Tony Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 I would have thought they would want it back to check for any build issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Seemingly not - i guess they dont have that kind of communication with the manufacturer who is based in the US. Anyway new pulley has arrived. As you can see it is flanged which is vital to make sure the belt doesnt wander too far if things aren't aligned 100%. The bearing is sealed in the pulley so when its gone, its gone! I will post up the track dog version soon for comparison as it is made from steel rather than reinforced plastic and also is serviceable (bearings can be replaced): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Is there play in the old one or just noise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Noise but could be play haven't checked. I've read of other supercharged guys having noisy pulleys and then having them seize solid and throw the belt off causing damage to anything in the area. Just not taking any chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Well i don't blame you because it wasn't going to heal itself..... Considering it cost so much money and the fact there's no redundancy i would of expected a better build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Might have just been unlucky who knows? The main thing is a new part was sent with no issue. Fitted it yesterday and the problem has been sorted On a side note - gave the car a clean just now and tried a new wheel cleaner : Auto Clean by Bilt Hamber. Since the wheels have been powder coated I have been cleaning them purely with car shampoo which has worked fairly well but I could tell they were not 100% clean. This stuff is very good. PH neutral and spray on and it turns purple as it lifts the metal particles. Didn't think the PH neutral stuff would work very well to be honest but this has converted me. Recommended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 PICTURES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Will do as soon as I can. Today was an emergency clean as winters drawing in and had loads of crap was on the car from its last visit to the workshop and messing with throttle cables and pulleys. Just don't know when the next opportunity will come to give her my usual 3 hour wash lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Only three hours.... Twas five for me Lotus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Hehe I've done longer cleans but I find 3 hours is a good balance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Credit where it's due it does look nice when you do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Do you mean auto wheel Steve? I've not used it and although I love BH the price put me off. I am on the look out for a new wheel cleaner as I've nearly used all my autosmart stuff now. I'm tempted to stick with it, the price for 5 litres makes it great value for money but I really don't need that size bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sorry it is auto wheel isn't it lol £13 or so for 1 litre which now I have seen how well it works I think it's a fair price. I think the bottle will last a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 I can easily use 500ml doing both cars. 5 litres of smart wheels is under £20 and can be diluted so you easily get 10+ litres out of a bottle. I think auto wheel has an iron remover in it as well, which is probably why it's expensive but really you only need to de-iron the wheels once or twice a year. Are you planning on using it for every wash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 500ml per wash sounds a lot mate!? Unless there's a reason not to I will use it every wash. The Mintex pads I have on create a LOT of dust. I should try some of these other ones as well - this was a bit of an impulse buy tbh! Whatevers in it does the job with very little agitation required. I sealed the wheels with auto glym alloy wheel seal spray which helps remove brake dust so next time it will take even less product. I think I used maybe 100ml today. Forgot to say they included quite a nice detailers brush to use on the wheels if required 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 I am generous with it! I'll have to get a bottle and try it. I normally use Wolfs decon gel for the iron particles. Did it remove the tar as well? Yeah Mintex are a pain for dust but they're good brakes. With a good wheel wax you only need shampoo to clean the dust off but I've become very lazy when it comes to detailing so use a dedicated cleaner every time. I'll be doing a proper job on both sets of wheels I took off today though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 My wheels are black so hard to tell on the tar lol but they felt very clean so I would assume it's got most if not all of it. I would definitely say gave a go with this. I think maybe you can use less of this as it's more effective. Just need to get out of the habit of slashing it on like water The mintex pads have a very good feel when up to temp. They are a touch vague when cold though! Got their fast road pads on the front (m1144?) and std Mintex on the back. They performed very well at Bedford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 My wheel cleaner of choice is Espuma Revolution , you can dilute it 10 or 20/1 so 5 litres lasts me about two years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted March 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 So the last couple of weeks i have begin to bring the car out of hibernation. Its the first time i have left a car over winter but since its my toy now and had the body work sorted i thought it deserved to be kept away from all the nasty salt on the roads. When i noticed upon charging the battery back up was that she was difficult to start on very cold mornings to the point that i gave up and begin looking into why this might be happening. To cut a long story short : Although there is a setting called 'Cranking Pulse Widths' i can adjust in TunerStudio that helps with the cold starts, there was something else going on that needed to be investigated. The IAT (Intake Air Temperature) sensor was reading 21 degrees constantly when it was 5 degrees.I swapped the sensor out - no change. Then i traced the wiring back checking the earth and soldered joints and there were no issues, up until the point where is started looking at the piggyback wiring for the megasquirt that hooks into the standard ECU loom : Two wires for some reason had broken free from the DB37 connector which caused my sensor to switch to a default reading of 21. The grey wire i think is one of several grounds. Seeing this also loose explains another issue that crept in over the hibernation : I had to click the ignition on twice before it would crank. I was massively relieved when i found the 2nd wire and realised this was the cause of the ignition gremlin. I thought it was the standard immobilser at fault and was beginning to contemplate ripping the standard ECU out and getting the thing completely remapped again! So i soldered these wires back in carefully and recalibrated the IAT sensor and we were looking in better shape. Ignition was working first time, air temp was correct but it was still struggling to catch and idle without repeated attempts. I'd done some reading by this stage and realised there is a stage in the engine start sequence called 'Warmup enrichment' (WUE) which is the stage just after cranking where the engine begins to idle and warm up. I suspected this needed some work. Luckily in TunerStudio there is a superb utility called AutoTune which you can use for various aspects of the cars map, including Warmup Enrichment! Using AutoTune for WUE requires 2 passes with the engine as cold as possible. Since it was mild i went ahead knowing i need to run this again later. You start the AutoTune, and then start the engine. TunerStudio analyses whats going on with the engine and adjust the fuelling etc to optimise the WUE stage so that it carries on running and also doesnt use too much fuel and idles steadily. I ran two passes of this today and even after the first one - the car fired up first time like a dream. Very impressed with the TunerStudio software. The real test will be once i have run a couple of passes in really cold conditions at that point it should be set and no further adjustment required. Below is the results of the first 2 passes in mild (10 degrees) weather : The Blue line is what TunerStudio has suggested i run, and the Grey dashed line is what i was running on the first pass. As you can see its changed it somewhat! So with that out the way now i am going to drive the car for a bit and blow the cobwebs away I had a quick blast over this weekend and shes back on form. Missed that charger noise! Next up : service time and some uprated whiteline anti roll bars via WIM then a track day and another trip to Le Mans in June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 That's cool . Don't know much about mega squirt it seems really logical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 You're getting good at problem finding/solving That autotune looks good, so you can use it to program settings in as well as diagnose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 Of the many things i'm not good at electrics is my biggest failure so well done to you for finding and solving the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted March 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 That autotune looks good, so you can use it to program settings in as well as diagnose? If you have the relevant sensors working there is enough in the AutoTune suite to get the car up and running and driving about. It might even be suitable for more on the fly performance related tuning to a degree but to be honest having a person tune your car that can read between the lines is still the way to go especially when boost is involved. Its amazing as a backup for the enthusiast like me though. There is potential however to be completely self sufficient if you know what you are doing. All elements of the tune can be edited in TunerStudio manually so you really have to know what you are doing and what the consequences will be - you could throw a rod out the block otherwise. The areas i have been looking into are exclusively the cold start settings, otherwise i use it for Gauges on a Nexus tablet that connects via bluetooth, Useful especially on track days and keeps an element of stealth with no gauges inside. Saying that the car doesnt look particularly stock any more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 That's an understatement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-O Posted March 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Drove the car into work 25 miles this morning and it started and drove well. I think i need to firm up the coilovers - not sure why but now they feel overly soft. Maybe thats me craving something more hardcore since i have been away from it for a while i also forgot speedhumps have to be traversed with care. I might even raise it a touch more when it goes in for Joe to fit the ARBs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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