7 replies to this topic

[John Waight]

I recently purchased a Traqdash for my car and everything works pretty good with the exception of the RPM sweep and shift lights. At idle they are on and working, although bouncing around erratically. Under accelleration the RPM Sweep and shift lights disappear only to reappear under decelleration/braking.  I've checked the connection at the ig- wire at the diagnostic port all the way through to the TM receiver and everything is showing good continuity.

 

Has anyone had any similar experience with the RPM sweep and shift lights shutting off above idle?

 

I would have asked over at the Traqmate forum but they aren't taking new members right now. Since I've seen a lot of Traqmate systems in Spec Miatas, I figured this would be a good place to ask.

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

John Waight

 

[FTodaro]

John tell us a little more you bought the RPM module, is it RPM only or camera also,  where did you tap in the RPM  , wire? what other things are connected to the TM?

 

Did you go into the settings? The default should be SM but you want to review the settings also. Is everything grounded?

[Ron Alan]

This may or may not be related but part of your problem(symptoms)was something I had. My Lap timer(rumblestrip)has a wire for rpm that I stabbed into the diagnostic port. Long story but my stock tack and the rumblestrip started jumping all around at idle a few years ago. Didnt really bother me because it all worked. Then one day the car just died...but started back up. 2 events later the car died 3 times while sitting at idle. Again always started back up. Next event...car would start after cycling the key(or kill switch)but would not stay running. 

 

Bottom line after hours of diagnosing I was losing the ground signal to the injectors...and more hours of reading come to find this signal comes from or is related to the 94/95 coil pack. Changed the coil pack and the car runs again! And guess what...my tach signal is rock solid once again after 3 years!

 

Apparently the OBD2(3 pin 96+) coil packs do not produce this ground signal. But they dont work on the 94/95 cars.

[John Waight]

Nothing else is attached to the TM. The Rpm connector is tapped in at the diagnostic port under the hood at the IG- terminal. I've been all over the settings and it's all correct. The module was set for a tach signal from the ecu but you can flip a micro switch inside the module to accept the coil hookup. Once I flipped the switch the rpm signal was getting through and the rpm sweep was working. There's only 1 ground for the traqdash that you use to power the unit. Everything works fine until you accelerate then the sweep goes black and the shift light doesnt work. I think I probably have a bad rpm module,
I just don't want to buy another $49 part to confirm a guess.

[FTodaro]

I would just call the guys at Traqmate. I have always a positive experience with their support.

[Kevin B]

John,

I wish you the very best of luck on this one and please do follow up if/when you find the cure.   Don't buy the next $49 piece.  I own 2 of them as well as the full data/video connector now.  The answer likely isn't there.

 

You've described exactly our problem.   At ~2,500 rpm you'll see the graph of the signal flip.   It probably works fine at idle right?  And it probably lags behind throttle a bit when you ease upward from idle until ~3k.   Above that the tach will go negative.   The shift lights will work if you set the threshold down below that 3k window, so you can confirm they will work, just not at higher revs.   

 

I'm the guy behind a few of the support question threads on TM, trying to get TraqDash to work for the '95 ITA Miata.   Our only departure from your set up is that we use a Mega-Squirt on that car.  When I say we've tried everything, I'm not exaggerating.

After chasing it for weeks, I felt like we were giving up when we asked Tom's gurus at OPM to take a look.   They see many TMs in their cars.   They, too, tried everything, including swapping known good components, tapping all the same other areas to pull signal that we did  They had no luck, either.  TM was consulted.  My equipment has been tested and checks out...

(And that's no knock on OPM b/c we know they are good - it just validated that we weren't missing something obvious on our own).

 

I've all but worn out two of the TM plugs' micro-switches during the Coil to E and back testing every possible configuration and wire tap...I now own every conceivable piece of the TM solution and still can't get tach/shift lights.

 

The MS guys shared they've experienced the 94/95 to be a PITA where wiring and signals are concerned sometimes.  In addition to the ECU swap in mid-production Mazda apparently made several wiring harness changes during 94/95, some not widely publicized.  (I'll defer to the experts on that one - just repeating what was shared during troubleshooting).

 

My next step is to take the car and everything for Glen and the TM crew to lend their hands-on insight.

 

Good luck and please do report back.

[John Waight]

Funny you should mention that. I too, have Megasquirt on a 94-95 ITA Miata. I drove it around the neighborhood last night and from idle to slowly accelerating the RPMS work fine as do the shift lights ( I intentionally set them to a lower setting since I like where I live and I didn't want to go to jail for ripping through the neighborhood at 6000rpm). When I would coast in 2nd or 3rd gear downhill I have a perfect RPM signal. the sweep was working as well as the lights. I turned around at the bottom of the hill and began to accelerate more briskly and the tach went black and only the outer shift warning light was flickering. I spoke with Andre' at TM and based on all that he says it should all be working perfectly.

 

Could it be the Megasquirt?

 

Which MS are you using? I have the original white case MSPNP.

[John Waight]

To follow up on this, the Traqdash will work as advertised with the stock ecu as well as a later version of the Megasquirt. The Tach output is used by the radiator fan on the gen 1 MSPNP, why I don't know, so I can't use that output to try and run the Traqdash.