are there any missing grounds or ones that are snipped back far into the harness?
i love venus , but i live in the area so i can pick out a part before ill buy it - maybe the pack is bad?
when you got your harness was there any sensors that were out of place or didnt seem to fit?
is the ecu light going through all its monitors ??
with a volt meter is the 12v avalible before the pack?? :12dunno

 

well i dont think you will get any positive voltage reading from the ecu. it just grounds things that already have power ( atleast that is my basic understanding i'm sure theres more to this buttttt ).

Turning the cas will not make you get spark out of the coilpack. you should hear the injectors click when you turn the cas. if not theres another one of your problems.

to check for spark try to bump start it and have somebody either hold a screwdrive in the coil and try to bridge the spark between that and the valve cover ( closet grounded object ). or you could put the spark plug in there and do the same thing ( sorry i dont have one of the tools that mechanics have where its hands free so i just use those methods )

if you wanna check for voltage you can also check the output side of the ignitore ( side the coil pack harness plugs into ). thats all i can think of right now. you may be unlucky and just have a messed up harness. i know i had one messed up pin in my harness and it caused me to troubleshoot so many phantom problems. anways see if any of that helps. just gotta narrow it down to the fewest possibilities.

 

The CAS gives the ECU reference to fire the coils so manually turning the CAS WILL make the plugs fire, sorry Brandon...you are correct however that the ECU just provides ground for the circuits.

Check continuity between your ECU and igniter, then from the igniter to coil. Follow the screwdriver idea and see if you can get something to happen.

But DO listen for th injectors to fire...maybe the CAS or CAS wiring is bad...

Check your ECU for codes also...it might know something that you dont.

 

are there any missing grounds or ones that are snipped back far into the harness?
i love venus , but i live in the area so i can pick out a part before ill buy it - maybe the pack is bad?
when you got your harness was there any sensors that were out of place or didnt seem to fit?
is the ecu light going through all its monitors ??
with a volt meter is the 12v avalible before the pack?? :12dunno

Grounds are at the firewall behind te coil pack, the ex. mani. to the firewall, and the two at the front of the rail. I also grounded the case of the ecu. Are there any others?

The harness that was on the engine was cut at the back of the engine, they included another complete harness, which I traced all of the plugs, and labled them for ease of install. Are there different RB20 harnesses, like the way the s1/s2 RB25's are?

I get 12v at the relays, at the 3 prong plug at the ignitor, and on the middle pins going to all of the coilpacks.

 

well i dont think you will get any positive voltage reading from the ecu. it just grounds things that already have power ( atleast that is my basic understanding i'm sure theres more to this buttttt ).

Turning the cas will not make you get spark out of the coilpack. you should hear the injectors click when you turn the cas. if not theres another one of your problems.

to check for spark try to bump start it and have somebody either hold a screwdrive in the coil and try to bridge the spark between that and the valve cover ( closet grounded object ). or you could put the spark plug in there and do the same thing ( sorry i dont have one of the tools that mechanics have where its hands free so i just use those methods )

if you wanna check for voltage you can also check the output side of the ignitore ( side the coil pack harness plugs into ). thats all i can think of right now. you may be unlucky and just have a messed up harness. i know i had one messed up pin in my harness and it caused me to troubleshoot so many phantom problems. anways see if any of that helps. just gotta narrow it down to the fewest possibilities.

CAS IS working, I hear the injectors fire. I've also tested the #1 coil pack by grounding the sparkplug to the valvecover(which i tested for ground).

It seems as if I'm not getting any signal to ground from the ecu for the ignitor.

 

Check continuity between your ECU and igniter, then from the igniter to coil.

I haven't done that yet, maybe something is a matter there. I'll do that this afternoon.

 

Have you put your new ecu into diagnostic mode yet?-
if the motitors arnt going thought there morris-code op. then somthing is wrong.
also you seid you had 12v avalible at the cas so ..are your coil packs bad?
is there a ground at the rear coil pack that is not connected? check the coil pack clips are they all pushed in all the way?
i hope im any help , -- welcome back jon powell - i hope your here to stay.. :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

 

Have you put your new ecu into diagnostic mode yet?-
if the motitors arnt going thought there morris-code op. then somthing is wrong.
also you seid you had 12v avalible at the cas so ..are your coil packs bad?
is there a ground at the rear coil pack that is not connected? check the coil pack clips are they all pushed in all the way?
i hope im any help , -- welcome back jon powell - i hope your here to stay.. :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

I did get it into diagnostic, but it was when I was troubleshooting, and had a bunch of things disconnected. I'll try again when I get off work.

I have 12v at the 3 prong plug that gives power to the coilpacks. The CAS is causing the injectors to fire, which means it sending a signal to the ecu. The ecu is triggering the injectors, but not sending anything on pins 1,2,3,11,12,13 to trigger the ignitor/coilpacks.

I tested the coilpacks per the instructions on rb20det.com . It said that they should read .6-.9 ohms between pins 1 and 2, all of mine read 1.0 ohms.

What would cause the ecu to not send any signal to the ignitors?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

the signal to the igniter is a ground pulse

 

I'm getting a constant -12v(ground) signal from the ecu on pins 1,2,3,11,12,13.
I tested continuity from pins 1,2,3,11,12,13 to the 6 pin plug going to the ignitor, they're all fine.

I'm tested continuity on the coil plug harness to the 7 pin plug, they're all fine.
I'm getting +12v on the center pins on the coil packs, -12v on the ground, and -12v on the "E" side of them.(I'm assuming because the ecu is sending a steady -12v to the ignitor)

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Ok, another question here.

Does the RB have a CRANK angle sensor AND a CAM angle sensor?

The one at the top of the timing belt cover is technically a CAM angle sensor.

But I saw on the pinouts on rb20det.com, there is a crank angle sensor listed.

Most of my experience is with DSM's, and they have both. (well some of them)

 

as far as i know the cas is the only thing that controls timing, i dont think that there are any other angle sensors on the rb.

 

Only a cam sensor, but the coolant temp sensor and the "start" signal from the key will affect timing also...the cam sensor sets the base reference for the ECU to control timing, but does not directly set the timing.

 

silly question but do you have both of the green relays plugged in?

 

Why are there 4 connections for the CAS to the ECU? pins 41,42,51,52

Also, my injectors fire, but the tip of the CAS is bent, and it "wobbles" when it's in place.

This evening I'll check the continuity from the CAS to pins 41,42,51,52.

I'm at the point that I'm about to buy a TEC3 and just run external coil packs!

 

There are actually only 2 signal wires coming from the CAS, but they split the signals to 2 inputs for a sort of check & balance system.

0º signal and 180º signal so the ECU knows where the CAS is at all times.

Be careful with a bent stem, it WILL break off eventually and leave you stranded.

 

Be careful with a bent stem, it WILL break off eventually and leave you stranded.

I'll check to see if there is a way to straighten it back, if not I'll call Venus.

 

silly question but do you have both of the green relays plugged in?

As in the relays plugged into the relay plugs? Yes

And I tested them both, and they're both getting +12v power, and sending it to the 3 prong plug that goes to the coil packs.

 

Does the neutral wire have to be connected?

I have the start wire connected.

Are there any other wires that I'm missing?

 

Neutral is not necessary.

 

Man, I'm really pulling my hair out here. I'm starting to regret doing this swap, the swap itself was a breeze, but having stuff not working right is not cool.

I desparately need this car running. I'm gonna have to cut my losses, whether I have to get a microtech, another RB motorset, or an SR.

 

So your injectors fire, but the plugs do not...is that where we stand now?

How did you test the plugs? Did you try replacing the spark plugs (should cost no more than $13 for the copper resistor plugs for a 300ZXTT)

You tried 2 different ECU's and the same problem?

 

So your injectors fire, but the plugs do not...is that where we stand now?

How did you test the plugs? Did you try replacing the spark plugs (should cost no more than $13 for the copper resistor plugs for a 300ZXTT)

You tried 2 different ECU's and the same problem?

Yeah, the injectors fire, but the plugs do not.

I tested them by taking #1 plug and grounding it while someone was starting, and got no spark. When I traced the wires back, the wires coming from the ecu are sending a steady ground instead of a pulse.

Yes I tried 2 ecus, and because of the steady ground problem, the 6 resistors that go to pins 1,2,3,11,12,13 for the ignitor started smoking.

 

toasted harness perhaps?
its not uncommon for something to burn and destroy other wires.....

 

toasted harness perhaps?
its not uncommon for something to burn and destroy other wires.....

Maybe, but i tested continuity from the ecu to the ignitor, ignitor to the coilpacks...they're all fine.

Is is possible to take the CAS signal and run it into an ignition system like an MSD?

I could use external coils and ditch the coil-on-plug/ignitor system.