hatesposers

iTrader: (4)

OK, now before I tell my little story, I am going to tell a little about myself.

I have been building performance imports since 94. I have designed engines, I have had cars featured in magazines, I have built and rebuilt more performance engines than I can remember.

I'm currently driving an Evo IX MR which I purchased new off the lot in March of 07.

I approach a stoplight, and my car dies.

There was no sound, no noise, nothing mechanical feeling. Just one moment it's running perfectly, the next it's dead. Car will crank over, no start.

I call AAA, and have the car towed home. While waiting for the flat-bed, I check fuses, relays, as what happened to me felt electrical, or EFI related. All fuses and relays check out fine.

At home, I start troubleshooting. pull a spark plug, no spark. Have 12V coming to the coils, and the ground checks out, but no pulse signal from the ECU.

Also as I am cranking it over, I do not hear the fuel pump engage.

Also as I am cranking it over, I do not feel the fuel injectors firing. There is also no fuel smell coming from the cylinders, and the plugs were not wet when they came out after many attempts at cranking.

So, first thought is crank angle sensor.

I pull the front pulley off, and notice in the little gap between the crank and the timing cover that there are shreds of belt.

I pull the covers off, and notice that the balance shaft belt has come off. Had become entangled with the timing belt, tossed my exhaust cam off one tooth, and had broken my CAS.

Ordered a new timing set, new bearings, new CAS, new EVERYTHING for a front of engine overhaul.

Today I was able to work on it. Replaced all the new components on the front, made sure that everything was either lock tighted or anti-seized as needed, then before putting the cover on, I test fired the engine.

Crank, no fire.

I start trouble shooting... no spark, no fuel pump, no fuel injection.

So for the last 5 hours, I have been chasing what I thought was an electrical gremlin. I checked Every relay, every fuse, everything that could possibly cause this. I checked immobilizer, I checked power continuity from the battery to the ECU, to every damn fuse and sensor.

It had to be a concurrent problem to what I had already replaced, because it obviously wasn't my work. I know what the heck I am doing, I double and triple check my work as I am doing it. I DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES! Other people make mistakes, again, I KNOW WHAT THE F... I AM DOING! It's got to be some rare, obscure problem that's specific to the evo, because if it was something obvious, I would have found it. I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING BY GOD!

So, after getting so frustrated with this damn car, I went in and made some cookies... that's right, I made cookies! It helps me think, and my Wife is a former print and runway model for Guess, so I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit that!!! and after pulling them out of the oven, went back out to the car to double check my work... NOT BECAUSE I COULD HAVE MADE A MISTAKE MIND YOU, but maybe I got a bum CAS from Mitsubishi, with a cracked wire at the sensor.

And there it was.

I installed the crank angle sensor backwards... The two sides of the sensor were on the outside of the target wheel..., cranking over the engine, the ECU didn't see the crank angle

That's right. a simple mistake I should have caught, caused me over 5 hours of frustration and headache. I let my ego get in the way, and I didn't check the most obvious things, which were the things just changed. I flipped the sensor over and my car fired on first crank!

So, no matter how good you are, no matter how much of an automotive GOD that you are... always check for the simple things, and always check your own work. Don't let your Ego get in the way.

Faisalm

Entertaining article.

chubhawk

Lol good read and nice catch!

egis

Yeah man nice story.talking about guys who wants to race on the hwy,I always have a 2 years old speeding ticket copy in my car.i just show that ticket as a sign I'm not doing it.because it's senceless you can beat any car unless it's turbocharged exotic.
P.s post your wifes picture.just kidding lol

cwyteboi

Great story! It happens to the best of us. Sometimes s**t happens, sometimes you're in a rush. Good way to keep yourself grounded.

What kind of cookies did you make?

Raptord

iTrader: (10)

And when in doubt, go make cookies

pwrdby4g63

Damn, that sucks man. I have made the stupid mistake of leaving a ground strap loose and it caused an extra hour of my life hating my car before, lol. I'm glad that to hear that the tbelt did not jump anymore then 1 tooth because then it would have been valves saying hello to pistons...

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

One thing I learned that works, is exactly what you did. When you get stumped, just take a step back, go take a break, make cookies, have a beer, whatever. When you come back with a clear mind the solution comes to you.

hatesposers

iTrader: (4)

You can find my wife in Vogue, French Vogue and Elle magazines in issues from 03-05 (Mostly Guess ads). She's an ultra skinny blonde with long hair and hip bones that can put your eye out.

The cookies were Keto friendly chocolate chip. They were an experiment in an ultra low carb, gluten free cookie (almond flower, Erithritol sweetener). They were not good. I am going to change the recipe to use a brown sugar substitute with Stevia, and dark chocolate chips instead of unsweetened chocolate chips. Those should taste better.

The car is now running fine. I will be parking it after this winter to do a drivetrain overhaul.

.M.

That was a damn good read

golgo13

iTrader: (134)

Cool story bro.

Especially that street racing part I had to remove.

Raptord

iTrader: (10)

meckert

iTrader: (11)

Welcome-- my friend... Embrace your willingness to except your faults--
Let me help you put some words to it.. Occams Razor--the simplest solution is most often the best, a principle I embrace when working on cars--. Certainly applied to your dilemma. BTW, like the cookie story.

The origins of what has come to be known as Occam's Razor are traceable to the works of earlier philosophers such as John Duns Scotus (1265–1308), Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Maimonides (Moses ben-Maimon, 1138–1204), and even Aristotle (384–322 BC).[14][15] Aristotle writes in his Posterior Analytics, "we may assume the superiority ceteris paribus [all things being equal] of the demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses."[16] Ptolemy (c. AD 90 – c. AD 168) stated, "We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible

hatesposers

iTrader: (4)

My wife is not the point of this thread, and I respect her privacy by not posting our private pictures. Sorry, If you really want to see, I have given you enough info that you can go find them for yourself.

hatesposers

iTrader: (4)

Sorry, forgot about that rule here. I agree with the rule, and I'm totally against street racing.