Baby template car for DARKO 2016

[skyking]

822 miles for me to DARKO..........I better get cracking

[kach22i]

Great thread, just skimmed it front to back, exciting stuff guys.

[NeilBlanchard]

Darko is a mere 2,350 miles from my house ...

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Darko is a mere 2,350 miles from my house ...

We'll get Captain Kirk to transport you over! "Energize!"

[aerohead]

between yesterday and today I was able to restore my ebay and PayPal accounts,and successfully purchase an igniter,shipped,for $29.95.It is supposed to arrive around the 12th of the month.
Also,my brother is gonna try and resurrect an oscilloscope which has a signal buffering feature which can register extremely brief electronic events,which may actually show if an igniter or ECM is actually firing a signal (which an LED test light would not indicate).It would be nice to actually understand the failure mode of the ignition system.
Also,my brother located a company which will test and rebuild an ECM for $129 if it's not completely zorched.
Dallas wants more than $500 to do the same thing.

[Ardent]

Assuming you've got the typical Denso ECU, the top and bottom case covers are attached with screws and easily removable. There's an electrolytic capacitor that is part of the ignition circuit that is prone to age related leakage and failure. While stuff can fail and appear normal, I think it would be worth the time to take a quick visual to see how the board appears since a capacitor that looks bad is bad.

If you find one that's bad, it's pretty simple to solder in a replacement.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Ardent

Assuming you've got the typical Denso ECU, the top and bottom case covers are attached with screws and easily removable. There's an electrolytic capacitor that is part of the ignition circuit that is prone to age related leakage and failure. While stuff can fail and appear normal, I think it would be worth the time to take a quick visual to see how the board appears since a capacitor that looks bad is bad.

If you find one that's bad, it's pretty simple to solder in a replacement.

Excellent point!
My brother and I were discussing this last night.The capacitor is a crude form of battery and will actually fail chemically over time.I was given an oscilloscope in which the electrolytic capacitors had 'eaten' the insides of the device,rendering it 'toast.'
I've already pulled the kick panel to expose the ECM.I should ground myself and pull it and inspect it as you recommend.This is the sort of thing we were hoping to research,understand,rather than just be a parts-changer.
Thanks again!

[skyking]

Nice info there, Ardent. Turn a 500+ exchange part to very possibly a cheap fix. Big thumbsup!

[freebeard]

This is the sort of thing we were hoping to research,understand,rather than just be a parts-changer.
Thanks again!

That's the spirit. It reminds me of trying to keep Type III fuel injection working after the heat sensor went unobtainium.

Some electrolytic caps are cylinders with an X embossed in the top. The is a safety valve so they erupt instead of exploding. Also check for scorch marks, bulging, &etc.

Oscilloscopes are cool. When you zoom in on a square wave and start seeing details emerge it's like a fractal.

I'm a fan of the AvE Youtube channel. While he's mostly a machinist he did a video recently where he wanted to make an LED blink and he just started throwing components on a breadboard and explaining how each one got him closer until it worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P6hqQWd3Vw

https://www.youtube.com/user/arduinoversusevil/videos

Scroll down the list and see what you think. In the BOLTR series he tears down power tools and demonstrates knowledge of machining, circuit board design, molded plastics, nutrition, history — it's amazing.

Edit: I watched it again and the LED doesn't blink, it throbs. But there is important information on why capacitors have two different length leads.

Apologies in advance for the outro, it's a play on a Canadianism 'keep your stick on the ice'.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That's the spirit. It reminds me of trying to keep Type III fuel injection working after the heat sensor went unobtainium.

Some electrolytic caps are cylinders with an X embossed in the top. The is a safety valve so they erupt instead of exploding. Also check for scorch marks, bulging, &etc.

Oscilloscopes are cool. When you zoom in on a square wave and start seeing details emerge it's like a fractal.

I'm a fan of the AvE Youtube channel. While he's mostly a machinist he did a video recently whee he wanted to make an LED blink and he just started throwing components on a breadboard and explaining how each one got him closer until it worked.

https://www.youtube.com/user/arduinoversusevil/videos

Scroll down the list and see what you think. In the BOLTR series he tears down power tools and demonstrates knowledge of machining, circuit board design, molded plastics, nutrition, history — it's amazing.

This will be fun to look at.Thanks!