TSD

I'm obviously missing something, explain?

One of three things happens :- 1) Nothing 2) The disconnected end arcs out from the end of the coil, and you get a very weak spark on the connected cylinder. 3) The coil arcs out through the internal insulation, and the coil never works properly again, due to reduced breakdown voltage The coil drivers don't really want to be switching a fully charged coil either, so ecu/edis damage is possible (though probably not likely).

Not different banks, different cylinders running reversed polarity. EDIS is a wasted spark system, using four double ended coils. Two cylinder spark at a time, one on compression, the other on exhaust stroke. The same charge of electricity discharges through both spark plugs, but in opposite directions. The current path is from one end of the coil, from tip of one plug to the body, then through the engine block and the body of the second plug, to the tip and returning to the coil. Because the erosion of the plug is affected by spark polarity (like welding with reverse polarity) the effect is different on 'normal' polarity plugs to the reverse polarity ones.

Over wetting the plugs with fuel can cause them to fail, causeing misfire. I can only guess at the mechanism that causes it, but I saw it several times when messing with the first MS units. When I was working with the prototype EDIS code, I never had any plug failures I could relate to that. Every time I've seen your truck, starting hasn't seemed to be its strong suit, so that might well be part of the problem. The hot spark does tend to increase the erosion of the plug though, and remember that half the plugs are firing reverse polarity, which changes the erosion / metal migration pattern. Ford USA used to spec single platinum plugs for the cylinders firing 'normal' polarity, and double platinum plugs for those running reversed. Maybe worth the price of one set of double platinum plugs to see how long they last? Dave

"Your tax dollar at work" It's a few years since I did this, so my memory may be wrong on exact detail, and there may be better stuff available now. At the time I was looking for a good quality plug to fit a standard in-car cigarette lighter socket. I was looking worldwide, and I bought and tested to destruction every likely candidate I found. I never found a plug that was capable of a reliable 15A. (By reliable, I mean a continuous 15A for many hours without problems). The sockets usually have a decent amount of metal, and using fat wiring helps conduct heat away, in short they aren't usually the problem. The plugs normally have a spring in them which doesn't conduct heat well, and looses it's temper when it heats up, making the problem worse. Good quality plugs will have a flexy copper braid up the middle of the spring, or some other method of preventing the current travelling through the spring. If there is an inline fuse, that will get pretty hot running near it's rated current, and that can destroy the spring and/or melt the plastic body. The plugs with the removeable red cap (converts them to a DIN style plug, if you didn't know) all appear to be a copy of the Hella design, and most share the same design flaw. They are usually a fraction too long, so when you plug them in to a 'real' cigarette lighter, they have a tendency to pop out on every bump. Filing off the tip a bit lets them seat on the spring which holds the ciggy lighter before it pops out. Obviously this doesn't apply if you use the accessory sockets, rather than a cig lighter socket. Farnell sells a '15A' copy of the Hella plug which has a solid centre pin where the fuseholder normally is. They heat up less, having no fuse. Marinco makes a decent plug and socket combo (each half is compatible with 'normal' versions, but offers a splash seal and a twist lock when used together.) Either of those is reliable at 8A, maybe more if you use fat wire and are lucky.

I don't have any pics of this panel installed, but this is the CNC panel I had made for the Ibex.

The hose connector on the cooler is Tee'd into the fat riser pipe into the bottom of the expansion tank. The oil cooler connections on the rad are blanked off.

Don't you mean Brickiln

On my rover diffs, the ARBs had 3/16" tube, and the fitting on the diff housing had an internal 3/8-24 parallel thread. The only source I could find in the UK was as ARB spares, but they were easy to source in the US.

<geek> Bosch claim the maximum efficiency of a typical aircooled alternator is around 65%. Mean efficency in normal use is typically 55%. For a given current load, a larger alternator (ie higher power capability) will usually be more efficient than a smaller one. It will be electrically more efficient, but that is offset a little by the increased rotational mass requiring increased energy during acceleration. Copper losses in the field coils and diodes are constant wrt to rotational speed, but mechanical losses, stator copper losses and Iron losses are roughly proportional to rotational speed. </geek>

Why not generate a PWM output, either using the onboard timers, or simply decrement a counter in the main program loop (if the loop has fairly stable timing) or via an interrupt routine. Feed the output via an integrator to the LM3914 (bargraph driver that FF used). That only uses one pin from the micro.

From the International WSM Crank main bearing journals 63.471-63.491mm ( 300tdi = 63.475 - 63.487 ) Crankpin diameter 58.725-58.745mm ( 300tdi = 58.725 - 58.744 ) Google 'service_manual_hs28l.pdf' for a download. Note this isn't exactly a bootleg - the manual was a free download from International when the engine was in production, as was the parts catalogue.

As others have said, I think you are entitled to repair or replace to the pre-accident condition. The insurance company will want to reduce their costs as far as possible but they must use a competent assessor and repairer, and with JFs opinion available to you, they'll have a struggle to get anything past you that you don't agree with. I'm going to keep your photos handy for the next time I consider not having the Ibex as my daily driver (which isn't often!). JF had a demonstrator 250HT for sale a while back - if it's still for sale, and acceptable to you, the ins. co. may go for that if you suggest it, given the time delay in building a new truck and the ongoing costs of providing you with alternative transport? Glad you are OK (at least compared to the alternatives!) Dave 5F041

IIRC the filter is slightly compressed by the brass nut when fitted, so they always look a little bit squashed. Good luck!

I notice you have the mechanical fuel pump... is it possible that there is sediment collected in the pump body? Do you have a decent filter before the pump? Have you checked it recently? Have you checked for water in the fuel? Why do you say it's defo not icing? Have you checked the floats aren't sticking in the carb? Do the easi-start thing. The vacuum bulb on the dizzy is open to the atmosphere on the Essex. I had some very odd symptoms once when some mud got in there - the timing got shifted randomly as the mud jammed the diaphragm in different positions. You won't have mud, but you could have sticking timing? Dave

Where do you think it's above 0C ?

I agree with you Steve, but I wouldn't try squirting petrol into a hot Essex lump, they can be a real pig to start when warm if the fueling isn't just right, and lead to a wrong conclusion. Easistart will do the job just lovely though!

The 38DGAS on that engine was a pig of a thing at the best of times, and the isolator pad was so thick I don't think the carb itself got much heating directly by the manifold, even though the manifold has a big heating pad at the base and carries all the coolant from the heads. If the autochoke has been removed (so no water heating by that) and the engine compartment temperatures are low... (Megasquirt transforms that lump totally!) In a car with that engine the underbonnet temps often get quite high, and the standard Ford setup took a warm air feed off one exhaust manifold into the airbox. I guess in a boat there's no radiator and fan blowing hot air around. The other thing that can throw the cooling off in the Essex is the that coolant flow rates around each cylinder are controlled by the size of holes in the inlet manifold gasket. Sometime people open up the holes thinking they will get better cooling, but all that happens is some cylinder get more cooling and others get less. Alternatively, sometimes the copper shims (attached to the gasket) slip during assembly and block one coolant port. I don't think that the block cooling as such is the problem though. Dave

You may be right, the only time I've experienced carb icing it took about 5 mins to become a problem. On a boat though, who knows? There's likely to be a lot of moisture in the intake air, and the cooling setup may be very different - total loss cooling/heat exchanger/radiator? I don't know whats usually done when fitting but the engine temperatures could be a lot different to a typical car setup.

The standard Ford isolator was a 1/2" thick plastic plate, with a baffle plate to stop all the fuel dropping straight onto the manifold and running straight down the middle cylinder ports. Actually it sounds to me more like the opposite problem, carb icing. Running at partial throttle in a wet environment can do that. I'd try drawing the inlet air over one of the manifolds and see if it improves matters.

It 'works' in one of two ways : either the mismatch added by the filter tuned out the mismatch of the antenna (in which case you were just lucky and it won't be the same for a different radio/antenna/install), or (far more likely) it's just lossy. Putting a loss in the cable between meter and antenna improves the measured SWR. Your SWR numbers suggest a loss of around 30%. Sounds a lot but you won't really notice it in normal use. The point is that while the measured SWR has improved, the real match of the antenna hasn't changed, and the transmit power has decreased slightly, so the radio performance is worse, not better.

How does it know if the antenna is too long or too short?

CloneZilla seems to work well.

He's nearly right, except it's not a Darlington. Oh, and if you leave out the series resistor in the base of the first transistor, it's a bit harsh on the BC108 (which saturates at about 0.7V, and then looks a bit like a short circuit), and on the poor logic gate (or whatever it is) that's trying to drive it. Suspect that 100k source impedance and 100n coupling cap won't give much action either, into any kind of real load, at real speeds.

Well I had a fantastic day - BIG thanks to everyone who turned out to help me celebrate First job at Slab is always to entice matey Stefan into an innocent looking puddle... Sadly the Belgians offered a helping hand (and towrope) before I'd built up a full session of urine extraction (Hopefully H doesn't see this, as he later bought the Disco!) Then hand the Ibex keys to Bill S and see what a mess he can make... That water was dangerous... beware the pirate ducks! I reckon Rich (dlander) was stalking me round the site... every time we looked like getting stuck, he magically appeared! Cracking day out! Dave