Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I though I'd keep this one to myself until yesterday when a resolution was reached and confirmed.

If anyone has an Elite 2500 I suggest you upgrade to the latest 2.34.00 firmware and ESP 2.42 software immediately, and preferably do it with your coilpacks unplugged or at least the coilpack power feed unplugged.

On the blue 2.8 Nitro 32 during a firmware update about six weeks ago I had a slight issue where during the update to my 2500, my coilpacks harness and main engine loom decided to smoke, catch fire and melt. Completely destroyed main harness along firewall and at coilpacks harness power supply plug. Car was running well before this and are using R35 coilpack upgrade from Godzilla motorsport.

Cause was unknown at this stage so ECU was sent back to Haltech for inspection and test, and ends up testing fine. After post mortem on engine loom discovered the earth wire which carries the coilpack power had melted due to excessive current, taking out the rest of the cables it was loomed with. After bringing this up with Haltech the only conclusion I could reach was that during the firmware update it triggered all six coilpacks to try and charge the primary side simultaneously for an extended period of time without discharging, which in turn will make an excessive amount of current flow through the power supply wires to the loom.

If you look at the coilpack 12v supply the positive is also much larger gauge than the ground wire. Compounding this is issue if you run R35 coilpacks which draw considerably more current than stock coils, if this is to happen the risk of cable failure is increased if all coils decide to charge all at once and then not discharge.

After bringing this to Haltechs attention they decided to retain my Elite for further testing, which confirmed that the coilpack outputs could indeed randomly turn on during the firmware update, as the ECU will be in a state of no configuration while erasing the existing firmware and writing the new one.

After receiving back my 2500, on the 21/10/2019 comes a new firmware 2.34.00 which the first changelog mentioned in it was the rectification of the coilpack outputs switching on during a firmware update.

Car was finally finished off yesterday with the original Elite 2500 on 2.34.00, and a whole new wiring specialties main engine and coil pack loom to replace the fried stock one. Fired up first go, no DTC's and all sensors reporting as normal.

Again, Please do update immediately with your coilpacks unplugged

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/479058-haltech-elite-2500-firmware-23400/
Share on other sites

Ouch. That sort of software "bug" is an absolute bastard to plan for in the hardware and software specification stage and in the programming/testing phase. There are so many possible random such things that could go wrong, it would be hard to imagine them all.

I guess Haltech could take a leaf from the designers of safety critical systems and just make sure that all outputs are off (assumed to be the safe state) at all times when not required - which would be especially true of those edge cases where the ECU program is not actually in charge, ie during flashing. Just needs one or two interlocks to be put in place.

It's surprising that they can fix it just with a firmware update though - so maybe they have already had the physical side of it in place in the original design, older firmwares were doing it properly and somewhere along the way the software side of it got lost or bugged out.

Thank you for that!

Haltech updates sometimes do extremely strange things, not long ago I upgraded the firmware and somehow after the upgrade all my I/O mappings vanished!

Luckily Haltech auto saves maps for you, so imported it back in.

They need to get Andy from Adaptronic (which is pretty much Haltech now) to allow Haltechs to be accessed without the need to be powered up. I remember with the old 440D Adaptronic you could just power it up with a USB and load/mod the map however you wanted it before you even connected it up.

Yeah it would be good to access the ECU while car is off, and ECU was USB powered. The new ESP 2.42 software, which was only released Monday 28/10 also won't upgrade from the old ESP. Have to completely uninstall 2.41 or earlier and fresh install 2.42 ESP. Doesn't erase any saved maps though as they are saved elsewhere.

There is also a bug in the ESP software on the knock control long term trim, which sometimes doesn't apply timing changes permanently to the base ignition map when applied.  Won't melt an engine loom though which was an absolute bastard of a job to replace.

  • Like 1
On 06/11/2019 at 7:50 PM, r32-25t said:

I just did mine, disconnected the igniter and main plug for the coil harness, no issue 

But did you enable rolling anti-lag? Need bang bangs on gear shift 

  • 1 year later...

Ok guys more heads up on Haltech firmware. If you are using 2.38.00 at the moment on an Elite 2500 or 2000 there is a problem with it - get off it now.

The problem is related to running the wideband, causing it to randomly malfunction and get stuck in boot mode. After speaking to Haltech the problem mostly occurs when upgrading to 2.38, but for me this happened when trying to move to 2.39 and the firmware update could not complete. This caused my Elite to lockup and get the wideband stuck in boot mode, which causes the wideband to draw max current.

Basically to fix it I had to go back from 2.38 to 2.37, then move to 2.39.01 which corrected the issue. If you're not on 2.38 don't worry as Haltech have since removed it from the firmware update list and is no longer obtainable.

There is also a new ESP pack 2.47.01 available too, which is not downloadable on their site. It is only installable though your existing ESP software when the ESP is using online connection.

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • What does it look like with highway driving? And yes, I had a similar thought as Duncan. It looks quite similar in my Stagea and I have made myself accept it as normal. Might have to look into it some day  
    • While I was waiting for the new parts to come in for the charge pipe and radiator I decided to do some turbo modification. The drive pressure (exhaust backpressure) was a lot higher that I thought it should be. For 32lbs of boost drive was 55lbs. The turbine housing is a 1.10AR and my turbo builder has suggested to go to a 1.25AR. To test if a larger AR would do anything to reduce drive pressure AND not spend any money I decided to hog out the divider in my current housing. I removed it from the inlet and the whole way through the housing.  After reassembly and testing it doesn't look like this modification did anything for reducing drive pressure or requiring more fuel (making more power). Oh well, it was worth a shot. We'll get some data at the track if it makes it past the 60ft. I also machined a $7 shift knob off Amazon to fit my Stillway shifter since I didn't like the Stillway shift knob. Next on the list was the radiator replacement and fabrication of a new intercooler tube that had no silicon coupler. No pictures of this - I was short on time each night after work to get this done and didn't stop to take pictures.  Next was to get the clutch disks out and replaced. Previously when installing the dogbox I had ordered a set of the same sintered iron disks I had been running because I switched to the 26-spline input shaft. I thought it was odd that they didn't have any markings or brand name on them like all my old disks had but installed them anyway. At the track I could not get the clutch to lock up using my normal strategies. After two track nights I reached out to the clutch manufacturer and ask their thoughts. They said they had to switch the material out because they were having trouble getting the original material and that this new material would not take to being slipped very well.  So out with the first set of 26-spline disks and in with the correct material 26-spline disks. While I had the trans out I added an inspection/service hole. I've wanted one of these for a while. Now I can have a look at things and change the front cover shimming when needed (clutch wear). I hustled and got the clutch change done in a few hours on a Saturday. Hopped in the car and drove home. On the way home I did a 1-3 pull. When shifting from 2nd to 3rd the core plug in the back of the cylinder head popped out and dumped all the coolant. Thankfully I was only 30 seconds from home and coasted it there. Datalog showed nothing unusual and 2.5psi of coolant pressure. That plug has been in there since 1992 but I guess it worked its way out. Pulled the trans AGAIN and replaced the plug, JB welded it in, and made a brace. Also deleted the head drain I had added in during the bearing issue fiasco.  I am currently changing my boost control plumbing to make it cleaner. After that is done I'll make another attempt at getting past the 60.
    • Are you 100% sure this isn't tune related?
    • 140-150 across the board. At this point hoping the grounding harness fixes it. My grounds are all tied to the chassis and none to the battery. For SR and KA that’s never been a problem for me but had a few other guys here and Reddit who told me RB really like a very solid ground setup tied to the battery so going to try that next, I’m stumped if that doesn’t do it. Never had a car have spark and fuel and not fire off before. Only thing I can think is the spark is intermittent/weak because of grounds nothing else really makes sense at this point 
    • I am having close to the same issue. Can you help me with what wire you grounded to get your pump to trigger?
×
×
  • Create New...