LLBeans
Proven Member
- 35
- 24
- May 14, 2021
-
Denver,
Colorado
This is the Build Thread for Vee aRr Four. Reply below.
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8/11/2021
After about 4000 miles into ownership, I’m making note of some symptoms that 231 is exhibiting.
Symptom 1 - Intermittent CEL. It seems like she hates hot weather, mid to high 90s lately. Everything will be fine for a while but once things are heat soaked the CEL likes to pop on and stay on. When this is occurring the car stays out of boost and exhibits no signs abnormal behavior. Idles smooth and drives fine while staying under 3k rpms. Nothing gets weird if I go over 3k and The factory temp meter also stays within its range. I’m certain that the light is set up in ECMlink and for knock warning. I’ve seen it pop on at the top end of 1st once or twice. Feeling a little concerned the constant CEL is constant knock/detonation. The light usually won’t even stay on long enough to attempt to decode it.
Symptom 2 - Intermittent no start. Car has full power. Everything works but won’t start. There seems to be a click from up front but I dont think it’s a starter click, more like a relay click. Starter does not engage. The first time this happened the negative cable on the battery was a little loose, tightened it up and still no start. Push in clutch and try again…it starts. Second time this happened, made sure the battery cables were tight…still no start. Push rolled the car a bit to move it out of the way. Tried to start it for shits and gigs…without the clutch…starts right up. Things I’ll be looking into here. Battery check/test, ignition switch test, starter test. All grounds need to be checked as well as the wiring between the stated components.
Symptom 3 - ongoing since I took ownership. A constant whine that increases and decreases with RPM. Apon doing some reading, it could be a few things. Aftermarket belts can whine. Oil pump on its way out or straight cut gears in the oil pump. Timing components could be a source. Hasn’t gotten better or worse.
There are few things I need to stop procrastinating on. Picking up a laptop for data logging is top priority as well as a proper voltmeter. I then need to familiarize myself with the software and this cars safe operating parameters. Second is upgrading to a SPAL fan. The only fan on this car right now is…pause for effect….the AC pusher fan. 231 doesn’t even have AC. Lol That’s gonna have to change. Third is to fix the leaking drain plug on the unknown brand aluminum heat exchanger. Hopefully it’s just a seal, we shall see.
Thank you for the CEL notes. I’ll check that first when I’m able to connect to link.Issue 1 - Is the CEL/knock set to be "inactive" under a certain tps % or knock count? The knock sensors are extremely finnicky, "phantom knock", etc. I have my ECMlink set to ignore knock under 50% throttle and a certain count, think it was 3 or so?
Issue 2 - Did you car come with an alarm from the factory? I had a similar issue with my Galant, it would just randomly not start for a few mins and then run fine. The car also locked itself all the time and alarms itself.
Issue 3 - Are you sure the whine isn't something in the drivetrain? I would assume the whine is there in neutral and increases when you rev it.
After I typed this I see that you don't have a laptop yet to connect to Link.
I think a 180* thermostat and some spal fans are in order.I'd bet your first CEL issue is due to engine temp. Link has a CEL on over XXX temp setting. 230 is generally that setting out of the box.
For the starting issue, make sure the B+ terminal on the starter is tight. At 190K the starter lug on my galant had vibrated it's way loose, I've noticed this on higher mileage dsms I've had come in as well, all of which didn't seem to have any work done around the starter in their lifetime. Seems they were just breaking loose over time.
Is yours vent to atmosphere or recirculated?I’d pissed if my Forge sounded like that too . It sounded odd compared to mine. The Kompact sounds fantastic!
I’ll blurb ab the lab top for a sec, go buy the $200-$250 Asus. Mine lives in my car/garage. When you drop it you won’t be too mad and it does the job just fine.
Hell yeah, what’s up fellow Denver dweller?It’s recirc’d.
Microcenter is where I got mine. Fellow Denver DSM’r here