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ChrisC

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Posts posted by ChrisC

    O.T. Rolls Royce Elec fault

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Had a problem with a balas or bias (something like that) resister in a TVR with a v6 Essex engine once. Car would start; good spark, but die once it had started. The coil was earthed through this resister when the engine was not cranking, when it was cranking it was earthed directly. The coil could not take this type of load when not cranking as it would burn it out, but during cranking the lower voltage meant the resister was not needed, and in fact it would also produce a better spark to start the engine. Still the resister had gone west, so the car would not keep running.

     

    Might be the same sort of thing with your RR

     

     

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Airflow battery conditioner.

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Airflow *thumbup* plug it in and forget it all over winter

     

    Only problem was it covered up a problem with my alternator, short distance work was fine with no evidence of alternator failure, but I had a dead battery after driving 100 miles. Not the Airflow fault of course.

     

    Get one, it's cheaper than getting new batteries each year.

     

     

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    caterham sourcing parts

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Hold on

     

    Anyone involved in the car industry will know that manufacture of cars is a loss maker and the only way manufactures/dealers make money is parts and service. In a typical mainstream dealer 70% of the revenue comes from service/parts.

     

    I am not sure that this holds true for Caterham, but I would suspect that the parts and service would makeup a large proportion of the income of the company, and I would imagine Caterham Cars could not survive on car sales alone. So if we all turned our backs on them and sources our spares from other places would this not be cutting our noses off to spite our faces? And if Caterham Cars went to the wall, how long before Arch Motors did the same?

     

     

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Black Flag for Noise

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    It looks like its time to try a little testing. Does anyone know a good place to buy a Noise Meter? I have seen the same meter advertised in DT at Maplin Electronic for £55. I know that I can't take a reading from such a meter and assume I am going to be ok on a track day, but I will be able to do back to back test to see if I can reduce the drive by noise.

     

    i.e. Drive By the meter, then reduce the tyre pressures (or whatever) and Drive By again.

     

    It might be nice to have a box of tricks up my sleeve to reduce the noise and keep on the track. Better than making my way home after only a few laps (not what happened Saturday got kicked off at 3.00 pm) but there was a Atom there that was on the trailer home well before lunch.

     

    If fact the Redline day was very frustrating, each time I went out, I just got the car/tyres warm and then a Red Flag would close the track. I have never seen so many accidents, and I feel sorry for the young man how bounced his Clio 172 from nose to boot, and landed it on the roof after what looked like an innocent spin right in front of the pits. Lets hope he has track insurance. *eek*

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Black Flag for Noise

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Harry - you know the rules (not mine) K & N's must stay.

     

    Peter - I was using a new set of ACB10's after finishing the last set off last time 😬

     

    Tyre presser was also altered from 20 psi to 18 all round this time.

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Black Flag for Noise

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Hi All

     

    I did not have a good day at Bedford this Saturday. For the first time I was back flagged for noise. The day started ok with a 94db static test, but the drive by was tipping the scale at 90db. Bedford I know has low limits (87 db), but this was my third time there this year with the same car, and the first time I had a problem, so what has caused the extra noise?

     

    Things that have changed from last time.

     

    1, The exhaust was repacked. static was 99db and 100db previously. So I would have thought this was helping.

     

    2, An ECU changed to include a 3D map over the original 2D.

     

    3, The much colder weather.

     

    The is a standard ish VX XE (if there is such a thing) on carbs, with a Raceco exhaust and MBE 967 ecu (changed cos the old on went pop)

     

    Would fitting Pipercross filter socks inside my K & N’s going to help?

     

    all advise gratefully received..

     

    PS never go to track days associated with Redline/Max Power style mags. *mad*

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Coil Pack Gone?

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    I suspected a coil pack during a recent spell of bad running. I turned out to be my ECU (a know problem with MBE 906 units) I am not saying this is the case for your setup, but my testing method might help.

     

    Assumption first.

    You have three wires to your coil pack, +12v ignition, and a wire for each pair to the ECU.

    You have check for poor connections on the ignition circuit, and in particular the two wires from the coil pack to the ECU.

     

    The Test I used.

    Use an analogue volt meter, or dwell meter on the coil pack lead that goes to the ECU. Engine not running +12v, engine running less as the revs rise. If you see +12v while the poor running is occurring on one coil pack wire to the ECU and not the lower voltage, I would suspect the ECU.

     

    This is what happened to me, and how I tested it. I replaced my ECU and the car is now running better than ever.

     

    I must stress this is only a test procedure, because my engine, ECU etc etc is completely different to yours

     

    Hope this helps.

     

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

    Immobiliser ? problems

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    I recently lost 1 and 4, due to an ECU fault. My car is a 97 vx with a 3 wire coil pack. It original had a Vector, that was removed by Caterham, and then a local installer fitted a Meta. When I removed the original Engine Loom for the ECU replacement I found some original Vector wiring in the lead between the coil and the ECU, but they had not immobilised the whole coil just one side. If your installer has just used the original Vector connection points then you probably have half your coil being powered through the new immobiliser and half not. Now assuming you have the original ECU, and MBE 906, this could put extra load on the coil pack drivers and cause them to fail. If they fail the chip is obsolete (first built in 1984 and stopped production in 1987), and you will be in the game for a new ECU.

     

    I would recommend you speak to the installer and find out how he installed the immobiliser, if they cut into the pink or purple wire from ECU to coil pack get then to remove it. Immobilise the white ignition power wire to the ECU relay (not on wiring diagram, but the top relay), used to switch the ECU on, and not the power supply to the ECU instead.

     

    After spending some time looking at the loom of my car, I am going to have to spend some time tidying things up over the winter, after Caterham and the other Immobiliser installer has had a go at it. *mad*

     

    Hope this helps

     

    Chris....

    H15 SVN Get it !

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