Nate - Track Goblin - 2008 Cobalt Donor

[BAR-AIR]

Nate has had a lot of hurdles to get this all to work. And it is actually coming out even better then either of us has expected or even dreamed of. As for the logics, the VW community has been converting sand rails and high power custom VW’s to Ecotec engines for years using a similar stand alone set up and yes the ECM needs to be reflashed removing most if not all of the non essentials -no need for the BCM and a new OBDII port is wired right into the new harness. (He has had it only running for a few seconds at this point due to what we think is a throttle body to pedal issue - harness was set up with a Malibu pedal while the plug is the same as a cobalt the internals may be different. As for the lack of key issue, plenty of other ways to secure the ignition and or the car itself whether mechanically or electronically.

 

[Nate]

We are securing the lack of a key by installing master kill switches on both cars (BAR-AIR + I). I am also planning on wiring in a phaser sound alarm to the car horn with a secondary cut off switch that is out of sight so anyone without knowledge of this is just going to get a pulsating horn/alarm. As a last line of defense the hard mounted iPad provides a way to track the car and without access to the iPad any individual will not have access to guages (speedometer especially). Hopefully we never have to worry about that, but there will definitely be systems in check to allow to keep the car in the right hands

 

[Brian74]

There is s company I went through that can custom etch all of those carling swirches for you with whatever symbol or text you want on them.

 

[Nate]

Yeah they did come with stickers but etching would be a cool alternative. How much do they charge for that product/service?

 

[Brian74]

Yeah they did come with stickers but etching would be a cool alternative. How much do they charge for that product/service?

I dont remember it being terribly expensive.
https://rockerswitchpros.com/custom-rocker-switch-cover-actuator/

 

[Nate]

Good Evening,

I have an issue and I wanted to see if anyone has an input on what could be the issue.

I have a stand alone wiring harness which gets rid of all of the VATS and security wiring that is normally in the goblin wiring platform. I have all of the connection and I am getting compression and fuel pressor but I can't seem to get it to run for anything more than like 2-3 seconds before it dies. I definitely sounds like it wants to run but I just need to diagnose what the issue is to hopefully get a continual run. If anyone has any advice or suggestions or even to narrow it to a mechanical or electrical issue I am all ears. I just want to make sure we are just overlooking something stupid.

Here is a video of the start:
1st video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1STlVwZzT_rQM0L98zP0ai8r2aIvRQDyH/view?usp=sharing
2nd video started about 5 seconds after the first:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lTlhvPxwxxJO9g7RurTnKdwv4aQnG0dx/view?usp=sharing

Thanks,
Nate

 

[JSATX]

Did you bleed the fuel rail? It’s really rare to have it die, usually it’s just a no start... Is the maf orientation correct? Tightened down the spark plugs? I don’t really know where you are on the build so just listing the first things that come to mind

 

[Bretter]

Nate, that is exactly what ours did initially - ran for about a second and quit. In our case, the inlet pipe and filter were not on and the breather for the valve cover was sealed. We managed to get it to run by holding my hand over the inlet and choking it a bit.

Later, after we installed the inlet pipe, air filter and MAF in the proper position, and vented the valve cover - it ran just fine. Throttle response is a bit slow but that is something to look at later in more detail. Sorry not a detailed problem fix but ours was behaving very similarly initially.

The only other thing I can think of might be the key. Not sure about the Cobalt/Goblin, but I have seen other cars that with an aftermarket key (no chip) will start and run for very short time and then shut down because the chip wasn't there. Perhaps you have a similar issue of something to do with key programming/validation?

 

[TheNuker]

Mine did that and it was the MAF. I unplugged it(it was the wrong direction) and it worked fine after that.

Nuker-

Also noticed your fuel pump primes for about 1/4 of the time that mine does.

 

[Lonny]

You can spray some starter fluid into the air filter or intake as it starts to die and see if it responds.

Be careful while doing it. If the engine backfires it can discharge flames.

To rule out any MAF problems it would be a good idea to disconnect it until you get it to stay running.

You may also want to put a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and see if it is maintaining fuel pressure as it dies.

 

[ctuinstra]

Split the problem in half. LIke Lonny said, that will help to determine if it's fuel related or not. I second the fuel pressure gauge to make sure there is fuel to the engine. Otherwise it must be electrical.

 

[SliderR1]

have you checked for any codes? Mine was doing something similar a few days ago and it was throwing all kinds of codes - traced it to a loose connection on one of the PCM plugs.

 

[BAR-AIR]

Good Afternoon,
Been working with Nate trying to get his engine running. Quick update and question.... 1st car is running for 3-4 seconds at a time then dies. The MAF sensor was facing the wrong direction increased run time by about 1-2 seconds. Now the question...
Does anyone have or know the wiring schematic for the 4 wires going to the fuel pump. You have a ground (first wire on the left), you have a power (next to the ground moving right). Then you have an additional two wires (one for the fuel gauge? And one for?) and which is which.... reason for question Nate’s car has a completely standalone wiring harness so NO main fuse block NO BCM. So the fuel pump primes the fuel rail just as it should but I don’t think the fuel pump is running after the engine starts So are one of those two wires the continuous power to run the pump after engine start or is the continuous power to the fuel pump supplied by the power wire through the ECM (so at power up the ECM puts power to the pump just to prime the fuel rail then takes the power off until engine start where it supplies continuous power to the pump.
THX,
Bruce

 

[TheNuker]

Have you stuck a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail shearer valve? I wonder if it is rapidly dropping as it fires.

Nuker

 

[ctuinstra]

You should be able to measure the 12vdc going to the fuel pump using the first two wires (GND and Power). Make sure that it's getting power not only at ignition, but during cranking and then also after cranking. You could even jump the relay to force the pump on all the time just to see if it's a fuel pump issue or not. I would recommend doing this next to take the pump issue out of the question.

I'm sure the other two wires are for the float, but I will check and confirm.

 

[ctuinstra]

For reference:

 

[ctuinstra]

 

[ctuinstra]

 

[ctuinstra]

What you are describing for the wiring to the fuel pump does not match up with what I looked up. I used a 2007 Cobalt SS as an example. Maybe there is a difference in the models, but it's not wired the same as you are describing.

Hope this helps.

 

[BAR-AIR]

Good Evening,
Fuel pressure holding constant (55-65 psi) through the entire sequence. At power up fuel pump powers up and bring pressure to 55 psi pump turns off during and after start pressure still holding at 55-65 psi.