Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Asininedrivel

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Haakon said:
Yes yes, it’s another bloody ring video, but this is worth it. He only has about 30% function in his right arm after a rally accident, so is mostly driving with one arm. Listen to the tyres - he has it right on the edge the whole way and makes it look easy.

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Not trying to take anything away from the above video, but I was surprised given his injuries Kubica bothered to return to F1. Trying to swap your dominant hand in your thirties is hardly going to guarantee the same level of dexterity and skills needed to pilot an F1 car, especially given they're pretty much the fastest they've ever been currently.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Asininedrivel said:
Not trying to take anything away from the above video, but I was surprised given his injuries Kubica bothered to return to F1. Trying to swap your dominant hand in your thirties is hardly going to guarantee the same level of dexterity and skills needed to pilot an F1 car, especially given they're pretty much the fastest they've ever been currently.
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I imagine its pretty addictive driving F1...
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
A bit of a heads up for anyone who may be contemplating running a LiFe starting battery. In the XR4 we had a tiny AGM which had enough grunt to start the engine. Some neglect and abuse (isolators left on, lights on etc) and it was down to about 30% capacity and it felt like it would just give up at some point. Even fully charged it was a concern. So mate with the other 50% decided to get a LiFe battery after talking with his supplier. Specs were great, 550CCA with a boost of another 200CCA if the cell was low and would charge with an alternator and we picked up an automatic trickle charger to keep it topped up. We did no checking as we were relying on the supplier to give us the best option for the car. Ran last weekend and no issues until the penultimate run. It threw an alternator warning light mid run and then a klaxon sounded as I hit the finish line. Pulled up and checked the battery with the isolator open. 13.88V, probably some surface charge there. With the engine running and isolator closed the voltage dropped to 13.3V for about 30 seconds and then ramped up to 14.8-14.9V at which point the light came on and the buzzer sounded. I swapped the battery for the old AGM and finished the day. Initial thoughts were that the smart alternator in the XR4 was somehow struggling with the LiFe battery or it had died and was just pumping out silly voltages.

The ecu threw no codes. We initially thought the alternator had committed suicide and were looking at swapping that before the next round. I was not sure and performed the tests suggested by the workshop manual on Sunday. The alternator did respond as it should and that started the process of checking with the manufacturer. Oh and with the AGM battery in place it was back to business as usual. No lights etc.

Fast forward to Monday and the supplier was about as useful as a shark attack so I sent an email to the manufacturer (importer?) based on the Gold Coast. Gave them all the details. In the meantime I brushed up on the ecu and how it controls the alternator. Bear in mind as a 2007 model the ecu control function is quite limited. The ecu senses load, battery state and adjusts the alternator output accordingly.

A few emails back and forth with the manufacturer and we have come to the conclusion that the ecu senses battery resistance to determine state of charge. When a lead acid battery is full the internal resistance increases and the ecu then tells the alternator to reduce output. With the LiFe battery the internal resistance is low and stays low. This would result in the ecu thinking that the battery is dead and it needs to be charged heavily. As the battery was sitting at 13.8V (correct for a fully charged LiFe battery) the ecu bumped the output voltage up as high as it could (max 15V) to push current into the battery. Thus resulting in an over charge warning light.

We have replaced the AGM with a larger version of the same that still fits (just) inside the box and the LiFe will go into one of the older Escorts my mate has that runs a dumb alternator.

Whether this is a function of a semi smart ecu controlled alternator or a symptom of any smart alternator I cannot tell but if you are looking to go that way and have an ecu controlled alternator be aware it may not work as planned and long term will be bad for the battery and charging system.
 
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Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
theyre going to sell like hot cakes and be worth bugger all in 10 years (assuming all the plastic haven't disintegrated...).
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
There are a couple of 037's for sale here and not too expensive but I couldn't track or rally one. Too scared of turning into landfill.
 
JTmofo

JTmofo

XC Enthusiast
More progress on my covid project. After much procrastination over whether to split the block and check the crank, I bit the bullet.
Good job i did, crank mains were buggered, along with the water pump seals.
Please, please use coolant and DI water, not shite out of your tap in the coolant system.

Race glass is under way with paint.... doing it all myself so could look like a dogs arse when finished.

Wheels ready for tyres, forks have been fixed well enough to stop oil leaks. Im still on the look put for a set of reasonably priced GSXR 1000 K1/K2 forks.


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