Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing My continuing GDI saga, and its not good news.

Dealers are like a box of chocolates. Some are better than others and what they do can vary considerably. Some have a reputation, which is not shared by all customers. But BHM is right up there. They have a wide knowledge base because they also look after race cars. I've known Keith, Sarah and Brett since I first met them at the Buxton Mog in 2009. I bought my 2012 75th Anniv there and my 2016 GDI.

Obviously there are closer dealers, in fact most are closer, and some are great dealers. But I chose BHM because of my experiences over the last seventeen years. I also did my book signing there in 2018/9 and will do another one in September/October this year. I could easily do other book signings at Dealers, but last time it never came up.

Anyway, from the above posts, you can see that the OBD plug should not be locked out, but that's exactly what Morgan did. Dealers only.

Hi Dave

Given the fact that your problem got worse gradually over a 20 min period I would think it is fair to say that it did not drop into limp mode, at least not initially. In my case with my Ford Fusion when there was a throttle position error detected the car went straight into limp. So perhaps in your case the throttle position sensing is not the problem.

On the subject of not being able to connect this intrigues me. I was in the exact same position when I first bought my present Morgan in that nothing I tried would connect but I knew that MMC and the dealers could. For a long time I came to the same conclusion as you that MMC had locked accesses to everything except their specialist diagnostic software. As it turned out after a lot of reading and searching this was not the case. What MMC had actually done is fitted an EEC that was long out of date and used a Ford only and now obsolete protocol known as Ford DCL which falls into the category of OBD1. I don't suppose you can blame them for getting rid of old stock on cars that were not destined for the USA where in 1999 when my car left the factory the car could not be sold legally. When you mention dealers and MMC can access the port there are in fact at least four ports wired to different pins on your diagnostic socket. These ports handle a range of different protocols and speeds I know of at least eleven variations. Even the very cheap and simple OBD2 readers will scan through all these ports and options on initial connection until they receive an intelligible response. I know all this dreary stuff from trying to work out why my car would not connect. Anyway I am confident that BHM will resolve your issue. I know that really this is none of my business but if it's not too much of a cheek I would love to know for my own education if they can confirm that all but the inner sanctum are locked out of these GDI cars.

Regards

Tony

The 400 is not an ecu upgrade; it has a different engine - a newer version of the B58 known as the “B58 01”, which has a higher output before you start tuning it. The tuning for 402bhp was done by BMW.

My understanding was as follows, we maybe at cross purposes here :-


'BMW approved the use of its engine and permitted Morgan to conduct its own throttle and powertrain tuning for the Supersport 400, provided Morgan utilized their official calibration partner, FEV''

Isn't that what I said, doesn't that not involve ECU upgrades/programming in conjunction with an approved BMW tuning partner. I didn't mention the engine type.......the point being that BMW still kept control over the process...... .

Whoops Just noticed my previous post should have read ECU not EEC

[Update from BHM......................................................................

Connected the laptop and no faults recorded.

Compared live readings with another GDI and all looked the same.

Tried your ecu on another GDI, and it ran fine so discounted ecu.

Uploaded all the info to the factory who wouldn`t look any further until the earth behind the brake servo was relocated on chassis. Made no difference.

Factory suggested trying the throttle body so changed that, and throttle pedal, but no change.

Tested the airflow meter from another GDI, (even though readings look good) and it now starts like a normal GDI.

Might put it through an MOT tomorrow with the donor airflow meter.


This is me now.......So, no faults recorded. So even with OBD access I would have been screwed at home. It doesn't really explain what's been going on with the MAF. I've cleaned it a couple of times since the first problem, but it never made any difference, so it was never high on my list. I suppose the learning point here is to start with the easy changes.

Dave,

If I'm reading your posting correctly the MAF is malfunctioning in some way, isn't there a serious of MAF error codes that would have been generated

Common error codes generated by a bad or dirty MAF sensor include:
P0100: MAF Circuit Malfunction
P0101: MAF Circuit Range/Performance Problem (often caused by a contaminated sensor or unmetered air leak)
P0102: MAF Circuit Low Input (e.g., sensor unplugged or shorted
)P0103: MAF Circuit High Input (e.g., faulty sensor reading maximum capacity)
P0113: Intake Air Temperature (IAT) Circuit High (The IAT is built into the MAF sensor on this engine)
P006A: MAP - Mass or Volume Air Flow Correlation (occurs when the MAF and MAP readings disagree)
P0171: System Too Lean (often triggered when a bad MAF sensor calculates less air than is actually entering, resulting in improper fuel mixture)

When these codes are thrown, the ECU will typically illuminate the Check Engine Light and may enter a "limp mode" to protect the engine until the issue is resolved.

Is it just a case you couldn't access those codes through the reader or the error codes weren't generated, from what you write it looks like the codes weren't generated? Will you be able to use a reader at home in the future or does that still represent a problem.

THe reason for the interest is basically when I was looking at getting the CX, I also came across a brand new GDI Works Edition which had been in storage from new, which had the 180 bhp ecu and exhaust system, similar or the same as your car. It was your ongoing experiences and issues that put me off getting the WE as well, so I've followed your progress with interest on this particular issue, more to vindicate my decision not to get the Works Edition.

There were no error codes John, and I don't expect to be able to access the error codes when I get it back. I just get the feeling that this is how it is with the GDI.

So even if I had been able to access at home it would have told me nothing. It was basically the last thing BHM looked at because the computer was showing identical parameters to a GDI running correctly.

Not good, I can only imagine your frustration, but also relief to be getting your car back MOT'd.

Glad you have got the car back and BHM have done what they excel at.

Two observations I have never owned a code reader as over 43 years I have not seen the need as faults thus far for me have been logic deduction, now I'm happy to admit I may have been lucky.

The other is that after a lifetime of fault finding and rectification for a living in the commercial electronics field and found on occasion too much information can steer you away from the initial cause, it is a very fine line.

I think your explanation and process will be a great help to others with a GDI though.

I run my cars most days excepting salty conditions and I think regular running makes a huge difference to the wellbeing of the cars and me observed over 43 years and not a battery charger in sight....