Cougar

Hasta la vista, baby!

That's a lot of good reading there Nipper.

That's a very good question OB99W. I have no clue if it does, or doesn't. I would assume though if the sensor was disconnected it would set a code immediately.

That is pretty interesting Nipper. The testing you did seems extreme to me. If you made wires that could handle that it is pretty impressive and way beyond what the normal operation would be, voltage wise at least.

Oh my! Look at what the cat drug in.

I see more things have taken place since "The Cat" has been away doing other things. It appears that the voltages to the ECU are ok so that is good to know. I will note that when the disty circuit is working as it should be there will be pluses seen on the minus side of the coil using a test light probe so you are right in thinking that Brian. Another point is since voltage to coil comes from fuse 11 it is possible to not have voltage getting to the ECU coming from the ignition relay since it comes from the green fusible link. Just something to be aware of, both areas need to be checked when this kind of trouble happens. You could also check the voltages on the leads to the disty. Looking at my notes it shows that a couple of the leads should be around 5 volts and another around 12 volts.

Thanks for making the operation explination more clear OB99W. I wasn't thinking of the second coil being used as you stated but you (as usual) are correct.

I checked the wiring diagram for this and I now see it is wired a little different than a normal solenoid and isn't what I thought it was at first. There is a second coil in the solenoid that is in series with the ignition line and the starter motor windings. The switched line tieing to the battery for the starter is tied in between the connection of the second coil and starter windings. When the key is turned to Start and before the solenoid has time to close, power is applied to the starter windings through the windings of the second coil. This will cause a voltage drop between the coil and the starter windings. When the solenoid closes, the voltage across the second coil will basically be the same on both sides and current will cease to flow through it and all current to the starter will now be through the solenoid contacts. I assume that the load on the battery due to the starter windings, and that will make the battery voltage drop to around 10 volts while cranking, is what the ECU sees as a connection to the starter and makes it happy. I can now see why there could be a problem with the solenoid and cause the error to occur.

Before you get into the disty I would make sure that voltage is getting to those points I mentioned. You may save yourself a lot of extra work. This problem may just be a faulty ignition relay.

I think the pin numbers are on the connectors to the ECU.

I agree with what you say there SRS 49 but the fact that the sensor generates the code when the engine is warmed up makes me think the sensor is at fault. Whatever noise is being picked up is going to be there at all times. One thing that may prove the sensor is at fault is to heat it up using a hair dryer before the engine is started for the day and see if the code turns on more quickly.

Beldon makes quality wiring in my opinion. If the wires you are using are in good shape then I doubt the trouble is coming from them. If you want to prove it you can try swapping the lead with another one and see if the trouble moves with the wire. A bad wire could be damaged by having an intermittent break in it.

I tend to think the problem is with the sensor itself due to heat buildup on it. If there was a problem with noise getting into the lead then the code would set more quickly. The short lenth of exposed non-shielded wire shouldn't be a problem in my opinion.

The low voltage warning isn't due to something wrong with the solenoid, which I doubt there is any problem with it since it is pretty new. The warning has to do with the voltage going to the solenoid and that comes from through the ignition switch.

You may have some carbon buildup causing the problem. I suggest you try try running some Seafoam through the intake while revving the engine to see if that clears things.

Since the horn is also tied to fuse #5 which is critical for the ignition to work make sure the horn works as a test for power. Another thing to check is power to the ECU on pins 29, 41, and 49. There may be a problem with the ignition relay causing this trouble.

Welcome back to the fold Jergar999. With such a new car you shouldn't have any real problems for a long time.

I assume the item you are asking about in the picture is the device that has the hose attached to it and has the electrical connection to it. That is an air valve that uses a solenoid to open and close it. With power applied, the valve opens.

I would guess if you read more than 50 millivolts of AC you should check the diodes out for a problem.

For those who would like to test the light operation I think you can do this by adding a resistor to the lead going to the thermistor in the tank and then touching the other end of the resistor to ground. This will bypass the thermistor and decrease the resistance to the light so it can turn on. I would guess the resistor value may need to be around 40 ohms as a safe value but it may require a slightly lesser value. A 1 watt resistor will be safe power also. The light isn't tied into the test circuit so it won't come as others do when the ignition is turned on. It will only turn on when the fuel gets low enough and allow the thermistor to turn it on.

In order to read high currents you need to use either a current shunt or a current probe. A shunt is placed in series with the lead under test and then you read the amount of millivolts across the shunt as current flows through it. The shunt is calibrated for a certain amount of voltage drop to current flow. Another device that can measure the current is a DC current probe. It is clipped around the lead under test and the current is read. These devices are usually fairly expensive so a lot of folks don't have them on hand. By making sure the alternator can hold a good voltage output while under a high load, is a pretty fair test.

The problem may be due to a bad relay. I would check that out. If the pump has no voltage across the leads when this happens then see if the relay is at fault. The pump should be near the right rear passenger area, mounted under the car. The leads to it are under the rear seat.

By using a digital meter and checking the AC ripple across the battery with the engine running you should be able to see if there is excessive ripple caused by bad diodes.

I haven't worked on one myself but I heard that the grounds were a problem on them at times and caused the sections to not work. Reflowing the solder joints may fix some problems with them.

The link to the chart I gave in post #5 is for the dash gauge.