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Fiesta EMLconfig throttle map


ndndndnd
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My wife has a 2007 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI and I don't like the throttle response. It seems to have two different throttle maps. One throttle map for when the car is stationary, which seems to be quite good, and another throttle map for when the car is moving, which is a bit rubbish. 

To explain, when the car is stationary the throttle seems to be quite responsive. However as soon as you start moving, even only a couple of mph, then the throttle seems to go almost completely dead and you have to press and hold it to get any engine response. You can be rolling the car along in neutral blipping the throttle with the engine not responding and as soon as the car comes to a halt suddenly the throttle springs back into life. As you can imagine this can make driving it quite frustrating.

I was Googling about this problem and I came across something on here called EMLconfig. Is it possible to use this piece of software to force the car only to use the stationary throttle map?

Many thanks for any help,

Neil

 

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ELMconfig - apologies for the spelling error!

Does anyone have advice? Should I have posted on a different part of the forum, or can anyone suggest someone I could contact for advice?

Googling has found a guy called James Simpson:

https://www.jamessimpson.co.uk/getting-started-elmconfig/

but I'd rather not bother the guy if the question I'm asking is common knowledge...

Cheers, 

Neil

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No, it's not possible to do that.  

There aren't just two throttle maps, it doesn't really work that way.  

The throttle is mapped to NOT rev high with the clutch down so you don't wreck the clutch/gearbox or shoot forward when engaging it.  It may also be mapped to not allow too many revs while coasting in neutral.  The petrol Fiesta ST150s don't like coasting in neutral and bounce the revs around.

If it's still slow to pick up under normal driving (ie not coasting or trying to rev in neutral) then I would suggest there is another fault there.

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That doesn't sound much like my problem. There's no issue with any rev-limit (well, apart from it being a diesel), whether moving or stationary. The only issue is an irritating throttle lag when moving, which disappears when stationary. The lag occurs whether the the clutch is up or down, in gear or neutral. It is there when the car is moving and gone when the car is stopped. I'm an inveterate heel n' toe-r, and every gearshift is blighted by this laborious wait....

 

 

.... for the engine to respond. 

However similar throttle blips when the car is stationary are almost instant without an irritating second-long pause. It's like this crapness has been deliberately engineered-in. 

If there's no cure I'll have to ditch it for another car. A pity, as it's quite a good car apart from the rank engine. 

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I poorly worded that above, it's more of a torque limit than a rev limit, you will get the revs eventually but the torque is reduced so it takes longer for the revs to build, it's the torque that breaks things.

But yes that throttle lag is engineered in and perfectly normal, same on any 'normal' car with fly by wire throttle though, diesels especially, if it's a sporty petrol, that lag is reduced but still not as instant as a cable throttle.  It's for a smoother ride, emissions and so that any idiot can drive it smoothly and without damaging anything (within the warranty period at least)...they're not expecting people to heel-toe in a 1.4 diesel Fiesta for example... :laugh: 

The only cure is to have a power remap done, where the torque limiters are removed, throttle response increased etc.  But there are hundreds of maps that need adjusting on the ECU, it's not as simple as switching one off and another on. 

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Hmm, it's just rather frustrating that the throttle behaves quite reasonably when stationary, and then goes dead when moving - it really does feel like the computer has thrown a switch.

As for limiting torque, we're talking about a 1.4 here! It's not going to be breaking anything! I can believe that's it's for driveability. Although they clearly anticipate it's going to be driven by some moron with the hand-eye coordination of a confused goldfish wearing massive shoes.

All my cars have cable throttles, and switching to drive-by-wire is always maddening.

Funnily enough, heel n' toe isn't that big an issue - you just adapt to pressing and holding down the throttle before you go for the clutch to change gear, by the time the next gear is in, the engine will have responded. A bigger issue is trying to balance the car through a bend, or pull away smartly from a junction into a gap in traffic.

I did wonder if a remap might be the only answer - not really worth it on this old thing.

On James Simpson's website, he does mention switching a 'Ford Eco mode' via ELMconfig

https://www.jamessimpson.co.uk/elmconfig-enable-ford-ecu-functions/

So I thought there might a similar switch for the TDCi lame-mode. I might have to just send him an e-mail and ask.

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Eco mode doesn't change the engine in any way.  Its on the newer fords and is basically a scoring system on the dash for how well you drive, gives marks out of 5 for throttle, braking etc lol...  

ELMC also doesn't work on the fiesta, Focus only.  I've used it for many things on the Focus. :smile:

You'd be surprised what you can break with a 1.4...remember everything is made to be 'just' strong enough to save costs...  And yes, the target audience of a brand new 1.4 diesel Fiesta is an elderly person lol...

Not sure what to suggest really, most of my car have been FBW so it doesn't really bother me but I do notice it and a lot of 'car people' do moan about the lack of response it gives.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

No response from James Simpson on this unfortunately. The ELMConfig does work on cars other than the Focus - he lists even the S-Max and the Kuga! However, he doesn't list the Fiesta. There are references to developing compatibility with the Fiesta in his forum, but these posts date from 2016 so I guess this is still in the pipeline.

Funnily enough, I drove a diesel Micra as a courtesy car the other day and it exhibited none of the weird throttle characteristics of the Fiesta. 

It's probably harder switching from cable throttle to fly-by-wire than the other way around. I'm a heel n' toe-r, not a clutch-slipper, so I probably feel changes in throttle response more keenly as I'm more frequently demanding a sharp engine response. At least the Fiesta's throttle is consistently crap, which gives you something to work with. The worst DBW throttle I've encountered is in my Mum's mini - the only car I struggle to heel n' toe. The throttle is so badly mapped it's more of an 'engine speed randomiser' than a throttle, you could blip it twice and it would respond differently each time. Coupled to a slowly closing throttle, I think used to pass emissions, and changing gear becomes a laborious, protracted negotiation with the ECU. The rest of the car is great, but for me it's completely ruined by its DBW throttle.

Meh, I'll go back to persuading my wife to ditch the clattering old dag-dag Fiesta for something better. God, what a horrible engine.

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9 hours ago, ndndndnd said:

No response from James Simpson on this unfortunately. The ELMConfig does work on cars other than the Focus - he lists even the S-Max and the Kuga! However, he doesn't list the Fiesta. There are references to developing compatibility with the Fiesta in his forum, but these posts date from 2016 so I guess this is still in the pipeline.

James isn't the developer, it is developed by a Russian chap.

The Kuga, c-max, etc is supported as they're basically Focus's underneath. 

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My apologies to James! But as discussed, it sounds as though the problem is something more fundamental. Who the hell thought the car should be set up like this I have no idea.

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