ECU Heat with CZ1
 

I was removing the CZ1 to take the car to the dealer. I waited 4 hours for the engine to cool down, pulled the covers and tried to pull the connecters off the CZ1. Still SERIOUSLY hot. Hotter than any other metal part in the bay except the block itself.

Is this b/c the CZ1 interferes with the cooling system or is it really designed to operate at extreme temps? If it was at fingertip burning temps 4 hours after shutdown, I am curious about normal operating temp.

It's too early to know if this will affect the life of the computer. I could only be bad.

Anyone have problems yet?

They talked about it in the Canzoomer forum and stated that it has not caused any problems yet. I think they were talking about taking out the Foam and doing something else to see if it would be any cooler.

I saw pieces of that discussion, it did not really go anywhere. I don't really want to replace the PCM after 6 months.

I work in the high-tech biz. All of my experience from 10 years working professionally with electronics and a lifetime of hobby level experience, heat is bad news. It's only a matter of time - especially here in Texas where it will be high 90's F for the next 3-4 months.

guys,
yes I raised that question. No response yet. In looking at this thing(ecu cooling system)I see two air inlets(yes do take the foam out) but i dont see any air exits. The inlets are in the grill area, both are facing forward. I just dont see how air can circulate that way but I may be missing something. I have noticed also when the a/c is being used it increase the heat under the hood by a good bit. I am going to really look at this hard this w/e and see if I can come up with something to fix this possible problem.
olddragger

A forced cooling system of some sort. Something similar to liquid processor cooling systems on PC's. The first step is to put a thermocouple in the box to get an idea of what the actualt temp is. Then decide how much of a drop is necessary.

For me, it's worth a significant effort as I would like to go way beyond the CZ1 mod.

Biggest problem is that there is very little room in there. If you take out the bottom half of the ECU holder, there would be more room.

I still have not been able to get the CZ1 to work anyway, so right now the point is moot.

COME AGAIN?

First try, out of the box. Engine LOST power. Not a "feel" but an actual dyno.

Second try, yesterday. Updated the RX-8 to M flash, updated the CZ1 to whatever the latest is. There is a major power loss at about 6.5k to 6.9k. The car sugres like I let up on the pedal for a fraction of a second. I will put it on the dyno early next week to see exactly what is happening with AFR's. Maurice will have to decide how that corresponds with his unit.

I don't really have grounds to complain because there is not anything or anybody else out there. Still new territory.

ok guys here it is.
the stock ecu cooling system was smart in one way and stupid in a bunch of others. here is what i have found so far.
1- there are 2 vents going into the ecu box.
2-one has an intake down in the front of the grill for the air coming in
3- the 2nd has a vent that actually goes toward the front on the engines air intake(i guess so that the suction of the engine draw will draw air OUT of the ecu box.
4- there is a hose from the raditor or the overflow coolant bottle that runs right beside the ecu box causing more heat transfer.
5- the front of the car is almost sealed with all the stuff up there and it would be hard to get any air movement going.
6- im not sure about taking the lower cooling tray out to make more room.
The ONLY fix I see is a fan of some king pushing air through the intake vent.
Canzoomer if you are reading this please address. I think this may end up being a problem. So far so good and I hear from rx8 friend no failures yet.
and 1st rx8 if your unit doesnt work then to need to get your flash updated to M.
olddragger

I updated the PCM 2 days ago. Would that not be the M flash? How do I know if it is the proper flash, date code?

1st rx8 , sorry didnt read your last entry. Any other mods? if not then i have heard tha some peoples MAF needs cleaning good luck with it. my works very well.
olddragger

if you got it 2 days ago it should be the m. you can look on the work slip sometimes it will be there

How about a small, ball bearing, computer CPU-type fan blowing into the vents of the ECU box? Most PCs use 5V or 12V internally, so I suspect you could get a 12V fan...

Anyway, just a thought.

And as far as how inflow is vented out from the ECU box, at the very least it could escape where the wiring harness comes into the box.

I have a high-velocity 12 fan, I dont know how well it would do under the hood.

The ticket said:
"Recall# MSP04 Engine No Start. Lack of Power" - Operation XX682XRX

Could that be more cryptic? For all I know, they replaced the dome light and checked the tire pressure.

Omicron,
Great to see you thinking of this issue! Glad to have someone more knowledgable that me thinking on this. It seems the wire harness is a very tight fit which would not allow very much airflow. The exit I think is stated in my previous entry(air intake for the engine area) (this also means the intake is sucking in warmer air?) I think a powered air source is the only answer.
Once the cooling blanket from the stock unit is modified (taking the top part off to mount the cz unit) then I think that the" insulating" affect also was removed compunding the problem. There is so much heat in the front of this car. The battery box ,the intake and the ecu cover are as hot as a black cars hood in a parking lot on a sunny summer day in georgia! (Dang thats eloqute isnt itLOL) Must remember to take my medication.JK. Anyway where would be a good spot to mount a fan and how?
thanks for youre attention
olddragger

I made a cooling fan from a surplus fan I bought at a surplus place ( Princess Auto ) it runs on 5v dc so it took a bit of pissing around to get a power supply, but it had a housing that fit on the intake of the stock induction tube. Seems to cool fairly well. I turned the small tip on the exit? tube around, and it exits there.
After two weeks there doesn't appear to be a lot of dirt or dust inside the PCM case...so it should be ok. I taped it on with duct tape so I could remove it when I went to the dealer :D

dannobre any PICS????? also a long shot but what about maybe getting longer wires to place the canzoomer in the glove box or under the seat. That may be a long shot but trying to think of everything here.

dannobre,
yea man pic please and where did you find a power supply thats on when the engine is running. And I am only spleculating here but I believe the exit air pipe is the one on the LEFT as you face the box from the grill. Also is it noticially cooler?
good work
olddragger