Consult wont connect - RT232R cable drivers?? no COM port..

[godzilla_753]

Hi ,
I see theres alot of consult connection problems so hopefully someone can help. I have:

>WC34 Stagea S2 Neo rb25det (ECU: 0V8XX, type 4) installed in a 91 240sx HB with consult port connected correctly (verified with wiring diagram, all grounds double and triple checked, was able to connect via mac osx and this cable way back in the day using consultan

>an "ebay" consult cable that I lost the drivers for (it came with a CD), bought it a few years back and got it to connect before I had nistune board isntalled on this ECU.

>Windows 7 laptop

I have been attempting to connect but cant, I tried 2 diff methods:

First attempt when the PLMS drivers from FTDI website are installed per the PDF instructions from FTDI, I am able to install the first driver making it into a serial USB, but afterwards it doesnt let me do the second layer of install which assigns the coms port so I have no COM listed in the device manager, nor does nistune connect.

Second attemptWhen I first plug in the cable with no drivers installed it says: FT232R UART USB, so I hop on over to the FTDI website and downloaded the VCP drivers for this specific device instead of using the PLMS recommended ones. With this method I install the serial USB, and then I am able to see the COM port as well, after the second layer of driver install. Its listed as COM3 in my device manager.

With both install methods I am unable to connect to anything, I've tried Nistune, ECUTALK, Conzult.

I am suspecting there's an issue with the driver install at some point, or the cable itself (no LED indicator unfortunately).

But Ive used this cable in the past to connect to this same ECU with my macbook, I've never connected using a windows computer. Also I had the original driver disk when I did this, which I cant find . And my final guess is there's an issue with the board install itself....

Currently the car is running the ECU with daughter board installed with no issues, runs great, no limp mode or anything ever.

If anyone could please help me out or point me in the right direction Id greatly appreciate it. At this point Im pretty disheartened, Ive tried to connect so many different times and Im at the end of my wit, even considering alternative ECU tuning options. I figured Id try out the forums as a last ditch effort.


Thanks

[Matt]

an "ebay" consult cable that I lost the drivers for

If the chipset in Device Manger comes up as FTDI 232R then the ones from the FTDI website are the right ones to use

when the PLMS drivers from FTDI website are installed per the PDF instructions from FTDI,

This wont work. Those PLMS drivers are only for PLMS consult cabled. We modify the FTDI drivers to use our Vendor ID, so it wont recognise any other cables

WC34 Stagea S2 Neo rb25det (ECU: 0V8XX, type 4) installed in a 91 240sx HB with consult port connected correctly. was able to connect via mac osx and this cable way back in the day using consultan

But Ive used this cable in the past to connect to this same ECU with my macbook

Are you still able to connect with the macbook? What has changed when you could connect with the macbook and now?

Assume the engine still runs okay in the car (otherwise consult wont work). You only need TX, RX, GND and 12V for this particular ECU to be connected (CLK not used on ER34/WC34)

Just trying to work out what changed between then and now. Drivers from FTDI site should be fine for PC/Macbook even if you lost the original disc

[Matt]

Can you connect to any other Nissan vehicles if you can get your hands on another car?

[godzilla_753]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I tried to get the macbook connected but unfortunately consultan, the program I used back in the day isnt available to download as far as I could research. I dont get whats changed either, the only thing thats changed objectively is:

nistune type 4 board installed

Ive got the same cable..

Ive got a second ECU that Im thinking of trying to hook up and just see if I can connect to the consult through that. This way I either rule out the ecu or the consult port.
And Ill also try a different laptop. Also the consult port was hooked up exactly like in the OEM wiring diagram.

I can also try connecting to my brothers Z31, thats an OBD1 I assume, its old as ball lol.

Thanks Matt for helping me out, Ill try these things out and see if I can figure where the broken link is.

[Matt]

Does the vehicle run okay with the Type 4 board installed? If so then consult should be fine with the ECU

If you can try another vehicle/ECU to test the comms side of things with the laptop and your consult cable that would be handy

Last thing to check is buzzing pin to pin from ECU to consult pin as per our diagnostic cable

[godzilla_753]

Yeah matt it runs great with the ECU/type 4 board installed. No problems at all. Are you saying my consult port must then be OK ? Im a little confused by your first sentence sorry.

Im going to try another vehicle with the computer and cable, got a little swamped at work so I didnt have a chance yet.
On the last thing you said, what do you mean by buzzing the pins and cable?

[Matt]

If the vehicle is running okay, then we know that the ECU is not in limp mode so consult in the ECU itself should be fine

Please try your setup out on another vehicle to test your consult cable with that laptop

What I mean by buzz. Do an end to end connectivity test on TX, RX lines from consult plug to ECU plug, and make sure you have 12V and GND on the consult plug when ignition is on using a multimeter

[godzilla_753]

If the vehicle is running okay, then we know that the ECU is not in limp mode so consult in the ECU itself should be fine

Please try your setup out on another vehicle to test your consult cable with that laptop

What I mean by buzz. Do an end to end connectivity test on TX, RX lines from consult plug to ECU plug, and make sure you have 12V and GND on the consult plug when ignition is on using a multimeter

Sorry it took me so long, but I finally had the time to work on the car

I replaced the ECU with another that I had, with no nistune installed and attemped to connect with one of the free programs available - no luck
I then double checked all the wiring, including checking continuity and it all checked out

I unfortunately dont have another car to test the cable out on, Im still looking around for one, but at this point the only problem really is the cable right?

[Matt]

Sounds like you may have to get hold of another consult cable since thats the only thing left. You can also use Nistune software with non-Nistune ECUs and other third party consult cables

[godzilla_753]

Yeah I figured, this is the last hope lol

One last question before I purchase a new cable.

I know its a long shot but can I get by with a generic OBD1 to usb cable or do I need to shell out the 100+ for a blazt/ecutalk cable? If it doesnt end up being the cable....would really suck.

Here are a few I was looking at:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-OBD1-Scanner ... f5&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitsubishi-DSM- ... 07&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Consult- ... 564e4117bf

That last one specifically says in the description it should work with ECUtalk, conzult, nissan datascan, ztalk, srtalk etc.

I know that from your guides that electrical noise is an issue with some of the cheaper cables, but at this point Im kinda tired of throwing money at the car. (Recently developed a mystery boost leak that is giving me hell on top of the nistune business). I know you recommend the ecutalk cables, but if you can please give me an honest opinion with this I would really appreciate it.

And finally thanks alot for your time Matt, I know you must have to answer a billion of these threads so its gotta get old. Thanks for taking the time to help me.

[godzilla_753]

I came across a consult cable that looks 99% exactly like mine except for the little sticker on it

its the CZP cable
http://www.conceptzperformance.com/Cart ... hp?II=1238

I emailed the owner of the site requesting another set of drivers, could it be this guy has customs drivers like the PLMS people?
If so I might get lucky and get this cable working!

Ill try to get his drivers and give it another go before I plunk down some more cash on a different cable.

[godzilla_753]

So I installed the drivers for the CZP cable and I got ECUtalk working!!

It connected to the ECU and was able to pull up codes, but wouldnt show me any of the gauges outputting which I thought was weird..

Attempted to connect with Nistune and it would connect after a few tries, a dialogue box shows up with a bunch of inputs in yellow highlighted, I hit ok and then I get the

Communication error message and Im back to square one.

I currently have the spare ECU installed right now which doesnt have a daughterboard installed. Could this be the reason Im getting the error? Im also not positive if its a stagea or ER34 ECU, and I was getting some checksum errors when it intermittently connected.

Also It was very difficult to connect, is this because of the cable?? I had to hit connect multiple times before it would go through...

Ill install the nistune ECU back in and give it a shot, but def excited to finally make some progress.

[godzilla_753]

Sounds like you may have to get hold of another consult cable since thats the only thing left. You can also use Nistune software with non-Nistune ECUs and other third party consult cables

Hey Matt,

I finally got the cable working somewhat properly, it connects but I keep getting a "check pin failed on this board" error and the consult disconnects. Any idea as to what this could be? I did a search on this forum and a guy with an rb26 had idling/maf issues and as a sidenote would get this error, you chalked it up to something with the consult port.

Ive grounded the ECU, and rechecked all my ground cables very well. I previously did the swap to the LS2 coils and I noticed that there is a capacitor inline with the coil harness that may or may not be there after I swapped the coils. Im going to double check this, as I figure this might be causing additional noise. Im able to connect to ECUTalk with no issues though, I am able to see gauges and read codes (ive got the code 21 ignition that I need to do some research on).

Any help would be appreciated, I feel like Im close to being able to connect. The car itself runs fine, idles at 800. Im getting a high rpm misfire/stutter which I think is due to a boost leak somewhere which Im still working on.

[Matt]

I finally got the cable working somewhat properly, it connects but I keep getting a "check pin failed on this board" error and the consult disconnects. Any idea as to what this could be?

Electrical noise issues. If it only occurs when the engine is running then definitely noise issues. Most third party cables do not have any decent filtering either which makes the problem even worse.

If you switch from tuner mooe to steam mode, connect whilst car not running and then start the car. Watch the needles in the gauges and if they flicker then there is big time noise (especially if you rev the car)

Ive grounded the ECU, and rechecked all my ground cables very well. I previously did the swap to the LS2 coils and I noticed that there is a capacitor inline with the coil harness that may or may not be there after I swapped the coils.

Ignition feedback from aftermarket coils can make the problem worse due to larger spikes after charge/release. Any capacitors required should be fitted otherwise the ECU will absorb the spikes in the electrical lines

Im going to double check this, as I figure this might be causing additional noise. Im able to connect to ECUTalk with no issues though, I am able to see gauges and read codes (ive got the code 21 ignition that I need to do some research on).

ECU talk runs in 'stream mode' which will not check data integrity, just relay what ever data. tuner mode checks the data to ensure any data written to the ECU is not corrupted by this noise and glitchy data

Any help would be appreciated, I feel like Im close to being able to connect. The car itself runs fine, idles at 800. Im getting a high rpm misfire/stutter

Could also be misfire due to the coils / sparkplugs?

[godzilla_753]

I finally got the cable working somewhat properly, it connects but I keep getting a "check pin failed on this board" error and the consult disconnects. Any idea as to what this could be?

Electrical noise issues. If it only occurs when the engine is running then definitely noise issues. Most third party cables do not have any decent filtering either which makes the problem even worse.

If you switch from tuner mooe to steam mode, connect whilst car not running and then start the car. Watch the needles in the gauges and if they flicker then there is big time noise (especially if you rev the car)

Ive grounded the ECU, and rechecked all my ground cables very well. I previously did the swap to the LS2 coils and I noticed that there is a capacitor inline with the coil harness that may or may not be there after I swapped the coils.

Ignition feedback from aftermarket coils can make the problem worse due to larger spikes after charge/release. Any capacitors required should be fitted otherwise the ECU will absorb the spikes in the electrical lines

Im going to double check this, as I figure this might be causing additional noise. Im able to connect to ECUTalk with no issues though, I am able to see gauges and read codes (ive got the code 21 ignition that I need to do some research on).

ECU talk runs in 'stream mode' which will not check data integrity, just relay what ever data. tuner mode checks the data to ensure any data written to the ECU is not corrupted by this noise and glitchy data

Any help would be appreciated, I feel like Im close to being able to connect. The car itself runs fine, idles at 800. Im getting a high rpm misfire/stutter

Could also be misfire due to the coils / sparkplugs?

Capacitor was installed inline per the FSM wiring daigram prior, so thats not it. I guess Ill go ahead and purchase another cable and give it a go? Im pretty sure the stutter at high RPM is due to a boost leak but who knows. At this point Im seriously considering selling the car.