Zex tps opening at part throttle?

[91svtcoupe]

I installed a zex kit on my car and it seems it wants to only read the throttle opening at like 30-40% throttle

I have a awroforce scan gauge and by its percentage and having some look at the throttle blades its opening the selnoids way to soon?

Anyone have any recommendations on this?


I should also mention that my bama tunes are not working well with my motor tunes either

Im experiencing a very dead pedal feel....

I can go 98% throttle according to the aeroforce gauge and it want move...meaning the rpms are very sluggish it is very hesitant on response until it will finally reach 3k plus then its just starting to take off but still lacks power I am almost certian my tunes are pff but dont know where to start with bama ive tried to explain to them and had a few revisions but always have the same problem.

It seems when I first load the tune it runs amazing for about one or two trips dow the road then its back into almost a limp mode just not quite...

Mods

05 GT
Ford Racing intake manifold
JLT cai first series
long tube American Racing headers and h pipe
4:10 gears
5 speed
BBR STAGE 1 CAMS
stock TB

I dont plan to run nitrous until I get this tune figured out...but any help will be appreciated

 

[JimC]

I had a Zex kit on my 2006. Had it armed one night as I lined up, brought the RPM's up to 1,800 and moved into the beams. Zex decided that was WOT and fired off.

After that I added the window switch so it wouldn't happen again. I wouldn't trust it to actually "learn" WOT and hold off at part throttle.

 

[702GT]

If it's the zex box, dump it and get a window switch and legit solenoids. The zex box reads 5v off the tps, which is really going to be affected by how its tuned. A window switch is much the best for accuracy and consistancy.

 

[NickD87]

No nitrous experience but can offer my advise with the tune issue
I have very similar mods, and was quite disappointed after installing the intake manifold and cams because it felt like a slug. It's all in the tune and bama just isn't up to snuff at this point. I switched to Lito and cars finally running great.
I changed to a magnaflow h pipe and somehow the difference it cats made it feel like shit again. Lito to the rescue and he got it feeling better then ever before.

If you want to stay with bama you need to data log and explain what its like so they can get and understanding if what needs to change.

 

[91svtcoupe]

I had a Zex kit on my 2006. Had it armed one night as I lined up, brought the RPM's up to 1,800 and moved into the beams. Zex decided that was WOT and fired off.

After that I added the window switch so it wouldn't happen again. I wouldn't trust it to actually "learn" WOT and hold off at part throttle.

I have a wot switch and im currently wiring in a window swtich...

On your wot swtich did u have to do any resistors to lower the voltage down or anything?

And just to clarify . Basically you took your tps wire ran it to the wot switch? So that once that switch is activated it turns on the selnoids. ..and kept your arming switch and all the same....in switch my arming switch isn't going to actually activate the power to the box until I reach 3k rpm then I have it set to shut off at 6k rpm

 

[91svtcoupe]

No nitrous experience but can offer my advise with the tune issue
I have very similar mods, and was quite disappointed after installing the intake manifold and cams because it felt like a slug. It's all in the tune and bama just isn't up to snuff at this point. I switched to Lito and cars finally running great.
I changed to a magnaflow h pipe and somehow the difference it cats made it feel like shit again. Lito to the rescue and he got it feeling better then ever before.

If you want to stay with bama you need to data log and explain what its like so they can get and understanding if what needs to change.

I have akcess to a couple different tuners in my aera...

But I would love to see if bama can figure this out and ive been thinking about trying to data log....but im really blind when it comes to data logging....I would assume there is a feature on my hand held to do this....but maybe im wrong....

I honestly believe that one trip to work would data log all my issue as im driving 11 miles country back roads and then a few mins in town and the. 20 miles of interstate and it acts up at all points...except cruising at speed on the interstate....unless I want to pull out and pass it starts very sluggish....

 

[TW1NTRB0]

702GT is correct, Zex NMU boxes are garbage. They do work but seem to have QC issues. I ran one on a built 3V with well over 100+ 1/8 mile passes without too much issue but they are finicky and fail out of nowhere. What wire are you using on the TPS from the car? It's been a long time since I ran a 3V car but there are two signals, falling and rising voltage. I know the Zex NMU cannot read falling voltage correctly on the 11+ cars. It will read rising voltage just fine. You may have the wrong wire tapped on the tps from the throttle body. I can only remember off hand back to the NX kit I used with an NOS two stage controller on a Coyote, but on the Coyote you use the brown wire which is falling voltage as the rising wire which is violet/xxx would activate like you said at half throttle. I seem to remember the 3V being the same way but different color wire. I'll need to look up my old diagram to be certain. How I test them is to unplug the FPDM to eliminate fuel and set the rpm activation to 0 rpm for testing. If you are unaware you can't set a DBW car by the gas pedal as the throttle blade doesn't open based on gas pedal position as it's voltage dependent, you need to open the throttle blade by hand. On the NOS switch you would open the throttle blade as far as it would go and then let it close slightly (so that intended voltage would be read) and set the box at the voltage seen there. Then you can open and close the throttle blade by hand to listen for the solenoids activating to ensure it is activating based on the throttle voltage. Let me know if you need a more in-depth explanation or a diagram. I used to do a lot of stuff with nitrous and learned many do's and don'ts. I've run Zex, Nitrous Outlet, NOS, and NX kits all with success. If the Zex NMU is setup correctly it will work properly.

Also you don't need a resistor, that is used if you start throwing a CEL when activating the kit. If wired to the correct tps signal you would not need it.

 

[JimC]

I have a wot switch and im currently wiring in a window swtich...

On your wot swtich did u have to do any resistors to lower the voltage down or anything?

And just to clarify . Basically you took your tps wire ran it to the wot switch? So that once that switch is activated it turns on the selnoids. ..and kept your arming switch and all the same....in switch my arming switch isn't going to actually activate the power to the box until I reach 3k rpm then I have it set to shut off at 6k rpm

It's been several years since I had the set up so I can't remember how it was wired up. All I remember is that the window switch blocked the signal to the Zex NMU until I hit the established RPM - so it must have been wired between as you said.

I didn't need any resistors.

 

[91svtcoupe]

^^^

Some good information

I hooked into the tps yellow wire.....its the wire the instructions say to use....we did check the voltage and it seems we are on the correct wire


One interesting thing is now my aeroforce gauge just started reading 15% no throttle and at wide open its only reading 75%

Which before it would read from zero to 98%?

Im going to do some more resets on things with the zex kit, un hooking the battery and reloading my tune....after install the window swtich.....but with my tune issues i still dont want to spray it yet.... and i actually have some nos power shot fuel and nitrous selnoids that I could use in place of the zex....

 

[TW1NTRB0]

If memory serves me correctly Zex is wrong on which tps wire to use. NX was wrong as well on my 5.0. Both told me back in the day to use a micro switch, neither understood their own product very well. This is what I would do is put a volt meter on the yellow wire and see if it sees max voltage at part opening of the throttle blade, make sure you do this by hand on the throttle blade and not the gas pedal. If it sees it's full voltage range (falling or rising) before the throttle blade is close to fully open then that's your problem and a tune will not fix that part. In a falling voltage situation you would see 0.6 - 0.8 as a good range to activate it but on a rising voltage like the 3V you want to see 3.6 - 4.5 but when the throttle blade is fully open and only one of the 4 possible signal wires on the tps will allow that. I went through this like 6 or 7 years ago but figured it out on my own because Zex CS wasn't very good at the time. I can dig through some files later to be certain of the wire color if I wrote it down.

 

[91svtcoupe]

If memory serves me correctly Zex is wrong on which tps wire to use. NX was wrong as well on my 5.0. Both told me back in the day to use a micro switch, neither understood their own product very well. This is what I would do is put a volt meter on the yellow wire and see if it sees max voltage at part opening of the throttle blade, make sure you do this by hand on the throttle blade and not the gas pedal. If it sees it's full voltage range (falling or rising) before the throttle blade is close to fully open then that's your problem and a tune will not fix that part. In a falling voltage situation you would see 0.6 - 0.8 as a good range to activate it but on a rising voltage like the 3V you want to see 3.6 - 4.5 but when the throttle blade is fully open and only one of the 4 possible signal wires on the tps will allow that. I went through this like 6 or 7 years ago but figured it out on my own because Zex CS wasn't very good at the time. I can dig through some files later to be certain of the wire color if I wrote it down.

Ok plan on doing some testing of the wires tonight thanks

 

[91svtcoupe]

For anyone following or trying to help me out on this thread....

I checked my voltage on the yellow wire it reads 1:15 at close and 4:50 @ wot

The grey wire reads 4:09 @ close and .87 @ wot

With the zex tps hooked to the yellow wire its opening at part throttle maybe 1/4 if that

With the zex tps on the grey wire it opens at almost full throttle but will only do this one time and will not activate it again unless I reset the nmu on the zex box

Also I threw a tps code p2106 and a p2135 code when I went to the grey wire

 

[NUTCASE]

another one here on the side of the ZEX box being garbage. I had all the same issues. Some people have wired it to the gas pedal with some success. I ended up just putting a switch under the gas pedal and wiring that to the box.

Also, are you using the resistor wire? or at least using some resistors in the line? It putting resisters in my signal line did nothing for me but it might for you.

 

[TW1NTRB0]

Man I wish I could remember far enough back to the color wire I used. I did not use the yellow though as I remember that being the wire that would not work correctly. I can't remember if it was the gray wire or not as I believe there are 4 potential signal wires that can be used on the TPS. For the codes you're getting you will need to use a resistor. Zex had an issue with their early made NMU boxes where some are throwing codes and some were not. It was due to the TPS signal used and the fix is a resistor. Some had the problem and some didn't. I did not have this issue and never used a resistor but it would be worth a shot. If you need the box to work though it's going to need to be on the signal that reads at WOT of the throttle blade fully open minus 5 - 10% as you really never see 100% WOT on the throttle blade. Another thing you can do is just buy a better controller and use a relay to the Zex NMU. I would buy an NX or Nitrous Outlet plate and an NOS controller and run that to your lines and bottle. I know you may just need to use what you have and in that case it may take some trial and error to fix. The NMU not resetting may be due to the tps codes but I'm not certain. Are you in NC, that car in your sig looks familiar?

 

[NUTCASE]

anything that reads a signal from a remote wire is going to have a draw, thus altering the ecu readings and throwing a code. If the draw from the device is insignificant you will not see a code. However if the draw is significant adding resistors "isolates" your device by allowing it to read, except with a much lower voltage draw.

However even with that, like I said, I still ended up resorting to putting a microswitch under the gas pedal.

I have the resistor size you need written down buried in my garage, I will post it when I get home.

 

[91svtcoupe]

Thanks for the help guys i have a resistor in mine already but on the down reading wire which is the grey wire it throws a code if I go back to the yellow wire it doesn't. ..

Im putting in a micro switch at the pedal plus a switch rpm box to help the problem. ..

In doing this though would I still hook up the tps signal....basically the he box is going to activate unless im wot with a pedal switch and it isn't going to activate unless im at 3k rpm

 

[s8v4o]

If I'm not mistaking doesn't the ZEX kit have a learn option for the TPS? You press the button and then push the throttle to the floor with the key on? I use the ZEX kit with the WOTBOX as a window switch. It works great and you get you no-lift shifting while using nitrous.

 

[JimC]

If I'm not mistaking doesn't the ZEX kit have a learn option for the TPS? You press the button and then push the throttle to the floor with the key on? I use the ZEX kit with the WOTBOX as a window switch. It works great and you get you no-lift shifting while using nitrous.

While it will learn WOT, it will also read you as being there very low in the RPM band at times. I had it happen on my 2006 while lining up - only had the pedal enough to give me 1800 rpm on the tach and the Zex NMU read that as WOT and fired off.

So I wouldn't trust the Zex NMU to learn all that well.

 

[NUTCASE]

If I'm not mistaking doesn't the ZEX kit have a learn option for the TPS? You press the button and then push the throttle to the floor with the key on? I use the ZEX kit with the WOTBOX as a window switch. It works great and you get you no-lift shifting while using nitrous.

A zex box signaled by a WOTBOX would work. The problem is when you try to run the zex box straight off the TPS wire. It is advertised to work, and some have luck with it, but many of us do not.

Advertised results and actual results vary sometimes. Especially when a company tries to make one relatively simple circuit work for any car.

When I had my zex box issues a few years ago I posted on here and everyone, to include zex tech service, said I was doing something wrong. Now look where we are.

 

[TW1NTRB0]

Don't attempt to set WOT by the gas pedal on a DBW car, you must set it by manually opening the throttle blade.