Captain Obvious

Ha! Classic batch style user interface questions. Before I get into any thoughts about them, let me make sure of one other thing first: Make sure you have a bullet proof, iron-clad, robust, absolutely all situation covering way of recovering from a half-completed config download or flash burn. You're always at the risk of interrupted communications halfway through a configuration download and you want to make sure you don't end up with a half-lobotomized patient that's stone dead because if can't make heads or tails out of the configuration data. Someone trips over and yanks out the USB cable. Someone shuts the car off at just the wrong moment. Someone disconnects the battery at just the wrong moment. Someone gets a "You've got mail" at just the wrong moment. As a last resort, an NMI driven H/W "RESET" button on the ECU itself that restores some sort of factory default config? As for the question at hand... I'm sure you remember in the olden days, the classic reason for not burning to flash every time was that they had a limited number of burn cycles. If you've got the cycles to burn (pun intended), then I'm thinking burning every parameter when you hit "ENTER" is the way to go. That way, it would be easier to tell if you screwed something up. Of course, the drawback of that would be (other than the number of flash burns) is that if you're changing multiple parameters at the same time that are related in some way, you could wish to dump them all at the same time. I'm thinking that offering an option to work on a config either "online" or "offline", with the default being on? At the end of the day, my real answer would be "Doesn't really matter. It's going to work so well and be so kick-arse right out of the box that you shouldn't have to be messing with it that much."

I've got a pump from (I believe) a 260 and a couple of the braided style hoses. PM me if you're interested.

That was my thought as well, but I didn't have the time to investigate. I didn't want to just go raising the amplitude without investigation first. I didn't want to pop anything.

Different years did different things with different versions of a temperature switch. How's that for an all inclusive statement? :laugh: In 76, the temperature switch controlled spark timing on the non-California dual-pickup distributors (see page EE-26 of the 76 manual) and it also controlled actuation of the EGR system (see page EC-11 of the 76 manual). Basically, they advance the timing and disable the EGR until the engine warms up to the temp at which the switch opens.

The breakout board sounds like a great idea. I miss having access to facilities to do stuff like that. When I set-up my test bench, I did not have an AFM loose so I just tried to cobble together a substitute with pots and resistors. I also used a sig-gen for the ignition input and the bottom line is that I never got injector pulses and I didn't have the time to figure out why. I'm not sure if there was a problem with my simulated AFM or if my faked ignition pulses weren't good enough to fool the ECU.

Nice work! The only laser I have is strapped to a dolphin's head and I don't think I could train him to do such intricate work. At one of my former employers we used to form diaphragms out of semi-vulcanized elastomeric sheet. Clamp them in a hot contoured clamshell mold, add heat, time, take out a little smoke, and presto... Formed diaphragm that is now fully vulcanized. That diaphragm you made isn't roll formed like the original so it isn't going to perform the same, but it's sure a lot better than what you had in there before!! What glove material did you use? I'm thinking Nitrile?

Haha!! Well THERE'S your problem! Good luck with the diaphragm. There are several members who have simply removed and blocked off the BCDD completely and don't feel they miss the functionality. I've not tried this as my BCDD still seems to be working as intended, but others have. YMMV.

Excellent progress. Were you intending to "run" the ECU on the bench before you tossed it into a car? I saw in one of the pics you had an EFI harness out on the bench... I was figuring you would power it up using that harness and use pots for the temp sensors, etc and a sig-gen for the ignition input. Twiddle the pots and watch the injector pulse width change? I set one up on my bench like that but didn't get it to work. I didn't have a lot of time and had to get the car back together, but I figured I would take an hour and see if I could get it to work on the bench. I unfortunately ran out of time before I got any meaningful data. If you want me to put that test set-up together, let me know. My Z is down for the season.

Dual Inline Package

Methinks you've got a hole in your BCDD diaphragm. I don't think you can get just the diaphragm as a replacement though. If you turn up a source, please share?

I love the smell of tantalum in the morning. Excellent. That's a huge first step! Glad you didn't get any gravy inside. PS - Big three phase thickness planer?

You weren't out in the Z in that, were you? Keep driving in that and your Z will look that car Blue posted! Haha! Neither. I'm out of the box. I've figured out an incredibly simple way to use many of the plentiful and cheap check valves that are still available. Lots of options. I'm running one of them on my car now but the install was intended to be temporary. When I take the pump back out this off season, I'll take pics. In the meantime... You can stop worrying about check valve availability. I got everyone covered.

Haha! First one ever. Your prose inspired me!

It's comforting hearing other's in the same boat. I didn't want to push it to the first flakes as they often put salt down as a pre-emptive measure. I was out yesterday in my DD and when I came to one intersection, there was a pile of it sitting there where the truck leaked while it was sitting at a red light. FastWoman, Naaa. No turbo, just like for like replacement. My current engine runs great, but there's a bunch of non-critical issues that I could fix all at once with a replacement motor. I found a P79/F54 motor from an non-turbo ZX that I was able to see run before I bought it. The current plan is to swap my old motor back into the ZX and sell the whole car off as a parts car. One that will hopefully run well enough that it can drive under it's own power and won't have to be towed. I'm kinda surprised you didn't jump all over the check valve thing. Let me say it again... I bought a new check valve to thread into my fuel pump and installation is on project list. :tapemouth

I know some climates work for all year driving, but not where I am. Once they put the salt down I wait for a good soaking rain as well, but around here that might not happen until March or April. As Steve suggested, I've got a project list for the off season. This off season starts with suspension. Thanks to my PO, I've got two different mismatching brand strut cartridges up front and poly bushings everywhere that squawk like crazy below 50 degrees F. I'm tempted to rip them all out and replace with rubber. I've also got rear wheel bearings that wobble when you rock the rear wheels at 3 and 9. And a relay block to put in for my headlights and starter. And a ZX motor to swap in. And a new fuel pump check valve. and ... and ... and ... Salty deep fried roads...

injector problems an ultimate frustration efi bible

I went out for the last Z drive of 2013. We're getting our first winter precipitation soon and the roads are likely to be salted. That means I won't be driving her again until Spring 2014. I'm officially calling it quits for the year: Anyone else doing the same thing? Take a pic and share in the sorrow...

A few years ago ebay changed their charge scheme such that they take a percentage cut of the "total cost" of an item including both the sale price and the shipping charge. They instituted that change because sellers were charging exorbitant shipping charges to supplement profit on their items. Since ebay didn't take a cut of the shipping, any excess in unrealistic shipping charges went right into the sellers pocket. But now that ebay considers shipping charges into the total selling price, it really doesn't matter anymore. You might see that $14 shipping charge on something that costs $2 to ship, and while it may turn you off a little, it's the exact same thing as what the seller did by providing free shipping and boosting the selling price by $14. In other words, you just have to roll the shipping charge into the "total cost" and decide if the item is worth that to you or not. I think it's one of the better changes ebay made in the past few years. Of course, it's offset by bonehead changes, but at least I agree with that one.

True that. I agree and wouldn't recommend an underhood filtered source. Not to say that you couldn't find a more unobtrusive location for a small solenoid valve and it's associated tubing and wiring, but wherever you pick the air source from, it's molecules should be included in the AFM flow.

And that concept of using a solenoid valve instead of the AAR came back to mind just this evening as a matter of fact. It's gotten cold enough here that my idle crept up a little. My assumption is that my AAR (which doesn't have the warming plate underneath) isn't generating enough internal heat to close completely. I'm planning to take the car down for the season shortly, so I probably won't be driving much more until spring, but I thought of you and your AAR issues.

She's a beaut! When you get more time (dead of winter, I suspect?) get in touch. I've got other pics that I can get to you. I spend more time here than other Z forums. Thanks again for the hospitality in your part of the world. and I wish I had the opportunity to see your 77. There's still stuff out of place on mine and seeing another of the same year helps get stuff back to where it belongs.

Lenny, I sent you an email a couple days ago. You probably didn't see it because you're too busy soldering?

Two things that would contribute to long cold start cranking would be cold start valve system problems and fuel pressure problems. I don't know offhand what the low temp threshold is on the 83 cold start system, but I'm sure it's warmer than 32F. For example, in 76, the cold start system was activated below 57-72F. The temp number would be in the FSM. Have you downloaded a copy yet?

HaZmatt, Love the user name. That's awesome. Do they call you that at work? I've found that in the general public arena there's absolutely no difference in perception between the first year and the last year. By that, I mean... All of these cars are so old by now that "normal" people have no idea of the differences between any of them. To the general public, there's no difference between the first 240 ever produced and the last 280 ever produced. The only people who really know (or care) about the differences are car fanatics. Personally, I "desire" my 77 more than any of the earlier years. I'm driving it, not collecting it.