Update for today
1. I started off by attempting to time the engine, this was a little difficult as the idle was pretty high (1600-1800) but I had arrived at the same conclusion that the timing was retarded so I advanced it to about 15 degrees (was around 0 – 2).
2. I noticed that cylinders 5 and 7 were getting hot (changed from 3, 5, and 6). I attributed this to timing and the program trying to figure out what was going on. After a few “start and stops”, the car would only run around 1900 - 2100.
3. Reading through the instructions (quick start) I focused on the IAC and throttle plate position; it took me a very long time to figure out what they were talking about and how to affect it, but I eventually did. The IAC was at 35% while it was running, I played with the settings in the software and noticed this is where it was set, so I changed it there, then restarted the car and noticed the car did idle down to around 1350-1500; I checked the timing and it seemed to be very retarded; however advancing the timing of course only increased the RPM.
4. I checked out the throttle plates; they were all seemingly completely closed; it took me a long time to find the right tool to adjust the idle stops (I figured Bruce would have used Hex screws, but turns out that a small flat bladed screw driver did the trick). I adjusted the center TB throttle plates slightly and redid the TPS autoset (as per the instructions). This seemed to help slightly in that the idle remained around 1200 – 1300 but the engine was running pretty rough and still rich.
5. Throughout this entire effort, the car was running very rich (can still smell it on me, I had to open every door in the shop to breath).
6. I did have to fix a small fuel leak on the left fuel rail that materialized, but it is ok now.
7. I believe the timing is still an issue and am having a difficult time stabilizing it or arriving at a point where I think it is really relevant. Several times it would start hard like it was retarded, but when advanced it would pop through the exhaust.
8. On a positive note, it does rev smoothly.
Some questions;
1. When you make changes on the laptop when connected (online), does this automatically take effect in the ECU?
2. I notice that when I restart the car after being off for a little while; it will not sync stating that the ECU is different than the laptop. What I have been doing is hitting “send to ECU” to get them to sync.
