Fuel Injectors

I heard from Marren on Monday. They tested my original fuel injectors, then cleaned and rebuilt them and tested them again.

After servicing, they strive for less then 2% deviation between richest and leanest. Bad news, my injectors deviation was just over 10% - skewing to the rich side. Which means that one of my 38 Lb/Hr injectors was flowing over 41 Lb/Hrs.

I also learned that my injectors are made by Lucas. As in "Prince of Darkness" Lucas.
Marren does not have good things to say about Lucas injectors in general, saying that they have a typical deviation of 5-8% even when new and my 10% is typical of older injectors. They strongly recommend replacing them with Bosch injectors, offering a "drop-in" replacement for my Lucas injectors. Bosch typically has a deviation of 2%. Sounds good.

The problem is that the custom ECU software in my car was developed for Lucas injectors. Not just any Lucas injectors, but my 8 Lucas injectors. Bosch are a different design and have a different opening and closing pattern, and a different spray pattern than Lucas injectors. In stock applications the difference may be minor, in a 10.8:1 CR, 6.6 PSI forced induction application the tolerances are a bit tighter and a small difference can cause total melt-down.

The fuel system in my car was originally designed by Dinan Engineering and includes a higher volume fuel pump, adjustable Fuel pressure regulator, lots of braided steel lines, and the injectors. I spoke with them at length about the differences between Lucas and Bosch in terms of static and dynamic flow characteristics, spray pattern, and interoperability. Dinan stands behind their choice of Lucas injectors, claiming the Lucas "Disk" design is technically superior to the Bosch "Pinltle" in terms of opening speed and spray pattern. That said, they felt the a 10% injector to injector deviation is a "bad thing" in a forced induction application.

In addition to Dinan, I also spoke with a number of professional BMW racers, Turner Motorsport, BimmerWorld, EvoSport, and every single one of them recommended Bosch, many stating they would never, ever use any Lucas part in any race car.

There is a lot of conflicting information about this topic, making the decision quite dificult. I finally decided to buy a set of 8 blueprinted and flow-matched Bosch injectors, and hang on to the old ones just in case.

I should have them in a couple of days and will let you know how they work.

Grand Turismo 4

The latest edition of the best PS2 driving simulator on the market, Grand Turismo 4, is almost here. Originally scheduled for US release December 14th, both Target and Toy's-R-Us now have March 15th as the new date. Damn, I hoped it would be here by X-Mas. Over three years in the making, the updated version will provide over 1000 cars and more tracks including a track in the Yosemite valley. For a cool preview of the new version check out Sony's site

To properly experince GT you will need the proper equipment. I use the Logitech "Driving Force" steering wheel/pedal combo. This was state of the art 3 years ago when I started playing GT3. However times change and Logitech has a new wheel just in time for GT4. The "Driving Force Pro" offers a realistic 900 degrees of rotation, just the a real car. Most wheels - including my current wheel only turn 200 degrees. See the wheel here

Just the thing for your X-Mas list.

More Car news

I received two new O2 sensors and a new fuel filter from BavAuto last week and installed them on Saturday. A brisk drive indicated that they didn't resolve the problem. However the work was worth it as I think I did discover the root cause.

When I removed the drivers side sensor it was wet with fuel. This was after sitting for a week. I now believe that the rich condition and the CEL at idle are caused by a leaking fuel injector.

Removing the injectors is a relativly simple job. . The manual recommends completely removing the fuel rail - I didn't remove it - instead leaving the fuel feed and return lines connected and just raising the rail enough to remove the injectors. I tried to depressureize the FI system by removing the fuel pupm fuse and running the car until is dies. Let me tell you that this does not in fact depressurize the system as proven by the gas shower I took removing that first injector.

I removed them and they looked pretty good but I'm going to send them in for rebuild anyway. I chose Marren www.injector.com and sent them out on Tuesday.

San Jose Grand Prix

So San Jose wants a Champ Car Race. As a long time San Jose resident and a current Denver resident – where we have had a champ car race for the last three years – I am afraid things in San Jose are setting up nicely for failure.

Barry Whit has an interesting article in the SJ Mercury news that describes the differences between San Jose’s deal and the deal Denver reached with promoters. While Denver spent zero tax payer dollars on the Denver Grand Prix, San Jose will be on the hook for at least $690k in 2005.

Tom Claridge, avid motorsports fan and owner of Mercedes and Porsche dealerships in Fremont says Champ Car "is as shaky as an Internet stock that never turned a profit,''

Nice.

90 Days (to the minute) to the Melbourne GP

VDO Guage Repair Project

I spent some time this afternoon looking for a little rattle behind the Dinan 3-Guage panel. I have VDO Cockpit series Oil Pressure, Boost, and Volt guages installed. There was a small but noticable rattle behind the Volt guage.

I removed the panel to discover that the case of the volt guage was cracked all the way around the case right behind the bezel. This is caused by the way these guages are mounted. They drop in from the front of the panel and are held in place by a U shaped bracket. This araingment puts a lot of strain on the bezel and the case right behind the bezel. After 9 years and 80k miles the plastic of the guage cast yeilded to the pressure.

I used super glue to repair the case. It worked well except the fumes from the glue created a bit of haze on the inside of the guage. I also noted that the boost guage is showing small cracks in the same area.

I always considered VDO a quality product but after looking at the design of these guages I'm not so sure. I'm looking at Autometer Ultra-lite or SPA Design for replacement should my super-glue solution not work.

Damn Cars

On Wednesday, I got my car back from my mechanic after 2+ weeks (and $2k+) in the shop. The damn thing repays me by refusing to start Friday night. Cars always seem to choose the worst time to do this and mine is no different. After a nice dinner at Maggiano's (a little over-rated but still good) it decided to be dificult.

This is the second time it has done this - the first time was last summer in Vail. It cranks a stumbles but won't quite catch and after a couple of tries it smells strongly of gas. Classic signs of an over rich condition. In Vail, after many tries (and weakening battery) and while awaiting rescue by the Triple A, it occured to me that I could lean it out by reducing fuel pressure - and that I could do that by simply removing the fuse for the fuel pump. I Poped out the fuse and it started right up and ran for 10 seconds until fuel pressure drops to zero. Reinstall the fuse, and it started right up and carried up home without further incident. Kinda McGuiver if I do say so.

This trick worked last night as well. I (apparently incorectly) attributed the Vail problem to alititude. I use fuel injectors that are much larger than stock and have the pulse width about as short as possible during start-up. I would not be suprising to have an overly rich condition at very high (9000 Ft.) altitude. After both incidents, the Check Engine Light illuminated requiring a reset after Vail - last night it went out by itself after a few minutes.

This condition could be caused by a number of things, bad O2 sensors, bad fuel pressure regulator, bad crank position sensor, or stuck fuel injector. Pulling the code indicates a O2 sensor problem. So I will replace the O2 sensors ($119 x2 @ Bavarian Autosport ) and see if things get better, if not I will add an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and underhood fuel pressure guage.

Race of Champions in HD

Earlier today I watched great live coverage of the Race of Champions from Paris on HDNet. Nice Job. Coverage was very good, lots of in car and behind the scenes footage.

The Race of Champions is really cool. It pits the worlds best drivers (F1, IRL, NASCAR, WRC, Etc.) against each other in identical cars on an identical track. Ferarri 360 Modena Challenge, Citroen XSARA and Peugeot 307 Rally cars, and some crazy single seater called a ROC car. These little buggies are powered by an 1100cc motorcycle engine (175HP) and weigh about 1000 lbs.

This year American drivers Jimmy Johnson and Casey Mears tried their hand. Mears fell to former F1 driver Jean Alesi and Johnson to World Rally driver Armin Schwarz - both in the first round.

Current F1 Champ Schumacher vs. Current WRC Champ Loeb in the buggies was excelent - Schumacher by a nose in three races.

The ultimate victor was young finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen who beat World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb twice in the best of three in the final. On his way to the final he also beat David Coultard and Michael Schumacher.

During the event a second contest was held - the Nations cup where drivers representing their home country compete in a best of three test. Johnson/Mears lost 2-1 to Coultard and Scottsman Colin McRae. Team France (Alesi/Loeb) took the Nations Cup crown defeting Team Finland in the final.

It was a very interesting event, made even better by the HD coverage.

Support Colorado's New Racetrack

As Denver area motorsports enthusiasts know we recently lost our local track - Second Creek Raceway. A number of local car clubs have banded together to raise money to buy land and build a replacement.

Please lend whatever resources you can to support them. Read more at www.camplaps.org

Red Bull Racing announce launch date

The Red Bull Racing Team announced today that the launch date of the teams 2005 car, the RB1, will be Monday 7th February 2005 in Jerez (Spain) at the Circuito de Jerez.

The RB1 will be the first car to race under the team’s new ownership by Red Bull, makers of the worlds No.1 energy drink, who bought the Jaguar Racing team in November 2004 from the Ford Motor Company.

Another New Clutch

After 22k miles my most recent experiment in "build a better clutch" failed. This was a Centerforce modified clutch disk used with a factory pressure plate. It was able to withastand the power (496 RW-HP @ 6500 RPM) but fell a little short in longevity - pretty much equaling the factory disk.

Luckily my new machanics at Bimmerhaus had a really interesting solution. They recommended a new Clutch Disk and Pressure Plate from SPEC. I went with their Stage III solution which is described as "the ultimate street/strip solution". It is a beautiful part - I went with the lightweight option where they drill-out the pressure plate. While it was out I added a UUC EVO-III short shifter and stiffer Transmission mounts.

I picked it up today - what a joy. The UUC shifter is fantastic. I had on in my E30 M3 race car and found it quite notchy. Not so with the 6-Speed 540. It is perfect. Short and sweet.

The clutch is still breaking in - it shudders significantly as it starts to engage. I have been assured that this will go away in 500 miles. This will be a LONG 500 miles.

Also - VAC Motorsports now makes underdrive pulleys for M-60 V8s.

I also replaced the "thrust bushings" a notorious weak spot on the E-34 chassis. I had been using the 750iL bushings, they lasted about 15k miles. I replaces them with 95 M5 bushings based on comments by members of the 540i Sport List . Time will tell on both changes.

2005 F1 Teams announced

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, today revealed the 'full' entry list for the 2005 F1 World Championship, seven places remain to be confirmed for next year - one at Williams F1, and both slots at Red Bull Racing, Jordan and Minardi.

At Williams, Antonio Pizzonia and Nick Heidfeld are the current candidates for the second seat, while at Red Bull Racing, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi and David Coulthard are all said to be in consideration, along with Heidfeld, should he be rejected by Williams.

BAR third driver Anthony Davidson is also 'floating around' hoping to secure a drive, following his impressive performances this season during the Friday practice sessions.

Jordan meanwhile is testing Christjan Albers and Robert Doornbos this week at Jerez, and either could line-up at the Silverstone based squad in 2005, should they impress.

Minardi tested last week at Misano, running a number of rookies, who will be hoping they did enough to get a chance at F1 - namely Pastor Maldonado, Patrick Friesacher, Will Power, Will Davison and Albers.

2005 FIA Formula One World Championship entry list:

1. Michael Schumacher
Germany
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

2. Rubens Barrichello
Brazil
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

3. Jenson Button
Britain
Lucky Strike BAR Honda

4. Takuma Sato
Japan
Lucky Strike BAR Honda

5. Fernando Alonso
Spain
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team

6. Giancarlo Fisichella
Italy
Mild Seven Renault F1 Team

7. Mark Webber
Australia
BMW WilliamsF1

8. TBA
TBA
BMW WilliamsF1

9. Kimi Raikkonen
Finland
West McLaren-Mercedes

10. Juan Pablo Montoya
Colombia
West McLaren-Mercedes

11. Jacques Villeneuve
Canada
Sauber Petronas

12. Felipe Massa
Brazil
Sauber Petronas

14. TBA
TBA
Jaguar Racing* [Cosworth]

15. TBA
TBA
Jaguar Racing* [Cosworth]

16. Jarno Trulli
Italy
Panasonic Toyota Racing

17. Ralf Schumacher
Germany
Panasonic Toyota Racing

18. TBA
TBA
Jordan Grand Prix [Toyota]

19. TBA
TBA
Jordan Grand Prix [Toyota]

20. TBA
TBA
Minardi

21. TBA
TBA
Minardi

* Change of name applied for. Team will be known as Red Bull Racing in 2005.

Crank it up!

This is the innagural post to my Internal Combustion blog. This is a forum for discussion anything related to cars, bikes, racing, or anything else fast and dangerous.