Travel Photographer - Dr. Jeff Harper Photo Blog

I haven't sold the 1.5JZ in my race car yet . . . even at a great price.

Last week-end was a bit of a debacle for me at the track: An electrical gremlin pestered me all afternoon and evening. There was a periodic ignition miss that came and went. Unfortunately, it reared it's ugly head right when I was at the front of the line in the staging lanes on Saturday night.. I had to 'idle through' the track . . . but when I got to the top end I gave it the gas . . . and NO MISS! Frustrating! Peter and I fiddled with the wiring, but it still came and went. I will have to chase all the wires in the ignition system to find it. Oh well. I need to spend more time with the car. It was built five years a go and the heat and humidity may be taking its toll on insulation and causing corrosion. Time to run some new wire.

I have added many photos to the China, Australia, Studies of Stuff, and the My Beloved Thailand section of Travel Photo Bank section of this site. Please check them out.

Update on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 4:49PM by

Dr. Jeff Harper

I spent the morning in my shop chasing the wiring and, get this, reading the MicroTech ECU manual. I began to focus only on the wires to the coils and the power, ground, and crank position sender. Sure enough, I noticed that with the engine running, every time I wiggled the small clip for the crank position sender, the red warning light began to flash. I got some cleaner and a small pick and "re-connected" that wire to the brass clip, restarted the motor . . . . and no more miss, no more warning light . . . . no matter how much I pulled, wiggled, or moved around the warning light would NOT COME ON. Also, the motor was much stronger . . . absolutely no missl Too bad it was raining or I would have tested it. Here are some pics from today.

Clean shop . . . right before it started raining!

This is the 'Office'. The electrics are easy to get to. The fuses and relays are in the 'glove box'. Switches and controls are all within reach. The Microtech ECU and Dash Unit are there, the programmable trans controller (PCS) is easy to get to. Some gauges, but who has time to look at them during the run. The AEM wide-band 02 gauge is the only one I peek at in 3rd gear.