I'm just wondering if anyone else has random starting problems with a FIC installed? Most times my car starts on the first try but sometimes it takes 2-3 tries before it will start. The engine turns over normally but won't start. Turning the ign off for a second and re-trying usually works but sometimes it takes 3 tries. There is no CEL.

Is this just part of the charm of driving an aftermarket boosted car with a piggyhack?

 

im using the FIC and the only tiny issue im having is that it takes a little bit longer for it to crank before it starts up... are you using a harness? or hardwire? i hardwired mine

 

That is normal. Taking slightly longer is part of the piggyback/turbo world. Taking 2-3 times to start and having to turn off the ign to get it started is NOT normal.

 

do u go to ACC2 and wait for 2-3 secs before cranking? It works for me.

 

have you done the resistor mod to your harness? i had a lot of problems starting, up to 5 seconds of cranking before it would start etc..

i did the resistor mod and it fixed all of those issues i was having!

 

^^
That's what I had to do also!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm using a Boomslang PnP harness and the traditional 2.2k resistor mod didn't work for me at all. That's a long story but suffice to say that I finally got the FIC working for me with variable resistors (potentiometers) set to 500 ohms for the cam and 10k for the crk. The usual 2.2k on each resulted in major misfiring above 4000rpm and P0335 CELs everytime. It might be that I need to need to lower the resistance on the crk but I have confirmed that any more than 500 ohms between cam magi +/- results in a P0335 CEL.

What's really odd is that normally it just takes a little longer to crank before starting but about 1 in 5 start attempts fails or at least takes much longer. Tonight I tried something new. I just kept cranking and after 3-5 secs it started. Previously I gave up after 2-3 secs since it normally starts in <1 sec.

So far it only happens with the engine hot so maybe it is a sensor issue and I just need to dial in the R values some more. AFAIK those sensors are affected by temp. I know 2.2k crk doesn't work so maybe I'll try ~5k instead of 10k.

 

^^well it seems you know more about it than me! lol

 

Oh how I wish I didn't! All I wanted was to PnP the FIC and tune it but the stoopit FIC doesn't always play well with the XB2 sensors and ECU. I should have ditched it for a different piggy but I had to be stubborn about it.

 

Yeah but if you ditched the FIC who would help me solve my issues. lol.

 

I'll try to help if I can but I'm done with the FIC and boosting NA cars. Too much time, work and headaches. Now that I finally resolved my FIC crk/cam sensor issues, I have random FIC caused starting issues.

I recently went from 40 hrs a week to 55-60 hours a week and that more than covers a rather large car payment. It also greatly limits the time I have to work on time-consuming hobbies like this. I may as well buy a new car that doesn't need thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work to be fun.

 

I might have figured out the starting issue. Tonight it refused to start again and threw a P0340 CEL for the cam sensor. In order to avoid the P0335 I have the cam sensor signal reduced so low that the FIC can't see it when cranking over. If I increase the cam signal strength, it throws a P0335.

Unfortunately AEM is busy designing a weather-proof FIC for marine and off-road use so they're not interested in fixing the existing FIC's problems. Nice unit if and when it works.

 

Starting issue solved. The cam signal was too weak for the FIC to read when the engine was hot. I couldn't increase the cam signal without causing misfires and P0335 codes so I bypassed the cam intercept. I'm still intercepting the crk sensor so I can retard ignition timing. So far it's working well, time will tell.

 

Update: All problems solved by removing and selling the FIC. The end.

 

my car just started doing that to and then if i try to crank it it will back fire LOUD!!! what could it be????

 

whats you fuel map look like? whats your o2 table around start up/idle? i see people on the tc forums with this problem all the time, i used to myself.

 

SIt has to do with your fuel delivery and MAF clamp on the FIC. Try this: add a small % of fuel to the main fuel map from 14PSI down to 2PSI in the 1200rpm and less area and report back.

 

Very late reply but the problem had nothing to do with the fuel map or MAF clamp. It has to do with the FIC's inability to properly intercept and relay crk and cam position sensor signals. There is a very limited working sensor input range and a fixed output that some ECUs do not like.