou but had been punched up the arse.

only made a slight difference if that to the way its running.


so is there any modules i have to change or swap if i swap the ecu over with one out of another known working car to suss out if its a ecu issue?
as the auto keeps trying to grab 2 gears at times. and i know the tcm is part of the ecu iirc?

just adjust the air bypass screw on the throttle body........ unscrew it until the idle comes up. I had a similar problem with my 3lt Pajero when the ics died, fitted a new one but it kept stalling......so adjusted the air bypass and its perfect now.

not sure about the auto problem though !

just adjust the air bypass screw on the throttle body........ unscrew it until the idle comes up. I had a similar problem with my 3lt Pajero when the ics died, fitted a new one but it kept stalling......so adjusted the air bypass and its perfect now.

not sure about the auto problem though !
yeah i'd done that after fitting another ics..

it had me stumped for a fair while too auto wise

but an update.. if anyone is interested

issue was actually the ecu. was suggested by a mate that works on them often etc and i thought cant hurt or make it any worse, as it was undriveable anyways.

swapped it over for one out of a 96 v6 3.0 altera.
fixed the idle issues and the stalling completely, auto shifts the best it ever has since i've owned the te
so i'm thinking it may of been part of the issues all along. i still have some hesitation slack.. but i have alot of diff slop so its largeley that showing its head at times now

prior to swapping the ecu's i did try disconnecting the battery for a day with no good results. so the fact i got such a positive reaction after the auto learn.. i think i found the winner
now all i want to do is adjust the lpg idle as its a touch low but i'll get around to it

done about 300k's so far with no issues to report.. best $52 spent for a ecu lol

Wow, congrats on solving the problem. That's amazing. Last thing i would have looked at, intuitively. So was the issue with the ECU's connector? Was it damaged/corroded? Were there any damaged components visible? Was there any evidence of water damage?

I assume the ECU is just an electronic device, so all the logic is burned into the IC chips. Things that would likely fail are capacitors, coils and resistors, or otherwise physical damage to the circuit board or connector. Chips rarely overheat.
Can't have been a program error or it would have happened ages ago.

edit...

Wow, congrats on solving the problem. That's amazing. Last thing i would have looked at, intuitively. So was the issue with the ECU's connector? Was it damaged/corroded? Were there any damaged components visible? Was there any evidence of water damage?
thanks.. yeah same but i've had it happen in the past in a falcon i used to own.
connector looks fine same with plugs, i had even had them out at one stage inspecting them to see if it was the dreaded heatercore leak

no obvious damage that can be seen..


I assume the ECU is just an electronic device, so all the logic is burned into the IC chips. Things that would likely fail are capacitors, coils and resistors, or otherwise physical damage to the circuit board or connector. Chips rarely overheat.

pretty much, but they can fail or get dry soldier joints over time. like any electrical component in reality.
no real evidence on what failed. but it used to act like it lost its memory for the tcm part. so i'm betting on a dry joint somewhere


Can't have been a program error or it would have happened ages ago.
you never know.. as i only bought it in march 2012 and its driving better than it ever has in my ownership.
keep in mind so far i have done just shy over 40,000k's since i've had it