Zep's Underwhelming VF 540i

[angeleye540i]

My Modded NA 540 can beat a 335 Audi S5 V8 and V8 S4... Those are cars I have raced in person and beat, in theory it can beat a lot more than that...

[angeleye540i]

I've had two 01 540 sports and this one has always run particularly faster than my last one tho... Every now and then u get a really fast running motor and also not

[Zep]

Received the new cable from TTFS and managed to read the ECU and send the file to Kyle at TTFS.

It has taken a while but am I now really looking forward to getting the new tune upload and see how we go. I haven't driven the car since....October-ish I think so I am keen to get it up and running again.

I had a custom 2.5" exhaust fab'd up and installed prior to installing the 3.25" pulley and 42lb injectors, so in addition to the Alpina TCU flash and the 6500rpm limit I expect to see some decent power now.

[mcgnms]

Any updates?

[dk500]

Any updates?

^^^^^^ been following this for a while. Thinking of getting the supercharger along and some other parts, fanning the rest myself, and then getting either a custom tune or buying VFs tune.

[mcgnms]

What parts exactly do you plan finding/doing yourself?

[Zep]

Any updates?

No, nothing yet. Still waiting for the remapped file to be emailed to me.

[Clark49660]

My dyno sheet.IMG_1512.jpg

[mcgnms]

That is an interesting design.

[Clark49660]

What is it you find interesting.

[JimLev]

The metal tube and most VF's if seen have closer to 400 RWHP.

[Clark49660]

The previous owner had the supercharger installed. The pipe was custom made by RDP Motorsports in Ohio. The PO chose not to under drive the pulley due to the transmission being an automatic. I think with all the mods done on this car the RWHP #s should be higher.

[Zep]

After many months of being neglected, I finally got around to having the 3.25" pulley, 42lb injectors and TTFS tune sorted out.

I got a local workshop to do the work but they couldnt get the 1470mm belt on, so they purchased a 1485mm Gates belt as a temporary fix and so I could drive it out of there. It sat stationary for a while because the cables/software initially issued by TTFS were not compatible with the DME7.2 and took a bit of trial and error to resolve it.

After looking around for other alternative belts I ordered a few such as gates 1478 and 1470, however they aren't local and will take a week or so to arrive. As an interim measure I removed the VF tensioner pulley, which is 56mm and replaced it with a 70mm version, just to see if it improved things at all. I think with the 1478 belt it should be a good fit as it should give a little bit more wrap on the pulley but we shall see.

The check engine light is on and despite clearing some rich condition codes and it will not go away, which is a worry.

[philly98540]

I think once you get the belt size figured out, you'll be in good shape.

Scan for codes. You may have a check sum error.

[Zep]

I think once you get the belt size figured out, you'll be in good shape.

Scan for codes. You may have a check sum error.

What would the symptoms of a checksum error be?

[philly98540]

You'll just get a check engine light if you have that error. Did you scan for codes?

[Zep]

You'll just get a check engine light if you have that error. Did you scan for codes?

Yeah the codes were for rich conditions on banks 1 & 2. Cleared them yet the CEL remains.

A checksum error seems quite likely as it only appeared after loading the tune file. There wasn't any errors during the process however. How do I resolve a checksum error? Do just reload the tune file or will I need to speak to Frank about it?

[philly98540]

Scan again or use a better scanner. There must be a code if that light is on.

[Zep]

Scan again or use a better scanner. There must be a code if that light is on.

Using INPA I scanned and cleared all codes and shadow codes from the DME, EWS IKE and any other module I could access. The CEL is still on.

I might dig out my old laptop that has BMW scanner setup and see if that makes a difference.

As it stands now after driving around a little bit, the trims are pulling out as much fuel as it can at -25% STFTs on both banks. Perhaps the tune didn't load properly.

[geargrinder]

After looking around for other alternative belts I ordered a few such as gates 1478 and 1470, however they aren't local and will take a week or so to arrive. As an interim measure I removed the VF tensioner pulley, which is 56mm and replaced it with a 70mm version, just to see if it improved things at all. I think with the 1478 belt it should be a good fit as it should give a little bit more wrap on the pulley but we shall see.

The check engine light is on and despite clearing some rich condition codes and it will not go away, which is a worry.

Did you see the post I replied to you on Philly's thread about belts? I am sure the 1470 (was it a Goodyear by chance? got a couple gatorbacks - what VF supplied BITD - and they are so tight they seem wrong) could have been fitted but it does seem impossible until you have made it work a few times. Here's the reply I gave over there...

Zepper - the 60586 / 1485 belts will be too long for small pulley. The 60578 / 1470 (the 2 belt measurement standard equivalents...) should fit well but we have seen variation between mfrs for sure. For the 3.25 w 60578HD Gates green belt i def have no slip and great power and not impossible to fit. Belt is never a concern for me. W an even smaller pulley though i think Chris's wrap idler mod will be more essential.

Suggest you try maybe another mfr 60578 ? A goodyear 1470 is way way way tight for instance and takes super finagling to get on to the point of feeling wrong (although with work you can force it) but the gates "same size" is just enough difft to be fairly workable. Can you get a Gates?

Also if the rich is not going away - are you sure the TTFS flash "took" ? I have seen these ECU's look like they took a flash but actually reject it.

If you get a checksum error at the end of the flash it can be that the flash didn't take therefore you're still running on the OEM calibration therefore rich as crap.

What cable & SW are you using now to flash it? MPPS? Galletto?

[Zep]

Did you see the post I replied to you on Philly's thread about belts? I am sure the 1470 (was it a Goodyear by chance? got a couple gatorbacks - what VF supplied BITD - and they are so tight they seem wrong) could have been fitted but it does seem impossible until you have made it work a few times. Here's the reply I gave over there...



Also if the rich is not going away - are you sure the TTFS flash "took" ? I have seen these ECU's look like they took a flash but actually reject it.

If you get a checksum error at the end of the flash it can be that the flash didn't take therefore you're still running on the OEM calibration therefore rich as crap.

What cable & SW are you using now to flash it? MPPS? Galletto?

Yes, I saw your reply on Philly's thread. I have ordered a few belts as it appears some trial and error is needed. The belt I had was a Dayco 1470 so I ordered a Gates 1470 and 1478 to try.

The cable TTFS ended up using was the same as the VF hex tuning cable and a program called ProTuner 2.0. It seemed to load the file perfectly but...the STFTs are at -25% at idle and its not very smooth as you can imagine. Another problem I have is that the TTFS supplied logging software and cable do not work with DME7.2 so I will have to keep using TorquePro, which isnt a very good setup.

[Zep]

I have reloaded the TTFS file and it is still running very rich at idle. So I sent a log to Frank to see if it can be adjusted.

I also fitted a 1478 belt to match the 70mm tensioner pulley and belt slip appears to be minimal if any.

[mcgnms]

What is your idle AFR? Do you have SAI removed?

When you cold start and if your SAP is working, your gauge should read full lean until it turns off (even though the AFR is richer). Once its off the AFR should get to 14.7 on your gauge.

You're also 100% sure that your fuel pressure at idle is around 43 PSI? If your vac line isn't plugged in then you will have 52 PSI in the rail though it still shouldn't be enough to bring trims to -25%, because my AEM fuel pump overpowers the regulator/return and I have 65PSI of idle rail pressure and trims are only -8%.

[Zep]

What is your idle AFR? Do you have SAI removed?

When you cold start and if your SAP is working, your gauge should read full lean until it turns off (even though the AFR is richer). Once its off the AFR should get to 14.7 on your gauge.

You're also 100% sure that your fuel pressure at idle is around 43 PSI? If your vac line isn't plugged in then you will have 52 PSI in the rail though it still shouldn't be enough to bring trims to -25%, because my AEM fuel pump overpowers the regulator/return and I have 65PSI of idle rail pressure and trims are only -8%.

I haven't as yet installed my wideband so I cant conform AFRs, however I have deleted SAI and it is rich when completely warmed up.

The vacuum line is plumbed into the FPR just fine and before going to the 42lb injectors I had great fuel trims.

[mcgnms]

If you have no wideband how are you determining you're running rich. With regards to the vacuum line its plugged into the manifold right? Not the charge pipe?

Just because you have negative trims does not mean you're running rich if thats what you're using to come to the conclusion.