Merry Christmas!

I haven't checked in on your project for a while, but it's looking good. We all have a lot of the same challenges on these cars, and I like seeing how you've approached a lot of it.

For the fuel pump, always there's a Fuel Pump relay, probably near the battery, that needs to be replaced with a supplied Fitech FP relay. So the FiTech ECU will have a "fuel pump out" wire that goes to the FP relay, control low current side or trigger, and on the high current side the fuel pump hot wire goes from the battery positive bus to the FP relay to the fuel pump. I hope that makes sense.

If by chance you have the Racetronix harness (common as the stock fuel pump and wiring is marginal, if not just ignore this paragraph), it uses a heavier gauge wire and it's own relay connected to the old FP wiring, and you would want to use the FiTech FP out wire here at least to the old FP wire up front.

I have the Holley EFI and it primes the fuel lines for 2 seconds by running the pump and returning the excess fuel or vapors, and then when start switch is enabled on the key, and it sees 50 RPM or something, it's in run mode then with the pump on. I believe Fitech is the same exact logic with no adjustment, no feedback loop for fuel pressure or oil pressure, it's pretty much set or baked into the firmware.

 

Thanks, I have had so much fun with this car the past two years. I plan on continuing working on it trying to make it "better" or at least different.

The FiTech has a dedicated fuel pressure relay on the fuse block. The issue is that relay is energized with battery voltage, meaning hook up the battery and the fuel pump runs, key off, just battery voltage to the car. It should be on only when the key is on, not a constant 12v. What I did initially was tap into the OEM relay on the firewall so that the FiTech relay would trigger the cars regular relay with the same wire as the OEM ECU used. (OEM ECU is out of the car). This is fine to do and IF the FiTech relay was working correctly it would trigger the OEM FP relay. I liked this idea because the wire from the FiTech relay is a 16 gauge wire and the OEM wire appears to be a 12 gauge, I didn't want the full amperage of the FP on a 16 gauge wire, it just seems too small in my mind even though it is probably just fine. The FiTech ECU appears to only trigger the FP on, it should run constant when the key is on, no prime shot or control, just on with power and off with no power. It seems to be a very simple operation for the FP, when it works right. It does have control for the amount of fuel to inject at startup versus operation at various temps and throttle positions, but I have not even looked at that section of the handheld. I scanned to see if there something for triggering the FP but did not find it. If there is more control than on/off I have not found it yet, and probably won't until get the constant 12v issue worked out. It may be days before FiTech gets back to me on the relay wiring, it makes no sense to me as it does not follow normal relay wiring. If it is inverted it still makes no sense as the wiring still appears to be wrong to the relay.

Starting the car was exciting, and stressful. I went over every wire numerous times to make sure it was correct. I envisioned all kinds of scenarios with a chaffed/broken/grounded wire from pulling it through the firewall. I knew it was silly, I was very careful and had more than enough room to gently feed the harness through, I knew I snagged nothing, and it was all fiberglass on the bulkhead, but still. lol When it fired up it was glorious, auto electrical/electronics is not my strong point, I am mostly lost when doing it though the instructions were easy to follow and made sense.

 

>>> When it fired up it was glorious, auto electrical/electronics is not my strong point...

I beg to differ, kind Sir. Well done.

 

I appreciate the confidence in me, but the reality is when we start talking control wires, sensor micro voltages/amperages and such I am lost. I know enough to consult the experts when I start getting information overload, I follow straight lines well, add a junction or two in there and I get lost. I typically Google and try to figure things out and if needed get verification which usually means a lesson on what is the preferred way to do things, which I appreciate. I would always rather be humbled on what I do not know than burn something up.

 

A small update as I find time between other activities, the fuse block was an issue because I wanted it both accessible and hidden from view, it could not just be hanging down. Kind of a tough ask when there was really no good location to put it. I did not want to have to pull part of the dash apart to get to a blown fuse or relay.

In the dash there was a cavity below the fuse panel, it was almost a perfect fit for the new block, except there was knee bolster in the way. I checked the angles and found I could cut the bolster and fit it there and it would not be visible unless you got on your hands and knees and looked up. Still accessible and hidden from normal viewing. It was another tough decision as I don't like mods that cannot be undone, but looking at the whole picture, I have already done a lot of that and the knee bolster is easily found if wanted.

Cardboard template...


Hole cut..


I needed to trim the fuse block and attach some ABS strips to mount it securely.

Bending the ABS strips...



Cementing the strips to the fuse block, I had to space out the side with the relays as the relays were slightly larger than the fuse block.



Clamped in place until it cured, this was the side that needed to have some useless tabs ground off.



Finished product, you cannot see it while sitting in the car, or with the door open, you actually have to bend down to see it. This should work just fine. To secure it, I used speed nuts and OEM screws. It is firm enough to remove and install fuses or relays without fear of it breaking. It is an absolutely crappy/cheap fuse block, it is two halves side by side with nothing strong to tie the two sides together.



The car is 2' off the ground to get this pic.



I have not found a resolution to the fuel pump wire sending 12v when battery is connected. Being the Holidays it may take FiTech time to get back to me. I suspect something in the ECU itself as with nothing on the circuit it sends 12v, bypassing the relay function. I suspect the solution will either be changing how the FP relay functions, putting the FP on a switched circuit or using a switch for control, unless they have a way to correct it, which I doubt.

The car runs perfectly, I have been hitting the back roads close to home to give the ECU plenty of time to learn on it's own instead of tweaking the IAC and TPS values, and it is correcting so that is a win. The tach works, speedo works and interestingly, the occasional rough/stiff shifting from first to second is working smoothly. The car had a CAGS eliminator in it already and I am beginning to wonder if the eliminator was malfunctioning. I will know better with a longer cruise as that is when the shifting would get stiff. Removing the stock ECH so far has virtually no impact other than mpg calculations that I won't really miss. I will finish putting the dash back together when I have a resolution to the FP issue. Getting the ducting back in place was fun as there is a whole lot of harness in the way now, but it did still fit as originally routed.

 

Happy New Year!

The fuel pump issue is resolved. In the end it was a simple mistake but not my simple mistake. The harness was pinned incorrectly at the factory and it took a while to figure it out. FiTech wasn't very helpful as it was during Christmas and they were slammed with business and tech issues. They gave me a clue that I already had so I give them credit for trying to help.

Unwrapping the harness, yes I questioned what I was doing, lol.






The connector, tiny little pins and a bunch of them.






I knew that the yellow wire from the ECU to the FP relay was a ground trigger because of how it was wired. @IHBD gave me that clue and I ran with it. I removed the ECU connector from the ECU and got to probing. Sadly, I had to unbundle a lot of the harness to trace the wires as there are numerous yellow wires in the harness. If it were wired right I would find the yellow wire on pin 27 and it should have continuity to the yellow wire on the relay, it did not, but it did on pin 28, which is a ground. Thankfully FiTech provided me with the ECU pinout months ago, it made the diagnosis easier.

No wonder the FP always ran, it was being given a ground as soon as the battery was connected and turned on the relay. Second row from the bottom on the left, it should be Blue, Blue, Yellow, Black. That's not right.



I knew what had to be done and I did not want to cut and splice except as the very last resort. It took some time with Google to find the same connector they used, an 81 pin connector. I needed to see this to figure out to take it apart and remove the pins. I had already discovered that none of my de-pinning tools would do it, after seeing the connector broken down I understood why. The pic is from Alibaba, the connector number is a somewhat generic number, what it is changes by the pin count.



Now with the connector mostly apart I could remove the two wayward pins and help them back home. It was actually easy, the connector came apart easily without the pins/wires falling out, you have to release a clip on each wire to remove it.



The harness taped back up and ready to be folded back into the dash.



Putting the dash back together was easier this time around, I was able to change some of the routing to make the ductwork easier to install. The dash and car is still dusty, I have been driving with the top down, working on the car with the top down and everything has a layer of dust on it.



Since everything was working correctly I put the FP relay back on the firewall and put most of the tools away. It should be nice for the next week so I will have plenty of time for the ECU to finish it's learning cycle. The ECU comes with a pre-loaded tune based on the TPI setup and is close enough to start right up and run well. It should get a little better on it's own but there is also a lot of tuning available from the handheld. Time to learn what I can.

All in all I am happy with the system and the install, minus having to correct a harness issue which I never would have expected. It is not obvious that the engine isn't being controlled by the aftermarket, it all blended pretty well., minus the pretty blue MAP sensor. I have a GM one coming in the next month, I hope.









I think next on the list is to make the leather on the tranny tunnel go away. I have been trying to find an actual Cognac carpet that will match close enough to the OEM in the back. I have got several samples, none are even close, all of the samples appear to be ACC that is rebranded by others. I hate the thought of buying new carpet and immediately having to dye it to match the existing carpet, but I may not have a choice. I really hate carpet.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!! ---looks like extremely busy but very rewarding holiday for you for sure! -man that's good stuff!!

 

Not a lot has been happening with the car, I have been driving it more than anything else giving it a good shake down and watching my logs to see if everything was going to remain happy. I also had a little fluttering of the ignition spark last week and the log showed it, unfortunately the log was a 45 minute drive, which made it very hard to zoom in on the relative part, each mouse click would take about 30 seconds to register and move to the right part and I failed to get a pic of the area that showed the fluttering spark. The distributor is just a cheap Summit brand and I had a feeling the ICM was failing, this seems to be common with the cheap distributors. I decided to buy the distributor that FiTech sells, which appears to be a Davis Unified unit, but I am not positive on that just yet. I did try replacing the ICM with a Genuine GM ICM but it would not give an rpm signal, it will be returned. While waiting on the new dizzy to arrive I tackled another issue, the cheapo MAP sensor. I am on my third MAP sensor trying to buy an OEM 3-bar MAP with the correct connector and I still have not found one. It is sad that a $12 Chinesium part is easy to find and correct for the application and an OEM one is not. Pay no attention to the pics of the connector orientation it shows, that may not be the connector orientation you actually get. I decided for now to just have a spare $12 one and I painted them black. Once my frustration with GM parts has subsided I will try again but at my local GM dealer this time.

Paint it black.




My last trip out on back country roads the Dual head unit started randomly shutting off and folding itself away like the power was turned off. Most of the cheaper units will fail within six months, if they make it past six months they will usually last a long time. This one did not, such is life, it is easy enough to replace so I did. I had time to kill waiting on parts so it was a good time to replace the head unit. I decided not to go back with a flip out unit. When all of the dashboard mileage features worked it was nice to have the ability to switch between modes, but with the FiTech all of that is now useless, no mileage computations or range estimates, this gave me to opportunity to cover up those switches since they no longer do anything. Most of the time the only ones I paid any real attention was the top two switches for oil pressure/temp and water temp/voltage. The idiot light panel is also mostly useless now, covering it is no loss. I searched Ebay for several days to try and find a better quality head unit that would fit the space and have enough features to be useful on long trips. An 8" or 9" unit would have been perfect but there aren't many units still being made in those dimensions, but there was a plethora of 10" units. A 10" head unit is massive and if I needed access to the bottom 2 switches on the panel it would never work, but I don't need that access now. There were few smaller units by Pioneer and others but I wasn't going to spend a grand on a head unit, that made no sense to me.

I took measurements and paid attention to how these large units mount because the other part that is important is how much they stick out. With a six speed it cannot stick out much at all or you will be hitting a touch screen with your hand when shifting, that would not be ideal, it also helps if the unit can be tilted and aimed to remove any interference. I landed on an Atoto model, a brand that has been around a long time now and is loaded with features and has a relatively good reputation for durability. They also make some way too expensive models as well as some medium quality less expensive units. One thing I really wanted was a physical volume ****, something that is getting harder and harder to find. I found one on Ebay and the seller was 30 minutes away. It met most of the criteria, it could be mounted deep in the dash so the screen could be pushed up against the dash, no interference with the shifter and it had a physical volume ****. It has a good GPS unit that you can download offline maps to, though I always use a Garmin for nav duties, it is still nice to have. The sound processor is incredible with a 48 band EQ, (24 bands front and 24 bands rear), a customizable crossover and numerous inputs and outputs and the best part of all, it was NIB with a warranty for $110 instead of the typical $250 price. I went for it, if all else failed I could always put in one of our other vehicles or use it for target practice, for the price it was an easy choice.

The unit installed. Yeah, I know, yet another head unit. lol My wife looked at it and asked if I couldn't find a bigger one?









One issue with in dash GPS units is the GPS antennae, which is usually the cheapest one the mfg could use. On my last one the best place to put it was on the dash between the windshield and the defrost vent. The issue with this is it can melt being so close to the glass, my last one did. I decided to try something different, these antennae's do not have to be dash mounted, or roof mounted, the critical detail is what is above them, you cannot have metal above them but if you have metal below them it can assist the signal and act as a pseudo ground plane. It isn't a true ground plane but being mounted on a metallic surface will help the unit get a solid signal. With the dash pad removed I found where the unused dash speaker was in relation to the under dash area, and decided it was the best place to put it where it had the least obstructions as it only had a thin piece of plastic and the windshield above it.

The top of the vent tube is in the correct place.



I used 1/8" aluminum and 3M VHB tape and 3M adhesion promoter to affix the plate to the vent tube. It is firmly attached and should not come loose, I hope.






GPS antennae attached. I was able to get a good signal inside the metal shop with the door open, that is good enough.



I took these at a creek that was completely gutted with last years record flooding. There used to be large trees obscuring most of this creek from view from the road, those trees are all gone. Sadly, many of the areas around us that were hit the worst still have excavators and bulldozers working every week to clean up the mess.









I did get the carpet sample from ACC and it is still too light, it is exactly the same as the ones I have received prior from other companies. I will be forced to buy the lighter carpet and paint it with the SEM product. The carpet will be dealt with later, I am more focused on the car's function as I hope to take a little trip on Route 66 this Summer for the 100's anniversary of the iconic East to West passage. I am not sure what route I will take but I hope to spend several days on it.

 

I took a short camping trip today, close to home to test out whether I can be somewhat comfortable with what I can pack in this little car.

You can fit enough in a C4 convertible to camp in comfort for one person. Mattress pad, air bed, large semi-soft cooler, 2 lanterns, tea, coffee, sugar, spices, food for 3 days, utensils, sleeping bag, pillow, 6 person tent, laptop, 2tb usb drive with movies and TV shows, large tool roll (just in case), camp chair, 25' extension cord, cook stove, and more I am probably forgetting. I did not need to put anything on the rear tray/lid everything fit in the back and the front seat.

The planned Route 66 trip could be a reality this year.

 

Not sure I can that much stuff into my MDX. 😆

 

@SirReal63

The idea of road tripping in a C4 vert across the country is outstanding. Can I suggest that you take the west coast up to Vancouver BC and then east on the Trans Canada, stopping in Banff and Canmore and Calgary Alberta on the way home 😃

 

I am a little surprised at how much I could fit in the rear compartment, the last iteration of the amp/rear speaker box made a huge difference. I have learned a few things, I need a much bigger air mattress, I toss and turn and kept falling off the side, lol. I can get away with a much smaller cooler and use my smaller tent, this one is great but also way more room than I really need.

The car did great, but it is only an hour away from home, I did want to be close for the maiden voyage in case something happened. I almost went to the coast, which is about 5 hours away and the car probably would have been fine but it made sense to stay close to home for the first trip. Overall, it has worked great so far, other than the bird crap on the car and cat foot prints overnight.

 

I would love to make that trip, maybe someday I will plan a longer trip but not in the car unless I do hotels. One of my oldest friends lives in Coos Bay and I have family in Yakima that I haven't seen in what seems like a lifetime. My Route 66 voyage will probably begin in Amarillo and I will hit as many KOA campgrounds along the way as I can, staying a couple days at each. I won't have time to do more than a week or two at the most. Setting up and taking down camp is a chore so I only want to do it every few days. I probably won't even make it to California so a trip north would be substantially longer. I am not sure my old bones can handle camping that many days in succession but I like to think I can still do it, with a better bed I might be able be able to.

 

Not sure where you are planning to hit Rt 66 but a trip up to Santa Rosa, NM would be cool and visit the Billy the Kid Museum on the way.
My '89 had a luggage rack and it came in very handy for road trips.

 

I very well may, I will have a few days in the area to browse. I have looked for a luggage rack but they are rare and expensive but I really wish I had one at times. NM is one of my favorite places to visit, I prefer the high desert to the lower elevations though.

 

With your skill set you could probably build one. Should you find one here is a link to installation...

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...installed.html

 

Thank You for that link. If I had the spoiler portion I could probably make the rest, the spoiler part is the tough one to fab, for me at least.

 

@SirReal63 Mrs. Joe and I have hauled toy haulers from coast to coast on several occasions over the years. Here are a couple of suggestions:

Just a little south of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon SP. Highly recommended, a great driving (or riding, in my case) adventure.

If you make it to Santa Rosa, NM consider camping at Santa Rosa Lake SP. Beautiful setting, not far from the interstate, great hiking just minutes from camp.

Albuquerque sucks. Put your head down and get through it.

Be sure to stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.

Meteor Crater National Landmark is a little west of Winslow, worth a visit (plus there's camping right off the interstate).

Just north of Flagstaff is the Arizona Snowbowl. Highly recommend taking the chair lift to the 11,500' summit of Humphreys Peak, then grabbing a brew or two back down at the ski resort (careful, the altitude adds a little octane...).

Williams, a little west of Flagstaff, is outstanding, especially if you dig trains (and old-west mock gunfights in the middle of town).

If you make it that far west, don't miss Oatman, AZ.

I was born near Seattle, WA, know the Pacific Northwest very well. If you ever make it up that way, I'd be glad to suggest some targets (including in BC).

Do you mind if I post up a few photos from our travels on/near the Mother Road?

RPO Joe

 

IF you DO go to Albuquweque, I have a list of great restaurants there you can check out. I worked there for a year and a half. One of my bunnies from Quantico is from there and he took me to all the good Mexican places. A few out of town and up in Santa Fe also.

 

Please do put some pics up, there is always room for beauty.

I have been to Palo Duro, I lived in Lubbock for a while, an incredible canyon system. Though I have traveled NM a lot I don't believe have been t Santa Rosa SP. I have traveled AZ by interstate, one of the reasons for the trip, Norther AZ looks like a great place.

I agree with driving straight through ABQ, it has been degrading for a long time and fortunately West of there is very nice for scenery.

I am on limited internet/battery power this morning, it seems if you forget to plug in the laptop after watching The Good, The Bad and the Ugly you don't have much battery left. I am breaking camp early, my dog misses me, lol. Once the Sun comes out and burns off the dew from the tent I am heading back home.