PowerLogger/ScanMaster No Data Issue

[Kaz]

I experienced an odd issue today that I wanted to mention to see if anyone had any thoughts. I have a Scan Master and PowerLogger combination installed and they appeared to be working correctly. The ScanMaster was updated to the 2.2 chip and PowerLogger has been flashed to version 4.4.

Earlier today I changed my chip to a new 5.7 TurboTweak chip. Come to find out that the previous owner had already put in an older Caspers ship. Anyhow, I followed the normal routine of disconnecting the orange ECM power wire from the battery while swapping chips.

Once I started the car back up (everything runs great) I noticed I was no longer receiving any data on the ScanMaster. All readouts looked to be at a default setting (the majority reading 0.0). I went ahead and hooked up the PowerLogger to my laptop. I was able to connect to the PowerLogger fine but in monitor mode all data was at its defaults. The user interface did indicate that I was receiving frames.

I went ahead and removed the ECM and removed/reconnected the PowerLogger to see if it was a connection issue, but this didn't seem to resolve the issue. I'm fairly sure the terminals are very clean as I spent a good 2 hours ensuring it was clean using Goof Off and assorted plastic scrapers. (I neglected to use dialectic grease on the terminals... should I have?)

I also swapped back in the old chip thinking it might have been an issue with the TT chip, but the issue remained.

I drove the car for 30 minutes or so thinking maybe the chip was in some learning phase and preventing proper operation of the PowerLogger. I also tried flashing/running various versions of PowerLogger. I also stopped and started the car about 25 times over the course of an hour. Ultimately nothing would get it working again.

So, I went inside, drank a beer or 3, and took a nap. When I woke up I decided to continue debugging. Before messing with anything I went ahead and started up the car and suddenly the PowerLogger/ScanMaster are working again. :/

So, is this a known behavior and I've just missed it somewhere? Anyone else seen this issue? The only reference I've found so far is on the TurboTweak support forums at: http://www.turbotweak.com/forum/showthread.php?2254-Scanmaster-Readouts-not-working

It sounds like the problem "just went away" for him too.

Anyhow, the problem seems resolved now, but it was fairly frustrating so I figured I'd check in with you guys on the matter. Thanks for any input gang,

- Mike

(I would have posted this over at FullThrottleSpeed but their forum software appears to be failing to allow account creation at the moment.)

 

[bpman1234]

so i guess the beer or trees did you good .

 

[Kaz]

Hehe, alcohol... the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

 

[Kaz]

Hmm, guess I spoke too soon. It's again no longer displaying any data. I went ahead and re-cleaned the connection on the ECM and added some dielectric grease but to no avail

 

[TurboBob]

the datastream from the PL is not dependent on the connections to the ECM, you should always get a datastream if the PL is getting power.

you want to make sure the analog cable is plugged in properly to the PL and the analog connection board, and that the data wire to the scanmaster is properly secured in the terminal strip.

Is the Scanmaster powering up properly?


Bob

 

[Kaz]

Thanks for the response Bob.

This appears to be some sort of intermittent issue because it just started working again. When I saw your post I went back out to check the connections. I switched the key to the On position and was still seeing "0.0" readouts on the ScanMaster. I figured it wouldn't hurt to post some photos for you to see so I came in to get my camera. When I went back out and again switched the key to the On position I was now seeing data on the ScanMaster (e.g. 440 millivolts or so on O2).

Basically, when the problem occurs everything works fine, I just don't seem to get data from the ECM. When the problem occurs:

- The ScanMaster shows Scan Master 2.2 on key on/ignition
- The ScanMaster shows PL 4.4 on key on/ignition
- the PL green light blinks once on key on
- I am able to connect over the USB from my laptop to the PL
- The green light flashes while monitoring from the laptop
- PL indicates that it is receiving frames
- I can flash the PL successfully and when doing so the Scan Master shows that it is going through the reboot process (e.g. all dashes, then off, then back on and displays SM and PL version information).

The only problem is all the data is sitting at default values.

Any thoughts? Should I go ahead and recheck the SCM and analog connections again just in case? Seems like they are working fine based on the above.

In case they are useful, here are a few photos:

- ScanMaster version at key on:



PowerLogger version at key on:


Now receiving data:



If it stops working again I'll post a photo of the "0.0" values on the ScanMaster and a screenshot of the PL console.

Thanks!

 

[Kaz]

Alrighty, so the PL/SM stopped working again. I left it working yesterday afternoon and decided to hop in the car this morning for a quick spin and it is back to displaying no data. I haven't changed anything since it was last working. I'm starting to wonder if it only works after 3 in the afternoon (joking).

A should add to my earlier "testing" that I've tried every combination of plugging the PL all he way in to the ECM connector to pulling it out a bit (etc.) and it hasn't seemed to make a difference. I got some photos and screenshots that show the behavior I'm seeing.

02/Knock display on SM (note the decimal point blinks on the knock value):



Battery display on SM:



I have photos of all the SM values but I won't bother uploading since they are all presumably at their default values.

Here are some screen shots of the PL console after connecting to the PL:

 

[sangahlang]

Im having the same problem let me know if you figure it out

 

[Kaz]

Will do Sangahlang. Yesterday PL/SM weren't working again. I drove around for 30 minutes or so and while going down the street they started working again. Later on when I turned on ACC power it was working, but when I closed my car door it stopped. I'm wondering if its a loose connection and if closing the door jiggled it... however, I've sat there before moving the connection between the PL and the ECM every which way (power cycling the ignition in between moving it) and never could get it working... which makes me think its not a connection issue.

TurboBob, any ideas on further debugging?

 

[sangahlang]

I cant even drive with mine hooked up because it just starts running super rich. Im going to try to clean it and redo it agian tomorrow if anything changes ill let you know

 

[sangahlang]

I got mine to work u just got to really clean all the goo of the connector. Got a razor blade and scraped it until I was touching the metal part if it on all of them

 

[DavzGN]

I would check the cable between the Pl and the analog block if you see data on Pl and not on the SM.

 

[Kaz]

Sangahlang,

I'll try cleaning the leads again. I was fairly sure they are very clean, but I've been wrong before. I used a Goof Off and a plastic scraper to clean off all the goo. I had started to use a razor blade but noticed it was cutting into the actual metal on the leads so I stopped. Did you have this problem or were you just more careful than I was?

I'm also going to see if I can do a continuity check using my multimeter, but I'm not sure if there will be clearance for the probe on the ECM side when the connector is on. Anyhow, I'll mess around with this some more this coming weekend and will let you know. I'm hoping its just me being stupid

 

[Kaz]

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself, but I believe I've fixed the issue. Ultimately I believe my problems were due to poor contact with the leads on the ECM... (though not due to them not being clean as I did a good job cleaning them the first time around.)

I used my multimeter to check the continuity between the ECM leads and the PowerLogger board one one side and the connections seemed fine. However, I was unable to check them on the inward side of the ECM due to the PowerLogger covering the leads and thus preventing access.

I had read elsewhere that someone had ended up re-tinning the ECM card edge leads so I figured I would give this a try. I busted out the soldering iron and re-tinned the ECM leads on both sides.

Additionally, it looks like I have a green PCB PowerLogger that has been re-worked to resolve the ground issue for the USB connector. (There is a glob of liquid tape on both sides of the board near where the USB pins are, so I assume that was what was re-worked.). I verified continuity between the analog header and the USB header to ensure a good ground and it seemed fine. However, since I already had the soldering iron out I went ahead and added a glob of solder between the analog lead case and the USB case for good measure.

Once I plugged the ECM back into the car I appear to be getting data.

So, as I said earlier, I would guess that my issue was due to some of the pins in the PowerLogger card edge connector not making sufficient contact with the ECM card edge leads. With the re-tinned solder the pins on the ECM are now a bit thicker and the PowerLogger fits much more "snugly" when attached.

Hopefully it will continue to work in the coming weeks. Thanks for the ideas and assistance along the way gang.

 

[sangahlang]

Good job man glad to hear you got it to work

 

[Kaz]

Well, I jinxed myself... its not working again. I'm running out of ideas now. I wonder if I just have a faulty PowerLogger.

 

[sangahlang]

U ever try s new cable

 

[Kaz]

A new analog cable? Not yet... I figured the problem was with the PowerLogger and not the ScanMaster. I guess a question is should the PowerLogger work without the analog cable even plugged in? If the answer is yes then I don't think the cable is the problem because I've tested without the cable plugged in and I still have the problem with the PowerLogger not displaying any data.

Of course, I'm willing to try anything. I'm humoring the idea of buying a separate PowerLogger just to rule out a problem with the PL I have.

 

[sangahlang]

If you got anybody close to you try it on there's before you buy another one or u can send it to me and ill test it out for you

 

[Kaz]

Thanks for the offer Sangahlang. I'm going to try and pick Bob's brain on any further debugging I can do first.

On a related note, it started working after about 30 minutes or so of driving around. I'm wondering now if there's some amount of time that has to pass after disconnecting/reconnecting power to the ECM before the PowerLogger will start working (at least in my case). Either that or the PowerLogger only works after about 3 in the afternoon