my Goblin is unwell

Painjack

Member
So I recently completed my build, and was having a no crank condition with the key turn. I got some great advice on here, and was eventually able to trace it back to the ground connector on the transmission case. That ground lug had 6 wires going to it, but only one of them was actually connected to the lug, the rest had corroded through and were only held in place by the crimps. I fixed that, and was able to start the goblin without jumping the ground from the crank relay. It still ran pretty rough, but it did run.. for about a minute. When it died, I was able to restart it, but it died again pretty quick. When I tried to restart it the third time, there was a short, loud, squeal from the engine, and then nothing. After that, when I turned the key, it only went "clunk" but the starter did not crank.

Now, I knew the battery was pretty well junk, as it had been sitting in the donor car on the insurance lot over the winter, and I've had to charge it whenever I wanted to test anything, and the clunks sounded like the solenoid closing but the battery not having enough amperage to crank, so I replaced the battery. Now, with the battery at full charge, when I turn the key it will crank, but only very slowly and only for a little (a couple seconds tops) before it starts. I'm leaning towards a bad starter at this point, but you guys have way more experience with this stuff than I do, what do you think? I should add that the weird electrical stuff isn't all gone, I still don't have working taillights (the brake lights, turn signals, and reverse lights function, but no taillight function), and the car thinks the brights are on when they are not, and vise versa (the head lights behave correctly, just the bright indicator is reversed).
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Either a bad starter, or the power isn't getting to the starter motor.
If you run a jumper wire from the positive battery post to the starter solenoid, and turn the key, does it crank better?
If you run a jumper wire from the positive battery post to the starter motor, (this bypasses the solenoid) does it crank better?
If you run a jumper wire from the negative battery post to the starter frame, and turn the key, does it crank better?
If none of those tests fix it, I would replace the starter motor.
 

Scott #321

Well-Known Member
The loud squeal is concerning like a bearing seizure. In addition to Ross's advice I would pull the belt to check for a locked pulley.
 

Painjack

Member
Ok, I got the new starter in the mail yesterday and got it installed today (I also did pull the belt and checked all the pulleys, everything there was turning smoothly), it now cranks and starts happily! And it runs for about 9 seconds then dies. Every time. I shot a video of it, here is a link to it: Goblin A/T Start. Any ideas where to go next? If I press on the gas peddle, the engine does rev up, but it won't stop it from dying.
 

Painjack

Member
I have, they are as follows:

P0036 - Heater Oxygen Sensor Control (HO2S) Circuit (Bank 1, Sensor 2)
P0118 - Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) Sensor Circuit High Open
P0449 - Evaporative Emission Control System Vent Valve/Solenoid Circuit Malfunction
P0452 - EVAP Pressure Sensor/Switch Low
P0601 - Internal Control Module Memory Checksum Error
P0532 - A/C Refrigerant Pressure Sensor A Circuit Low
B3903 - Stop Lamp Relay Circuit Short

There are a couple others about restraint module communication, but I think those are safe to ignore. So looking at that list above, the P0118 is not unexpected, as I have not been able to run the system enough to get all the air bubbles out of the lines yet, the P0036 makes sense also as I only have one oxygen sensor plugged in (maybe I plugged in the wrong one or wrong connector? I don't think so though as it says Sensor 2 is the problem). The 2 EVAP codes make sense as the EVAP system is not plumbed now, and the AC code makes sense as I removed the AC compressor entirely.. That leaves me with that very troubling P0601 code and the B3903 code. The B3903 is actually kind of reassuring as I have noticed odd behavior in my light system, so I can look to find where the short is there in the BCM fuses and wires, but I don't know where to start with the P0601 issue.
 

Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
Is your intake installed and it's the maf sensor installed?

Is your maf sensor installed the correct direction?

Is the air filter pushed too far onto the maf tube. It needs to be pushed on just far enough to blend with the radius inside the air filter. If it is too far on it will cause the maf sensor to read wrong.

Have you tried running it without the maf sensor plugged in?

Do you have fuel pressure?

Do you have plenty of fuel in the tank?
 

Dale E

Well-Known Member
Check your serial wire lines, It is possible you are looking at getting a new ECM. Hope it is much simpler than that, But maybe your bad starter fried a memory chip in your ESM??

When the code P0601 is set in the Powertrain Computer, it means that the Powertrain Computer or PCM is failing its Memory Check Sum self-check and has found errors within its Memory functions. In many cases, the PCM is not getting a high quality, consistent 12 volt power signal

Dale
 
Last edited:

Gtstorey

Goblin Guru
Not saying it’s causing your running problem but the P0118 is likely an open circuit in the wiring to the sensor or the sensor itself, not an actual temperature issue, unless your temperature is colder than -38 degrees. Checking the manual it could also be the ECM.
 

Painjack

Member
Is your intake installed and it's the maf sensor installed?

Is your maf sensor installed the correct direction?

Is the air filter pushed too far onto the maf tube. It needs to be pushed on just far enough to blend with the radius inside the air filter. If it is too far on it will cause the maf sensor to read wrong.

Have you tried running it without the maf sensor plugged in?

Do you have fuel pressure?

Do you have plenty of fuel in the tank?
Intake is installed, it's not the stock cobalt one as I did not retain that, but here is how it is set up:
26105

There is a restrictor inside that MAF adapter tube, I don't remember what the ID of it is off hand, but I used the smallest one that it came with, it should be pretty similar to the stock cobalt air pipe. The MAF sensor is installed with the arrow pointing towards the throttle body:
26106


I tried running it with the MAF sensor unplugged, and it would not start that way, just crank and crank and crank. After I reconnected the sensor it took a couple trys before it started, but then it went back to starting and running for 8-10 seconds then dying.

The fuel tank is full, I topped it off this morning to be sure. I'm not sure what the best way is to check the fuel pressure is in the rail, I see that there is a little black valve cover on one end of the rail, is there a gauge I can get that connects up directly to that?

I double checked the coolant sensor and it had gotten unplugged somehow, so I plugged that in but it didn't make any difference to the current issue. I'll pull the codes again shortly to see if that one went away.

Dale, I am not sure how to check the signal wires that you mentioned, should I be looking for voltage on them or no resistance or something else?

I am thinking that I need to look at the voltage and grounds to the ECM, does anyone know if there is a specific pin that provides ECM power? Looking at the alldata for the ECM connectors there are a bunch of reference voltages and accessory voltages and stuff like that, I suppose I can go through and check them all and record values.
 

Painjack

Member
I've pulled the codes again and the P0118 - Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) Sensor Circuit High Open code is gone (go figure, the sensor needs to be plugged in). I've also just finished checking the voltage and grounds for the ECM and TCM plugs, there are solid grounds (0 ohms resistance) on both the ECM X2 Pin 73 and the TCM pin 49, and the two battery voltage pins show 12.64 volts, the same as if I just read the battery directly on it's posts. I'm gonna run over to harbor freight and grab a fuel pressure test kit here in a minute.
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
P0036 - Heater Oxygen Sensor Control (HO2S) Circuit (Bank 1, Sensor 2)
P0118 - Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) Sensor Circuit High Open - you have fixed this
P0449 - Evaporative Emission Control System Vent Valve/Solenoid Circuit Malfunction - I turned this off in HP Tuners.
P0452 - EVAP Pressure Sensor/Switch Low - I turned this off in HP Tuners.
P0601 - Internal Control Module Memory Checksum Error
P0532 - A/C Refrigerant Pressure Sensor A Circuit Low - I turned this off in HP Tuners.
B3903 - Stop Lamp Relay Circuit Short

The P0601 one still has me concerned. Bad PCM?
Is the P0036 the O2 sensor after the catalytic converter? (Which is removed on most Goblins)
 

Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
You should be running a three inch.
The air is traveling too fast past the maf.
 

Painjack

Member
You should be running a three inch.
The air is traveling too fast past the maf.
Ok, I removed the restrictor and tried it again with a full 3 inch air pipe, no change. Still starts right up, then dies after about 10 seconds of running. I'm starting to think Ross may have it with the bad PCM. There are a few other odd behaviors going on with the car, but they may be related to the BCM short that I haven't found yet. For instance, when you start the car initially it starts and runs great for 10 seconds or so, but when it dies you can't just turn the key again to start it again. You have to take the key out, wait a minute or two, then put it back in and it will start. If you just go straight to turning the key again absolutely nothing happens.
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
A short could be causing the P0601. Try to fix that first, because the PCM might be good up until a short occurs somewhere else.
 

Painjack

Member
Well I ended up replacing the ECM with a new one from Ares Technologies (they only wanted 135$ if I remember right). Got it in today and had to do the key learn procedure, and lo and behold it starts and runs like a champ now! Took it up and down the road before a rain storm moved in for the night, man was that ever the best feeling. I know I still have some minor issues that will take some time to chase down, but nothing that is gonna stop it from running now! Thanks everyone for the help, now that it's going I'll make a build thread with pictures this weekend probably, and try to grab some video also. Not sure that there a lot of the A/T versions out there, I don't see many posts about them.
 
Top