Cold Idle problem Solved!

[Rick Krupa]

List members,

Had a cold idle problem for 6-months or so and Ed Hess and I have posted a number of different things we have tried to eliminate the problem this past month being that Ed has a similar problem but I think his is slightly worst cause it sounds like his will actually die on him. Just to recap alittle, after letting the Ty sit all night, when started the rpm's would jump around and when you went to drive it, it would almost want to die at each stop light for 2-3 minutes then everything cleared up and idled and ran normal until the next morning.

Well after checking all the archives I found one post at http://www.syty.org/archives/syty/0007/msg00498.html
which the owner had the dealer replace the memcal. Sounded interesting. So I purchased a new memcal from Dal #16181579 for $45.61 and installed yesterday evening and as soon as started it up I could tell it ran much better even while the ECM was relearning.

So this morning I drove off and no rough idle or even at the stop light the tach was smooth as glass.

Now I have to wonder, what would go wrong with the stock memcal being that I never had the ECM pulled down in the 8-years I have owned my Ty so I never messed with it.

Now a question for BG. Occasionally you read when someone installed the Ultimate chip and they had problems with the idle, performance what have you. Could it be if something in their stock memcal went bad and they piggy backed the Ultimat to it would this cause their problems. I assume the Ultimate over rides the stock eprom but what if something is wrong with the rest of the memcal?

Feels like a new Ty now!

 

[smeagol]

It could be, but as far as I know, chip updates were only done by GM for calibration issues.

Other things wrong with the memcals... I'm sure it's possible... I've never seen it, but then I've never *looked* either. Only sure way is to test it, use other proven memcals, swap etc.

 

[E-Rue]

ive had bad chips before. i had a bad stock chip and a bad ultimate chip.

i "believe" the chips were caused to go bad by taking them in and out without disconnecting the battery. i also had an issue with a disconnected ground, so it could have been related........ im not sure.

e

 

[Rick Krupa]

Never had the ECM removed and the memcal was in tight as was the connections going to the ECM. All I know is, something went bad with my original memcal/chip. I made sure I had the battery disconnected while changing out the memcal.

Also read this on the Buick archives: "my stock chip went bad over time. the car would run but barly. it wouldnt build boost or anything . you would have to give it full throttle for like a min then it would boost right up. so to answer your question yes chips can go bad. anything electrical like that can go bad."

 

[ed hess]

rick
send me the part numbers you replaced.
wtf maybe i forgot to change somthing here

read my new topic in tech section. I might have found something in dm.

ed

 

[Raist103]

ok i got a ? for smeagol since i put in the ultimate i have control of my boost but not as good as when i have a bleed valve and the pitbull i have now gone back to stock chip pigybacked on the ultimate and i was thinking maybe that is why my boost is all screwy. my ? is can you use the atr chip pigybacked on the ultimate? if not i will have to find some ones stock chip to borrow and if that does not clear it up i will have to find a ultimate to borrow and it that clears it up reburn mine. i guess i have a second ? now, not that it matters as of this date but it the ultimate is what is going bad(could be i did not buy it new, got it off of this site in fs section) how much is a reburn

here is a pic of my ultimate

 

[Rick Krupa]

Ed,

All I replaced was the stock memcal with a new stock one which I listed the Part # above. I know you said you tried a different ECM but did you use your original memcal with the loaner ECM because if the loaner ECM had the memcal in it already I would find it hard to believe both your chip and the loaner chip would be bad but you never know I guess.

I also bought a pickup coil and dist. pole pie "base plate" just in case the chip didn't work. I'll eventually get around to rebuilding the distributor being that I know they can get pretty worn/corroded inside but now there is no immediate hurry.

-pickup coil, GM # 10495089 for $10.76
-pole pie, dist. base plate, GM # 10495802 for $5.12
-dist. gasket GM # 10108445 for .52

 

[ed hess]

nope
the ecm was swapped out using my memcal and ultimate in the 2nd ecm.

Did youlook at my post in tech today?

So it looks like im gonna part with $45.61. if it dont work i will just have another spare.

My emplyoyees have been hearing the following a lot lately.

NOPE THAT AINT IT>

ED

 

[Rick Krupa]

Ed,

Well if you were using your memcal in the loaner ECM or even a third ECM if something went wrong with your memcal such as mine you could put it in 20-different ECM's and it would still be bad, right?

Usually ever time I heard of a bad ECM it was usually more severe of a problem than what you or I had.

Can you imagine the smile on my face last evening when spending a half hour and $45.00 and the Ty was purring like a kitten even while the ECM was relearning I could tell right away it sounded better.

Looks like I'm almost ready to purchase the Ultimat. Just got to hook it up to DM sometime and check everything out.

 

[Rick Krupa]

Ed,

Another thing I would suggest is that you change out your fuel pump cause it seems from reading your posts that your on the original pump and your approaching 100,000 miles on your Sy. I would give Ron Gregory a call for the Walbro being that your planning on putting your rebuilt engine in and it is just a reassurance that you have adequate fuel.

We all know the stock pump is fine for a stock truck but after all these years they tend to get lazy. I replaced mine at 45,000 miles when I started to have problems with starting in the morning and bad hesitation while driving.

 

[ed hess]

YEAH RICK THATS REALY GREAT TO HEAR.

while i sit hear cussing and swearing and watching money fly out the f-n window like its a f-n ticket tape parade.

might as well change more stuff.

notice how hostile im gettin as time goes by with this?

ed

 

[Rick Krupa]

Ed,

Just don't go Postal on your employees or we'll have another one the FBI is looking for.

 

[CLONE]

Glad to hear you got it cured Rick. I've had nagging problems like that with my truck in the past and know what a pain they are. Hopefully your solution will work for others with the same problem/symptoms.

 

[ed hess]

ya know my short list for what hasnt been changed is as follows

fuel pump
pickup coil or distributor
memcal <---- thanks rick!

Still thinking about what im gonna say the next time somebody new makes a post with the words >BAd IDLE< in it.

On 2nd thought maybe i shouldnt get involved, i'd probably just get em all upset, worried, frantic, and really pissed off.

Sorry but i just gotta vent.

ed

 

[Mad Mike]

Ed, I'll be removing my ultimate tonight for the ashtray mod so if you wanna borrow mine let me know.

 

[ed hess]

mike
bring your ultimate and the memcal. i need both.

ashtray mod?

ed

 

[LIVEEZ]

Way to go rick!!! I hope they don't run out of memcals before I get one. haha

 

[Rick Krupa]

Drove the Ty yesterday evening and this morning and even the boost seems to come up much quicker. :lol:

 

[Mad Mike]

Ed, Any word on yours?

 

[ed hess]

letting it cool off so i can see how it is with your memcal and ultimate on it. if it is better thani will try your memcal and my ultimate on it.

i will post later. Hopefully not my favorite saying of

NOPE THAT AINT IT. LOL (GLAD I HAVENT LOST MY SENSE OF HUMOR YET BUT THIS SHIT IS GETTIN OLD.)

ED