Communication problem
Moderators: JeffC, rdoherty, stieg, brentp
Communication problem
I’m hoping someone on here can help with some megajolt advice with a problem I’m having. I’ve purchased a megajolt package from trigger wheels in the UK and I can’t get the ECU to talk to any computer now. I briefly had the manifold intake working and showing on the configurator program readout but there is nothing now, the revs however did not show when I started the engine and then there was no communication at all. All the wiring is correct as far as I can see and fused as recommended. I bought a new communication lead and plugs (serial plug and also a USB adaptor) from trigger wheels this week but still there is nothing when I tried again last night. I have tried a laptop and desktop with a serial port and another laptop and notebook with the USB adaptor bought from trigger wheels and none work. The com port is no 1 for the serial port and I changed the speed to 38400 but I have also tried 9600 with no luck. The usb ports were whatever was set-up by the computer and I changed the port number in the megajolt configurator to match but still nothing. I can’t think of what else it could be other than the megajolt itself. I have the car running on the edis at the moment. I have e-mailed trigger wheels regarding my problem on the weekend but all they said was that it is probably the USB but considering I only tried the USB because the serial port wasn’t working that wasn’t any help. I e-mailed them again this morning saying I really need help and I think it must be a faulty megajolt ecu but they so far haven’t bothered replying, not very impressed to say the least. Would anyone have any ideas of anything else it could be? Have anyone had any problems with megajolts bought from Trigger Wheels?
Mitch I've already replied to your email directly but though it worth responding publicly. I am afraid I was out of the office this morning so didn't see your email to me untill I got back this afternoon, hopefully we're no all sorted.
For the benefit of others comms problems are the single biggest cause of frustrations with ECUs, it's not specific to the megajolt, it affects manufacturers of every ECU out there. The main culprit is that serial ports are on fewer and fewer computers these days and sadly the majority of USB-serial adaptors out there are pretty poor. Nine times out of ten problems can be solved by usinig a "known good" adaptor or swapping to a computer that has a real serial port. It is pretty rare for the ECU itself to be at fault but of course it does happen occasionally (but rarely enough that any failure gets a thorough investigation).
As with all our customers whenever there is any doubt at all over the ECU we are more than happy to put it on our test bench for investigation.
For the benefit of others comms problems are the single biggest cause of frustrations with ECUs, it's not specific to the megajolt, it affects manufacturers of every ECU out there. The main culprit is that serial ports are on fewer and fewer computers these days and sadly the majority of USB-serial adaptors out there are pretty poor. Nine times out of ten problems can be solved by usinig a "known good" adaptor or swapping to a computer that has a real serial port. It is pretty rare for the ECU itself to be at fault but of course it does happen occasionally (but rarely enough that any failure gets a thorough investigation).
As with all our customers whenever there is any doubt at all over the ECU we are more than happy to put it on our test bench for investigation.
Official Megajolt distributor for UK and Europe.
Complete Megajolt packages, EDIS kits, Trigger wheels and everything else you need for your megajolt install
www.trigger-wheels.com
Complete Megajolt packages, EDIS kits, Trigger wheels and everything else you need for your megajolt install
www.trigger-wheels.com
Hi Chris and Brent,
Thanks for the reply. I was very tired and annoyed yesterday, it's been 2 weeks trying to get the ecu to talk to anything and still no luck. I was at the car until 11pm on Thursday night to try the new lead, serial adaptor and trigger wheels usb adaptor and then I had an hour to drive home and up at 6am. It's little things like the USB didn't have the driver with it and has to be uploaded from the internet and when it's 10pm and you are already annoyed, spending 1/2hr getting on the internet and mucking about with that isn't productive. I'm going to sound like a whinger but I've already said in my emails and my thread here that I've tried two serial ports and they aren't working so to keep telling me most communication problems are to do with USBs isn't helpful. I'll have to send the ecu back on Monday to be tested to see if that is the fault as I am out of ideas of what else it could be.
Thanks for the reply. I was very tired and annoyed yesterday, it's been 2 weeks trying to get the ecu to talk to anything and still no luck. I was at the car until 11pm on Thursday night to try the new lead, serial adaptor and trigger wheels usb adaptor and then I had an hour to drive home and up at 6am. It's little things like the USB didn't have the driver with it and has to be uploaded from the internet and when it's 10pm and you are already annoyed, spending 1/2hr getting on the internet and mucking about with that isn't productive. I'm going to sound like a whinger but I've already said in my emails and my thread here that I've tried two serial ports and they aren't working so to keep telling me most communication problems are to do with USBs isn't helpful. I'll have to send the ecu back on Monday to be tested to see if that is the fault as I am out of ideas of what else it could be.
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Well I got the megajolt issue I was having sorted, it was a faulty ECU and Trigger-wheels replaced it for me and sent out a new one, with a fast turn-around so that was great so thanks to Chris and Catherine.
I installed the new ECU, hooked it up to my computer and they communicated straight away. I then ran the car without the MAP (manifold air pressure) side of things and she ran nice, checked it with the timing light and all was correct. So it was on to the MAP side of things; I took off the carbs and inlet manifold, drilled and tapped the inlet manifold to take the 1/8NPT hose barb for the vacuum hose which connects to the ECU. Connected the manifold and carbs back up, hooked in the MAP and fired her up again and all is working nicely. The revs and load show on the laptop readout and it shows me where in my ignition map the car is currently running. The car is more responsive and maybe it's my imagination but it does seem to rev better with the megajolt over the 123 dizzy.
After getting the car going fully on the megajolt I tidied up all the wiring including shortening the spark plug leads.
Quick overview of what was done:
- Installed a new trigger wheel and drive pulley
- Made a bracket for the VR sensor and fitted it 90 degrees anti-clockwise from the missing tooth with no. 1 piston at TDC.
- Welded the coilpack bracket onto the top of an old dizzy housing
- Wired everything up as per the instructions from trigger-wheels and auto-sport labs. I mainly used soldered connections with heatshrink.
- I don't have switched power from my fuse box that stays on when cranking so I had to wire in a relay that switches to a permanent power source when the starter-motor gets power to crank the engine.
- Wrote my map in the configurator program.
- Made a mounting plate for the ECU under the passenger side dash.
- wrapped all the wiring with electrical tape and then spiral binding.
That's pretty much all that was done. Apart from ECU issue and not realising that my power source stopped during cranking the install is pretty straight forward but there is a bit of work involved to get it done. Obviously if I had to do it again I'd do it in a 10th of the time.
I still need to paint the VR sensor and coilpack brakets and maybe a little fine tuning later on. I also fancy hooking up a rev gauge to the ECU and mounting to the bottom lip of the dash. Anyone recommend a nice retro looking rev counter that will work with the ECU output? Anyone thinking of installing megajolt I'd say go for it. Some pictures attached but will take some more detailed pics when I get back from holidays showing things more closely.
Anyone interested this is my thread on my megajolt build: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=130344
I installed the new ECU, hooked it up to my computer and they communicated straight away. I then ran the car without the MAP (manifold air pressure) side of things and she ran nice, checked it with the timing light and all was correct. So it was on to the MAP side of things; I took off the carbs and inlet manifold, drilled and tapped the inlet manifold to take the 1/8NPT hose barb for the vacuum hose which connects to the ECU. Connected the manifold and carbs back up, hooked in the MAP and fired her up again and all is working nicely. The revs and load show on the laptop readout and it shows me where in my ignition map the car is currently running. The car is more responsive and maybe it's my imagination but it does seem to rev better with the megajolt over the 123 dizzy.
After getting the car going fully on the megajolt I tidied up all the wiring including shortening the spark plug leads.
Quick overview of what was done:
- Installed a new trigger wheel and drive pulley
- Made a bracket for the VR sensor and fitted it 90 degrees anti-clockwise from the missing tooth with no. 1 piston at TDC.
- Welded the coilpack bracket onto the top of an old dizzy housing
- Wired everything up as per the instructions from trigger-wheels and auto-sport labs. I mainly used soldered connections with heatshrink.
- I don't have switched power from my fuse box that stays on when cranking so I had to wire in a relay that switches to a permanent power source when the starter-motor gets power to crank the engine.
- Wrote my map in the configurator program.
- Made a mounting plate for the ECU under the passenger side dash.
- wrapped all the wiring with electrical tape and then spiral binding.
That's pretty much all that was done. Apart from ECU issue and not realising that my power source stopped during cranking the install is pretty straight forward but there is a bit of work involved to get it done. Obviously if I had to do it again I'd do it in a 10th of the time.
I still need to paint the VR sensor and coilpack brakets and maybe a little fine tuning later on. I also fancy hooking up a rev gauge to the ECU and mounting to the bottom lip of the dash. Anyone recommend a nice retro looking rev counter that will work with the ECU output? Anyone thinking of installing megajolt I'd say go for it. Some pictures attached but will take some more detailed pics when I get back from holidays showing things more closely.
Anyone interested this is my thread on my megajolt build: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=130344
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