Once Upon A Time...

There was a cranky powertrain control module. It refused to shift, function or even tell the ones around it why it's so cranky. After many hours of being poked, prodded, checked, yelled at and so nearly beaten, someone had the bright idea of looking up "Cranky PCMs" in the Big Book of Errors and found that the PCM needed to be grounded, indefinitely. Once the PCM was ground, it came out and told everyone why it was so cranky, and then things went back to normal.

Ok, done with story telling, back to reality.

After spending most of Saturday trying to figure out why the car wouldn't engage into gear, I had the bright idea of going down to AutoZone and getting a OBDII Scanner to check the car's computer. BTW, the scanner costs $152, but it is considered a rentable item, so you get your money back when you return it. (Making AutoZone the most epic car parts store around)

So I get back and plug this into the car to get some readings, and it said it couldn't find the ECU/PCM. Just peachy.

I found out that I never replaced a fuse I took out back in July (For the Fuel Pump) was also the main fuse for the ECU/PCM. Once that weas replaced, I was welcomes with ticking sounds from the PCM and blinking dash board. After another hour of going through the manual, I found that the wire labled "Engine Ground" is actually the ground for the PCM, so I needed to ground it. All was happy and no more blinking dash and I was able to get some error codes. This also fixed the shifter not letting me move out of Park without using the override key. Now it works just fine.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Then this picture is worth 3,720,000 words!



Yes it moves! Ok, you will hear a few noises. One noised is a ticking that is from the motor coupler that I haven't fixed yet, and the other was a quick grinding sound, which is entirely my fault because I am used to driving a stick and not an Automatic. I pushed the shifter forward to go into neutral like I would in my car, but the Park is forward and neutral is pushing the shifter down! AAHH!

The initial tests seems rather underpowered, but I believe that was because of the settings I used on the controller. I was using a 60 volt pack, but I have the Low Voltage setting to 56 volts. The pack will sag under load, and it probably sagged past the 56 volts and then the controller kicked in the current limting. It really should be around 52 volts. I have had the controller limited to 75% output, but I will reprogram it when I reinstall everything.

Wednesday the Vacuum Pump should arrive and I am glad because those brakes needed A LOT of forced to slow the car down. This afternoon I am removing the motor again to get the bolts countersunk and to clean up a bit. So many things left to do - make a control box, front battery rack, bolt down rear battery rack, make new cables, create vacuum setup, and setup the charging system.

The Ticking is Back

I finally got the control board back in and did a another test spin on the jacks. It was great for 5 minutes, and then the stupid ticking came back. AAHHHHH!!

I called it quits for the day and went back to my school work. This weekend I will take everything apart again (I will have this motor decoupling down to an art soon) and on Monday try to get the holes on the motor plate countersunk. The torque converter bolts and one of the motor bolts is a heck of a lot closer than I originally thought, so even with a slight pressure the bolts hit each other.

I may try a test drive up and down the drive way again and record it to have something to post, and to show off the annoying ticking sound. That and I want to test out the drive train to make sure it actually works and hope I don't have to solve more problems.

Vacuum Pump

I am still putting the motor back into the car, but I also ordered a Thomas Vacuum pump for the brakes. I found one on eBay for a steal at $98, so I bought it and hopefully it will be here end of the week. I will make up a vacuum chamber and get a vacuum switch so it's not running all the time. The pump only draws 4 amps, so it's a real minimal load, and runs on the 12 volt system so won't impact my traction pack.

This afternoon I am putting the motor back in. It's already lined up hanging on rope, but I was busy cleaning up the compartment and went off to visit relatives.

Another Look

Today I tried to contact the machine shop, but they were closed for the weekend. So I decided to take another look and my coupling and see what needs to be done.

The problem was that there was a ticking sound coming from the adapter system. That turned out to be the bolts from the torque converter and the motor skimming off each other. And that occured because the coupling was slightly loose and pushing back when the torque converter was pumping and forced back.

My dad and I came to the conclusion that the coupling was not gripping the shaft like it should have. Well after a few hours of looking over everything, I went to put the coupling back on the motor and realized what was really wrong!

When I first recieved the coupling, I pressed the support pins in and bolted it together and then placced it onto the shaft. When I did this, I didn't actually get the taper piece in all the way and there was enough give to allow it to slide up and down the motor shaft. When I went to place it back on the shaft, I had used a wrench to tighten the bolts and it pressed in all the way. So it wouldn't go onto the motor shaft because it was tightened! Then when I loosened the bolts, it slipped on like it did the first time I installed it! So this was a user error and not a machining error. Which is good, because I spent months getting that design right and a total of $600 for the whole adapter system.

Damage Report- Or Lack of It

I finally got the motor out and I found nothing wrong with the coupler. It was just the way I installed it, no broken key no slipping metal or busted components. The ticking was what I originally thought, the bolts of the torque converter and the motor bolts hitting each other.

I will call up the machine shop tomorrow to see if I can get the coupler adjusted so it grips the shaft better and to get a few holes counter-sunk so the bolts won't hit each other.

So here is my problem. My transmission won't engage into gear and I have to figure out why. It's the curst of the Automatic transmission, but I can't put in a stick so I need to figure out how to fool the PCM to function. I am searching online for any information of the Auto not engaging, and I think it won't because of a throttle position sensor missing.

And We're Walking.....

50 points to the first person who figures out what the qoute is from. And here is the relevance to the qoute:

I figured out what the ticking sound is, for the most part. It's my coupler. I think the key broke and because the tapered coupling didn't hold the shaft tight enough. I found this out when I drove the car down the drive, and when to drive back up and it wouldn't go forward. I could feel the car going, and then slip and that's when the ticking sound appeared. My driveway is on a very slight incline, but enough that I needed three people to push the car back up.

Now I have to remove the motor and adapter to check the coupling. I have removed the board that housed the controller and high power electrical components and either Thursday or Friday I will remove the motor and figure out what to do. I will most likely bring it back to the machine shop to fix it and my dad will be coming along since he is the mechanical engineer and make sure that the taper will be tight.

Wish List

I am putting together a wish list of tools or parts that I either want or need over the next few months.

As it stands right now, I really can't complete my PIC controller without an oscilliscope. I have found one I like on eBay for $325, so that is at the top of my list, right next to vacuum assist When doing my trial I found the brakes a little hard, but I haven't really tried them out yet on the road. I do know that I need to install the vacuum assist if anyone else in the famly is going to drive it. I am searching onlie for decent deals of the 12 volt vacuum pump, but I am also going to find out what cars used them and check out the local junk yards. Then I want some backlit large LCD display volt meters, which seem to go for $11 on eBay. I have also found schematics for making my own pack monitoring device that I am going to try and build eventually.
So instead of boring everyone with the story behind the rest of the items, here is the list:

-Oscilloscope
-Vacuum Assist Pump
-Volt Meters
-Homemade Pack Monitor
-Small solar panel for AUX battery charging
-PicKit2 USB Programmer so I can use the high end 16MHz PICs for my controller