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New gvr4 owner! Problems... :(

Hi everyone!

I am the proud new owner of a 91 galant vr4! love the car but am having some issues and questions i need to over come.

first of all, looks like the limited edition plate on the dash has been 'misplaced' is it possible to have a replica made? also, does it say some where in a serial/vin code what number out of 3000 it is?

second, and here comes the fun stuff.. Lol.. the ecu that is currently in the car has a peice of tap on it saying ' 1993 turbo fwd ' what should i make of this? perhaps the old owner switched it due to bad caps? does this ecu work will with the vr4? which leads me to my other problem. the car runs very rich. the ecu is throwing a CEL code 12 (maf). could this be due to the current ecu that is in the car? it also appears that the old owner cut the plug going to the maf and resolderd the wires, why i dont know .. Maybe to splice in some kinda af controller but is there a pinout for the ecu going to the maf to check is wire to be sure the connections are good?

Thanks guys, im kinda stuck here so any help would be great.erhaps the old owner switched it due to bad caps? does this ecu work will with the vr4? which leads me to my other problem. the car runs very rich. the ecu is throwing a CEL code 12 (maf). could this be due to the current ecu that is in the car? it also appears that the old owner cut the plug going to the maf and resolderd the wires, why i dont know .. Maybe to splice in some kinda af controller but is there a pinout for the ecu going to the maf to check is wire to be sure the connections are good?

Thanks guys, im kinda stuck here so any help would be great.
 

Galactica

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
103
Location
Beaverton, OR
First of all, welcome to the site! I'm new myself and already enjoying everything I'm learning. One thing I did learn is that if your plate is missing on the dash, there is really no way to know what number out of 2000 actually for 91 you have. My 92 is missing its plate out of 1000. Bummer, but what do you do.... The other stuff I'll let someone else chime in on because I have nooo idea...
 

Diego

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
2,132
Location
In a van down by the river, Iowa
I can answer your first question.

Yes you can have one remade (well sorta) Steve makes the replica FOBs that were on the keychains of our keys when orignally bought.
That link is at the top of the FS thread or just click . That will give you a Fob if you need one, or you can wait, check Ebay, wait some more, check here, check again, and then finally keep checking and someone might, and I mean might be selling a badge from a car in the crusher or going to the crusher.

2nd part of your first question.
No you will never know, if it was badged then the only people to know it will be the first owner (willing to bet they took the badge before selling down the road) and if they told the 2nd owner then they as well would know. There was a few that were never badged but those are pretty hard to find.
 

thedsmguy

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
1,785
Location
Vancouver Washington
The 93 fwd turbo ecu should run your car well. There is a tiny bit of timing etc that is different I "think" from a awd vs fwd ecu but nothing you would really notice. Also, the spliced maf was likely done so a 2g maf could be used and then when the car was put back to stock they spliced a 1g/gvr4 plug back in. That is just a educated guess but its the most likely scenario in my book. Also, I'd really check those connections to the maf and swap the maf with a local turbo dsm just for kicks. Heck, I'd swap ecu's as well and see if either helps your car out.

Good luck with it, they are a blast when right..
 

transparentdsm

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Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
i have heard of some people having the badge number somewhere in the inside of the trunk lid. where im not sure, but i was told this by someone who was trying to figure out the same thing on one of these forums... i could be totally wrong, but it may be there. the CEL may be coming on because the maf is actually bad. are all the honey combs still in it? also how do you know your running rich, do you have a wide band o2 in it? im not sure, but i think you can test the maf with a digital multi meter, just goggle it. should pop up in there, also do the search with dsm or eclipse in there, same exact sensor and theres a lot of dsm guys with tons of knowledge out there.
 

vtecds1

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Jan 16, 2004
Messages
1,705
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Las Begas
Welcome to the site...

I would double check that the wires have good connections and if they are are indeed where they are suppose to be. Mine was throwing a code(barometric) and I thought it was a bad mas, so I purchased a used one. When I went to install it...I found out that one of the wires were loose. I soldered it back up and no more code...
 

4wheelsqueal

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Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Messages
447
Location
Shawano,WI
Check the wiring down by the ecu as well. If there was a 2g maf in there at one time, chances are there may have also been an safc wired in as well and if the wires were not reconnected correctly, that could throw a maf code. Good luck!
 
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GSX_TC

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Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
3,722
Location
Houston, Texas
check the number in the ECU to make sure it really is for that 93 FWD or whatever. because sometimes the casings are different than whats inside. its possible that you might have a 90 and he didnt swap pins 6 and 14
 

KiNgMaRtY

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Joined
Apr 8, 2008
Messages
835
Location
Corona, CA
Quoting 4wheelsqueal:
Check the wiring down by the ecu as well. If there was a 2g maf in there at one time, chances are there may have also been an safc wired in as well and if the wires were not reconnected correctly, that could throw a maf code. Good luck!


Check this
 

spooling92vr4

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
2,511
Location
long island, NY
Quoting FavNumber:
Give iceman your VIN number and he might already have the car registered and might possibly have the cars badge number as well.

Also, welcome.



This, Its possible the original owner may have stumbled upon here and registered his vin. Iceman has most of our vins and badge numbers in a registry, so you could get lucky.
 

Thanks everyone! for the warm welcome and all the help! here is my progress:

the vin is:

ja3cx56u2mz012084

maybe someone can see if has been registered and what limited edition number is it.

I performed continuity tests on the 7 pins at the maf connector back to the ecu. everything looks good but when i test pin 3 (mpi control relay) it is connected to pins 58,59, 67 and 68. these are coils a1 to b2 for idle speed control motor. does this sound right?

i should also say that the car also idles high (2500 rpm and doesnt seem to drop down from there)

i will also check if indeed its a 93 ecu, its just written on it with a sharpie.

Thanks again everyone!
 

vtecds1

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Jan 16, 2004
Messages
1,705
Location
Las Begas
High idle- check that your TPS, IPS and ISC are all within spec. click me
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
... check the throttle cable is not too tight causing the throttle to hang open too.
Also could the throttle stop switch being turned in too far. It has the single wire push on terminal on the TB.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Sorry evil, no one registered that VIN ever. No badge # info.
 

I'm happy to report the issues have been resolved. it wasn't a 12 cel code, but 21 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif coolent temp sensor.

removed the fiav and that fixed the high idle.

and found the previous ower of the car who has the limited ed badge!
 

if your having maf codes i would check the sensor and make sure it is working with a dvom or a scope. if the maf is working you have some resistance in the signal wire so check at the ecu as well. when maf's arent working mitsu's run like crap
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
20
Location
fredericksburg va
yes replica dash badges r made all the time and very common the fwd will work and if its running rich your maf is the issue unless you have huge injectors make sure your wiring is good via pinouts 4 your car and not a bad idea to put a new maf in try that and act accordingly
 

mikus

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Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
2,763
Location
Aurora IL
Quote:
when i test pin 3 (mpi control relay) it is connected to pins 58,59, 67 and 68. these are coils a1 to b2 for idle speed control motor. does this sound right?


Short answer, yes fine.
MPI switches pin 10 to pins 4/5 and those in turn push power to most of the junk on your engine. When that junk is all connected, you can even get ground to +12V continuity at points. I just took a crash course in understanding MPI circuit, PM me if you have any questions on it. I've got MAF pinout notes here as well, but sounds like you're OK there.
 
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