CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[lexi]

Give me a drama on Radio 4 or some good Classical on 3. Tucked up in a caravan on a remote croft with the wind howling and just me and my Grundig Yacht Boy ( not what you think lol) . A good doc or play on radio is really something in these locations. Even here at home my Tandberg receiver and small Philips single drivers with whizzer cones are next to bed. Radio 4 goes on about 12 midnight, and the last hour is sometimes the best for off beat stuff.

[Michel]

Give me a drama on Radio 4 or some good Classical on 3....

Or a test match. Late at night, live from Oz or India, on R4 Long Wave, with all the weird LW hoots, hisses and whistles. Paradise. I find this immeasurably better than watching cricket in full HD on a 50" screen!

Often used to listen to the Saturday night play on R4 when I was a kid. My grandad and gran always listened to it and I often stayed there at weekends.

[Zelandeth]

That symptom does sound more like some sort of ECU glitch in that it's not responding to the inputs after encountering some specific set of variables...corrupt memory cell in the EPROM the map is stored on?

Don't know really!

Faulty throttle pot I'd tend to expect to trigger a CEL and most likely be a momentary glitch that it would sort itself out in very short order... certainly what happens on the Lada.

Out of curiosity I tried unplugging the throttle pot on there and it threw the whole system into the default "limp home" mode. Plugging it back in resulted in after a couple of seconds the system sorting itself out and dropping back into closed loop mode.

Different ECUs will probably handle the fault condition differently so that's probably less useful than it might be if we had two with the same setup to compare...

[CitroJim]

Tucked up in a caravan on a remote croft with the wind howling and just me and my Grundig Yacht Boy ( not what you think lol) .

I know exactly what a Yacht Boy is Lexi I've fixed enough of them!

Zel, a duff area of the ECU map is a very good possibility.. I'll have to try unplugging the throttle pot and see what happens... I expect the same as you and it will be a very valid test...

If so then I'll be after another ECU... That may be like trying to find a hen's tooth though... The ECU may be easy enough but finding one where the keypad code is known may be a bit tricky...

Today has been the most wonderful Christmas Day ever It started with the most brilliant parkrun, continued with a truly lovely bike ride to Olney via a very scenic route fora truly wonderful dinner, a fantastically brilliant afternoon and evening with my most loved ones

Even the ride home in a howling wet gale was good

Good job I had the foresight ton take all of my wet weather gear with me today...

I've eaten far too much so tomorrow morning I'll be off out for a very long run!!!

[Hell Razor5543]

I am glad you have had an enjoyable Christmas Day, Jim. While you may have eaten too much it will be wholesome food that you have prepared, so it will not affect your physique too adversely (and will be easy for you to burn off). Have a fun and safe Boxing Day (and I hope that the rain we are having here in Berkshire will not visit Buckinghamshire for long, and not affect the footing in any way).

[CitroJim]

Thanks James and I trust you enjoyed an excellent Christmas day and have a great Boxing day in prospect

While you may have eaten too much it will be wholesome food that you have prepared, so it will not affect your physique too adversely (and will be easy for you to burn off).

I'm of for a 10K run in a while with my running club so that'll help! One day of excess is no problem at all...

I even took a day off from being vegetarian yesterday - the turkey, gammon and pigs in blankets was just too tempting and my ex and daughters are some very, very excellent cooks

I have a friend round for lunch today and it's now back to vegetarian. I've cooked up a very special Christmas vegan moussaka

[Hell Razor5543]

I spent Christmas Lunch with my Mum, who is currently moored in Reading, and then Christmas evening with my God Family. I will see Mum again today. Her Christmas cake is a highlight of the season.

[CitroJim]

Excellent James Do enjoy!

Her Christmas cake is a highlight of the season.

Mine turned out brilliantly this year. Baked in early October and left to mature... And it's dairy-free too

[Hell Razor5543]

Mums' were part of a batch from last year. Boy, have they matured well!!!

[CitroJim]

Just returned from a near-1000 calorie burn in the shape of a 10 mile trail (cross-country) run with my Running Club, the Redway Runners...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2397172036#

That's nicely seen off the excesses of yesterday

This is my first proper trail run as previously I've always run on the road/pavement/tarmac and only ventured off-road in the bone dry, never in boggy mud

Almost a half-marathon too I need to do a lot more of these as I have found a new running love

There's something magical about running out in the countryside and even the mud is great! Also, there's a lot less stress and impact on your joints and feet so with that and the lovely natural scenery and clean air it's a win all the way

A fantastic start to Boxing Day

I now need to get myself a proper pair of trail shoes... Wish I'd known before... I could have asked Santa for some...

[Zelandeth]

Just pondering ideas...

I don't know how much data is out there about the ECU used in the Saxo. For the Lada there's data out there down to exactly what values are in each memory cell in the map (think it's in the EFi manual actually). If that info is out there, wonder if it would be possible to read out the data from the EPROM and verify it (is it socketed?). Next question would be whether it's rewritable. Wonder if not whether there's any possibility of an aftermarket chip that could be used? Seem to recall that sort of thing was quite common in the car magazines back in the day. Possibly easier to find than a replacement ECU with a known keypad code!

Just spitballing ideas really!

[CitroJim]

Just pondering ideas...

They're good Zel and well worth looking into... I know the ELIT won't but there may be other ways... Needs a bit of research...

We must speak in depth and look into what can be done...

[xantia_v6]

The main fuelling and timing maps (with parameters of RPM and MAP/MAF) will be held in read-only memory, and is very unlikely to have been corrupted (it will be checksummed and throw a fault if corrupted).

On top of the values from the main map, various corrections (e.g. for temperature) are applied from coarser maps with much fewer mapping points, these are also in read-only memory.

On top of these are correction maps of learned settings from feedback from the oxygen sensor and knock sensor. These may be held in EEROM, but are more likely just in RAM but don't have many data points, in order that the learning process is quick and stable. It is only this last set of maps that is really vulnerable to memory failure.

I think that there are 2 symptoms to be pondered here:
Firstly, what is pushing the ECU into open-loop mode (so that it is not correcting the lean mixture),
Secondly, why is the open-loop mixture lean?

Either of these conditions could exist on their own without causing the stumble, but it is both happening simultaneously that is causing the problem. Both conditions may or may not be triggered by the same hardware failure.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

I've entered a MK to Amsterdam and back bike ride today

do try to visit the Ij Brouwerij while in Amsterdam, its delightfully quirky, and if you favour a strong Belgian style brew, the Beer is just superb.... nearly as nice as the location in a converted Public Loo beside De Gooyer Windmill! They keep surprisingly short opening hours, so check they're open before setting out.

Close to Camping Zeeburg, also highly recommended.

We favour the Harwich-Hook route rather than Dover-Calais, beautiful boats too.

NB: vintage electronics, still using a 1990's (possibly 80's) Sony HST-D501 Midi daily.

[xantia_v6]

What fuel are you putting into the Saxo? Modern blends (with ethanol) do burn leaner in open loop mode.
This (if it is a problem) can be compensated for by trimming the coolant temperature sensor with an external resistor.