Air Fuel Ratio Gauge Problem.......Please Help

[ykwok]

I have a 97 eclipse GST spyder. I am a newbie .I tried to install a air fuel ratio gauge this afternoon. I did follow the instruction on http://www.plymouthlaser.com/bez2.htm. I cut the O2 sensor wire on the socket of ecu and re-connected the wire i just cut with the wire going to air fuel ratio gauge by using wire tape. After I installed the gauge, I drove it out to test it. My car keep dying when I was complete stop. Why is that happened and how can I fix it?

 

[Auto RS T]

I have a 97 eclipse GST spyder. I am a newbie .I tried to install a air fuel ratio gauge this afternoon. I did follow the instruction on http://www.plymouthlaser.com/bez2.htm. I cut the O2 sensor wire on my socket of ecu and re-connected with the wire going to air fuel ratio gauge by using wire tape. After I installed the gauge, I drove it out to test it. My car went die when I was complete stop. Why is that happened and how can I fix it?

If i understand, you cut the wire? The gauge wire is supposed to be "spliced" into the harness. The harness wire still has to go where it was originally supposed to.

 

[ykwok]

yes, I cut the wire. But i reconnected to the original place.

 

[BOOSTJUNKIEGSX]

To get a better idea for all, do you have the o2 wire coming out of ecu going straight to the Gauge.. You will need to go from ecu to the o2 with the line tapped in at whatever point.. It has to go to its original destination..Wouldnt hurt to sodder it either..?

 

[Auto RS T]

What does the gauge do?
Have you tested the o2 sensor wire for voltage?

Re-check connection
Make sure you tapped the right pinout
Check for voltage

 

[ykwok]

sorry, I don't really understand sodder means?

 

[ykwok]

I just follow the web site i mentioned, I connected the purple wire to #76 on ecu. I even tried to dis-connect the gauge and run my car. It is still going die when i complete stop.

 

[ykwok]

the gauge jumping crazy. It goes to rich when i slow down the car and keep jumping back and forth. It never stop at the stoch point.

 

[Stainbox12]

dude, you bought a narrowband gauge. dont expect it to stay in one place, it won´t happen. narrowband gauges, won´t tell you an exact a/f ratio (they are made for car fashion shows). get yourself a wideband, or at least a datalogger, to monitor the voltage of the oxygen sensor. sell it to an honda guy, and put everything back together in the ecu like it was. BTW sodder was meant to say, use soldering. in any case you want to keep it, just to let you know, you don´t need to cut wires, just splice them. good luck.

 

[ykwok]

My car keep dying rightnow. If i solder the wire come out from ecu instead of using wire tape, will my car go back normal?

 

[jumpfroggy]

yes, I cut the wire. But i reconnected to the original place.

From those instructions, you should not have cut that wire. You're supposed to strip a bit of plastic off the yellow highlighted line, then attach the line from the AF gauge. If you cut the yellow line, then your ECU is not getting the signal from the O2 gauge. I'd bet if this is the case that your car would work alright when cold, but not when warmed up (cold = open cycle right? ECU should ignore the O2 until it's warmed up...).

If I were you, I'd disconnect the AF gauge and make sure that yellow line is connected the same way it was when you started. It could be you have a bad connection, or that you did not reconnect it to the same place, or that you've tapped into the wrong line and are screwing up the signals going to the ECU.

If you have pics of where you "cut" the line, please send. If you install something and it screws stuff up, take it back out and see if you can get it working again. At least you can narrow down where the problem is happening.

 

[ykwok]

I had disconnect the AF gauge and connect the yellow line same way it was when i started. But my car is still keeping dying. Did i short the ecu? I did disconnect the negative when I installed the gauge.

 

[jumpfroggy]

You got any Check Engine Lights (CEL)? If you cut that wire before, I'd imagine the ECU would start complaining about it. I wouldn't jump to concluding the ECU is shorted yet. There's probably a simpler explanation.

Most likely you only intended to change on thing (the AF Gauge, the yellow wire) but have done something else too (plug not connected completely, knocked a wire loose, bad connection due to corrosion). Try to look at all the things you've touched and see if there's anything else that might have been affected. You pulled the ECU harnes (plug) and messed with the wires. Take a look at the others, is anything else a little off?

Soldering is when you take a hot soldering iron and heat up the wires. Then when they're hot you add solder (a type of metal) so it melts and joins the two pieces. This is the best way to join two wires, since it can have a very good connection and does not easily come apart. However, soldering takes practice and patience, and also some pointers to make sure you're not screwing it up. I'd get a soldering gun and some soldering wire (like $10 at walmart) and practice soldering little wires together. Search for soldering instructions online, it's very simple but there are some tricks to it too. I would not practice on a wire coming out of the ECU until you've done enough practice elsewhere. Tape seems like a very bad way to connect critical wires since it can easily come off. If you go to walmart or a car parts store, you can find wire connectors. Some are Male/Female and you plug them together, some are crimp (you smash each side to keep the wire in place), some screw on. Take a look at what they have and decide if you want to do this semi-permanent (crimp connectors) or if you want to easily be able to disconnect the thing (plugs, screw on types). Just twisting the wires and taping is asking for trouble.

So try one of those connectors, probably a crimp in your case cause it's easy, and see if that helps. It could just be a bad connection.

 

[ykwok]

My car works fine rightnow. Thank you for your information.

 

[jumpfroggy]

vkwok, glad to hear it! If you could, please post up how you got it back working. It helps others when they're in the same situation.