ST205/MR2 Gen3 3SGTE V1.5 ECU Connection Issues

[JesterTiger]

Right. So the story for this one goes a bit like this.
One of my customers brings me a Link G4+ PnP for his MR2 Turbo.
Gen3 Import. mostly stock engine wise, but wanted to start having fun with tuning things.
So he got hold of a Link G4+ from a friend of his over in the states. (were in the UK)
Turned up but with having the bodywork repainted, he did not opt to install the ECU right away.
so its sat at his place for a few months..
finally it comes to the day of Install.
i have installed various ECU's over the years,  so its not something i'm too worried about normally.
these ECU's are supposed to be really easy to install. 
just use the original ECU case, plugs directly into the Original wiring, few tweaks for things like MAP sensors. and IAT sensors,
and away it goes..
well this one didn't.
Firstly we followed the manual that came with it. the Wiring pinouts didnt match the Original wiring on the loom. not 100%
the Main power feed and Battery feed was the issue. with it plugged in normally there was no green light coming on with the ignition. 
had to move one of the wires  in the Loom plug to provide power to the Link.
then came plugging into the laptop.
Downloaded the latest PCLink software, Installed the driver as per the instructions.
plugged the USB cable in. that tell tale blipp from the laptop saying "yup i found that device"
Device manager shows the Link USB connection on Comm3
so sat there thinking "well thats good. at least it was a small hiccup"
Nope.. turn the power on the car and nothing.. PClink cant find the ECU.
tried many different settings. every now and then it comes up with it can see the port is open but cant connect, and to Cycle the power on the ECU.
quick look online and seen a few people with the same issues. but they are on win7. this is a almost new Win10 64bit system.
so out with one of the older laptops. a Win7 32bit system. downloaded the PClink again. did the same install. 
and back to the same issue. it sits there Just searching... 
change things to manual and it looses the port completely. 

this of course upset my customer.. wasnt happy that the ECU he had bought isnt playing ball.
got in touch with Link and a Chap called David, got a nice reply from him about contacting him, but so far i have got several direct to answer machine and once left

a message and had no reply. I know its coming up to christmas .. but need help.

as for tonight's mission. spent the last 3 hours going through almost every post on this forum regarding connection to the PC.
even got a power supply out, and connected the ECU to my Big gaming Rig. Still sits there "searching" or looses the port when its set to manual.
tried the Firmware search and that comes up with the whole cycle power thing... 
If it has to go back to Link, its going for a LONG trip.. 
It means this ECU has to go back to the States and then the seller there has to send it off to New Zealand for service/repair.
i don't understand why a service center in my own country couldn't have a look at it? (supposed to be one in Birmingham UK)

anyway. hopefully someone on here might just go "yeah ahh its XX" and come up with something.. 
would really make Jus (customer) Christmas if it wasnt a brick.. 
 

[Ducie54]

Sound like the ecu has a poor power supply or ground.

Have you tried powering it up out out the car? Also make sure you don't have any CAN devices connected. 

 

[Adamw]

So is the green/blue light on now when trying to connect?  There is no CAN dash or other device connected to the ECU right?  Check the USB cable is plugged into the socket on the top PCB and not one of the identical CAN sockets on the bottom PCB, I have seen that happen before when guys unplug them when fitting it.  I cant think of much else to try. 

@TechDave is the tech in the UK so will probably be happy to take a look if needed once you get hold of him.  He only has basic test gear in the UK.  I dont know what his plans are over xmas.

It is very weird to have to change the pinout, I have never heard of that before.  Sounds almost like it might be the older model that should have the ST185 ecu?  Does it have an airflow meter?

[JesterTiger]

In reply to the two replies.
Tried it on two Gen3 MR2's one 1996 and one 1998. Both running the Gen3 Turbo 3SGTE engines/stock wiring. 
also tried it on the Bench, was what i was doing whilst i wrote the post.. 
in reply to the 2nd. 
Green light on ECU PCB. 
Nothing else plugged in to the board. its being Bench tested at that point. no Can fly lead, no Aux lead. Just the USB.
and its obvious which is USB.. its got a big USB and an arrow pointing to the socket. 
Both MR2's are Gen3 that i had here, not the earlier gen2 with the AFM and TViS intakes. 
in fact the 1998 Rev5 Turbo is my own animal.  and even that had wiring that doesn't match what is in the Link Manual. 
Pin 71 is wrong. on both of these cars Pin71 is a empty spot on the connector. it doesn't have power at that point. 
Power is on Pin72
i have tried putting power to both pins as David suggested in his email. but the ECU still doesn't do anything

[Adamw]

Power can be on pin 71 or 72, these two pins are connected internally to allow it to work with either variant.

The only two common things I have seen cause the comms issue you have is either bad ground/very low battery voltage so micro is not booting up or something plugged into the CAN 1 port which also has RS232 in it and interrupts USB.   It sounds like your bench test has eliminated those two possibilities so I think it is going to have to go back to Link (try Dave again on Monday).

 

[TechDave]

Hi, yeah I'm technically on leave for a few more days.

I haven't had any replies to my email, the only missed call I have is from while I've been on leave.

You said in your email that you tested it on a 1998 gen 5, that won't work, the ST205 only supports the gen 2 and gen 3 from '93 to '95.

If the pinout is wrong I suspect the car is not a gen 3.

As I said in my email, I'm happy to help fault find etc, but if it requires repair or replacement then your customer's friend in the USA will be able to handle that.

Give me a bell in the new year and we can get it sorted.