So fluids are in with the exception of fuel and no leaks so far. How do most of you handle fuel during a first start? Just put a couple gallons in the tank? I am running an EFI.
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So fluids are in with the exception of fuel and no leaks so far. How do most of you handle fuel during a first start? Just put a couple gallons in the tank? I am running an EFI.
Connected the battery for the first time today. Right out of the gate my signal indicator lights are lighting in the off and accessory position...
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So I need to figure out what is causing this, but this is the first time I had seen these gauges lit up...I do like them...
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That's what I did, I wanted to check the fuel system during first start.Quote:
Originally Posted by JOP33
If it was me I would start with about a half gallon. If there are leaks in the line I would not want to try and catch a full two gallons of fuel. So a little gas and then turn the key on to get the fuel pump to prime fuel lines and then start looking for leaks. Then on first "run" add a gallon or two of gas.Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadRacer
Planning on first start tomorrow...
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Stay tuned!
Good for you, it will be the next step to see what you have done come to life, it is a milestone to be recorded!
Well, it is only fitting that Star Mobile 1's first attempt at life be met with some adversity...So for the first start yesterday I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and expected the worst (much like every Cowboy fan starts each season) and like the most recent season, I was disappointed...I had a no-start! Not all bad news though, fuel went in the tank, no fuel leaks, fuel pump worked fine, EFI ECM powered up just no fire to the starter (at least that is my assumption at this point as I go back through the wiring). Nothing, just the whine of the fuel pump and silence. I have a couple thoughts on what it might be and the neutral safety switch leads the pack followed by solenoid wired wrong or possibly a bad ground. As for now I am going back through and isolating each wire and testing for continuity and power and confirming the expected result (something I should have done more intensely the first time around). Still hopeful to have things resolved in a few days (or at least the next week) and have a video to post. Just a small set back at this point :eek:.
don't forget the clutch safety (has to be wired together if clutch not complete) or the inertia switch ;)
Double check at the plugs for the wiring harness's, I found crossed wires at the plugs, must have been assembled wrong by Ron Frances. Easy to check because they are all color coded, blue to blue, green to green etc.
Thanks guys for the input...still chasing down a few things. In the meantime I went ahead and made up a charcoal fuel vapor filter. I'll have to see how it works out...
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RoadRacer you hit it on the nose...with both! I had cut the inertia switch to relocate to the trunk and had "capped" both ends intending to go back and connect...this was also what I intended to do with the "capped" ends on the clutch safety switch. So I have not made the correction yet, so still no start, but I have confirmed the 12v @ ignition start. Hopefully this weekend though!Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadRacer
Tried for a first start again yesterday and all though it did start and ran for about two seconds, I am not calling that my official start. I had to overcome a few things just to get to that point though. The light blue wire in the factory wiring harness that connects to the EFI power only provides 12v through cranking and not at the start position, so the EFI was booting at ignition and then losing power when the key pops back. So I checked the orange wire coming off the harness that was labeled coil or EFI (I had it running to the coil), it is has 12v at the start position and through cranking. I then connected the EFI wire to that wire and currently have a jumper of the I lug on the solenoid going to the coil (will make this more permanent once I can get the engine to stay running). So initially I had only put one gallon of gas in the tank for start up, last weekend when I heard the pump and didn't see leaks I assumed all was well in this area, but when attempting to start it was like it was getting no fuel. I then pulled off the fuel inlet line and to my suprise, it was completely dry. I then pulled of the line at the tank (feeding the fuel pump) and it was dry also. So just out of curiosity I pulled the rubber grommet and vapor tap out of the tank and flashed a light down in there. For whatever reason maybe the angle of how the car is sitting on the lift or something the fuel sock wasn't even slightly submerged in fuel. I ended up having to add an additional gallon (at 2 now) to the tank to get the fuel pump to prime and at that point I went ahead and added two more for safe measures. Once I was at two gallons the fuel pump primed fine with a definite difference in sound. Anyway so after I button all of this back up I tried to start one more time and as mentioned the engine did turn over and ran for about 2-3 seconds and stops. When I try to give it a little gas it seems like it chokes out. I would post a video but I am still trying to figure out how to upload it:confused:. I will contact Engine Factory tomorrow to see if they can provide some guidance as they have been extremely helpful so far.
Down But Not Out
Had surgery a week or so ago, so recovery has kept me out of the shop for the time being. Hope to be back at it soon.
Sorry to hear about your surgery. I hope all went well. I had a quadruple cervical fusion last September. The recovery was the longest three weeks of my life. Follow the Doc's orders and don't rush it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JOP33
Well as mentioned previously, I had surgery almost 3 months ago now and after a few challenges with recovery I am close to getting in some shop time. I actually met with a future builder this weekend as he wanted to take a few pictures and ask some questions about my build so far. Seems very excited and it will be great to have another local builder.
I was able to get out in the shop for a bit this weekend and just clean up the mess I left prior to my surgery. After clean up, I noticed I have a couple leaks...one where the brake cylinders attach to the pedal box and one at the pumpkin seal on the diff. So getting those fixed next weekend will probably be the first order of business. It's good to be back:cool:!
Good to hear your back in the shop and on the mend, take it easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by JOP33
Back in the shop this weekend. Back in March I had been able to get the car to start but it would not continue running. The Sniper EFI had a built in fuel pressure gauge but I could never keep it going long enough to get a reading, so I went ahead and installed and old school gauge in line. I was getting about 55 psi which is right at where manufacturer said it should be. The engine was built by Engine Factory, so I decided to shoot them a short video of my attempt and see if they had any advisement. After their techs reviewed my (13 second) video, they said they thought it was a wiring issue to the coil and to place a jumper from the battery + to the coil + to confirm. Low & behold, they were exactly right! The engine cranked right up! Now I just need to trace down the errant wire. Great to have the first start behind me though (and thanks Engine Factory Team).
https://youtu.be/oCDhpgjuDRU
https://youtu.be/7PpQAgZ14Gw
Awesome... Sounds great.
Now to start planning for the go-cart. :-)
What shifter is that?
Awesome! Congrats on the success! That's great the EF guys were able to help with such a short video! Service goes a long way toward winning customers...
Great to see and hear it run, I recall the same feeling when it starts and runs! I hope you are feeling fine now and ready to carry on. All the best Jamie!
So glad you are back in the garage, the start is a fantastict mildstone
Jamie - not sure if you are using the Ron Fran wiring harness ... The EFI will need power both during cranking and when key is on, if it is like the GMC PCM. On the Ron Fran harness I think the Red is cranking and the Orange is Key On.
The GMC also has a fuel pump cutoff theft deterrent that has to be disabled... if not the power to the fuel pump is cut off... I am sure the aftermarket EFI does not have that.
Thanks guys for the comments and info. I actually reached out to FFR yesterday as the issue that Engine Factory was picking up on in the initial video I had sent them was that as soon as I released the key the engine would quit running. Dan confirmed that for my set-up the Orange EFI/Coil wire on the RF Harness will connect to the Pink wire on the Sniper EFI...the Blue wire on the RF Harness is not used. I think I have them reversed as of right now...will confirm and fix, hopefully eliminating the jumper wire. I then need to clean up all my wiring and heat shield some additional areas, install the ebrake and then I should be pretty close to carting.
I was able to confirm my wiring today and to my surprise I actually had the RF Orange wire connected to the Sniper EFI Pink wire as it should be:confused:, so it seems I have a little more investigating to do.
So I actually confirmed with Dan at FFR that all I should do with my set up is connect the Sniper EFI Pink wire to the RF Orange wire (which I had correct), but then he said to jump a wire from the RF Orange wire as well to the Coil (+). I have yet to confirm that this does what it needs to but will early this week. I have also been taking this time to go back through the wiring and clean it up a little...slow and tedious process for me, but I am making some headway. I have decided to cover the majority of the wiring in a heat shield I came across at the local store. It is rated for 1100-1200 degrees (F) and seems to be pretty easy to work with. I have had to split it in some areas, but I have just gone back with Stainless High Temp ties.
Pic of Fuel Pressure Gauge installed a few weeks back...
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Heat Shield Sleeve and Stainless ties...
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Heat Shield Sleeve...
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Battery Cables with Heat Shield (Probably overkill in some areas but these wire do run by the exhaust below the aluminum panels)...
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Been a few weeks since last post...Still cleaning up wiring, installing heat shielding and installing plugs. Someone (on this forum) once told me no one post pics of wiring because it usually looks like a mess...soooooooo true! I swear I have cut out miles of wires, yet it still looks like a rat's nest! I do, however feel that I am making some progress and hope to be past the wiring portion (for a while at least) in a few weeks.
J
I spent several weekends working on the wiring, installing plugs where I just had mechanical terminals, changing some of the routing, shortening wires & installing heat shielding (shortening more wires & re-installing heat shielding). I'm not proud of the work so far and believe me it will get at least one more pass, but I thought I would at least post some pics.
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So I have made several passes already to try and reduce the amount of wiring and remove any unused wiring, as mentioned previously it will take at least one more pass to have a solution I can live with, but at least the trans tunnel will fit now...
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Believe me it is a mess under there, but I'll get there!
So I made another pass at the wiring today and I am pretty happy with how things turned out. I think it could still use a little trimming, but ultimately I'm ok with it and the trans tunnel fits without suffocating everything. I had originally just used wire terminals on connections until I was able to start the car and verify that there was not going to need to be any major changes. So when I started going back through the wiring (what seems like months ago now), I took as many connections as I could and put Weather Pack Connectors on them. I like the idea of the plugs and they were really easy to use, but when it is all said and done they take up a lot of space.
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I had also been concerned about how close my shifter was to the area where the dash will extend down, so I went ahead and moved the shifter to the furthest back position and gained about two inches. I think I am alright now. In Park, will be the closest position to the dash and then when shifted into Drive, the shifter comes back about another two inches.
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Also did a trial fit on the seats today. Without the waterfall in I don't really know how much room I have to go back. I'll have to figure something out there.
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I have also made a cut in the trans tunnel on the driver side to allow me to flex the fiberglass in some and give a little more pedal room. The plan is to push it in about half an inch and re-glass. I haven't decided yet whether I am going to modify the "bulged" area at the top of the trans tunnel. I hope to get to the fiberglass work on the tunnel tomorrow or Sunday.
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All in all it was a good day.
I been able to work on a few things this week. First, I started doing a little fiberglass work on the Trans Tunnel. I wanted to taper the driver's side of the tunnel in just a bit to gain a little more pedal room. All in all I think I gain closed to an inch (probably not worth all the work, but it is tight down there). I don't know how you guys with the clutch pedals manage it. This was my first attempt at glass work in a very long time, so I thought Trans Tunnel might be a good place to start. After all it's going to be covered with heat shield and dynamat when it's all done...
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It was actually quite a mess and I ended up with several air bubbles that I later had to grind down and re-glass...
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From the backside you can see how I notched the tunnel keeping just enough in tack to allow me to flex the area I wanted to taper...
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Then I hit it with the grinder again and placed a second coat of glass on just where I had cut...
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I plan on going back one more time with full sheet over the entire area.
I also put together the E-brake assembly. I haven't installed it in the car yet, but I think there is a discrepancy between how they tell you to build it up and some of the pictures show...
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I had also made a hose bracket at work to help keep one of the wire looms off the exhaust pipes. I designed it out of stainless steel and so that I could just bend the flange to allow the loom to cradle in the bracket and then you just bend the flange back around it. It seemed to work pretty good...
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I am still toying around with ideas on wheels too. I really like the look of these wheels...
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But I have been playing around with paint on the computer and was thinking of maybe having them powder coated something like this...
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Still plenty of time to decide I guess.
You need to look at brake handle, it is bad for passengers.
Becarefull when you narrow up the trans tunnel that the shifter linkage/rod does not rub and bind. I did the same but had to cut a section out and cover with sheet aluminum.
Thanks duff33...it was definitely worth a double-check, but I think I have plenty of clearance.Quote:
Originally Posted by duff33
1932 - Can you elaborate on this a little more? I have ridden in a 33' (as a passenger) with the e-brake in the same position and it didn't seem too obtrusive, but I would love to hear some additional feedback or suggestions!Quote:
Originally Posted by 1932
Thanks!
Back at it this morning...working on the Trans Tunnel Tunnel :confused:...
My thoughts are that I will mount some Neoprene (Rubber) material where I have had to make cutouts to help weather proof those areas.
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E-Brake & Accelerator Pedal are next!
I am going to make a new handle that is back and over to med tunnel. My riders do not like it.
Another couple good days in the shop...:cool:
After getting the trans tunnel cleaned up pretty good, I went ahead and "placed" the seats and waterfall just to get an idea of how tight things might be before installing the e-brake...
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I am also going to fab a false foot plate for the passenger side floor board to cover the auxillary fuse block I added against the firewall. In retrospect, it was probably overkill, but now any of my accessories I might add can run directly to this fuse block...
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I started prepping to install the accelerator pedal as well. Although there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the set-up that FFR provides in this area I opted to go with a third party upgrade.
There is a billet aluminum cover plate that installs from the engine compartment in this area...
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And then the pedal installs from inside the passenger compartment...
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But first I had to prep the firewall since I had to drill a 1-3/4" hole through it to accept the pedal support (I was not looking forward to drilling this hole and actually had a buddy come over and help me out with this)...
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Also took the steering wheel off (something I should have done along time ago...I don't know how many times I have hit my head on that thing during wiring:mad:) and covered the column...
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I had to trim the flange on the tunnel a bit...
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And covered the billet pieces...
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All in all I was pretty happy with the way things turned out after we were done. I still need to mount the throttle cable (also an upgrade) though...
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I actually modeled the set-up (dimensionally) off the current set-up on the car I drive now. And I actually like the pedal so much I am just about to order a matching brake pedal. I will need to fab a mounting plate but I think it should be a simple mod :rolleyes:.
Next, I started working on the E-brake. I drilled the 5/16" hole from the underside of the rear mounting flange...
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Once I had that hole drilled, I marked where the trans tunnel and aluminum floor plate would need to be modified for clearance and cut them both...
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I temporarily installed the rear bracket as I thought there might be a few more modifications required on the aluminum (there was)...
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Then I installed the rear bracket again, this time I took it off the E-brake assembly to make it a little easier to install. I also went ahead and drilled the 5/16" hole for the front bracket too. This hole was a little more challenging as it goes through the entire chassis tube below. This is one of those cases where FFR just provides you the extra hardware but makes no mention of why it is there in the manual (there is a longer carriage bolt included for the front attachment). I started by drilling a smaller hole first through the entire tube from the trans tunnel side and then opened up to 5/16"...
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Then I installed the front bracket, leaving both slightly loose for adjustment...
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Here is a view of the nuts from the underside location...
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And then finally here is the E-brake installed...
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Sorry, I had an issue with the pics uploading this morning. Hoping it is fixed now. Thanks to all for letting me know.