Omex 600 Not Sparking - First Start Up

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Hello guys, I need a little help.

 

Ive recently finished the install of some shiny new jenvey TB's, which came as a kit from demon tweeks with an Omex 600 mappable management system. Im ready to go with the first start up, but for some reason Im not getting any sparks.

 

The engine is an Xu9J4 Mi16 which is fairly standard apart from mild porting and a kent cams PT1602 cam kit with vernier pulleys. Im fairly sure Ive timed these in correctly as Ive had the engine started up with these installed, albeit with the standard induction system. Like i said, Ive now upgraded to TBs and am having trouble getting it to fire up. The crank and coolant sensors are the standard mi16 items, and the throttle position and air temp sensors are the omex ones that came with the kit.

 

Im using a new 306 xsi 8v wasted spark coil pack, and new corsa 16v HT leads.

 

Im pretty sure I wired everthing up OK. It came with a pre-made loom, which just needed a fuel pump relay added which was fairly straight forward. The ignition relay was already wired in so it was nothing to do with me!

 

Ive had the usual problem with connecting to a non serial ported laptop etc, but got around it by searching arond this forum and changing the ports on a serial / usb adapter. Ive managed to connect to the ecu, and sent over the startup map that came with the kit.

 

Now when I try and start it, it just cranks away without firing. I can hear the fuel pump kicking in so Im guessing the relay worked.

 

Im totally new to mappable management systems, and Im aware that you have to tell it to use the 60-2 flywheel and what ignition system you have etc, but I assume the startup map is based on a standard mi16 flywheel, and I can't find an obvious option in the software to tell it what ignition system Im using, ie wasted spark etc.

 

If anyones got any ideas, they would be most welcome. I want to get it fired up so I can see if it is OK to go for a mapping session, ie no oil or coolant leaks as this is a fairly recent engine rebuild.

 

Thanks for any info, and assume Im a complete novice so feel free to suggest obvious things without risk of offending me

Edited August 15, 2009 by IanH

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

UPDATE:

 

Ive just discovered Im not getting any fuel either. I simply looked straight down the throat of the bodies with a torch and couldn't see any fuel spraying from the injector tips. Bugger.

 

Ive also visually inspected all the sparks and am not getting anything at all. Im running the coil pack with one pair of lead going to 1 and 4, with the other pair going to 3 and 2.

 

Its almost like the ECU is completely blank and it hasnt got a clue what to do when its cranked over. But Ive successfully managed to link up to the ECU via the OMEX software and install the startup map. The software also returns resonable enough readings from the sensors on the car, so I know the ECU is doing what its supposed to.

 

Im not running a lambda sensor, as I dont have the appropriate boss on my exhaust for it, so nothing is connected right now. Whether or not I have to tell the ECU this, I dont know. I can hear the fuel pump kicking in, and the relays are both working (clicking on ignition). There is definately high pressure fuel behind the injectors, but they just arent opening. I know the injectors themselves are OK as Ive had them running prior to the TB + OMEX install.

 

So apart from loading up the startup map supplied by OMEX, what else are you suppoed to do? This is really getting frustrating now. I guess Ill phone OMEX in the morning.

Edited August 16, 2009 by IanH

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Phoned omex, and got through to a very helpful chap there. Turned out i had made a schoolboy error after all. I had the main ECU ignition live connected to an ignition live that went dead during cranking, ie the one that the radio etc uses, hence the ECU promptly turned itself off as soon as I cranked it over, leading to no sparks or fuel.

 

Embarassing, but at least I got the hard stuff right

 

Im now trying to get it to idle, as the base map provided is for a standard engine, and mine has the fast road cams, Im guessing the fuel map needs tweaking slightly. Should be fun...

[kyepan 291]

well done!

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

what live did you use in the end?? i need a good one for my megajolt.

[James_R 3]

Let me know if you need a hand I've got a carb balancer can make life easier, I'm just off crawley green lane. As for the lumpy cams, probabaly a touch more fuel as the overlap will make them chuck fuel out the back more. can do it by ear for idle

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Cheers James, Ill get in touch if I get that far. Im hoping to get it setup this weekend with a little luck. I spoke to Mr Omex earlier this week, and he gave me some basic advice. The first was to use the unadjustable fuel pressure regulator that can with the kit, rather than the FSE adjustable version I had installed. I only did this at the request of the people who are eventually going to RR this car when its ready, so Ill put the adjustable one back on just before It gets sent off to the RR.

 

Basically, you use the omex software to increase the entire fuel map equally, using the scaler provided. This should give you the adjustablitiy to take into account the various different fuelling set-ups that might be used, ie different injectors in various states of cleanliness, FPR, blockage of the filter etc. Once you get it to rev up through the rev range nicely, you then focus on the idle, adjusting individual points on the fuel map in order to get a decent idle. The theory is to get it set up to use the majority of the stock fuel map, and then fine tuning the areas that arnet quite right, ie the idle. Once I get to this point, it'll get booked in for an RR session at MechRepairs in Cheltenham.

 

As for the IGN live I used in the end, if you take the drivers footwell facia off, you should see two large multiplugs near where your right foot would be. One is brown, and the other white. The white one should have a red, a white and two blue wires. I spliced my ECU into the red one with a solder joint and a nice bit of heatshrink. I also put a 1 amp fuse in between, as per the omex wiring diagram. Hope this helps.

Edited August 21, 2009 by IanH

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Another update, and Ive just done a compression test on the cylinders. The results were:

#1 = 109 psi

#2 = 118 psi

#3 = 120 psi

#4 = 104 psi

 

Is this something I should be concerned about, or is the variation acceptable in this case?

 

Cheers for the input guys.

[welshpug 1,622]

doesn't look too uneven, was it done with the throttle open though?

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Yes, I had it wide open at the time, and with the other 3 spark plugs in when testing.

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Turns out you arent supposed to keep the other 3 plugs in, and I was also doing it without a fully charged battery. I did it again and got some different results:

 

#1 = 159 psi

#2 = 162 psi

#3 = 175 psi

#4 = 150 psi

 

This was done with a cold engine however, so the results may not be spot on, but that couldnt be helped unfortunatley.

 

I read in another post that the pressure in psi should be 17 - 20 times the compression ratio, if the engine is healthy. Its an XU9J4 engine so thats a ratio of 10.4 : 1

 

This means I should be getting a figure of between 177 and 208.

 

Again, should I be concerned about this?

[taylorspug 7]

They are all fairly even which is good, however you really need to do the test hot to see. All good MIs ive ever tested have been 200psi+ when hot.

 

Have you tried another gauge to make sure yours is reading correctly?

[IanH 1 1 Cars]

Ive only got the one, but Ill try and find another to double check. The one Ive got is a new Draper from ebay. Not the best, but not the worst either. Ill get a hot test done this weekend and see if this improves things.

 

I spoke to Troy at Northampton Motorsport and he seemed to think the cam timing was out by my description of how it was running. Im not suprised as I did it myself, and it was basically impossible for me, with what I had, to get the DTI probe to travel at the same angle as that of the valves. The cam lobes were always in the way however I set them up. I got as near as I could, and got the DTI reading the correct values for the exhaust and intake cams, as read from the Kent website and set the vernier pulleys up OK, but I guess if the timing is out slightly, the overlap may be too much causing some loss of compression.

 

Im going to take it for its mapping session in 3-4 weeks, and while Im there Ill get the cams properly set-up by someone who a) knows what hes doing and has all the right kit to do it with.

 

Wont be long now. Im looking forward to posting up a super long rebuild / resto project thread with lots of loverly pics. Just have to get it finished first...

Edited August 27, 2009 by IanH