ESM Chips - Performance & discussion

[mikey_h]

sorry for the typing errors am typing very quickly in work!<br><br>Oh and i forgot, when i tryed using an MBC on the stock setup it also made no difference!!! I am going home :'(<br><br>Love the car but its been very fustrating

[Monty]

Mike,<br><br>Are u taking u`r reading from the boost gauge, as the gauge may be out  ???

[ESM]

I've just been looking at the circuit diagram and the BSV is supplied via fuse A10 (as are the secondary throttle valve & the EGR) - check it out.<br><br>EDIT<br><br>Oops that wouldn't explain why an MBC wouldn't work. It sounds like your actuator might have a bit overeager to open maybe even stuck open a bit), just as your current one is a bit overeager to keep the wastegate shut...<br><br>Doc, if you're observing I suggest you check fuse A10.

[Doug]

Mikey, if you have the time and the desire I'm sure you could figure it out.  Something is out of whack--may be simple or not?  Definitely worth checking ElanScan logs of your car to see how it is performing.  The dash gauge is not too accurate.<br><br>There's enough helpful Elan people likely near you that you could go to some gatherings/meets and figure it out.<br><br>

[mikey_h]

Thanks guys. I would like to run a elanscan on it, anybody near Plymouth??

[TC]

Mikey_h<br><br>I've got elanscan up and running over in Torquay. But I won't be around until Monday

[mikey_h]

sounds great Tony can we arrange a meet?

[Doc Fizzix]

Is anyone out there using the "chip" in a CA version Elan?

I am having a hard time getting the chip to work in my Elan and have now tried three chips. With my first chip, my car will only boost to .5 bars and without the chip I would get the normal .65 bars.

I was sent two other chips to test out and this time I got boot up to .7 bars but the turbo does not grab right away as without the chip, there is a noticable delay in the boost.

I am going to try and order a new boost contol valve and see if that helps but I am wondering if the problem is with the CA version of the car.

[ESM]

Doc, you've changed your name!

The chip is known to work in CA cars - yours is not the first I've sold, in fact Doug has a CA car and it works no problem in his. Your symptoms sound a lot like a clogged up catalyst is that conceivable?

[Andrew_Ennis]

Alan,
Some more good and bad feedback. The chip does work very well to increase and control a higher boost pressure. However it does increase boost at a rate of a snail. This i believe is due to the look up being a rather slow process (relativly). To compensate for this is installed my old MBC and just cracked it open. With the BSV defeated the boost pressure is 0.7b ish. Using the MBC and the BSV together gives very rapid turbo response. The better response caused by the MBC bleeding air away from the actuator at low revs preventing cracking open of the wastegate. As the boost pressure and RPM rise above 0.7b the BSV takes over control and prevents overboost. All in all a very good responding system.
Now to follow on from John's point, any plans on the high fuel/air ratio problem. In discussions with a local fuel injection company the rich mixture is not very good for Lambda sensors, which when failed lead to even richer mixture. Would be interesting to see how many S2 owners have replaced thier lambda sensors? I am still trying to source one from other than Lotus.

[Doug]

Alan,

Mine is a 49-state Elan. Remember, we found using the 50 state chip in my car gave me the CEL for the EGR sensor that I don't have.

[ESM]

Oops, yes it was Brian_MDB that had the CA car wasn't it.

[ESM]

Andrew,

It worked for you but I wouldn't recommend it, especially to anyone with a chipped SE. I can do something very similar to what you have in the chip program and I've pushed it about as far it will go without overboost in the V4.2. Since you're getting more its probably catalyst backpressure that's allowing it. A good worst case overboost provoking test is to drive up a hill in a high gear (pref 4th) from 2500RPM or so and see if overboost occurs.

As to the oxygen sensor, I had one from discount autoparts in the US for around £60 delivered - why not try them?

Alan

Alan,
Some more good and bad feedback. The chip does work very well to increase and control a higher boost pressure. However it does increase boost at a rate of a snail. This i believe is due to the look up being a rather slow process (relativly). To compensate for this is installed my old MBC and just cracked it open. With the BSV defeated the boost pressure is 0.7b ish. Using the MBC and the BSV together gives very rapid turbo response. The better response caused by the MBC bleeding air away from the actuator at low revs preventing cracking open of the wastegate. As the boost pressure and RPM rise above 0.7b the BSV takes over control and prevents overboost. All in all a very good responding system.
Now to follow on from John's point, any plans on the high fuel/air ratio problem. In discussions with a local fuel injection company the rich mixture is not very good for Lambda sensors, which when failed lead to even richer mixture. Would be interesting to see how many S2 owners have replaced thier lambda sensors? I am still trying to source one from other than Lotus.

[Avonvilla]

Alan, can you give some more details on that O2 sensor you got, what model and where from ? thanks.

[ESM]

Go here , select fuel/emissions, 1991 and Isuzu, at the next screen Impulse RS, at the next emiss sns... and you'll see a choice. I got the KEM. There are lots of parts on there and they are happy to ship overseas - something not all US parts sites are happy to do. In general I found them very helpful.

[Avonvilla]

Cheers Alan ! i have had serious problems finding one to ship to the UK. Was it a direct replacement with no modding needed ?

[ESM]

Yes it is a direct replacement - plug and all - there's a picture on the site.

[ESM]

Been a while....

I haven't got to the dyno yet but I've got a couple of victims errr volunteers as well as me going so a few cars will get checked out for chip V5 when we finally get around to it.

I've also just cooked up my first experimental chip for a while. mostly around improving the boost control loop, it teeters a bit to close to fuel cut for my tastes.

[F1 LOTUS]

Been a while....


I've also just cooked up my first experimental chip for a while. mostly around improving the boost control loop, it teeters a bit to close to fuel cut for my tastes.

What's your objective with improving the boost control loop ...

[Sy V]

Have you noticed the way that the self-confessed 'Mad Scientist' is branching out into the world of teasing too?

We're hanging on your every word, Alan!