Another failure

[miberns]

Hi All,

After replacing the ECU, in the next race I stopped getting a signal from the throttle position sensor. So I retired on lap 3.

The problem seems to be that the engine harness does not allow there to be any slack in the wiring. If it is attached to the fuel rail as specified, it is quite tightly stretched from the crank position sensor to the throttle position sensor. The stress on the wires can disconnect the CPS connector. I've been told by HPD that lengthening the wires would not be a violation of the rules.

I'm very disappointed in Honda. In a production car if an ecu has a 5% failure rate, there is a recall, and production is stopped until the problem is resolved. You may notice the current uproar over the GM ignition switch failures.

I've had my car fail 2 out of 4 races since the conversion. HPDs solution is to carry a spare ECU and wiring harness.

Regarding the ECU failing after a hard hit, when we designed the first accelerometer based airbag trigger at Lucas in the 90s, we tested our PCBs to 1000g shock. This is more than you get if the frame hits a wall at 100MPH.

[Fred Michael]

Stop thinking like this is a production car for the street. It's not.
Racecar parts are hand made and not everything fits every time.
Sucks, but that is the way it is.
Part of building and prepping your car is to fix anything that you see may be an issue.
Get used to it, happens a lot.

[GAC]

Maybe it is time to get rid of the Honda and go back to the trusty Ford. Of course for some of us, we are still there.

[racerdad2]

If we treated our daily drivers like our race cars, there'd be no warranties I watched a Ford rep walk thru a dealer's service area some years ago. He saw a new Mustang with 'racing stickers' on the back glass on a lift undergoing warranty repairs. He ordered the car off the lift, as is, and voided the kids warranty on the spot.

If you haven't noticed, there's a whole lot more time spent wrenching than racing guys aren't swapping parts between races for something to do

At first, I was peeved about all the wrenching. Now, I find it's part of the joy of racing !

Perhaps you can find a better way to mount your ECU & wiring harness ? Here's to better luck here on out. Wrenching is Racing

[Jon Jeffords]

Of course for some of us, we are still there.

If there is one car I'd like to see with a Honda in it, it would be your Stohr! That would look so right.

[DaveW]

Stop thinking like this is a production car for the street. It's not.
Racecar parts are hand made and not everything fits every time.
Sucks, but that is the way it is.
Part of building and prepping your car is to fix anything that you see may be an issue.
Get used to it, happens a lot.

Agree 100%.

IMO, the most time-consuming and tedious part of assembling a car with new/different components is routing/rerouting everything so that stuff won't wear through, vibrate apart, etc.

It has taken me as much as 40 hours to plan/reconfigure/rearrange/route/reroute everything "properly" after some of my major component changes.

It's a PITA, but necessary to avoid trouble.

[Raceworks]

Stop thinking like this is a production car for the street. It's not.
Racecar parts are hand made and not everything fits every time.
Sucks, but that is the way it is.
Part of building and prepping your car is to fix anything that you see may be an issue.
Get used to it, happens a lot.

I got out of the "street tuner" business because I got tired of constantly having to explain the difference between OEM (able to absorb massive R&D costs over hundreds of thousands of units) versus aftermarket (even the "big guys" are cottage industries, and they're trying to put out product at a tolerable price point).

Maybe when we can 3-d print everyting and the software gets a bit cheaper that will change things, but until then....

[Raceworks]

Hi All,

After replacing the ECU, in the next race I stopped getting a signal from the throttle position sensor. So I retired on lap 3.

The problem seems to be that the engine harness does not allow there to be any slack in the wiring. If it is attached to the fuel rail as specified, it is quite tightly stretched from the crank position sensor to the throttle position sensor. The stress on the wires can disconnect the CPS connector. I've been told by HPD that lengthening the wires would not be a violation of the rules.

How exactly to you have it routed? While there isn't much slack on either of my cars there definitely isn't enough tension to case a failure that rapid. In fact there's enough slack on my TPS connector I can disconnect it with ease. Here's some pictures:










The one connector I have had issues with is if you're using the auxiliary harness (for the optional oil pressure, fuel pressure, & oil temperature senders). That sucker is pretty easy to break if you're hamfisted assembling or disassembling it.