Jump to content

Steve200TDi's New Racer!!


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

Well....due to Transfer box issues of the crutchy crutchy, grindy grindy nature, I didn't make it to Slindon :angry::(:(

But today I collected the new windscreen and fired it up for the first time after fitting the fuel pressure regulator. Obviously it's hard to tell if it's cured/fixed, so roll on Slindon next month hopefully!

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well I took it for another outing to Slindon at the weekend, but sadly the issue is still there, so it's not the fuel pressure regulator!

The fuel is getting hot, so it could be vaporising or staving the fuel pump of fuel.

The inline fuel pump I have may be to highly rated for the engine and so pumping most of the fuel back into the tank which wont help with aeration.

So my next plan is to:

- fit a facet fuel pump to suck the fuel out of the tank (Thanks John!)

- Fit a fuel swirl pot

- reroute the fuel lines somewhere cooler

- Maybe even make the return line larger so as not to make a restriction

I was also thinking of fitting an in tank fuel pump, as that could alleviate some of the problems too, but it's a lot of effort cutting a hole in the tank if I don't know for certain it will work, this could be an improvement in the future though.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve,

I found with the 109's early days EFi install that it was vaporising in the return line, however fitting a larger pipe as you suggest is not what you want - you want a bit of back-pressure in the return to try and stop it from boiling. Petrol will flow amazingly well through a very small gap, I believe TSD's install used a biro cap in the return line at one point :ph34r:

My setup on the 109 is:

tank pickup - Facet lift pump - Bottom of swirl pot - inlet to EFI pump - inline HP filter - Fuel rail - regulator - inline LP filter 1 - IN to top of swirl pot - OUT of top of swirl pot - inline LP filter 2 - tank

Bit convoluted but:

LP Filter 1 is in the engine bay so I can see the return, makes for easy diagnosis

LP filter 2 is a small one, creates a restriction on the return line from the swirl pot (whatever isn't taken from the swirl pot by the EFI pump) which means the pot should always be full of fuel and the combined return line & lift pump keep it under some small amount of pressure, force-feeding the EFI pump. The pressure should help keep the fuel liquid, and the pot should allow any bubbles to float off back to the tank.

A length of copper pipe on the journey to / from the tank, as long as it lives in cool air, could also help, but one thing at a time.

If someone's fitted a stupidly high-flow EFI pump then you may be circulating more fuel than is sensible, but unless you're flat out the majority is always just going to be going round in circles ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Petrol will flow amazingly well through a very small gap, I believe TSD's install used a biro cap in the return line at one point :ph34r:

Not guilty yerronor. I ran a custom made 1L swirl pot from day one.

The biro cap was fitted to a certain wankel rotary powered lotus-se7en-a-like if memory serves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So last week I finally gathered all the parts I needed to revise the fuel system.

One shiny swirl pot

post-7712-0-09736800-1462812324_thumb.jpg

Fitted with a low pressure Facet pump (Thanks Jon!) and Bosch 044, albeit non genuine, but I thought the 'high flow' unit I previously had, may have indeed been to high a flow!

post-7712-0-44301100-1462812473_thumb.jpg

post-7712-0-31749300-1462812490_thumb.jpg

post-7712-0-05587600-1462812512_thumb.jpg

All plumbed in as per Jon's and usual convention.

After priming the system it seem to start ok, with the standard Lucas 10 second fuel pump prime system.

So took it to Slindon at the weekend.........

And it ran all day!

here's a video:

Things I found out...

The Facet pump got very hot to start with, so hot I almost burnt myself checking the temperature! It did seem to cool down and by the afternoon it was fine. So maybe it just needed some running in time. I notice the end cap uncrews, so maybe worth a look see and a rebuild!

the pattern Bosch 044 was quite noisy by the end of the day, so tempted to swap it for the high flow unit which was quieter or something else.

The car got up to temperature and warmer as it was a hot day. This is normally the time it cuts out, but it didn't! The fuel tamp is still hot, but the pumps are cool.

The air flow around the back of the vehicle isn't idea, so I have some ideas:

- A small scoop on the boot to divert air down over the swirl pot and pumps, easy to do and may help.

- A heat shield in front of the fuel tank (engine side) as because the vehicle has under body skid plates, all the hot air from the engine hasn't got anywhere to go and just sits behind the tank, so maybe some hole to try and get rid of some of the hot air is needed.

This has definitely helped, so I'm going to keep trying to improve it and get it prepared for Summer Sisters!

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve,

I know it was a few posts ago (just catching up) but you really don't want an in-tank pump for racing. They can't handle being shaken about and die with alarming regularity - stick with a gravity fed external pump for sure.

Glad to hear you're getting to the root of the problem.

Dave

PS: Safari this weekend has been moved from Slab to Tilmanstone quarry nr. Dover if you haven't heard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the advice Dave, I was thinking about it, but a lot of hassle cutting a hole in the top of the tank, so just for ease I opted for the low pressure pump and swirl pot. I wont go down the in tank pump route then!

Yes, I saw the Comp this weekend and the venue change, but think it's still too soon, so it'll be later in the year for sure!

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

So I've been getting it ready to take to Summer Sisters, which now only a week away!

I've fitted a new silver top Facet fuel pump.

post-7712-0-30183000-1465569491_thumb.jpg

And added some storage:

post-7712-0-03291500-1465569521_thumb.jpg

There will be plastic snap lid boxes going in as well. You can never have enough storage!

New CB radio, apparently the smallest....in the world!

post-7712-0-94148200-1465569582_thumb.jpg

And matching red antenna!

A new windscreen!

post-7712-0-11060800-1465569619_thumb.jpg

And the rear winch tray is in!

post-7712-0-66629000-1465569646_thumb.jpg

Just the rear winch to fit, add a few fuses, add the antenna, set the CB radio up, put some fuel in it!

And load it all up next week for Wales inbound :D:D

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Looks like I need to add a Wales update!!

But also......

I went racing over in Ashford with SCOR 4x4 and it ran all day despite a little panhard rod bracket issue causing a maximun time for 2 out of the 12 laps.

I had great fun and the weather was nice too!

Full report and pictures soon!...

Steve

:i-m_so_happy::i-m_so_happy::D:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the time had finally come!

The Racer was prepared and loaded on the trailer, we were ready to make the journey over to Ashford for round 5 of the Scor 4x4 Comp Safari held at Bilsington Priory.

Were there in plenty of time to unload, get through scrutineering and get ready for the days racing.

There was a slight bit of apprehension as I really want to complete all the laps or at least staying running for the whole day. This was the first 'race' since all of my mods and improvements, so only time would tell if it stayed running or conk out half way round!

The course was set, 4 miles in total through fields and woods with a total of 12 laps needed to be completed between 10 and 4.

Now I thought this was a tall order as any problems or breakages will obviously eat into this time.

Scrutineering was passed after tightening the two panhard rod bracket bolts that go through the chassis! In light of this I will go over the whole car and try and check all nuts and bolts, but it does highlight how a second pair of new eyes can spot things.

We started the first lap and all was going well until I must have clipped a tree stump or glanced off a tree......we now had some vague steering and less of it! Andy, my co-driver, quickly diagnosed that the panhard bracket had pulled the nut off the previously tighten bolt, thus creating the vague steering. We got out of the woods and limped back to base.

Fortunately another team had a suitable bolt long enough for us to replace it with. The original bolt was partially stripped so I suspect my tightening may have damaged it further.

this repair lasted for 5 laps, we were starting to familerise ourselves with the course and finding out that certain corners and section could be taken faster, but others that needed to be taken slower as there were a few nasty small ruts that ran across the course that wouldn't do the steering or wheels any good!

On lap 7 I can only guess that I must have glanced off a tree or tree stump causing vague steering again!

So we limped back to the pits and found that the bolt head had pulled itself through the chassis!

A new bolt with some washers fixed that! And yes, this will be on my list of things to have a look at and repair/replace as necessary!

The last 5 laps included my fastest times so I was improving which was good! The last lap saw my best attempt at the last gate, taking it flat out as appose to the first lap where I braked and went through the holes (a short video of this will appear soon!)

So I was happy! I had completed all 12 laps, ok two maximums, but the car ran all day, with no overheating or fueling issues!

I really enjoyed it and it gets better after every lap as you start to know the course and remember where all the little improvements you can make on the next lap and where to slow down and where to take corners faster!

I've posted some photos on my MUD WUN Racing page on Facebook which everyone should be able to see, but let me know if you can't and I'll be making a video in the coming weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/mudwunracing/

I didn't put the GoPro in so I haven't got a video of the whole lap, but luckily Chris Button (car number 4) did!

I was a great course, but I think the video makes out that we were just aimlessly driving through the trees in the wooded section! Whereas it was well sign posted and there was a definite route to be taken!

Bring on the next round at the end of September!

I have a short list of things to check and sort out!

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A short list of things to investigate/sort out:

- Panhard rod fixings

- Rear diff pan, seems to be leaking or the breathers blocked

- Check and adjust kickdown cable

It was commented from a certain GBMUD that the engine wasn't reving as high as maybe it should have been when I had my footed planted to the floor, so I will check the kick down cable. I've done a little research on this and looks like there's a measurement for the correct adjustment and making sure the cable isn't seized. But I haven't really found any manuals or literature on it! Any pointers?

If that is sorted that will improve acceleration. Am I right in thinking that the Borg warner transfer box only comes in one ratio? I've found that Tomcat motorsport did sell a gear set for it and also swapping the diff ratios out could improve things, happen to have a set of 4.11's in stock :)

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: kickdown cable

Yes, there is a measurement from the little crimp from the end of the outer cable sheath where it is pointing at the throttle linkage, I think this is 1.5mm from memory.. HOWEVER, this accounts for no cable stretch, so as things get tired your engine will rev lower and lower, albeit very slowly.

So, the way I do this to adjust the two nuts that hold the cable to the plenum bracket (two 13mm nuts IIRC) and make the gap a little bigger, I think mine is at about 3mm, however the actual distance is unimportant, what matter is when it decides to change up. So it is a case of set it, drive it about a bit, adjust, drive until you get it how you want.

I have mine set to change up at around 5100rpm when in first gear, but the other thing to remember is that it is also *load* based, as well as kickdown position. So.... when in first gear or even low range, the load is actually quite light, as the gearing makes it pretty easy to go faster. If you are in a high gear and 3rd gear, the load is high due to increased rolling and air resistance, so you may find that a setting that is really good for first gear high range is great for off the mark, but to get it to change up in higher gears at full throttle you may need to lift a touch to let box do its job.

For low range, I don't think I have ever had a problem, but on-road in high (50mph +) it may over-rev.

So it is all about finding that sweet spot between the two -revs enough to get off the line quickly in low and high range, and allows you to change up at a safe RPM in higher gear in high range.

Though of course, if you never reach much more than 50mph (I'm guessing that is possible?) then the high gear issue will not really affect you.

4.1s will liven it up nicely, I am very sure, though if you get the kickdown sorted on 3.54s you will find that you may want to readjust the cable again (tighter) once you move to 4.1s, as the load has decreased again :)

Got all that? Hope so :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I refitted the under body skid plate and had a look at the steering system.

I will need to order two new panhard rod bracket bolts. I tightened up the steering drop arm and also found something that may have caused the panhard rod issue!

post-7712-0-51416300-1470242135_thumb.jpg

Yes! This bracket had cracked, so I recon it had already cracked during the gentle off roading I've been doing recently and the bolts have been taking the strain. The bolts have worked loose damaging the thread, I've tightened them up and the bolts have stripped after a knock during the comp safari.

It has duly been replaced with the version that doesn't have slots as that's the one I had in stock!

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy