Drive by wire throtlle tuning?

**MickG** · 30th March 2007, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Tusker

Mick, which chip upgrade have you got. If you can, borrow a standard ECU again for towing & see what happens.

I had mine done by BD, & drove it straight up the New England Hwy. Brilliant, easy overtaking, even uphill.

But around town, horrible. There'd be nothing, hit about 2000 rpm, twang, off like a rocket, change gears, nothing, then twang, change gears.. You can't keep it "on the cam" as we used to say.

I'm not sure if below 2000 rpm the torque is degraded or not with the upgrades. It just feels like it. The difference above & below was impossible to live with.

I had mine detuned to BD's 30% upgrade. Much better now. Still enough poke on the open road, & easy to drive around town. It'll never have enough torque to do a hill start easily with a heavy trailer, but that what lo range is for.

Detune it & see what happens.

Regards
Max P

I have the BD remapped ECU and have swapped to standard ECU before. Car drove much smoother albeit without the power.....certainly took away the unpredictibility of it dropping off boost/power when it felt like it etc.

I'l be honest, I'm hesitant to have the original programmer do any more to my ECU as i'm quietly annoyed that the shop in question was happy to sell me something that the shop owner openly admitted to me over the phone was not thoroughly resolved with the '99 ECU's and that he was having "issues" with them from other customers. He did mention a detune option but my money is already spent i'm afraid and confidence lost.

I realise that all cars have their limitation when it comes to towing etc but and only ever had low down pulling issues from this car...which is not just any car........it is considered to be a sophisticated power plant and dedicated 4x4 capable of twing horse floats, boats etc with ease.......sometimes mine wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding

Might be easier going back to an earlier model car where you know what you get

**MickG** · 3rd April 2007, 07:26 PM

Another phenomenon which may assist in the diagnostic process and help others. I have had my muffler and resonator removed and straight through pipe added in place. Now this gives me marginal gain in spooling up time and am led to believe will assist in getting things out the exhaust ASAP, however it also increases the noise a little

Funnily enough though, when my car is running rough, and is down on power, torque etc, it seems to be noisier when accelerating (all noise but no go). Now why would this be? Why would the engine make more noise but provide less performance?

**Graeme** · 4th April 2007, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by MickG

Another phenomenon which may assist in the diagnostic process and help others. I have had my muffler and resonator removed and straight through pipe added in place. Now this gives me marginal gain in spooling up time and am led to believe will assist in getting things out the exhaust ASAP, however it also increases the noise a little

Funnily enough though, when my car is running rough, and is down on power, torque etc, it seems to be noisier when accelerating (all noise but no go). Now why would this be? Why would the engine make more noise but provide less performance?

Typical of a wastegate stuck partly open.

**MickG** · 4th April 2007, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by Graeme

Typical of a wastegate stuck partly open.

Yep, would make sense thanks for that will check it out and see if this helps........any tips on freeing/lubricating the waste gate? CRC, silicone spray, WD40?

**MickG** · 11th April 2007, 08:10 AM

UPDATE:
I have been running around now for around 2 weeks with a standard ECU back in my TD5 and what a difference in drivability

Bottom line, i'm not putting the BD ECU anywhere near my car again. I swapped it temporarily with another guy in my club who has the same car and surprise surprise, he is having the same drivability issues with his car now

I now have predictable throttle response, car pulls away fine without having to flog the clutch to get it moving, smooth as you like gear changes, smooth as you like engine sound (MUCH quieter than when chipped), engine revs freely when changing up or down, cars pulls through the rev range fine, fuel economy back and put bluntly, i now don't have to think about driving the car.........it just drives with no fuss as it should.

I am obviously down on power (but not by much and certainly not enough to justify what it cost me to fit the remapped ECU

)
The turbo lag is still there obviously although has been reduced slightly and falls in line with the throttle response being back on track.

Essentially my car is now back running as it did 2 years ago before I fitted an unresolved and basic ECU upgrade.........but man am I happy that I have now conclusively got to the root of my problems after 2 years of pain, numerour posts on this forum (thanks to those who helped and put up with my constant threads of woe

) couriers between me and BD, sensors changed (spent about $1500-$2000 changing various sensors to try and overcome some of the probelms

)

Anyway, learnt my lesson and waiting on a reposnse from Tombraider to see what my options are either for this ECU or for a newer model ECU which is flashable.....anyone know if a newer ECU from a TD5 can be fitted to a '99 TD5? Also anyone know if a newer flashable auto ECU can be reprogrammed to fit a '99 manual TD5?

Appreciate all the input to date and will keep you posted as I go.

Aye, Mick

**IceFyre** · 11th April 2007, 08:46 AM

Ok Mick I want my ECU back now ....

Just jokes.

Yes I am encountering most of the problems Mick faced with his ECU. The huge drop off from Boost. The way it stalls sometimes when taking off (no where near the extent Mick was having).

I think our differences in driving style make the problems that are inherent with the BD chip more pronounced for Mick (I am a bit easier with the right foot)

The only reason I am keeping the BD ECU over the Standard is that I tow the work Trailer just as much as I drive without it and it makes all the difference there. If it wasn't for that I would have swapped it back.

I too am eagerly awaiting word back from Tombraider as the BD could definatley do with some improving.

Anthony

**Frenchie** · 11th April 2007, 09:48 AM

I didn't think you could just swap ECUs without telling it your injector codes?

**MickG** · 11th April 2007, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Frenchie

I didn't think you could just swap ECUs without telling it your injector codes?

Absolutely correct Frenchie......my mechanic swapped them for me using Autologic so all good. Although wish it was as simple as plug and play

Aye, Mick

**Frenchie** · 18th April 2007, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by MickG

Yep, would make sense thanks for that will check it out and see if this helps........any tips on freeing/lubricating the waste gate? CRC, silicone spray, WD40?

Any tips?

Should you be able to move the waste gate actuating rod by hand?

**97discotdi** · 18th April 2007, 04:50 PM

Has anybody put it on a dyno with boost gauge and e.g.t sensor fitted maybe everyone is barking up the wrong tree.

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