Unable to read J-Spec ECU

Rogue · May 23, 2003, 15:44

Hi All,

I know a number of you are aware of this problem already. I cannot find anywhere that is able to plug into the OBD-II port on our MR-S and read the diagnostics. I have two particular faults:

1) Sudden and marked drop in performance at ~5000rpm.

2) CEL illuminates after about 30 seconds of sustained driving above 60mph.

Somebody mentioned a company in the South East that had a J-Spec reader - anyone know who it is? Repairs are at the insurers expense as the problems only manifested themselves after the car was stolen. The central locking (etc.) ECU has been replaced with another JDM item.

Cheers,

Rogue
MR2 GT T-Bar Turbo
MR2 GT T-Bar
MR-S Si Edition

Anonymous · May 23, 2003, 15:53

Yeah i think that fensports have one and a company called TDI which is in maldon they have 1 as my 2 went in there for a tune and they pluged it into a thingy that read all the codes in the ECU, they had to do it because there was a mis fireing problem and it acts like a diogostic cheack the guy sed.

may be worth giving them a call s:D

s:D

Rogue · May 23, 2003, 15:57

Thanks, I'll give them a try!

Rogue
MR2 GT T-Bar Turbo
MR2 GT T-Bar
MR-S Si Edition

markiii · May 23, 2003, 17:28

Quote from: BusterYeah i think that fensports have one and a company called TDI which is in maldon they have 1 as my 2 went in there for a tune and they pluged it into a thingy that read all the codes in the ECU, they had to do it because there was a mis fireing problem and it acts like a diogostic cheack the guy sed.

may be worth giving them a call s:D s:D

Buster I thought you had a UK car?

Anonymous · May 24, 2003, 15:09

The person who had the car before me had the ECU chaged for some strange reson i took it to TDI and they said that it was because it had a Jap chip in it and would gain 6 bhp if tuned with the jap ECU.

I didnt have anything done to the car ! but i was told when i took it in. TDI said that it may not be able to feel the difference but it runs a lot smoother throught high end revs . s:D

s:D

Rogue · May 24, 2003, 15:27

That's interesting... It could mean a couple of things:

1) The previous owner added a J-spec daughterboard to your ECU (similar to a Mines ECU I had for a mk2). This implies that the J-Spec and UK Spec ECU's are the same.

2) Your UK spec ECU was swapped with a J-spec item. Again, implying that the two are compatible. I doubt that anyone would be so thorough as to change the OBD-II connector at the same time, so the pin-outs remained the same, and compatible with UK spec readers.

3) TDI have a reader that can talk to J-spec cars.

I reckon either 1 or 2 are the most likely scenarios. This leads me on to the further though that perhaps it is simply the pin-outs that are different on JDM cars... I don't suppose someone would car to give the colours and pin positions for a UK car? I'll try swapping mine over to match and see if that works...

Cheers,

Anonymous · May 24, 2003, 15:33

ok i confussed now !!!

I was under the impresion that the OBD-II connector was the same on all specs of 2's and it was the ECU thats was changed like a plug in module!!

thats why imports can be made regulated and emissions tested by swapping the ECU over.

It's only how i have sean it, I may be wrong (more than likey s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) but it's worth investigateing. I could take pics if you want and show how the swap was done s:idea: :idea: s:idea:

markiii · May 24, 2003, 15:53

Quote from: Busterok i confussed now !!!

I was under the impresion that the OBD-II connector was the same on all specs of 2's and it was the ECU thats was changed like a plug in module!!

thats why imports can be made regulated and emissions tested by swapping the ECU over.

It's only how i have sean it, I may be wrong (more than likey s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) but it's worth investigateing. I could take pics if you want and show how the swap was done s:idea: :idea: s:idea:

Buster,

You wouldn't swap the ecu just to meet emmissions, they are approx £2000 each, also the UK spec ECU is expecting an input from the 3rd 02 sensor that sits just after the 3rd cat. J-spec cars don't have this sensor, so the ECU software has to be different otherwise it would throw a CEL due to there being no sensor.

I'd definately be interested to see pics of what they have done.

Patrick I'll taek a look at the BGB and see if it lists the colours of the wires.

Mark.

Rogue · May 24, 2003, 16:07

Right, I've just been outside and compared my rev 1 J-spec ODB-II connector with Steve Jeffrey's rev 2 UK SMT.

My connector: (Reading left to right, top to bottom, connector facing)

1: Not present
2: Not present
3: Not present
4: White with Black stripe
5: Not present
6: Black with Yellow stripe
7: White with Green stripe
8: Not present

9: White
10: Not present
11: Not present
12: Not present
13: Pink with Black stripe
14: Green with Red stripe
15: Not present
16: Black

The only difference between mine and Steve's was that he has a brown wire on pin 5. I figure this could be for any of the following reasons:

1) It's a revision 2 addition.
2) It's an SMT specific addition.
3) It's a difference between UK an JDM cars.

Anbody with a UK revision 1 car care to check for the presence of the brown wire?

Cheers,

Anonymous · May 24, 2003, 16:46

Quote from: "Rogue"The only difference between mine and Steve's was that he has a brown wire on pin 5. I figure this could be for any of the following reasons:

1) It's a revision 2 addition.
2) It's an SMT specific addition.
3) It's a difference between UK an JDM cars.

Anbody with a UK revision 1 car care to check for the presence of the brown wire?

I have a brown wire, on my UK, rev 1 manual.

Looks like option 3, ie you're missing a wire... s:(

s:(

SteveJ · May 24, 2003, 17:21

Quote from: "pmdye"Looks like option 3, ie you're missing a wire... s:( s:(

Looks like more investigation may be required - anyone fancy dismantling their storage bins to trace where the wire goes to on the ECU?

SteveJ

Anonymous · May 24, 2003, 19:19

na i will pass i shall leave it to the experts s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

markiii · May 24, 2003, 21:38

I'd still be interested in the pics if you get a chance Buster.

SteveJ · May 25, 2003, 10:14

Take a look m http://www.obdii.com/connector.html m - it shows pin 5 as being signal ground. If that is missing there is no way it will work - the data signal will just float all over the place

Could this be the problem......... s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

SteveJ

Anonymous · May 25, 2003, 10:36

Yeah after my exams tho s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Im off to England Vs the barberains today so it willl have to be after my exams near the end of june well second week of june!!! sorry but i gota revise s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Chris · May 28, 2003, 22:09

Quote from: "Buster"Yeah after my exams tho s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Im off to England Vs the barberains today so it willl have to be after my exams near the end of june well second week of june!!! sorry but i gota revise s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Sorry, slightly OT...
Hey Buster, I went to that match as well - not a very good display by England, but that Barbarians defence was impressive!

I was sat in the lower east stand - how about you?
Did you get annoyed with those people try to start mexican waves every 2 minutes as well? s:evil: :evil: s:evil: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · May 28, 2003, 22:20

Yeah i was lower east 2 nomber 31 i think, and yeah the people starting the mexican wave where the kids from the presius macths, i whacthed a few of there matchs and i tell you what theres some good up and coming players. and they where only 14 LOL

yeah poor performance by england Bar bars played well tho sold defence and lucky in offence s:roll: :roll: s:roll: