It should be possible to have a nice idle without the closed loop update, which will just be an added extra benefit

 

Steve it was idling fine - just a little higher than stock. I am confused?

The idle was set and idling smoothly at 800ish rpm. Then whenever stopped it would idle a little higher at about 1000 rpm (still smoothly)

 

if your confused then im stumped completely, the car idles terribly, yes it may sit at 800rpm or it may sit at 1000rpm, but when we got back on sunday it was sitting at 1300rpm stationary and warm?????, then it might drop to nearer a 1000rpm the next time it idles etc etc, so yes it may well hold that particular idle speed at that specific moment in time, but surely the idle speed should be the same everytime the car is in the same situation, not fluctuating between 800rpm and 1300rpm depending on how it feels????

i must add, that with regards to everything else simtec related im over the moon, car drives spot on, fuels nicely, boosts nicely, etc etc, im just not happy about the frankly poor idle, and that is something that i cant live with as it is now, and as far as im concerned, i shouldnt have to!!!!

 

I just want them to release the updates already as I only want to send my ECU from Oz to the UK once instead of sending it now for the wideband function then sending it back when the knock & idle updates are ready.

Dont regret getting the SimTek though, car drives like a dream.

 

Why aren't we getting any news updates from them? Just makes it more annoying waiting and not knowing.

 

You are not alone. It happens to many of us with SimTek. Its just something I put up with as a small price to pay for running a performance ECU. The idle is completely all over the place. One day it is perfect. Next day hunting below 900rpm. Next day perfect. Next day 1,200 rpm....I just shrug my shoulders and say to myself SimTek up to old tricks again.

This is no reflection on the very good mappers who have maped the car. But it is very hard to get right, as the issue is is that the problem is so inconsistant. Everytime the car has left a mapping session it has idled perfectly.

 

My advice to all get a syvecs (Joking for those who take it the wrong way)

 

Yeh you smug git rub it in why dont you
Given the choice now. I would go syvecs

 

syvecs is something that im seriously considering, i cant put up with the idle as it is and just put it down to the way the simtek is!!!! and i shouldnt have to along with all the others that are suffering the same issues.

 

i must say i had initial problems with idle at cold start, the mapper hadnt seen the car cold, so a quick visit from him and mine idles faultlessly all the time. The one thing i do have to do is clean my icv once every 6 or so months as it gets pretty gunked up. i put that down to the coolant pipe delete on the throttle body

 

This is a very interesting thread, I've got a simtek fitted too and my idle's a total nightmare.
Been back to the mapper who did improve things slightly and recommended a new ICV. However this hasn't fixed it.
When it's started from cold or hot it will stall unless I press the throttle and keep it pressed. If I take my foot off it stalls. It will do this for a couple of minutes then comes allright and 50% of the time will be fine and idle at 900 rpm, the other 50% it will hunt like mad on idle, eventually stalling after a couple of minutes.
It's a nightmare coming out of carparks or petrol stations, my Mrs refuses to drive it and it can be very dangerous pulling out of junctions.
I can't afford to go back to the mapper again for a while so I guess I'll have to live with it.

 

Ask your mapper if he'll check the idle for free, it's not like you're going out for a full power run or complete remap.

 

it shouldn't be like that at all.. something wrong there

Simon

 

You spoken to your mapper about it? Perhaps they would be willing to sort this out without charging you I should think. They also may be in your area if you cannot afford to travel to them.

I have a syvecs and I get idle problems but nothing my mapper or Pat Herborn have not been able to resolve when I've asked. An aftermarket ecu will not necessarily resolve the problems - there can be other variables relating to idle as I have discovered.


Jag

 

guys my idle is spot on even with cosworth cams, RCM light pully kit and light fly wheel with the simtek but it did take 2 visits to sort

what took the longest was nailing the off boost driveability but a few loops of swindon town centre one evening has it close enough. I find the car needs to stand for 30 seconds to 1 minute before its good and guess this is more ECU related than mapping

not perfect but im sure the spec of the car doesn't help - if you guys are having issues with idle i really suggest you have a word with your mapper - you mention being charged for a return visit, I know Bob in Swindon woundn't except any money to sort my niggles

 

I did go back to them after my first map as the idle was even worse previously but I've not been back since. I will give him a shout and see if he'll help me out.

 

This is similar to what mine does, but it has only actually stalled once. it hates cold starts, coughs and splutters when pulling away when cold you have to give it some beans to get it to pull away without stalling which makes you look a dick aswell reving to 3k before you can pull away successfully. It does not like being driven slowely when it is cold, dipping the clutch and reving it usually does the trick, it actually feels like you need to build up pressure to get it to move. Mine was mapped by Bob on a cold day and it was fine he checked it the next day from cold ona cold day and again he said it was fine. so no idea what is going on I just put new plugs in it as I thought that might be a problem but there was no change.

 

Who mapped it

 

Matty at Wallace performance in Aberdeen.
Just to be clear, I'm not having a dig at Matty's work, I've previously had an Apexi mapped by him and I would go back again no problem.
He does more Evos than Imprezas so I suppose it's a learning curve for him too.

 

He ought to mate provided its not been fiddled by anyone else since the first map. I had mine tweaked only last week - took 20 mins or so.

 

Agreed

I would never charge to resolve a mapping issue.

 

I have heard that delay in getting updates out is that it is low priority because they are developing new ECUs for newer model cars.

Simtec, don't p~ss off your existing customer base.

It would be useful if someone senior from Simtec could comment?

Andy

 

+1 for some comments and action from senior simtec management

 

I was thinking about getting a simtek but after reading this i have been put off a bit by some of the idle problems.
With a simtek can you datalog and see real time data?

 

Updates were supposed to be with us last Christmas

 

Yes you can, the only thing I dont like about the datalogging is that it wont recognise a wideband without an update. The only thing you see is a rich/lean indicator.

 

yeh, and out of all of this, this is the most annoying part, as it is basically down to awful customer service, sell something to someone, then when they have problems, forget about them that have been sold to and move onto the next batch of customers, who no doubt will be spun a line from a salesman, and once more be forgotten about when problems occur.

looks as though this thread has at least been useful partially as at least 1 person is now reconsidering buying simtec because of these problems, keep it at the top of the board until we get the issues resolved satisfactorily, we might get somewhere then!!!!!

 

This thread screams witch hunt.
The ecu is only as good as the person tuning it whether it be a SimTek, Syvecs or Motec matters not.
The original poster had his idle issues resolved at his convenience, FOC and it took no more than a tweak.
If you are having issues I suggest you take it back to the mapper and have it looked at again. Unless the car is faulty there is no reason why it can't be sorted with or without closed loop idle speed control.
If he still struggles to get it right, bring it down and i'll sort it !

Martyn

 

its not a witch hunt, its a load of people all experiencing the same issues with a product that want it sorting out by the company in question, until they are satisfied.

pm sent

 

PM replied to.
In addition I would like to say that for in excess of 1000 units sold, I don't consider 5 to be a load, lol.