Flexicoker

OK, I think my plan as of now is: 1) replace entire power circuit on MS, hopefully that will be all the ECU needs 2) resistor spark-plugs 3) redo grounds and battery cables 4) if that doesn't help enough, buy some magnecore wires 5) if none of that fixes the noise issue, then maybe a power filter, and then possible the mod in that diyefi forum. Anything else that I other simple/cheap things I should try before I dish out the money on the plug wires?

Merry Christmas!! I've been fighting a problem for the past week or so, where all of a sudden on the highway the car loses power and starts running really lean. The only thing that I can correlate this too is really noisy vbatt. I've been trying to limp it along until I can figure it out, as it doesn't happen all the time, but when it does I can only go about 50mph or so, any more throttle and it goes super lean. Sometimes though, the car drives fine. Today on the way to my parents house to open presents the car loses all power and I'm stuck on the side of the road. I tried to restart it and it fired, then died, and I could hear a relay click a few times. After that, nothing. I can't connect normally, or with the boot jumper on, no LED's, no fuel pump, nothing. So... I think that the spikey voltage finally killed something. I hooked the stim up with a laptop charger, ~15v, and almost immediately something stinks. no LED's come on the stim. I get about 0.5V on the U5 pin closest to the DB9, zero to the other 2 pins, the MOV gets hot, and I'm not getting any voltage across it. Infinite resistance between ground and +5 on the proto area. I get resistance both ways on D9, D12, and D19... but I suppose that could be through other parts of the circuit. Where do I start? I think its safe to saw that the MOV needs replacing, but should that be it? will U5 be OK? I've attached a datalog, you can see where it goes super lean (around 730s), the battery voltage is going berserk, X-tau is also going nuts (I thought I had it off) but I was having the same problem with x-tau disabled for sure another time. At the very end of the datalog you can see where it dies. Could EMI be causing this much noise in the voltage? Its got a "new" autozone reman alternator, but with my multimeter I measured 30VAC across the battery terminals, I read somewhere it should be less than 1. thanks!! 2008-12-25_10.39.40.zip

Okay, maybe its just the new tunerstudio update... I still can't find it though.

In the last code version I could disable x-tau under 'general', but now with 2.888 I can't seem to find that option anywhere. Where could it have gone?

I'm going to do this to my car one of these days. I think that all of the new Hondas have this system now. In my opinion, the stock steering is way too slow, the effort is not too bad unless parking, however if you do anything to speed up the steering, you're going to make it even harder to steer. From what I've read, the electric power steering is simple, light, and its really easy to adjust the gain.

my Walbro is ridiculously loud. I can hear it over the engine most of the time. I though something was wrong at first, but it seems to work fine. I will not be ordering another pump from them.

Yes, but there are no tach wires on the transmission, those are the reverse switch, and possibly a neutral switch too. The tach is driven by the coil.

Take the bearings to a local bearing distributor, they should be able to find the same things for cheaper. The FSM has diagrams on how to set the pinion depth and such.

If you want to improve your driving skills for the pavement. LFS is the way to go. I cannot emphasize how much it has helped me drive... and now I have 2 SCCA solo national championships to prove it! =) http://www.lfs.net/ Don't bother with street tires, it will just frustrate you. Go for the lower power formula cars first.

Ya, there are 4 bolts on the flange yoke at the differential. Just take them off, and the driveshaft will just pull out of the back of the transmission. Its easy, don't worry. You'll also need to remove the exhaust, the transmission mount, starter, shifter, clutch slave cylinder and all the bolts holding the bellhousing to the engine. Remove the transmission first, and make sure you have the back of the engine supported with something. It might take a few blows with a rubber mallet to get the transmission free from the engine, from there just pull it straight back about 6 inches until the input shaft is clear of the clutch and you're good to go. My Dad and I usually put a jack under the transmission to support the weight, and then we balance it on its way down. Its heavy. You can also remove the engine and the transmission at the same time if you prefer, which might be easier as long as you have the radiator and fan and everything in front out of the way, and an engine hoist with enough capacity and travel. To get to the front seal on the transmission, you have to remove the front-cover/throwout snout. Its 5 bolts, and if it doesn't come out easily you can thread a long bolt into the throwout arm pivot hole until it bottoms on the transmission and pushes the cover off. The seal is in there. There is also a shim for the layshaft bearing, so make sure you don't lose that.

I saw a technique on... Overhaulin, haha. What they did was mask one side of the crease, so that the edge of the tape was right on the crease, then block sand the un-masked side of it. Repeat on the other side. This keeps the sanding from wearing down on the crease and keeps it sharp. It was one of the first episodes... the shoebox Ford they painted green.

There are no bolts that connect the transmission to the driveshaft. It's a slip-yoke. You'll need to undo the 4 bolts that connect the driveshaft to the differential, not a big deal. Replace the seals in it, and put some Redline MT-90 in it when you're done.

How can you have over 100% duty cycle?

I don't know anything about the first 2 options. I think I used dektop dyno, or dyno2000 or something before. Not impressed. I have seen results from Ricardo Wave, and they have been dead nuts on. like, within 2 hp, and the curves match exactly. Those were not easy reults to get though, it takes alot of work to make it accurate. That software is probably quite a bit more expensive. From a quick google, Dynomation seems like it can do some of that stuff. Intake/exhaust harmonics are where its all at, and can make a way bigger difference than you might realize on power curves. What made a huge difference in our Formula SAE's engine package was Wave's ability to calculate the ideal lengths of the exhaust steps. You can say a 4-2-1 header, specify which cylinders are connected, and then give the tubing diameters you want to use. Wave will then calculate the ideal lengths of all of those. its pretty darn cool.

Man, that book is hard to understand regardless of how much math and physics you have taken . What makes a car handle well is the best compromise for the given situation. For example, a double A-arm suspension CAN be made to handle well, but it doesn't mean that it WILL handle well. There are so many variables to a system as complex as a vehicle suspension that there is almost never a blanket statement you can make regarding it.

This is a good start: http://www.millikenresearch.com/rcvd.html

hmmm... free demo looks good. I have been looking for a good rally game. Dirt on PC sucks (awesome on xbox though) LFS improved my real life driving skills as well. Its helped me to be smoother, and get rid of bad habits.

talk to your carrier ASAP. My girlfriend is in Ecuador right now, and she had to get an older phone that would work there, I'm not sure on the details, but she could not use her normal phone. If she had talked to them far enough in advance, they apparently have international phones they'll give you. When she calls me she uses a calling card (expensive) or goes to an internet/phone cafe (cheap). We text occasionally, but it is expensive (not sure the actually amount, but its enough to make my parents tell me to stop =) )

Hands down the most realistic sim (On the pavement at least, I can't vouch for the rallycross) http://www.lfs.net/

Just buy a Fidanza. $300 on ebay, and you don't have to worry about it exploding, plus you can replace the friction surface if its worn out. I had one shaved down... I drew it in solidworks, removed material, did Finite Element Analysis, and got it down to about 16 lbs. The result? A flywheel that scares the ♥♥♥♥ out of me. I trust my FEA/design skills quite alot, but with something like that there are so many unknowns regarding material quality, fatigue etc. It costs me $100 to shave it down, and it was not worth it. As soon as I get the Fidanza on I'll know for sure, but I'm about 200% sure it will rev faster, and not scare me.

What is the purpose of the car? If you really want to make downforce from an undertray/diffuser, you need to run it within a few inches of the ground, and you're going to need to run very stiff suspension to keep it very close, and very level to the ground. If you can't do that, you're either not going to make any appreciable amount of downforce, or you're going to make the car very hard to drive (center of pressure moving all over the place when the car pitches and rolls) So, can it be done? yes. Is it worth it? only for a dedicated racecar, in my opinion

HA! I knew it...

The shape of the brackets have way more effect on its strength then does the thickness. If it holds now, it will hold at 200 degrees. The only thing you have to worry about is fatigue. If its mounted in such a way that will allow it to vibrate, it could eventually form cracks, which will propagate until you have a total failure. all that said... 16 gauge is probably good enough, but I'd need to see pictures to give a better answer than that.

You're lifting the inside rear tire, you can combat that by moving the roll stiffness distribution forwards. Less rear bar, and stiffer rear springs. Or more front bar, and softer front springs. The tire hop is a different problem, exacerbated by the inside wheel spinning. The "tire hop frequency" is mainly of function of tire spring rate, car spring rate, and unsprung mass. I think that softer or no rear bar, and stiffer rear springs is your best bet, this should help with both problems. Changing damper settings might help, but its only a bandaid for tire hop. (in my opinion) You do need to tune your suspension to the Quaife. you need to tune your suspension to work with whatever differential you have, and with a Quaife, that means keeping the inside rear tire on the ground.

exporting from Excel as a .csv? No I haven't, the .vex seems to be space delimited...