Harrop 2300 supercharger to Optimiser 6500

[PeeBee]

Struggling with an on-going issue. I came home on the end of a tow rope maybe 4 weeks ago. The car lost power, would not rev over 1400rpm under load and would rev to 3000 then die. I thought it was dirty fuel o faulty lift pump so changed both. Problem persisted so let me to believe one of the fuel computer flow meters has died so took these out of the circuit. Thought problem was sorted then today it died within 3 minutes, initially low fuel pressure the restarted it and back to 11psi. I have wired a direct jumper cable from battery to the injector pump soledoid, and it is a solid flick, indicating fuel has a pathway to the motor. Glow plugs are fully functional. I am going to bypass everything from the outlet of the lift pump to the downstream side of the fuel heat exchanger. How can I test the solenoid is chattering or failing ? Bit at a loss
I guess I should drop the fuel as a test but it looked pretty good when I pumped it thru

[mudski]

Could you run a temporary test light as such, to the solenoid and run the vehicle. If theres intermittent power to the solenoid the light should go off an on aswell. Dunno. my knowledge is very limited on this stuff.

[PeeBee]

Could you run a temporary test light as such, to the solenoid and run the vehicle. If theres intermittent power to the solenoid the light should go off an on aswell. Dunno. my knowledge is very limited on this stuff.

Good idea Mark, I was going to simply listen to the solenoid and see if its dropping out, however unsure how I would get a signal as the power is direct off the battery, so it wont be dropping out but the solenoid may be failing or chattering - I need some help on this. Is there a filter or strainer on the factory fuel tank level device? I am also probably going to put some compressed air down the line from the lift pump back to the tank - lid off the tank, and see if tat improves the scenario. All just takes time and I am fed up with this issue to be frank. Car was running like a bird, then it started to stutter.

[PeeBee]

I an also considering the sitation where I have been chilling the fuel too low with the interchiller loop and resulting in fuel gelling, which would intermittently or gradually clog the filter - perhaps? The current setup has the fuel sitting anywhere from 2-8degC normally around 12 degC. This is the temp coming back from the tank, as it takes a bit to drop the whole system down, so its conceivable the fuel temp in the heat exchanger is getting well below that - its a hypothesis I guess????

Anyway, I run a very expensive winter additive, and reached for the new can this arvo to dose the tank - only to find the un-opened can was 60% full - thats not great value. Anyway, reached out to the supplier, who I have bought a lot of gear from, and surprised, but whole new can on the way, no qualms - great customer service.

[mudski]

Can you raise the temps for the fuel? Or shut it off completely to test run it so the fuel is at ambient temp? Your theory does sound plausible...

[PeeBee]

I dosed the tank up with a deep cold brew additive. I then ran the car at 1000, 1500, 2500 and finally 3000rpm for maybe 30 minutes. The engine was stuttering and hunting all over the place from 1000, surging to 1800, running very rough. By the end, the fuel temp was at 40 degC and radiator at 93degC. I brought it back to idle and its ticking along like a watch, so from now the fuel cooler only gets used when fuel is above 40 degC and then with moderation to a limit of say 30degC, as I am sure I pushed the limit too far. Will run it again tomorrow and gauge the result.

[mudski]

Im wondering if cooling the fuel affects the injector performance as the fuel surface tension/ thickness/ runnyness is not going to be, normal?

[PeeBee]

Im wondering if cooling the fuel affects the injector performance as the fuel surface tension/ thickness/ runnyness is not going to be, normal?

Cooling the fuel to around zero allows the formation of wax within the fuel. The viscosity no doubt does change, however the symptoms suggest the filter pre the lift pump was plugged as I was getting reduced pump pressure - instead of 10psi I saw 5 then down to zero, like the pump had failed. When I disconnected the fuel hose from the discharge of the pump, at home, with a long fuel hose, open ended the flow was there, however no pressure, fuel sort of pumped out very slowly, instead of at a gushing rate when the fuel normally would shoot 3-4m out of the hose, it was like 5cm at best.
Also, if the fuel was thicker and there was no blinding of the filter, the fuel pressure would rise as its density has increased. The Carter Blacks are rated to 15psi I believe, however they can only produce pressure as to what the system resistance is. Now, funny enough, and this might seem an opposite argument, once I had run the viscosity improver - cold weather ant gel liquid, the system pressure rose to 11.5psi, normally flatlines at 10psi. I put this down to the pump being able to pump more diesel to the injector pump and the increase in vol/vel generates the higher system resistance or pressure.
So, I think the plug formation was forming inside the fuel lines as well, however from yesterdays trial, appears to have now been resolved.
I dont know about injector performance however the Standyne pump is a bit different configuration to most - there is an internal reservoir inside the pump where the injector feed pistons feed from. Any fuel above the nominal feedline is simply pushed out of the pump to return to tank. I guess is the diesel is thicker it wont flow as readily into the piston cavity, hence there could be cavitation occurring or 'short filling' taking place, which might also partially explain why the engine was running so poorly. Once its into the charge piston, I guess it would affect the spray pattern out the nozzles as well, but being a direct displacement, it would have to be pushed out - higher internal pump pressures I guess. Bit of speculation here, but you can follow the process. If the overall reservoir was lower or barely matching demand there could be a cavitation scenario taking place also.

[PeeBee]

Fired the truck up this arvo, runs sweet! Reckon this was the issue all along, fuel gelling - another piece of the puzzle

[BrazilianY60]

This deserves an youtube video of the beast chugging down the road like a road-train. In-cab. No instrument readings. Just the GQ bonnet, the road and the sound!

[PeeBee]

This deserves an youtube video of the beast chugging down the road like a road-train. In-cab. No instrument readings. Just the GQ bonnet, the road and the sound!

Its funny the engine does not sound anything like the hollywood styled soundtracks. The supercharger at revs is quite a 'zinggy sound' not a Mad Max thunderous roar. It does however project an air raid siren howl forward when I am driving, absolutely howls, can be heard from 500m away easily.

[PeeBee]

Still not out of the woods. I swapped over the All Terrains for my Muddies, and went for a spin. Car is still down on power when cold, hesitates, like its out of power, and the fuel pump pressure dropped to zero then rose again after a couple of seconds. The fuel chiller was off, ambient temps 34 DegC, fuel temp rose to 40 degC. Once the engine was up to around 70degC rad temp, its running sweetly. Cant put my finger on the issue, dont think its glowplug duration.

Decided to bite the bullet and power up the hydraulic circuit today to decide where the leaks were coming from and which I was going to fix myself. The major one is at one fitting into a check valve, then at the pressure relief valve, and a couple of minor leaks but all need fixing. Also, have a crazy pressure spike going on,flow to the front winch sits at 600kpa going thru the open centre valve dcv, and on the rear its sitting at 2000lpa, then drops when the valve is actuated - maybe something is stuck in the open centre spool - dunno, another ghost to chase. This may end up with a mobile hydraulics guys to sort out - its now a pig to get to the fittings as all were laid out when the body was off - big mistake.

[PeeBee]

OK, reckon I have finished my rough running issues. Dropped the contents of the fuel tank, about 30 litres, after dosing it with algae killer and cold weather anti gelling fluid. Fuel was a mix of dirt, water, algae whatever, it was filthy. New filter was clogged again, was running but not that healthy. Flushed it out with 4 Litres of metho to chase out the remnant water, then new filter and 40Litres of fresh stuff, left the lift pump to do its stuff for 30 mins and fired up first go. No doubt there is some residual material left in the lines and pump, will change over the filter in 500klm, and should be sorted. Hope this is the end of it, unsure if its a long term issue or a crappy batch of fuel. Engine sounds so much better and smoother.8868388684886858868688687

A

[PeeBee]

Next, moved onto the hydraulic system leaks the next day, attacked the two largest one. What a mess. Found I had missing washers and washers that were compression damaged - the ones with the rubber inner seal. Anyway, suffering the ills of not allowing for access once the body was re-installed - poor engineering - so what should have been a 15 minute job ended up into hours. The exhaust flange joints were a problem on the Madigan Line trip, once again 4 out of 6 bolted joints were loose, so swung past the bolt bar today and bought fine thread nots and bolts instead of what I could find in the bottom of the spares bag on the side of the road - expect this will sort things out. Found a protective corrugated sheath heat affected from the heat from the exhaust - so going to sheath it in high temp stuff.
Headed down to Pirtek, laid out all my dirty laundry on the counter and the tech sorted it out without a problem, bought a new mini grease gun as well. Hope to get all this back together this week. Still have an odd high pressure issue to resolve. The front winch circuit idles at 60psi and selecting the rear, it spikes to 2200psi, think the spool valve is sticking on the rear winch. Another mystery to resolve.

[PeeBee]

New hoses and fittings installed this arvo, need to wait a day or so for the sealant to go off on the threaded joints. Exhaust back together, but going to pull the 30mm long bolts out and replace with 45mm so I can get two nuts and a spring wash on each bolt.

Almost back to where I was 2 months ago when dirty fuel raised its head - if only I had looked there first.

[BrazilianY60]

Flushed it out with 4 Litres of metho to chase out the remnant water

What is metho and what is the technique to get rid of water? Does this thing react with water?

[PeeBee]

What is metho and what is the technique to get rid of water? Does this thing react with water?

Methylated Spirits, mixes with the water and converts it to a methanol of sorts which then burns readily. The flush helped to remove any remaining water which would be sitting on the base of the fuel tank. I had the vehicle tipped up towards the drain point, but the final flush still resulted in water droplets coming out.

[PeeBee]

So sorted out the hydraulic hoses and exhaust and decided to take it down and fill up the fuel tank to dilute any remaining contaminants before running for 500klm and swapping the fuel filter. Car kicked up nice and healthy, then I got 200m and it stopped again. It did fire back up but was runnng rough, coughing and spluttering, finally cleared its throat and took it for a 10klm drive and running fine, maybe still feels a bit down on power - there is one more in-line sight glass to check for clogging - I installed these when the body was off to allow monitoring of the priming function, and left them in place - now buried in the engine bay. Apart from that I am running out f ideas on what is going on. The lift pump once again did not look like it was actually priming pre engine crank, but did catch as soon as the engine started up. I am running a direct feed from battery to the IP solenoid with a fuse, and thats working, can hear the click as it is connected. I am now thinking perhaps the fuel solenoid is breaking down, and chattering regardless of the 12V supply?
Any ideas welcome.

[mudnut]

Is there a small strainer in the injector circuit that needs a clean? I found a small water bubble covering one in my petrol EFI corolla that would make it carry on.

[PeeBee]

Is there a small strainer in the injector circuit that needs a clean? I found a small water bubble covering one in my petrol EFI corolla that would make it carry on.

Not from what I understand Craig. The last thing I am looking at is this sightglass strainer then waiting for some super system cleaner to arrive to dose the crap out of it in case there is a strainer somewhere I cant find r the lines are clogged. Unfortunately I took the flow meters out of the circuit on the belief one had failed - otherwise I could check supply and return flows - may have to reinstall - pig of a dirty painful job.

[mudski]

Fuel contamination is an absolute PIA to resolve. Everything that see's fuel running through it need to be cleaned. All you need is half a teaspoon of crap fuel in the lines and it will give you issues.

[PeeBee]

I have 3 containers of diesel system cleaner arriving tomorrow/thursday, so will wait and se if that improves the outcome. Yet to check the sightglasses, have granddaughters here, mayhem abounds!

[PeeBee]

Ran the car for 2 hrs today, totally washing out any goop in the fuel system, changing out another fuel filter tomorrow then the test drive. Finished off some heat shielding on wiring loom closest to exhaust, resolved the final nightmare bolt on the DPF , all double jutted and lock title, so with luck that's sorted, dicked around with some more wiring, built a hinged tray to give me some more room around the coffee machine, made a table slide retainer for the new camping table, the table is circa 1m high which is taller than bench top height, hope this reduces back ache, big couple of days.
Tomorow the filter, might Eire up the dashcam/rear view camera camera, have a look at the new sound system with Bluetooth connectivity, see how I go it being Mother's Day!!!

[PeeBee]

Took my time yesterday and sorted out the exhaust mounting bolts, then insulation wrapped the pipe and installed high temp insulation to the wiring loom, installed the support brackets as the last task.
Swapped over the fuel filter again, fuel was a mild yellow from an original blue, probably a result of the ultra dosing with the algae killer, still had remnants of suspended solids in the fuel that released from the filter, no doubt a lot more still stuck in the filter element. Primed it up, takes around 20mins with the lift pump, fired up with minimal fuss, so continue to run it in the garage today, before venturing out any distance, just to be sure.
Contaminated fuel - dont want to go thru this again.
Installed the new car stereo, all straight forward, just the usual fiddle, installed a crappy rubber dicky antenna instead of the expensive ZCD unit - it never delivered its 'optimised' reception for the price, so I suspect the $10 unit will perform better!!

[BrazilianY60]

see how I go it being Mother's Day!!!

There was a meme going around here on Mother's Day saying something in the lines of, "In this Sunday, thank your Father for bringing you to this world, because your Mother probably wasn't even in the mood" :D

[PeeBee]

There was a meme going around here on Mother's Day saying something in the lines of, "In this Sunday, thank your Father for bringing you to this world, because your Mother probably wasn't even in the mood" :D

It was a win-win situation, I worked on the truck in total peace, and my wife got to do what she always loves doing, washing the sheets, vacuuming the floor, ironing my clothes, washing my car, cooking my dinner - SIMPLES!

I have the last 'known' item to install, the dash cam with rear camera on the POD. I stashed it in a safe place and gave up searching for it after 2 hrs - then magically it appeared from its hiding place at 11pm on Monday night. The biggest headache is going to be running the AV cable from the main unit above the windscreen to the camera on the rear of the POD. What is pleasing however is that the system designers have elected to put the system power feed from the rear camera - for once this is an easier option than from the windscreen on previous set-ups.

[BrazilianY60]

Which camera did you get?
Every now and then I feel like buying one but when I get online there are 100's of them and I think it is hard to decide between the pros and cons.

[PeeBee]

Which camera did you get?
Every now and then I feel like buying one but when I get online there are 100's of them and I think it is hard to decide between the pros and cons.

I went with the Wolfbox 900 Pro with front and rear cameras. It doubles as a rearview mirror, but with the POD I use the feed from the rear camera. It has a few features I like, can split the screen for front and rear, front or rear only and has security alert when the car is unattended, the resolution is good, have not run it at night yet but suspect it will have an anti glare or IR function

[PeeBee]

OK, sneaked out this arvo and finished the fold out shelf in the POD - just the right size for coffeee and snacks on the run. The table slide/shelf is also pictured, made from 50 x 50 x 3 angle, nutserts into the roof frame, stiff as crazy. Also 95% on the wiring installation of the dashcam/rear camera, came up well, but unsure how robust the rear camera mounting screws are going to be with corrugations.8869788696

[BrazilianY60]

Double-side-tape the camera onto the pod and drive it around, do some backups into tight spots, shed, around town, etc. until you are happy with the positioning/view angle, etc.
Then you drill the screw holes, glue the camera with that black windscreen PU/rubber glue + the screws. Let the screws go through the PU glue, so it will work as a thread lock as well.

I checked the Wolfpro site and it is a very nice unit indeed. Just camera, no carplay/android auto BS to make the unit become obsolete after 6 months of unwanted "upgrades". Just didn't like that the front camera is part of the mirror mounted screen. I'd like to find one where the front camera is double-side-taped to the windscreen and some sort of display solution for the rear camera that I could use as a backup camera when needed, as I'd like to keep using the OEM mirror for regular driving.

A small display that could fit the GU4 lift door cubby on the top of the dash would be nice.

[PeeBee]

Double-side-tape the camera onto the pod and drive it around, do some backups into tight spots, shed, around town, etc. until you are happy with the positioning/view angle, etc.
Then you drill the screw holes, glue the camera with that black windscreen PU/rubber glue + the screws. Let the screws go through the PU glue, so it will work as a thread lock as well.

I checked the Wolfpro site and it is a very nice unit indeed. Just camera, no carplay/android auto BS to make the unit become obsolete after 6 months of unwanted "upgrades". Just didn't like that the front camera is part of the mirror mounted screen. I'd like to find one where the front camera is double-side-taped to the windscreen and some sort of display solution for the rear camera that I could use as a backup camera when needed, as I'd like to keep using the OEM mirror for regular driving.

A small display that could fit the GU4 lift door cubby on the top of the dash would be nice.

The rear camera power can be triggered off the power wire at the rear camera. I have mine set up so it is available all the time - its a simple tap the screen to toggle between front only, rear only or split front and rear, also allows for image inversion if the mounting does not suit, has a nice image tilt adjustment as well, more or less like a rear view mirror so you can rotate the view to suit how close to the car you want - unsure if it goes side to side though - have not played with it. The operator manual is pretty brief which I find a bit annoying. The screws I am taking about are the actual camera head mounts to the bracket - they look like M2 or similar and the bracket is 0.5mm thick - its cable tied via the power and AV cord so it wont get lost if it comes adrift, but I think this wont stand up to Aussie corrugated roads.

[PeeBee]

Took the barge out today for a 300klm run and ran just like it was before it got a tank of muddy water. Couple of odd diesel spots on the driveway, something not tightened up, another quest to resolve, but happy I am out of the woods.

[PeeBee]

Fixed the second last hydraulic hose leak, leaving the last one for a new day - absolute mongrel of spot to reach it. Luckily the leaks I repaired all remain intact and no drips.

Noticed I have a pressure spike when operating the Winchmax 20,000lb without load - so rang the Australian Agent, talked it thru, stated its not a warranty call, just need to understand if the spool could be sticking. Anyway, he requested a condition report so he could send it off to the Techs in the UK. Meanwhile, he found a new DCV - spare/excess to requirements - and is sending it to me free, including shipping - what an amazing service, highly recommend them, they sell electric and hydraulic winches

The Redarc radiator low level sensor has been dinging off intermittently, found it was leaking at the thread - so out it came, resealed with some Pirtek Teflon sealer, and filled back up, will see how that goes.

[mudski]

The Redarc radiator low level sensor has been dinging off intermittently, found it was leaking at the thread - so out it came, resealed with some Pirtek Teflon sealer, and filled back up, will see how that goes.

My Redarc low water sensor would also randomly go off. I check the coolant, all good. I bleed the system out again, no bubbles, no leak nothing. In the end i replaced the fitting/ clip on the end of the wire going to the sensor with a modified female spade terminal, even though it looked clean. The sensor remains quiet now. Dunno how or why, but its fixed.....

[PeeBee]

My Redarc low water sensor would also randomly go off. I check the coolant, all good. I bleed the system out again, no bubbles, no leak nothing. In the end i replaced the fitting/ clip on the end of the wire going to the sensor with a modified female spade terminal, even though it looked clean. The sensor remains quiet now. Dunno how or why, but its fixed.....

I know the fitting, I bought a new sender unit when I did the rebuild. Its sitting tight on the peg. The water level was down as when I removed the fitting , lost maybe 0.5 L of fluid and I have the low level 30mm from top of the core - its a cross flow style. Anyway, it goes off off road especially after and during hillclimbs, given up trying to bleed this pig.

[mudski]

I know the fitting, I bought a new sender unit when I did the rebuild. Its sitting tight on the peg. The water level was down as when I removed the fitting , lost maybe 0.5 L of fluid and I have the low level 30mm from top of the core - its a cross flow style. Anyway, it goes off off road especially after and during hillclimbs, given up trying to bleed this pig.

Yep the fitting was tight on mine too, but i had run out of ideas and this seemed to fix it. Mine rarely went off during hill climbs or off roading, it would just randomly go off. Making me think it wasn't just low coolant.

[PeeBee]

Another day of bee-stinging enlightenment. Hydraulics this time.

I am running the same 12V DCV front and rear. I deliberately swapped the front dcv so I had parts commonality and flowrate the same.

So I plumbed the front and rear up to the nameplate on top of the valves. On firing up the system, the 'at idle' system pressure for the front was 200psi and the rear 2000psi, and going over the pressure relief valve. Initially thought I had a check valve on the return line back to front, nope all good. Then I thought I had a stuck spool.

Made contact with the winchmax agent and he sent me out a replacement valve. The dcv to mount block can only be configured one way as the mounting holes are offset. So, after struggling in the half dark trying to swap the dcv over, without effect as the mount holes would not line up - see 'offset holes above'. So, I turned the valve around to line up the holes, only to find the PT and AB ports are now opposite to whats on the tin plate, so when I select this flow to the winch it pushes oil into a dead end and relieves over the pressure relief, and also explains why the winch is rotating opposite direction to the hand controller and more importantly why the pressure drops to circa 300psi once a forward or rev direction is selected.
The dcv to baseplate have never been seperated on either valve until now, so seems like a simple arse backwards fixed nameplate was the problem all along.

Further to this, the replacement dcv valve body thickness is machined differently and so the screws are now 4mm too long, they bottom out before clamping down the dcv to the valve block - m4 x /// or similar - Fuck me this is getting tiring. Anyway, I now have a bigger job to do with swapping the hoses around - it was a bastard to build with the body off, far worse now having to work in a shoebox size cavity. NOT happy.

[PeeBee]

Hre appears to be the root of the problem. I followed the labelling on the dcv and the rivetted label appears to be 180 deg out of sync with the valve internals.88749

the valve schematic on the left is the original valve installed and plumbed up. It presented with high pressure supposedly on open center, however if you look at the valve on the right, the replacement, its porting is 180 deg different, hence the P 'pressure port' and T tank ports are actually the A and B ports which should be going to the winch motor. What is now apparent is that I have hooked the hoses to what I thought were the press and tank return lines, into the dead end ports and its given rise to the high pressure scenario. Once you activate the dcv, the pressure drops as expected as its opened the flow, but the direction of rotation is reverse also.
Its a right PIA, as the 4 hoses will need to be remade as they are custom lengths to suit the port locations.

Further to this, the front winch dcv is correctly plumbed so its looking like a manufacturing fault.

[PeeBee]

Sorted out the arse about DCV this arvo, another 3 hrs of finger cramping back busting pleasure! Tomorrow with luck I will sort out the final hose leak. If I have time, will add a second filter to the fuel line

[PeeBee]

Last hydraulic fitting fixed, I hope! Leaving everything for a week to totally harden then should be sorted. Tidied up a couple of lingering issues, pulled the pass rear door apart to resolve a sticky locking mechanism, had a quick look at how to mount the 12v Marine oven into the Pod, tight but possible, just not sure how much heat radiates off the outer skin, probably needs an air gap and insulation. Weeping leak on radiator, bee sting 54,007

Additional filter will have to wait, it's a very tight area down the back of the car and no room under the bonnet

[PeeBee]

The rear view camera that hangs off the interior mirror put too much load on a 25 year old plastic ball joint, so down to Patrol A Part and a brand spanker bought to add further cost - $165 - ouch.

Also have rejigged the drivers side of the POD to incorporate the Travel Buddy Marine oven I have had in the garage for 3 yrs, and the new 15L freezer from Bushman to compliment the 30yr old 60L engel - still going strong on second compressor after 20 yrs.

Going to mount the freezer on some 90kg fridge slides and will then post the final pics, pretty happy with the outcome, but amazed at how in-efficient the volume has become - or maybe I used to jam it in differently??

Going to fire up the hydraulics over the weekend after letting the sealant go off for a week, fingers crossed no leaks.

[BrazilianY60]

That's some good cash for a camera support... No options to use a suction cup on the camera? Or maybe a putting a dab of silicone to the ball joint to get it tighter?

[PeeBee]

That's some good cash for a camera support... No options to use a suction cup on the camera? Or maybe a putting a dab of silicone to the ball joint to get it tighter?

Well I was looking to do just that, then did a stupid thing and removed a screw thats inside the mirror near the pivot point and it had a loose captive nut - not sure that makes sense, but it slipped out of alignment and no amount of jiggling could get it back. The trim on/around the mirror is really tight and simply could not pull it apart. I have spent so much time over the year screwing around with fuckups like this, I now just bin it and move on - pissed off at the time, but happy with the outcome as the ball mount is rock solid.

I am unsure how this would go with a suction cup, no doubt rattle off at exactly the wrong moment.

[BrazilianY60]

I know what you mean. Time is precious and we tend to overlook it.

I have spent maybe a year trying to use window seals from local cars on the rear side windows of the GQ and I still have one side with a plastic cover taped to the body. Yesterday proper GQ seals arrived from Patrolapart. No more fiddling around with the rear glass.

That said... I am stubborn. You have no actual rearview from inside due to the pod, right? Maybe get it back from the bin and break the mirror glass, tighten the captive nut or whatever and just brace the camera screen over it as usual. I recon you could also stash a chocolate bar on the now hollow space of the mirror assembly, in case your missus is watching over your calories!

[PeeBee]

I know what you mean. Time is precious and we tend to overlook it.

I have spent maybe a year trying to use window seals from local cars on the rear side windows of the GQ and I still have one side with a plastic cover taped to the body. Yesterday proper GQ seals arrived from Patrolapart. No more fiddling around with the rear glass.

That said... I am stubborn. You have no actual rearview from inside due to the pod, right? Maybe get it back from the bin and break the mirror glass, tighten the captive nut or whatever and just brace the camera screen over it as usual. I recon you could also stash a chocolate bar on the now hollow space of the mirror assembly, in case your missus is watching over your calories!

I like your thinking but its all done now, have moved onto the Bushman Freezer and Marine oven installation.

[PeeBee]

Wrapped up the installation of the Marine Oven and the Bushman freezer on slides, came out well, have 60mm airgaps around the oven on 3 sides, will be fine.

Also ran the hydraulics today, system pressure now at 300psi front and rear, like it should, so thats a win, but , the only damn fitting on the dcv mount block I didn't touch, leaks!!!! Luckily I think its a relatively quick repair, so no leaks from the system otherwise.

Had a small weeping leak from the radiator, added some "Liquid Intelligence 243 ' crystals, its an aluminum based material, that plugs then disappears where it isn't needed for the plug, no leak now, highly recommend, works on any coolant, even soluble oil like mine.

8875488755

[PeeBee]

With luck the final leak was resolved today, unsure why it had not leaked previously as the fitting was missing a factory fitted rubber sealing washer, anyway, all done, needed to head to Bunnings for a 22 and 24mm open ender then chop them in half to be able to do the job. Also I now have 5 of 30mm and 32mm spanners, all with different head angles - purchased to address what was assessed as the bastard last hose leak but thought it thru and managed without them, another 2 of each in the post as well.

Leaving it for a week then will check after the goop goes off. I am using a Pirtek 702 thread sealant, looks like the Loctite White teflon stuff, only thicker and hellishly expensive - $60 for 50ml - does not go far I can assure you, but it works brilliantly.

[PeeBee]

Spent 4 hrs wiring a new trailer plug to the car. Original factory wiring to trailer and tail light configure took some time to unravel, anyway all sorted to pick up my trailer from my brother after 4 yrs in his 'care', no idea what to expect

[Plasnart]

Spent 4 hrs wiring a new trailer plug to the car. Original factory wiring to trailer and tail light configure took some time to unravel, anyway all sorted to pick up my trailer from my brother after 4 yrs in his 'care', no idea what to expect

Bearings loose and gooey, plug pins corroded, light bulbs out, tyres cracked, gate hinges seized. You know, the usual trailer issues! :D

[PeeBee]

Bearings loose and gooey, plug pins corroded, light bulbs out, tyres cracked, gate hinges seized. You know, the usual trailer issues! :D

Yep will get a birthday, I suspect he has had it half full of crap and the steel floor is buggered. The tires certainly need a swap out, all so I can gift it to my daughter' to collect firewood 200m from their house. All good, at least it will be safe.

[PeeBee]

Finally down to the very last hydraulic drip on the hydraulic winch setup. I have a 1 drip a week leak out of the supply line fitting to the pump on the tank, needs a complete tank drain to resolve, not going to happen in a while. Still have a sticky DCV that won't free spool, or return to open centre without a blip on the controller, have bought a replacement valve but it also can wait. Finally retrieved my travel from my brother after 10 yrs held captive, got a birthday so tomorrow off yo get some wood with the barge, fingers crossed all goes ok

[PeeBee]

Was out early today, Victoria in a bit of a cold pinch at the moment. Interchiller setup wa off the dial, coolant temp of minus 2 with ambient of 7deg, equates to a post supercharger air temp to the engine of 30 deg, nice and dense, egt's sitting 200 to 300, fuel temp 16 deg, very happy

[PeeBee]

Had the car out a couple of times on successive days last week, one hauling a 2T trailer of wood, ran well, except has developed an annoying fuel leak on the pass side bank of injectors, replaced a couple of saturated return line rubber hoses, seemed to settle down, thought they may have been perished, but turns out they are less that 7000K old. Anyway, dived into the spares, refitted two of the originals, seemed fine then yesterday the leak was back. Degreased yesterday, waiting for it all to dry up, got me beat at the moment.

Also, I fitted a catchcan to the motor, and then developed an oily weep near the filler that was bubbling when the engine was running, opened the oil filler and it stopped, so disconnected the catchcan and the bubbles stopped. The pressure drop across the catchcan is essentially zero blowing into it, but enough to find a tiny gasket hole. Bloody location is a full front of engine tear down, not happening, so will ditch the catchcan, and gouge out the tiny bit of gasket and bog it up with silastic of sorts.

Lastly, about to dich the Redarc radiator low level alarm. It goes off intermittently, sure its the clip as mudski had issues with, not using water or getting hot, just need to drop power iff it, cant just take the terminal off at the radiator as it screams its head off.

[mudski]

Phil.

What size is the leaking hose? What type of hose are you using also? And what clamps are you using?

As for the Redarc LWS. Since replacing the clip i have had no issues. I just used a insulated female blade terminal and cut a section out of the insulation so the termical could be fitted to the round head on the sensor. So far so good....

[PeeBee]

Phil.

What size is the leaking hose? What type of hose are you using also? And what clamps are you using?

As for the Redarc LWS. Since replacing the clip i have had no issues. I just used a insulated female blade terminal and cut a section out of the insulation so the termical could be fitted to the round head on the sensor. So far so good....

I think the fabric covered hose is like 1/8" dia. Its the right stuff, just think its a poor quality. I have now ordered two lots from different vendors, one from the Chev joint in Melb and the other ex Germany. Interestingly both kits use clamp clips on the hose, mine are simply push on, which is very convenient, as they are a bastard to get to, but maybe this is the issue.

[mudski]

I think the fabric covered hose is like 1/8" dia. Its the right stuff, just think its a poor quality. I have now ordered two lots from different vendors, one from the Chev joint in Melb and the other ex Germany. Interestingly both kits use clamp clips on the hose, mine are simply push on, which is very convenient, as they are a bastard to get to, but maybe this is the issue.

Do you have room to use EFI clamps?
https://spareco.com.au/index.php/product/breeze-fuel-injection/

[PeeBee]

Do you have room to use EFI clamps?
https://spareco.com.au/index.php/product/breeze-fuel-injection/

Not really without a major disassembly under the bonnet. I have very little room, the style the hose comes with is the pliar squeeze sort with the tabs. They will be better than nothing I guess and there is supposedly very very low pressure as they are just pushing fuel back to the tank. I had a look again just now and the dripping must have stopped over night, maybe it was the residual on the chassis and hose that was slumping originally after I swapped the hoses over? I will monitor. Actually, a small cable tie would do the trick thinking about it as the return lines have the rolled barb ends.

[mudski]

I'd suggest using the spring loaded type clamps then. As you can run the pliers length ways down the hose to slip them on. If you get what i mean, and have access to the hose that way.

[PeeBee]

I'd suggest using the spring loaded type clamps then. As you can run the pliers length ways down the hose to slip them on. If you get what i mean, and have access to the hose that way.

Thanks Mark, yes will do that, just jumped under the barge and its dry , so thinking this could have been a goose chase again after swapping out the saturated hoses.

[PeeBee]

Finally installed the 12v heater pads to the fuel tank x 3/200w and a single wrap around on the fuel filter. A number of years ago, I was 'over filtered' meaning I was running a 5micron final filter as wanted to protect the new injector pump, however came unstuck on a 3 day snow camping trip. Despite running anti tell additive, still ended up with a clogged fuel filter, so now I am sticking with the 20 micron unit and fuel additive and finally the tank and filter heater pads. It isn't a lot of fun trying to get out of the bush pushing an honest metre deep snow with bugger all fuel avail. Anyway, hooked it up, ran high temp feeder cables, each circuit fused, system dras 42 amps and jets up very quickly, auto temp limited at 75 degC, set up via a dedicated Anderson plug cable, only there for warm up to get the fuel flowing and then the 'system' will heat it up. I have also insulated the external pads on the tank, heading to Clark Rubber for a 4" foam tube for the filter heater Assy.

[PeeBee]

And, still have hydraulic leaks on winch circuit! I disturbed the only hose that wasn't leaking when fixing the others, now that last hose is weeping under pressure, als found the drip source on the tank, lowest point screwed connection, of course, so have to drain the tank of 40L, going to be fun. Think I will use a gear pump I have and draw as much down as possible before cracking the final fitting. It's been a long path to success is all I can say.

[PeeBee]

Also, almost forgot, wired up a set of yellow, 3000nm LED fog lights, can only run on low beam and able to be isolated. Looking forward to testing these out.

[PeeBee]

Bit of a muck around over the last 2 days. Chased down and resolved the radiator leak, its an aluminium radiator crack, so used a combination of different products to clog it up, ultimatly it needs to come out for repair, but I am heading to the sc=npw for camping in minus 5 and it can wait,
Also resolved the leak on the fuel injection side, i think!. Th chev has a dead end rubber cap to close off the return passage of fuel back to the tank. I found the rubber end plug has a crack and was leaking onto the exhaust manifold, not great, anyway, took 2 hours to find, but now all dry and the radiator is nit leaking, so off to Mt Selma for 4 days to sit and do fuck all, except drink and feeze the balls off! Gwendolyn Camp-ven is going to deliver with Pizzas and then slow cook chicken dinner the second night, looking forward to the the break.

[PeeBee]

OK, will post some pics tomorrow, but the Mt Selma trip went well, a couple of bee stings to keep me on my toes. First one, about 2 hrs into the trip the power to the aux gauges and lift pump died. The driving was pretty tame and i didn't need a load of grunt so pushed on into camp. Pulling into the camping area, jumped out to hear this screeching noise from under the car and found the circulation pump for the roof mounted radiators had decided to crap out, its maybe 500klm old, AeroFlow brushless pump, rated at 40LPM, bought to replace a Davis Craig rated at 32LPM that lasted about half that time. I run a flowmeter at rooftop to confirm flowrate and neither pushed more than 8LPM thru 19mm hose, 1.8M vertical head, system volume about 15L.

So sat and drank whiskey with my brother for 3 days, then had a look at the issues. The electrical issue was a large spade connector on an 80Amp relay had snapped between the crimp zone and the connector section, like WTF is that about, anyway, had a spare or two so swapped it out and power restored. The pump turned out to be cactus, zero flow to the roof as witnessed by the flowmeter, so i cut power to it and drove the car the 3 hrs back home without this water circuit inoperable. This did result in higher water temps in that circuit, but driven carefully I was able to maintain a max water temp of 90degC on that intercooler circuit, whilst the interchiller circuit has happily sitting around 2degC.

So back home emptied all the soaking gear into the garage to dry. Friday I dropped the hydraulic fluid from the winch reservoir and removed the leaking fitting, off to Pirtek in the morning for a new one. I did a bit of review on the Davis Craig and Aeroflow pumps and decided they just were not worth the effort. I have instead installed a marine rated diesel/oil gear pump, positive displacement, self priming, 7amp draw and with some mods to the mounting plate had it installed in 4 hrs. refilled the system with new coolant, and sitting at 10LPM constant after burping the system, happy with that.

Apart from that all went well. I did some reading about operation of lithium batteries in sub zero temps and they dont like it. We had overnight temps in the minus 5-7 range. I did make up a 12V heater pad with a voltage controller, used a 200W Lenova silicone pad, ran it at 15% after finding out what 200W of energy feels like heat wise - roaring hot, and slide it down the side of the battery bank in the rear pod. The location is an open slot but the batteries were above cold to touch all the time and able to accept a charge and hold a float voltage of circa 13.3V. The draw from the batteries to the heat pad was not detectable on the battery monitor, maybe its an accuracy issue, but 3 days without starting the car and heater on the whole time, have to be happy with that. I have read if the cells freeze they will become terminal and wont take a charge. Anyway, my brother has a lithium in his for the camp battery, didnt use the heater pad, and his charge and operation was fine - maybe the info is too conservative, but too much money involved with 400a/hr bank to risk it.

Car runs well in the main, pretty happy where it is and has proven to be reliable aprt from unexpected component failure. The journey continues!!

[jff45]

I don't like reading bad news about Aeroflow pumps because I have a brushless 40 lpm in my W2A system but it has the 25mm barbs and doesn't have to push very hard.
No flow meter but I can keep an eye on inlet temps to see if anything goes wrong and it wouldn't be terminal anyway.

[PeeBee]

John, I used to run Aeroflow lift pumps and found them reliable until they started dying after a short period. I switched to Carter Black and have not had any problems. I switched to Aeroflow for the priming pump after the Davis Craig unit crapped out, ran fine and easy to swap over, but didnt last long as mentioned. Time will tell with this new unit, should be better, certainly its heavier and larger than the Aeroflow , which is a lot heavier than the Davis Craig unit. Both of the smaller ones are now in the bin. Noise wise there isnt any change and I used HD rubber isolation mounts to dampen the noise - but then again this car make a lot of noise with the s/c and lift pumps and interchiller pumps and fans, so all good.

[PeeBee]

OK, installed the new fittings on the hydraulic tank, of course they were dimensionally different, so an hour on the grinder opening up the clearances on the tank mount brackets. Apart from that a simple swap over, used the Pirtek 702 liquid sealant, similar the Loctite white teflon stuff but stronger and sets quicker, nightmare to break the seal once the threaded components are hit with this stuff. Left it to go off for 6 hrs then re-filled the tank, managed to put 1L of power steering fluid on the garage floor, what a mess. I will leave the sealant to set completely for 2 days before putting it under pressure and temperature, but looking forward to no more leaks on the ground.

Based upon this success, I moved onto an oil change, straight forward, used a MolyQuip oil flush product first, then refilled with a new filter. Using a 10W-60 Penrite semi synthetic, with the aux oil cooler the sump capacity is boosted to 9L. I also use a teflon additive in the oil. The very first thing I noticed on first fire up was how quiet the engine ran, I really must have been well overdue on the change, think somewhere around 7000klm from memory, or the oil has been worked too hard, anyway, all the clacking and tapping noises just about disappeared, so made a note that 5000klm is the limit.

[Touses]

What's this teflon shit!!
Seriously Phil, you ain't being paying attention.
Two stroke oil will give you same results.
Check with the legend cuppa.

[PeeBee]

What's this teflon shit!!
Seriously Phil, you ain't being paying attention.
Two stroke oil will give you same results.
Check with the legend cuppa.

I think you are on a different train to me. I use a mineral based two stroke oil as a fuel additive for fuel pump lubrication. Are you suggesting I use a grade oil oil for a 2 stroke engine in place of the 10W-60 Penrite or am I misinterpreting this?

The teflon product is an oil additive. It is a suspension of teflon particles that fill the 'roughness voids' that are evident from any machining process, unless you get into the realms of electron polishing as utilised in medical grade devices - a GEP 500 engine aint in that class!!! Further, 'I believe' based on my industrial applications of additives like this in high temp high duty point drives, that it gives a higher level of confidence when the oil gets very hot and does not expose the situation of metal on metal rubbing, its a lower friction surface, and that goes for the mains and conrod bushes as well. The additive does not make any miraculous change in engine sound or improve fuel economy from what I can tell.

Trust this completes the picture for you from my side.

[Touses]

Hi Phil,

Yep read additive and completely skipped oil.
You have indeed completed the picture for me. Now I am intrigued.
What brand is you are using and where do you source it?

[PeeBee]

Hi Phil,

Yep read additive and completely skipped oil.
You have indeed completed the picture for me. Now I am intrigued.
What brand is you are using and where do you source it?

OK, its a Nulon Product, called Long Term Anti-wear engine protection with PTFE, Autobarn have it currently on special for $25 a can, I use 2 cans as a singe treats up to 6L sump volume. This is a cumulative residual treatment with the micro particles remain in situ after deposition. I simply redose at each oil change. The can says its a 12 month protection.
There is another Nulon product around the same cost, and it contains molydenum, without the PTFE, and it probably does a similar job, however is a product that is lost at each oil change, so you need to re-dose each time. I used to use molybond in the diffs/gbox and transfer case, but have changed to another Nulon teflon additive in a tube, cant remember why I changed, only that oil changes with the molybond additive seemed to be messier due to the additive - maybe my methods and housekeeping were at fault though?

I think you could find this Nulon stuff at Supercheap but price check as I am finding Autobarn are typically 15% cheaper than SC for the same item.

[Touses]

Many thanks for that will suss my local autobarn.

[PeeBee]

Was running the truck today to put the engine oil additive in, and let it idle for maybe 15 mins, then shut it down, followed by an eruption of frothy coolant from the main interchiller tank. I checked the flowmeters and flowrate prior had been non registering, so passed it off as a battery pack issue, but looks like the pump has been cavitating and churning the coolant to bubbles - like why now? Anyway I tong tested the power cables and they should be pulling 25amps on the main pump, pulling 15amps so the pump isn't working. I have already ordered a new tank cap as this was leaking, however starting to thin the tank may need to come out and be reconfigured for a lower pick up point as the circulation pump shifts 15LPM guaranteed and is a beast, plus might need to add a check valve in the return line I am thinking to hold the pumped liquid aftr shutdown, instead of having it siphon h=back to the tank and lose operating capacity - never ends , but then it could also be the truck was pointing downhill - dunno, clutching at straws as its run perfectly up until now, but everything has a reason , and 'whats changed' is the chant.

[PeeBee]

Righto, investigated and found the source of the leak, there was a crack in the plastic filler cap, and the inevitable foaming that takes place was releasing via that crack to ground. Simple task to fix you would think, but NO. I had been waiting for a new cap assy to arrive and despite it being the same part number, the cap threads were different and it would not screw in. This required removal of the bung in the tank, which required the hole in the floor to be increased in size, a new cover plate made, then fitment of the assy, which also needed the drivers side seat removed. Anyway, its done, no leaks, and have a spare unit for next time.
Both displays on the battery powered flowmeters appear to have given up the ghost, very hard to determine flowrates at a glance for the two intercooler circuits. I will monitor the system performance and decide later if I need to replace. Both are LCD screens, one in direct sunlight and the other in the hot engine bay, maybe two distinct failure modes???