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EA81 with SPFI


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  • 1 month later...

Hey Jerry - you ever get this fixed? I just spent about 4 hours troubleshooting my swap having the same symptoms you had - figured out that the coil bracket itself has to be grounded. I hooked everything up, but didn't mount the coil - wouldn't start. I ran a wire from the bracket to ground and it started first try.

 

No where in the conversion manual does it mention this little bit, but the harness isn't long enough to mount the coil in an EA81 unless you legthen the wires. I just sat the coil in the spare tire area - intending to move it to it's final home after I proved it would run, and was in the "cleanup" stage. It didn't ground through the paint, so no spark till I decided on a whim to ground the bracket.

 

Maybe not your problem, as you said it ran with some fuel down it.... but thought I would mention it - and you never told us if yours worked....

 

GD

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Hey GD This is Jerry, no i didn't get it to run. I have a Ea82 intake carb style that i have clean up ready to install with a new weber carb. I know that old school stuff. I haven't taken any of the SPFI stuff off yet so if anybody wants to give it a try let me know real soon before i take a BF hammer to it. Thanks Jerry

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Well - I'm willing and able to take pictures of my setup for you if you like. I simplified the wireing as much as possible, and it's not real bad now that I've done it. I haven't put anything "away" yet under the dash - it's all sitting on the floor (I just started it for the first time tonight).

 

I planned to do a write up anyway, so I'll snap some pictures of the important bits, and make a few notes. I don't see why we can't get yours running without a lot of trouble now that I know a little more about the system.

 

First question - where did you mount the fuel pump, and how is it being supplied? I mounted mine under the hood, and just routed around the existing pump under the car with a bit of hose. Worked fine, and kept the rear filter in place.

 

GD

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so you say it only gets fuel when its cranking..? somethings a miss.... there should be 5 power wires, one going to a fusable link you have to install.... the code 5 thing is getting me, I forgot to hook up a power wire when I did my wagon and it gave me a 5... just get your voltmeter out and check at the ecu that it gets power to those ports that it needs.

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Use a noid light to check the injector pulse. Plug the light's connector into the injector harness, and crank the car. You should see the light flash. Spray enough carb cleaner down it to make it run, and check the light again while the engine is running. If the light doesn't flash, then the ECU isn't signalling the injector. Please don't use a regular test light, they draw too much power and will damage the computer.

Another possibility is that the key switch itself might not be working properly, it might be passing enough current to turn stuff on, but not run the whole system. Check the voltage drop across the whole circuit by connecting one lead of a voltmeter to the battery + terminal, and the other to the key power terminal on the ecu (with ecu plugged in). If you see more than .5v on the meter, there is excessive resistance in the system. You might try running the key switched power through a relay straight from the battery, with the key switch activating it. Be sure to use a fuse in that system, a 30a should be a good starting point.

 

Oh yeah, I'd love to see some pics of the hatchbrat- I'm thinking of doing something like that with my hatch.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Problem solved! Jerry is without computer right now, but I figured it I would lay out the solution for everyone..... interestingly this applies not just to EA81 conversions, but to EA82 as well.

 

Tested a few things - hooked up the noid light as sugested - adjusted the timing, and tested a few sensors. Got it to fire for a few seconds, and then it abruptly stopped and stubbornly refused to do anything but crank. Looked down the throttle, and no fuel. We had fuel before.... so thought maybe the tank was empty. Disconnected the fuel line from the pump, and with the ignition on and the test mode connectors connected the pump ran but no fuel came out. I was sure at this point that it must have run out of fuel, so added a few gallons. Nothing..... took the pump out and tested it with water and a couple wire leads hooked to the battery and it shot water pretty decent..... had to be the wireing.

 

Swapped the wires in the connector under the car and it started right up.

 

So the interesting thing we discovered is the fuel pump WILL run in reverse and sounds normal - it just doesn't pump anything.

 

GD

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