DIY_EFI Digest V2 #324

[Jake]

> http://rand.nidlink.com/~john1/foreward.html
> this guy tells about a DC electric motor turning a generator
> that puts out more than it consumes so charges the battery
> it runs off.
> Dean.

that reminds me of an article on how to convert your car to "water fuel"
you fill a tank in the trunk with water, connect electrodes through a
switch to your battery, and duct the hydrogen/oxygen gases produced by
electrolysis to the air cleaner; the carb acts as a throttle body.
He says "the running of the engine will recharge the battery, which
supplies the current for the electrolysis.. this is called 'activation
energy'" but he doesn't mention how he circumvented that pesky clause of
thermodynamic law #1, conservation of energy.

he does however go into great detail of the effects of burning hydrogen on
his valves, i.e. rust, and other details i have to wonder how he knew
would be the case. i still have his address and plan to question him.

> I've got a weird one here. Every one I've asked so far has been stomped. I
> drove my '89 5.7L TPI '58 chevy truck to Atlanta last weekend, 100mph
> plus...420 miles one way from my home...so I'm perty sure it's not a
> mechanical engine noise. The following is what I know. I think it's the EGR
> valve or diaphragm resonating.

whoa.. they had EFI in 1957?

> When the engine is hot (just after getting off the highway) I get this high
> pitch squeaking sound. Sounds like a belt but much louder. I can hear it 100
> yards off.  Changed the belt, operated the engine with the belt off, added
> many cans of belt dressing, and the engine still squeaks. 

have you checked the power brake servo, if you have one? Vacuum causes a
loud high-pitched squeak in those bastards if they have a hole. A girl i
knew told me that her mechanic had informed her that "she had a pinhole in
her diaphragm" and then told the rest of the story. Basically, a
high-pitched very annoying whistle was present whenever her foot was not
on the brake pedal. it's worth a look, let me know if i was right.

> timing, which all make some sense. BUT in the California engine, they 
> used a Hall effect sensor ignition, the ignition timing was changed, what 
> seems to me, drastically. My point- and-condenser system works best at 
> stock 7.5deg BTDC at idle, ported vacuum advance (I'm not sure of this 
> term- the vacuum port is blocked by the throttle plate at idle position, 
> and uncovers just off idle. Right?). The earliest timing at WOT (no 
right.. ported vacuum also purges the charcoal cannister.
>    The Hall Effect Ignition is set at 5 deg ATDC at idle, with vacuum 
> RPM is only 16-20 degees BTDC. The Bently manual is suprisingly lacking 
>    Does anyone have a clue as to why in a mostly equal engines (the cali 
> does have a cat converter), this difference exists? Am I missing 
> something?
> 
> Mario T.
> mailto:Freshmar at aol.com-----'76 VW Camper FI A/T,,'79 Fiat X1/9

the stock manuals never list CAMSHAFT TIMING, that is, the fact that most
emissions-compliant factory engines ship the camshaft a few gear teeth off
of what is normally considered "lined up" and this is hardly ever
documented. Thats what I would expect to be the reason for the california
timing difference. It's not surprising considering how difficult
(impossible?) it is to make an air-cooled engine comply these days.

> Has anyone ever installed a pressure transducer in the spark plug hole and 
> run the engine with that cylinder's spark and fuel injector disabled?  High 
> speed data acquisition would be required, but it would allow one to measure 
> the effects of various mods (cam, intake, exhaust, boost, etc).  Higher 
> pressure would indicate better cylinder filling, although some temperature 
> compensation would probably be required.  The max pressure for a non-firing 
> cylinder is 120 to 200 psi, well within the range of reasonably priced 
> transducers.
> 
> Bryan Zublin
> bzublin at nlvl.com

wow.. i was wondering what to do with that 0-2000 PSI transducer i picked
up at a hamfest. good idea! I think it would be more interesting to stick
a different type of transducer on the block though, rather than in the
cylinder.. i want to plant a microphone-like device on the block (perhaps
a nice microphone) and try to show on an oscilliscope the various
waveforms generated by near-detonation-point combustion. Perhaps a
microphone (and some advanced ECU software/hardware) can eliminate the
need for an oxygen sensor?

> 	I would like to thank everybody for their support as I did locate the =
> prob. As I was peering under the hood one particularly brisk morning =
> with my trusty FLUKE 87 in hand ready to test the Cold Start Injector =
> wiring, I noticed it was UNPLUGGED! Well, I plugged it in, and fired it =
> up. Has been starting perfectly ever since.
> 
> 	Paul (If it don't work, plug it in and then try it..) Ruschman

ahh, a fellow volvo enthusiast. That one gets 'em EVERY TIME.. i've seen
many cars in the junkyard with nothing wrong but the cold start injector
wiring, obvious once you know what to look for. I once met someone with a
DeLorean (volvo engine) in his yard, he said it didn't start. He opened
the trunk for me to look at the engine, and i immediately pointed out that
his Thermal Time Switch connector was broken off and disconnected (the TTS
provides the ground path for the CSI, without the CSIs spray you'll NEVER
get a K-jet car started)