Something weird happened

[Gelf VXR]

So i was logging after replacing my headers, fitted new stock O2 and MAF, I went for a drive and suddenly headlights started switching off and on again, traction warning light light and go to dealership warnings came on, hazards tried to flash and instruments cluster switched, engine continued to run fine until i got home. I removed the ignition key, however many relays continued clicking away until removed the battery.

I noticed the flash scan screen was blue, i plugged flash scan into laptop screen is still blue, i can make out the screen if i tilt to an angle, its also getting hot which i never noticed before?

When connected to efilive control panel it responds normally.

Car is still no good all kinds of electrical activity with relays when i reconnect the battery, still starts thou?

Any ideas, is the FSW2 repairable?

[Gelf VXR]

After turning on and off security and doors with the remote key the electrics sorted themselves out, i plugged the FSV2 back in and trhe screen came back to normal also, weird. I checked for error codes and saw U0001 - high speed Can communication bus and U0121 - lost communication with the anti locking brake system.

I also saw that the traction control would bleep and switch off when i attempted to BB log the first few times, switching off the ignition reset and no error codes reported, could i have a problem with the FSV2 on the can bus?

[joecar]

Gelf, sounds like a ground connection has been disrupted.

[Gelf VXR]

Its almost back to normal now, Ive got no headlights, side lights and rear lights.There's a common ground on the chassis right next to the battery location, i'm going to check that out, im also checking out the BCM loom under the dash as ive seen that the loom can chaff on the pontiac gto behind the glove box, I think BCM is in the same location as that's were all the activity is taking place but on the drivers side here in the UK, mines a vauxhall (holden) Monaro.

[joecar]

Yes, check for damaged wiring.

At any ground point, with engine running (or otherwise key on) measure voltage drop from cable to grounding point, if it's any greater than 0.1V then it is suspect... also measure voltage across ground cable from battery.

I keep ground points good and waterproof by spraying a little ATF into the cable end and on the stud/nut/ring.

[Gelf VXR]

Something is still wrong with the FSV2, when i
try to read or update config file it reports folder error or not present Read $0185 an write $0183.

I'm beginning to think the flash scan may have caused the can bus error i reported earlier, is it possible? its been having problem with corrupting the previous SD card loosing data during logging, the one im using now is new?

[Blacky]

On some vehicles (we still haven't narrowed it down to a specific list of vehicles), FlashScan can interfere with the low speed CAN bus which is on pin 1 in the OBD connector. When plugging FlashScan into the OBD port it powers up and internally disconnects itself from pin 1 to avoid any issues. However, there is a very small window of time after pin 1 has physically connected and before FlashScan has fully powered up where FlashScan is not is control of that pin. On some vehicles that can cause a comms issue on the low speed CAN bus. The easiest solution is to remove (i.e. cut out) pin 1 from the OBDII cable end. FlashScan/AutoCal will never use pin 1, so it doesn't need to be there. It was only included in the original design just in case it was ever needed for flashing/logging duties.

When the screen is difficult to read when connected via OBD but OK to read when connected via USB (or vice versa) then it is likely a voltage/current supply issue. In your case it is possible that the OBDII connector was not supplying FlashScan with enough voltage and/or current. That could be due to a bad ground like Joe said. Or if FlashScan has some internal damage, FlashScan may be shorting to ground which would cause it to get hot.

The $0183 and $0185 errors are usually caused by a corrupt or un-formatted SD Card. Try reformatting the SD Card.

Regards
Paul

[Gelf VXR]

Thank you for feed back, I did format the config file from within V8 control panel and all good now.

Its never acted strange before, but i noticed if i wiggled the OBD2 cable at the FSV2 connection i would get a traction control warning, i checked the pins inside which one looked a bit out off line and managed to straighten it it again.

Ive got two K types for EGT connected, one of which is now reading sporadically dropping to zero upto 1032, ill try swap them over to see if its the k type and changes channel

[Blacky]

Not sure if this will help but while testing you can activate the built in test mode by pressing F4->F4->F4 (hidden option). Then press OK when it says to connect a second FlashScan (you only need the second FlashScan if you're testing the ALDL, VPW, CAN or SCI interfaces).

Press F1 to test keypad (note, the Ctrl key is not recognized during the keypad test - that is not a keypad fault - that's a programming fault of the guy who wrote the test software - i.e. me :( )
Press 1 to test the LCD test will test all the pixels on the LCD
Press 2 to test the ROM test will test 6 random banks of flash memory (press Ctrl+2 to test ALL banks) This will destroy the contents of the internal flash memory and you will need to re-copy any files that were previously in the internal flash memory.
Press 3 to test the SDM test will test the SD Card. This will destroy the contents of the SD Card and you will need to re-format and re-copy any files that were previously on the SD Card.

20534

Regards
Paul

[Gelf VXR]

I ran the test and all was ok, while i was out logging yesterday it quit logging for some reason, if i tried to start a new log it beeped and ended the log.

Repeated the internal test again and it reported a ROM failed erase write error, hooked it up to the car and repeated the test and it was ok, back to the laptop and now ok, is this normal?

[Blacky]

I ran the test and all was ok, while i was out logging yesterday it quit logging for some reason, if i tried to start a new log it beeped and ended the log.

Repeated the internal test again and it reported a ROM failed erase write error, hooked it up to the car and repeated the test and it was ok, back to the laptop and now ok, is this normal?

It is not normal to fail that test. It indicates that the flash memory is starting to fail - or something else is interfering with the flash erase/write process.

In the EFILive error document, the error $C6 is explained as "External flash was not erased correctly". (Note: it shows up incorrectly in the V8 error search/display option as a "write error").
When flash memory is erased all the memory bits in the flash chip are set to 1's. During the test procedure the test routine verifies that every single bit is set to 1. If it finds any bit set to 0, then it displays that error.

If the firmware attempts to write to a block of memory that has been erased incorrectly (i.e. with some bits still set to 0) then the data that gets written will most likely be corrupted. And if the data gets corrupted then that can lead to any number of other seemingly unrelated issues.

Given the other issues you've reported (especially the part about it getting hot) it may not be a faulty flash chip but some other error, possibly a power supply or ground issue that is causing the faults.

Regards
Paul

[joecar]

Flash chips erase by setting all bits to one's, and they program by physically writing zero's and leaving one's alone...

so as Paul said you are seeing flash memory failure.


Try something, like putting it in the fridge overnite (in a sealed ziplok), and then trying the test again in the morning.