8000 rpm 3.2 engine?

[911hillclimber]

Thank you Jeff.
I admit to just getting rid of the Porsche bit of the car and go Subaru turbo.
I hill climbed a lovely Classic STi befor the Lola, 370 BHP from 2 litres, totally dependable.

I have a gearbox in my garage!

 

[Motorhead]

A Subaru F-4T engine certainly would make an interesting replacement Graham, although you’d lose the simplicity and inherent lightness of the Porsche’s air-cooled engine arrangement by having to make provision for coolant and intercooler rads and associated plumbing, etc., but on the plus side there are plenty of UK-sourced tuning opportunities.

I’m sure you wouldn’t have any problem selling the Porsche engine to fund the change but it would be preferable if it was in full running order, which doesn’t help given your current predicament.

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

I've toyed with the idea several times Jeff, also fitting a Boxster drive train which is ;just; too wide to go in.

Plan B is cooking well so far:

Bin the Clewett ecu and change it for a DTA Ignition-Only unit, type T2i
Will be calling Alex at DTA tomorrow morning to see how the DTA ecu might interface with what I have.

The Clewett ecu is £650 total cost, maybe £700.
I have no faith they will replace my ecu. Might get a surprise, but doubt it.

In which case I need to move on and get this thing done.

DTA are 1 hour away from me, ecu made in England and £412

It may well be better to bite the bitter bullet and get back in control.

[h3]Product overview[/h3]
The T2i is the ideal choice for historic, carburetted engines. It has wideband lambda monitoring and logging to help tune and diagnose fuelling issues with carburettors. It has flat-shift for dog-engaged gearboxes and can run engines up to 12 cylinders with distributors or 4 cylinders with wasted spark. It even has launch control and boost control!
Does your mechanical fuel pump need replacing or upgrading? Not a problem, the T2i can safely control electronic fuel pumps so you can upgrade safe in the knowledge that if you have a smash and the engine stops, the pump will stop too.
T-Series engine control units are powered by an all-new, automotive specific, multi-core processor. They feature Bosch lambda controllers for maximum accuracy, multiple safety redundancies, high resolution map tables, fully configurable I/O and up to 32MB of logging at up to 500 Hz with compression algorithms for fast log downloads. The PC software has a user-friendly, responsive
design for better readability on high resolution monitors using high scaling (DPI). It features a full oscilloscope for crankshaft/camshaft signal analysis and allows firmware to be upgraded without special cables or separate software.

 

[Motorhead]

Sounds like a plan Graham. If TDA’s offering proves to be suitable, being a UK supplier they’ll be easier to deal with either by phone or face-to-face if necessary and hopefully you can get back on schedule. The lambda sensor facility sounds as though it could be useful during set-up?

Regarding Clewette you would/should expect a full refund for a returned faulty item, but then unfortunately you’re dealing with a US company and you’ll need to look carefully at their T&Cs, but your guess is as good as mine.

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

Ref Clewett..
He has told me he will not pay for the post back and the post/duty return.
He has told me not to send the ecu back to him. If I do then he will charge me to forward it to Electromotive, post and admin cost. Costs undisclosed.
This is if the part is faulty or not.
Electromotive say they are not doing repairs and any parts from anyone will be returned. They will never post it back to me in England, it will get 'lost'

I am expecting an email in response to my request for an immediate replacement unit to be sent. I might get lucky, but i doubt it.
I am expecting a technical reply from Electromotion tomorrow, but the guy works just one day a week.

I am expecting the USA trail to go cold.
Bit of a poor show I feel.
This week I have these emails to look forward to.
I have a call in to DTA to discuss their product tomorrow. Based in Leamington Spa, an hour away, sounds ideal.
I have a visit of 2 educated and relevant experienced people coming the see the car armed with knowledge and an oscilloscope and they know how to use it.

I hope they find the issue either my making or Electromotive's, but find the reason.

Either way I hope to move on by Friday..

 

[AndrewT]

"I have a visit of 2 educated and relevant experienced people coming the see the car armed with knowledge and an oscilloscope and they know how to use it.”
That’s good news, and with luck perhaps they’ll find the Clewitt ECU is not faulty, although based on your experiences with them I imagine you’ll be happier to switch to another supplier anyway.

 

[Motorhead]

Quite frankly Graham I find it unbelievable that a company is unwilling to stand by its product, if indeed it’s supplied you with a faulty item. What a tinpot outfit.

At least your two visitors hopefully will be able to give a you a definitive answer as to whether or not the sensor and electronic unit are working or not.

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

Uncharacteristically, Clewett has failed to email me back.
Through all this pantomime he has always emailed next day.

He could be sorting a deal with Electromotive which may take a day, he has been their dealer for 30 years and are listed as a preferred source for fixing problems.
I think i know where this is going.
On the Electromotion site I've found a small section along the lines of hints and tips to trouble shoot this thing.
Last paragraph there is a bit on System Failure where the ecu crank sensor circuit in the ecu can fail.
There is a link to allow repair(!) but that link has been taken down!!

My conversation with DTA went well, but £1100 to replace the USA ecu, double the price of a new ecu from Clewett.

I'm screwed whichever way I turn.

 

[Motorhead]

What a hopeless outfit Clewett have turned out to be Graham. This fiasco isn’t a great advertisement for them.

Re DTA, how did a £474 ECU turn into a £1,100 solution? ?? Crank sensor, coil pack(s), etc.?

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

Twin plugs.
This facility is rare and found only in top end systems for mega engine specs. where twin plug heads are common.
Nobody does a twin spark system under £2000 when all done, the reason i went to Clewett!

Clewett have told me if i wish to return the ecu for testing at Electromotive then they will look at it, postage at my cost. My choice, not theirs.
I would then have to pay to get it back.
They need around 4 weeks to sort it but have no ecu's for 4 weeks that are new, so i have to wait.

This means cancelling race meetings already, and I have lost the chance to win the class again before the Championship starts!

All this is my fault, should never have started this adventure which i expected to be interesting and rewarding, it has been simply ugly.

Anyway, enough of all the depression, got to find a solution that is practical so need to bite the bullet.

 

[Motorhead]

Yes, I forgot about your twin plug setup. Obviously an additional complication, and limiting your options.

Maybe stating the obvious here Graham but have you been able to check that the crank sensor is working?

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

Yes I have Jeff, about a 1,000,000 times!!
Resistance should be 620 ohms, range 600 to 700 ohms.
It is 618.6 ohms.

 

[Motorhead]

Ha! Yes I realise that you’ve checked for continuity and resistance but have you (or your experienced pals with an oscilloscope?) been able to monitor the actual signal (square waveform) from the sensor?

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

The 'Wizzz Kids' arrive tomorrow pm!
The wave should be sinusoidal and the sensor's integrity will be the first thing to check.
All info on the Clewett and Electromotive sites point to my issue being down to the sensor.

 

[911hillclimber]

t was a pleasure meeting Chris and Rob today and really appreciate the 5 hours we spent going through everything and more.
Big effort, learnt a lot and have good details to send to Clewett and Electromotive for when the XDi box goes back to America.

We did not get it going.
Positives:
The sensor is good, especially when we reduced the air gap to 10/8 thou, the sinusoidal wave was crisp and 4 volts.
The air gap made a significant difference.

The status of the light is unchanged though twice and briefly it did in fact alternate for maybe 2 or 3 seconds, but then reverted back to 'solid green'.
Rob and Chris could not see anything I'd done was the problem.

Photographs were taken of the traces to send to Electromotive

We have got to the conclusion the XDi is suspect.

Negatives?
Have to pay to ship to USA and back
Loose 4 weeks
Cancel events and rolling road.

 

[AndrewT]

I’m pleased to hear that this afternoon’s work has established that everything you’ve done was without fault, just disappointing that you now have to return the ECU and be at their mercy for a repair/replacement.

With regard to your championship, can the events you’ll miss count as your dropped rounds or does every round count?

 

[911hillclimber]

I'm 70 end of March.
I hope to do a special travel run later and will this loose 2 rounds due to being absent.
That takes away the lea-way of dropped rounds, thus every round counts due to be loosing 2 events.
Thus, I could have lost the chance to contest my class before the car has turned a wheel!

Clewett have assured me a contact to assure the unit is treated as a warranty.

But I have to call the lady in Virginia to arrange this, Clewett won't.

 

[Motorhead]

+1 on Andrew’s comments Graham. I presume Clewett want you to deal directly with Electromotive (their supplier?) so they don’t get tied-up with import/export customs issues. As I mentioned before, tread carefully when you send the item back to the US since you’ll have to declare its value for shipping insurance and you’ll have to make it clear to US customs that it’s a UK customs paid faulty item being return to the US supplier for repair/replacement. Just make sure that Electromotive are on top of this otherwise there could be additional delays and import duty extricating the item from US customs.

Good luck!

Jeff

 

[911hillclimber]

Some positive progress. things change by the hour.

I've contacted Stephanie at Electromotive and she has sent the Returns Form to me, and promises the speediest turn around they can.
I know there is no stock in Electro of new XDi ecus, hence the 4 weeks.
Still away it will go.
Clewett and her have discussed things. My fingers are crossed.
Her tele extension is 204 so maybe it is a big company after all?

Also, a Porsche specialist has offered on loan a full-on twin plug distributor with all the coils etc (ie RSR) until the XDi re appears.
This is a very expensive bit of kit. i thought it best to go and collect it, a 6 hour round trip, but what a generous offer.

I have competed the XDi plug lead routs now, will have to remove it all if the twin plug distributor is pressed into action...

 

[AndrewT]

..... Also, a Porsche specialist has offered on loan a full-on twin plug distributor with all the coils etc (ie RSR) until the XDi re appears.
This is a very expensive bit of kit. i thought it best to go and collect it, a 6 hour round trip, but what a generous offer.....

That's excellent news. Hopefully that will enable you test all of the engine work you've done, verify that it was indeed the Clewitt that Blew it, and enable you to enter the first rounds of your championship!