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Chip Going Nuts

1K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Mcgilles 
#1 ·
I have been having minor troubles with my Apten chip since I got it, but lately I have been having major troubles with it. before, all it would do was cause the car to rev randomly at a stop light, only once, and it was over, and was fine for a long time, or the rare random SES code, that could be cleared by restarting the car, or clearing the comptuer, after that it would run fine for a while. a nusence that should not be happening, but it was not such a big deal. well now I'm having all kinds of trouble. SES lights turning on, sometimes flashing, most serious problem is a total system crash it seems. the SES light is on, the theft light flashes, the cooling fan turns on when the car is in run, with the engine off, and if the engine is on, it runs rich, and blows out black smoke. this is very uncool, it almost seems like the chip is programmed for the wrong computer, but it worked just fine when I first put it in. and its not a problem with the car, when I flip the switch to turn it off, the car runs perfectly. for the last few weeks this has been the problem. usually I could reset the comptuer by disconnecting the battery, and that would take care of the problems, but lately, it has been a constant problem, which a quick battery disconnect did not clear! (I may not have given it enough time to clear the comptuer though, I was in a hurry) if anyone has had this problem with an aftermarket chip, what ended up being the problem? or does anyone have any other advice to correct this problem?
(gen III, SHO; Apten 3 program chip)
 
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#2 ·
I think we talked about this before, but I can't remember. Did you put a spacer in the back of the PCM? That took care of my problems. All the problems you are describing are because of poor communication between the chip and the PCM. If it's not because of the chip shifting on the PCM, it's probably because of dirty contacts, or a faulty connector on the chip itself.
 
#3 ·
could be, what do you mean by spacer? that could be helpful. from the beginning when I was just having little troubles, I worked on getting the connection clear of all the protective silver stuff, and I used some contact cleaner to take care of any other corrosion or protectants. it should be a good connection. but the only thing holding it in there is eletrical tape which coveres the opening in the back, which is what Apten says specifically in their instructions you should use to protect it.
 
#4 ·
I tried over and over to get rid of the same symptoms you are having. I had sanded down to bare copper on the PCM port, cleaned everything out with contact cleaner, etc. with little improvement. I repeated this process about a dozen times. I even polished the PCM connections with 1000 grit sandpaper. When that didn't work, I thought maybe it had something to do with the fact that the chip was sticking out the back of the PCM a little bit. When I re-installed the PCM, the chip would be pressing against the bracket that holds the PCM in place. That small amount of pressure was apparently what made the chip act funny. The wire for the switch made it even more of a problem.

I took a small nut (about 3/8" thick) and taped it to the back of the PCM, right next to the port. This served as a spacer and prevented the chip from coming in contact with the PCM mounting bracket. I haven't had a single problem since then.
 
#6 ·
I've given some thought to using dialectric grease to help with the problem, I think I'll give it a try when the chip comes back. Brian at apten asked me to send it to him, and said he would diagnose free of charge. (which is awesome by the way, if you want a chip, buy the Apten, Brian will take care of you, even if problems surface a couple months down the road) I took the PCM out of its slot completely, plugged it back into the connector. so the comptuer was not in its spot at all, no clearance issues whatsoever, and tried to turn on the ignition, even without turning the engine on, it was clear it was failing. something definintly went wrong with it. even the switch wasn't working quite right, sometimes when starting up, the chip would go into a different program from the one selected, move the switch to another program, then back again, and it worked fine. very strange. Brian says that its rare, but a chip does go bad from time to time. I'm hoping that's all it was. he said he would also check the OASIS report and see if my PCM had been reflashed at some point, just in case. althought that's probably not the cause, since the chip worked pretty well to begin with.
 
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