Yes you are correct and I've emailed them on that point. Here's my positive thinking:
When the CR dealer had the Mini they were going to work on the issue with an open ticket and do what the ECU guys did. Reload the stock R50 tune which we now know would not have fixed the issue and would have cost me a heap of stealer money.
Sending the ECU guys also cost me $$ but this option was easier and cheaper than doing the Ebay complete ECU/EWS/Key control box etc swap and then Way would charge me again for the re-tune.
Also in CR they sometimes use the OBD to check the Vin number which I'd be screwed with the above option.
I'm not sure what the ECU guys saw and repaired but the good thing is sending the ECU back to them confirmed the ECU is not damaged or corrupted by the issue I have. Let's say I have a short that fries the ECU. Sending the ECU back confirms this is not the case.
So looking at the above I'm in a better position than I was. I know for sure the ECU and whatever tune is in it is not the issue.
There's a couple more things that come to mind that i don't remember being discussed here.
The knock sensor and the alternator. I imagine both could be possible suspects.
It was a totally different engine but some guy at another forum had problems with how the engine ran and it turned out to be a busted voltage stabilizer.
I have a volt meter which stays at a steady 14V and does not flicker when the fault kicks in. I've also run the engine with the knock sensor plug off. Thanks for the suggestions.
raining every night so no time to work. Plus my arm has an infection from a cut I got last time I was here. On anti-biotic this week....no wine or beer.
So without the TMAP the car is going to run with a "static" "best guess" map on the ECU. With the TMAP, the car is going to run in it's "normal" mode and trust what the TMAP tells it. So possible culprits are ANYTHING in the TMAP functional or electrical path (obstructed airflow to TMAP, multiple bad TMAPs (possible but not likely), multiple bad harnesses (possible but not likely), bad connection on the ECU, bad internal ECU circuit path for the TMAP.
HOWEVER... since the car "knows the difference" between when you do the don't have the TMAP connected, I suspect the harness and ECU circuitry is good. Otherwise the problem would likely persist with the TMAP disconnected.
It's POSSIBLY a tuning issue... I suspect the ECU is using some portion of maps when the ECU is connected that it bypasses when the ECU isn't detected.
It's possible the other Tmap is bad because the ECU was checked twice on an R50 so today I'm going to do the Bentley electrical tests and check for leaks.
27/2 and ground should be 3.9 V is 4.85 V ignition on engine off
31/4 and ground should be 4.0 V is zero ignition on engine off
31/4 and ground should be 1.25 V is 0.02 V at idle.
So it looks like the MAP signal has no voltage. either at the ECU plug or Tmap plug. I figure based on this the Tmap sensor is good and the ECU because the ECU ran perfect on the other R50. Now I need to find out why there is no 4.0V map signal. Getting closer!
Oh I forgot. 51 and ground should be 5 volts approx. is 4.89 V this is the reference voltage so looking at the Tmap diagram I think the reference voltage is the supply to the Tmap signal because the voltage changes for the map signal under pressure. So maybe the both sensors are bad? I'm going to get another sensor.
Also I'm going to ask the ECU guys to do a electrical test with plug on and off.
I hope so but another down! The engineer dropped the ball and did not bring the sensor even though the sensor was delivered! aaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh now I have wait until another engineer is coming down. Oh the torture.
Some perfect universe timing for sure! Found another engineer coming down to CR on Monday so I hope the sensor will be in my paws on Tuesday. Another weekend to pass by in the pub! LOL
Well folks. The Mini won again! I got to borrow a car to go fit the sensor about an hour ago. Same problem. Which leaves me with no clue to what the issue is.
With the Tmap plug off the engine runs fine but a little rich
With the plug on the misfire is between 2500 to 3900rpm
with the plug on another Tmap not in the intake the engine runs rough and very rich but no misfire.
The new Tmap does not show 4 volts on pin #4 like the others. The 4 wires from the Tmap only go to the ECU. If the ECU was the problem then this issue would have been present when they had the ECU on the donor car at the repair shop. I did think the problem could be the ECU ground so I cleaned all those grounds over the weekend, unless I'm missing one?. The mystery is why I don't have 4 volts on pin 4 and why the engine runs fine without the Tmap.
Here's the latest: I got the Tmap voltage working fine by cleaning the plug pins with a file. However when starting the engine the problem was still there but seemed to take longer to happen
So I did an electrical test on the pre 02 sensor, this was 12v key on/engine off but at idle the reading should be 6v I have the going up and down from 3.68 to 7.89v If I have to buy 2 more 02 sensors that'll have to wait until January.
