Del Sol Stalling/Restart Problems.

[SQUAREDOZ]

Re previous intro post for '92 Del Sol & some unresolved issues. Apart from the beast having the dreaded "idle from hell" surge, it drove impressively across the range until recently. The AM throttle body has no provision for the fast idle valve and the two-wire IACV seems functional. I am now trying to diagnose a recent stalling/difficult restart issue (usually on peak hour intersections). It feels like starvation and may be faulty fuel pickup at 1/3 full but is inconsistent. If left switched off for about 5 minutes, it restarts and drives OK. The tuning shops can't read the Hondata chipped ECU and the level of modification, including cut wires, etc does not help. I may have to revert to the OE manifolding. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[SQUAREDOZ]

Just a follow-up which may help other newbies. My car carried a well-known chip which appeared to be generally satisfactory apart from horrible over-fuelling. I subsequently read most of the excellent internet sites/posts regarding this issue and almost all pointed to the main, under-dash relay. Others stated that the coil/distributor module had a history for this problem. Well I checked or replaced both (among many other things) but it was not a consistent fix. What has done wonders for the car was the installation of the Moates Demon II with Neptune software in the ECM. It smoothed the engine, fixed the idle from hell, restored the AFR from seriously sub-10 to above 12 across the range and delivers 186 HP at the wheels at just 10 lbs boost. No recurrence of the stalling to date (waiting for summer) and I can finally read that blasted ECM plus employ live tuning if required.
My advice: By all means, follow the learned advice offered on all these sites - but first make sure that your chipped (unreadable) ECM is not subverting all your efforts in other areas of engine management.

 

[T9 man]

Thanks for the update buddy