Thread: vvl wont come out of limp mode.. I think.

I have a calum t/r ecu... car has run great for many years of driving on all the electronic parts it currently has.

This morning, just like every morning, I started my 1.5 mile drive to work. Halfway there, the car fell on its face. It bogs WAY down before getting to 3k rpm and then just has quick moments of "breath" or power.

I have had a similar proplem with a cpl of my many other sr20 cars throughout the years, so I thought to replace the MAF. Got the 98 qx4 maf from the store and replaced it. Car still have same symptoms. Not in gear you can hit the gas and it will barely climb then fall flat but will not die.

It also keep a higher idle at around 2k rpms.

I tried, after replacing the maf, to leave the battery disconnected for 30min to an hour, and it did not work.

Does this sound like it is still in limp mode? How the heck can I get this thing out of limp mode?

Is there a obd2 consult that I can use to turn it off?

Do these symptoms sound like another issue? I thought maybe TPS but when I unplug it, it brings the high idle way down, so I think it works fine. The IACV works fine. In fact this car has run like a raped ape since it was built.

Please help!

/Frustrated.

PS i have tried to use tunerpro rt but I cant get it to work either. For some reason (after I dl the drivers and manually installed them for the com ports) and tried to connect the ecu, the program sees nothing) but I did just have my first look at it today. so I need to do some reading about it. But everywher I look, it say "tuner pro rt will automatically detect the ecu" but does not provide any help if it fails to detect.

come on guys... Im at a loss here. No one? Should I post a vid? I turn the car on now and hit the gas and rpms go down from 2k and almost die, then surge back to 2k and fall flat again.

Ive still got nothing... Tired of fucking with it. lol. I bet its something very simple I am overlooking like I always tend to do.

wondering if the bin on the ecu corrupted or something like that. Its the latest version of calums realtime. I have tunerpro rt but I can get the ecu to talk to the comp...

Sounds like the ecu took a crap. Try to use calumsult. You can find the download with a little googlefu. But, before you run the program, right click and go to properties, compatability mode, and set it to windows xp sp3 and then click run as administrator. If you still cannot get it to work, then it sounds like a new ecu is in order. Damn shame too. If you are familiar with circuitry, you can pull the ecu and check for blown capacitors, broken pins, disconnected wires... One thing calum did not leave us with is the schematics for the reatime boards. I wish he did cause we could replicate them and even do diagnostic work.

I replaced the tps and still nothing. Its got the be the ecu somehow. Ive tried tunerpro rt but ill keep trying something has to give. At what point could I actually know its the ecu? I mean this thing was his latest realtime most exspensive badass ecu lol. Only beej in the car a cpl years or even less really it should not have just shit out. It has the 0-5v Iinputs and outputs and can run and log everything you throw at the car lol. Now I just cant seem to get the software to pick it up. Sucks that there isnt anyone I know in dfw that can come help out for an afternoon.


All I can do is keep trying and the wife and I can just use the one car for now (hard feat with two kids)

have you tried manually pulling the codes? I know calum removed the led light in the ecu to run the usb, but the dash light should still flash.

I didnt notice the dash light flashing, but then again I didnt look. I am wondering weather or not the ecu has a battery backup, and if I pull the battery, will the BIN be lost.

If it wont be lost, then maybe I can reset the ecu that way, and limp mode might be gone. But if the bin goes bye bye then im really fucked. I need to get the bin off first, but if I can do that, then Id just be able to take the ecu out of that mode from whatever program itll connect with.

You wont lose the bin, it is on the daughterboard. Calum used magnetically programable chips. As long as you dont hold a magnet to the ecu, you will be fine.

At this point though, you may want to try another ecu. What is your setup?

I dont have another ecu, nor the moola for one after throwing parts at it. I popped the ecu and there is ONE(1) single AA battery in it. So i pulled it overnight and Im about to part it back together to see what happens.