Low idle VS ute v6 in Drive and poor fuel economy

[VPbomb]

Hi guys,
I've been searching everywhere for a fix and slowly attempted fixes by other people through PMs etc, so thought it would be time to start thread as i'm now clutching at straws. It's just a daily and what it to be reliable and fueld efficient.

Car+specs:
VS series 2 1997 ute auto column shift 188,000km. Pacemaker extractors, full 2.5inch system, cold air intake, rebuilt OEM motor around 50,000km ago. Recent diff rebuild and trans service.
Apparently it has some chip in it and puts out 186kw at engine on dyno (previous owner who threw big end bearing on first dyno attempt hence rebuilt motor).

2 main Issues:

1. Low idle around 450-500 rpm only in Drive/reverse. Neutral idles nicely at around 700rpm.
2. Last 3 tank fills have netted at just under 300km per tank. This is driving it easy as well.
Very rarely has stopped power on acceleration mid coner (Ie. revs stay where they are) and even cut out under hard braking recently.

Things done so far:

Replaced IAC and TPS
Cleaned throttle body
Replaced hoses going to throttle body
Replaced O2 sensors
Re-earthed O2 sensor at ECU
Checked leads with multimeter - fine
Cleaned air filter
New fuel filter
New Temp Sensor to ECU
New thermostat
New coolant hoses and flush yesterday
Reset ECU - Battery disconnected
Cleaned MAF with electrical contact cleaner
Changed air filter to new OEM stock one
Replaced memcal to (Stock?) one that came as spare with car (reduced fuel usage slightly)

Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Luke.

[Brett_jjj]

Try doing the diagnostic test on the ECU to see if any of the engines sensors etc are crook..Its very easy to do and only takes a couple of minutes.Heres a link to a "how-to" if you dont know how to do this test.---Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)---If you scroll down near the bottom of the posts in the link,there are some excellent pics of how to do this test as well.

[VPbomb]

Ah, forgot to mention, currently no codes (12 - all good). Orginally that's how I worked out o2 sensors and earthing issue.
Cheers

[delcowizzid]

could be the tune in the memcal its very easy to make them suck fuel with a bad tune take a picture of the sticker on the chip in the memcal most people use a different sticker than each other

[seq4x4]

As all above by delco. My guess is the TPS but youve changed that. Its not a faulty TPS at all?

[VPbomb]

Thanks Dalco. Have attached the pics of the one in the car (both sides showing sticker and numbers). Does the serial number mean something?


http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9948/incar2.jpg

[VPbomb]

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3198/incar.jpg

[seq4x4]

Interesting. But take the green cover off.

[VPbomb]

Okay, I have a spare one off the VS the previous owner swapped over, so if the serial number mean anything, is this a stock memcal? I just swapped these out and disconnected battery. Haven't had a chance to really test this out, but driving around the block seems a little smoother and less rough of an idle. True test will be when I head to phillip island shortly.
Cheers

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/9608/spare.jpg

[VPbomb]

As all above by delco. My guess is the TPS but youve changed that. Its not a faulty TPS at all?

I hope not. I swapped the orginal one with a brand new one last month and it made no difference.

[delcowizzid]

need the sticker inside under the blue cover

[VPbomb]

Ah, no worries. Looks like a bundy sticker

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4...incarcchip.jpg

[VPbomb]

Okay, I changed the memal to the original VS one. It doesn't pull as hard as the previous one, but is a lot smoother through the gear changes. Managed to get 390km highway cruising with 200kg of bike and gear in the back, and 370km local driving... so a 70km+ better difference.
The car runs alot hotter (gets up to 3/4 before full fan like it should), but I also changed the thermostat at the same time as the memcal, so can't be 100% sure which improved what.

The car still has a rough idle around 450-500rpm when in Drive (neutral is fine), and I still think that it's drinking a bit more fuel than it should. I have read that a dirty MAF could cause it, so will clean with electical contact cleaner tomorrow, and will also try and swap the K&N filter with a stock one in the next week as well.

Anyone got any other ideas, or might even know what the previous memcal was in the previous post (picture of a bundy bear on it)?

[delcowizzid]

the memcal could be anything i have seen one before with that sticker post it over to me and ill check it out if you want and can soon sort out a good tune to put on it

[hako]

You haven't over oiled the K & N filter by any chance? - this can cause problems with everything between the airfilter and the engine.

[VPbomb]

Thanks mate, but just happy to try and identify the root cause of my issue before I worry about anything else.

the memcal could be anything i have seen one before with that sticker post it over to me and ill check it out if you want and can soon sort out a good tune to put on it

[VPbomb]

You haven't over oiled the K & N filter by any chance? - this can cause problems with everything between the airfilter and the engine.

I don't think I put too much oil on it. I actually washed it really good and had nothing on it at one point and still did the same thing after I oiled it. I'll replace with a stocky when I get a chance anyway and see if there is any difference.

- I've also just found out about efi live which looks like it may be useful to help diagnose my issue. So i'll start reading more on this.

Thanks for the replys guys

[VPbomb]

Cleaned the MAF and replaced filter with stock one, no difference.
So I ran EFILIVE which came back with some high values, but not sure what they are from. This also shows the rpm (600rpm) not getting as low as I thought (400rpm on car dash), but still runs rough in drive not nutral. Maybe someone here might know about the below values?

VOLTREF (Reference Voltage) = 5V (has a max threshold of 3V in efilive)
PROMID (Eprom ID) = 1648 raw (has a max threshold of 255 in efilive)

[The1]

can you post a log up?

PromID is your Eprom Chip ID

[VPbomb]

can you post a log up?

PromID is your Eprom Chip ID

Is the log the .alg file that loads all the data back into efilive so you can watch it real time?

[The1]

Is the log the .alg file that loads all the data back into efilive so you can watch it real time?

yeh that's the one

[VPbomb]

Attached as a txt, so just need to change back to a .alg file. See if you can make anything of it.
Thanks

[The1]

can't see anything wrong with that log, all your sensors are working properly, only thing i can think of is what injectors do you have? Are they just the standard metal VS Ones? Your Idle looks fine, 712rpm till 72.5 deg ECT then 825rpm after.

[The1]

Also have you checked all your vacuum hoses, this can affect idle, also the log shows your canisterpurge not working sits at 0% but im not sure as the log you did wasn't with the engine warmed up.

[VPbomb]

The injectors look like the black metals ones (stock?). I've tried checking all the hoses and replaces a few just in case as I orginally thought vacuum. Might re-investigate this as someone mention spraying mist or somthing to identify vaccum leaks. So I should do this when the motor warms up. I'll try and do it today and see if the canister gets off 0%.
So that reference voltage sitting at 5V when efilive mentions a max of 3V shouldn't be of concern as well as the eprom id (I changed the memcal to another ones that come with the car about a month ago)?