The 'Electrics' Project - Services

The next stage was a list of all the electrical ‘services’, annotated as to whether they used a ‘direct’ 12V supply or an ignition switched 12V, whether they ought to use a Relay (and if so which one), and which fuse they used. 
 (Red is unknown)

Service	12V	Colour	Relay	Fuse
Demisters	Ignition		Yes – Relay 1	3
Fog Lights	Direct	Blue/Yellow	Yes – Relay 2	4
Horn	Direct	Purple/Black	Yes – Relay 3	1
Headlights (Main)	Direct	Blue/Red	Apparently none	1
Headlights (Dipped)	Direct	Blue/White	Apparently none	1
Cooling Fan	Direct	???	Yes - Relay at Front	11
ECU	Ignition	Green/Pink	Yes - Not found	?
Lamda Sensor	Ignition	Green	Yes - Relay 4	?
Fuel Pump	Ignition	White	Yes - Relay 5	?
Indicators	Ignition	Green/White	Yes – Flasher Relay	?
Hazards	Direct	Green/White	Yes – Flasher Relay	?
Sidelights	Direct	Red	No	4
Number Plate Light	Direct	Red	No	4
Reversing Lights	Direct	???	No	10
Brake Lights	Ignition	Green/Purple	No	4
Cluster Illumination	Ignition	Red	No	4
Instruments	Ignition	Green	No	2
Warning Lights	Ignition	Green	No	2
Wipers	Ignition	Blue/Yellow	No	?
Washers	Ignition	Green/Black	No	?

Instrument Panel Wiring
 

Just for completeness I figured out the Instrument Panel wiring:  (Blue means Not used, Red means don’t know)

Pin	Colour	Usage
White Plug
12	Red	+12V for Panel illumination
11	Blue/White	Headlight Full Beam Warning
10	Black	Earth for Headlamp Warning and Panel Illumination
9	Not Used	(ABS warning light)
8	Black/Yellow	Handbrake/Brake Fluid Level Warning Light
7	White/Green	‘S’ Connector on Temperature Gauge (Sender)
6	White	‘S’ Connector on Fuel Gauge (Sender)
5	Black	‘E’ (Earth) (Earth) for Fuel and Temperature Gauge
4	Not Used	(Diesel GlowPlug)
3	Not Used	(Washer Fluid Level)
2	Not Used	(Low Fuel)
1	Green	12V for lamps and ‘B+’ on Fuel & Temperature
Blue Plug
1	Black	Earth for Indicator Lights
2	????*	Indicator Lights
3	Not Used	(Windows ??)
4	Not Used	(?????)
5	Not Used	(Seat Belt)
6	?????*	From Negative Side of Coil (not connected on board ?)**
7	Brown/Yellow	Alternator Warning Light
8	?????*	‘E’ on Tachometer (from +ve side of coil)
9	?????*	‘S’ on Tachometer
10	White/Brown	Oil Pressure Warning
11	Not Used	(Rear Screen Heater)
12	Green	‘B’ on Tacho (12V ignition switched)

*      I will be able to complete the colour column when I remove the centre dashboard.

**    The wiring diagram says to connect to coil but on PCB on back of cluster it doesn’t appear to be connected to anything.

LAMDA SENSOR

Not something I have seen before so needed to figure out the wiring.  Seems it is:

Sensor	Engine Plug	Function
White*	Black (Earth)	Heater
White*	Brown/Blue (Power)	Heater
Grey	Green	Signal
Black	Grey	Earth

The 2 White wires are interchangeable

ECU

The Electronic Control Unit is a ‘black box’, but I did find a breakdown of the connections:

Pin	Colour	Function or Termination	Comments
1	White/Yellow	Coil -ve	Not Used
2	Pink/Blue	Stepper Motor Phase 2
3	Orange/Grey	Stepper Motor Phase 1
4	White/Pink	Feed from main ECU relay	-ve side of Switching Circuit
5	Not Used	Air Con Control
6	Not Used	Cooling Fan Relay
7	Grey	Lambda sensor +	Revised wiring extension
8	Yellow/Green	Throttle Sensor Supply
9	Yellow/Purple	Throttle Sensor Input
10	Pink	Diagnostics Output
11	Green/Pink	Ignition Sensing
12	Not Used	Electronic Tacho Output
13	Black/White	Immobiliser Control	Disabled
14	Not Used	??
15	Not Used	Air Con Control
16	Green/Black	Air Temp Sensor Input
17	Yellow	Engine Knock Sensor
18	Light Green	Lambda sensor -
19	Not Used	Air Con Control
20	Black/Purple	Fuel Cut off Relay Control.	-ve side of Switching Circuit
21	Yellow/Orange	Boost Purge Valve
22	Orange/Green	Stepper Motor Phase 3
23	Yellow/Green	Injector 1-4
24	Yellow/Blue	Injector 2-3
25	White/Black	Coil +	Actually to Coil -ve
26	Not Used	Cruise Control
27	Orange/Blue	Stepper Motor Phase 4
28	Brown/Pink	+12V Power	+ve Power circuit from Relay
29	Black	ECU Earth
30	Pink/Black	Engine Sensors Earth
31	Blue	Crankshaft Sensor +
32	White	Crankshaft Sensor -
33	Pink/Green	Coolant Sensor Input
34	Grey/Pink	Fuel Rail Sensor Input
35	Not Used	Air Con Control
36	Black/Green	Lambda Sensor	-ve side of Switching Circuit

 

LIGHTING CIRCUIT

Pin 30 on both relays get a permanent +12 V Power Supply from Fuse 1

Pin 87 on the relays goes to Main Beam (Blue/White) and Dipped Beam (Blue/Red)

Light Switch gets Direct Power from Fuse 1.  

Position 1 sends power to sidelights through (Red/Grey)

Position 2 sends power to High/Dip Switch which feeds Pin 85 of appropriate relay

Pins 86 get fed an ignition switched earth feed    (Apparently not, seems to be permanent earth?)    

Status:   Lots to do, I still have the following outstanding questions 

1.  Where is the relay for the Lamda Sensor Heater ?

2.  What are Fuses 5-9 for ? 
3.  Where are the fuses for the indicators and wipers/washers ?

The 'Electrics' Project - Fuses

As stated we have 2 fuse boxes, one contains 4 fuses (1-4) and the other set of six in-line fuses (5-10), so the obvious step was to look at each fuse, determine the rating and the wiring colours and remove each one and see what happened.  This was the result

Fuse	Rating	Wiring Colour			Usage
1	30A	Brown		Purple	Horn/Headlights
2	20A	White		Green	Instrument Panel 12V
3	20A	Green		White	Demister
4	25A	Red		Red	All Lights
5	10A	Yellow/Green	White		??*
6	20A	Black	Brown		??*
7	10A	White/Pink	Brown		ECU
8	10A	Red/Brown	Brown		??*
9	10A	Brown/Red	Brown		Fuel Pump
10	20A	Brown/Red	Brown/Red		Reversing Light

*   All these fuses stop the Fuel Pump from working but everything else worked

I assume that Fuses 5-9 all relate to ECU/Fuel Pump/Lamda Sensor functions which cannot be evaluated. 

Later:   Found another fuse right at the front of the car mounted just in front of the cooling fan, and that is what it controls.   I will refer to that one as Fuse 11.

The 'Electrics' Project - Relays

The starting point was a working system but with nothing labelled, a very weak plastic fuse box and a ‘rat’s nest’ of wires. Also the Horn and Headlight fuse kept blowing (Didn’t understand why they have a common fuse) and the brake lights were not working. 

So my primary tasks were to figure out the wiring diagram, what relays belonged to which, what fuses belonged to what and figure out why the horn fuse kept blowing. 

Warning: These first phases are really a mind-clearing exercise for me, as well as a record of everything I figure out. As such it isn't very interesting !! But feel free to read it and if you happen to see anything I have missed or can suggest any answers to my questions, I would be grateful. 

Here is a picture of the electrical panel: 

So what we have here is: 

1.   A set of three Relays at the top (Let’s name them 1-3, No 3 is labelled 'Horn', No 2 is labelled ‘2’, the other is not labelled) 

2.  Two separate Relays on the left (labelled ‘L’&4 and ‘R’ (I think)). Let’s call them Relays 4 & 5 

3.   A 4-way box with 4 fuses (again one a bright yellow) (Call them 1-4)

4.  A set of 6 in-line fuses, vertically mounted, and again one of is a bright yellow (Call them 5-10).

5.   The ‘Flasher’ Relay

6.   The ‘Kill Switch’ 

This is a close up of Relays 4 & 5, showing the labels. I have assumed they are ‘L’ & ‘R’, standing for ‘Left’ & ‘Right’ but maybe the mark is not ‘R’ but an ‘F’ (For Fuel) or ‘Omega’? And maybe ‘L’ stands for Lamda ? 





Have since found a software package that allows you to switch the fuel relay and this proved that Relay 5 is the Fuel Relay.

So far I haven’t found any more fuses or relays anywhere else in the car apart from one on the radiator that is for the cooling fan.

RELAYS 

First I needed to remind myself the why & how of relays. A relay is designed to drive high-power services but switching using a low power circuit. This means that switches need only be rated for low current and, in particular high-powered currents do not pass through the ignition switch. 

So Pin 30 always has a high-capacity 12V wire direct from the Battery, with a fuse.

Pin 87 (the one at right-angles to all the others) has a high-capacity wire going to the accessory which is then earthed on the other side. 


Pin 85 has a low-capacity wire to Earth. 

Pin 86 has a low-capacity wire leading to the switch which is driven by either a direct 12V supply or an ignition-switched 12V supply (For ‘live-switching’) if a service is ‘earth-switched’ the switch would not be there but Pin 85 would then go to a switch, and then to earth. 

LOOM DIAGRAM 

Then I looked at the Loom\Wiring diagram that came with the kit. This is not a normal wiring diagram, it simply shows you where to plug in each connector on the wiring loom, with a few extra 'hints' added. 

This mentions 3 relays (Lamda Sensor, ECU and Fuel Pump). The Video that comes with the kit showed these as mounted on a single receptor and positioned to be installed inside the engine bay on the firewall (but I cannot see anything resembling this on the car). 

It then has another relay, just pencilled in, for the Horn. 

The details on the loom diagram given for wire colours are as follows: 

ECU 
Pin 30  No colour defined, just direct to Battery 
Pin 85  White/Pink (Goes to ECU Pin 4) 
Pin 86  No colour defined, just direct to Battery 
Pin 87  Brown/Pink 
           (and also to Pin 86 Lamda Relay and ECU Pin 28) 

Lamda Sensor  Heater
Pin 30  No colour defined, just direct to Battery) 
Pin 85  Black/Green (Goes to Pin 36 of ECU) 
Pin 86  Brown/Pink (and also to Pin 87 ECU Relay) 
Pin 87  Brown/Blue 

Fuel Pump 
Pin 30  No colour defined, just direct to Battery 
Pin 85  Black/Purple (To ECU Pin 20) 
Pin 86  No colour defined, just direct to Battery 
Pin 87  No colour defined, just says Power to Fuel Pump 

Horn 
Pin 30  Brown (12V from Battery?) 
Pin 85  Black 
Pin 86  Purple/Black (from Horn Switch?) 
Pin 87  No colour defined, just says Power to Horn 

So this raises the first couple of ‘interesting’ observations: 

1. The Fuel Pump is activated by the ECU not just the ignition. (Turns out the ECU runs the Fuel Pump for 2 seconds when you switch the ignition on, to prime the system)

2. The Lambda Sensor does not come on line until ECU is powered up (makes sense)  (Turns out this relay controls the Lambda sensor Heater circuit, not the sensor itself.   The ECU does not switch the heater on until the engine actually starts)

Now we can look at the wiring on the actual Relays 

1 Pin 30 Brown/Red
   Pin 85 Black
   Pin 86 Brown/Red
   Pin 87 Brown/Red 

2 Pin 30 White/Pink
   Pin 85 Green
   Pin 86 White/Pink 
   Pin 87 Brown/Red 

3 Pin 30 Brown    
   Pin 85 Black (x 2)  
   Pin 86 Purple/Black 
   Pin 87 Purple 

4 Pin 30 Brown/Red 
   Pin 85 Green 
   Pin 86 Brown 
   Pin 87 White/Pink (x2) 

5 Pin 30 Brown/Red 
   Pin 85 Purple 
   Pin 86 Fed from Pin 30 
   Pin 87 Brown/Red 

All we get from that is that, apart from Relay 3 which exactly matches the wiring for the Horn (and was actually labelled ‘Horn’), the rest do not match up at all. Although Relay 5 does come close to the Fuel Pump. (Confirmed later)

I would also add that following ‘normal’ procedure I would have expected there would be relays for the following high-power circuits. 

Headlights/Main, Headlights/Dip & Windscreen Demisters

 So, the next stage was to remove each Relay in turn and try and figure out what stopped working. 

Relay 1: This stopped the Windscreen Demisters. 
Relay 2: This stopped the Fog Lights. 
Relay 3: As we know, this is the Horn. 
Relay 4 and Relay 5: Pulling either of these stopped the Fuel Pump so I could not start the car.  (I now know that Relay 4 is the Fuel Pump itself, and that Relay 5 is the Lambda Sensor Heater Relay)

I should add that I have no idea what the effect is of removing the ECU and Lamda Sensor Relays would be on the engine. Logic tells me that removing the Lamda Sensor Replay would have little effect as it controls the mixture so the engine would probably still start, maybe running badly. Removing the ECU Relay should stop the engine from starting as the Fuel Pump is not activated? 

So this leads to the following observations: 

1. Relays 1-3 do not appear on the Wiring Diagram (except the horn which is hand drawn in) 

2. So we now have 3 Relays to find (ECU/Lamda/Fuel Pump) and only 2 (4 & 5, ‘L’ & ‘R’) on the panel 4.  (Lambda Sensor Heater  & Fuel Pump identified, no sign of Main ECU relay)

3. There do not appear to be relays for the Headlights? (I have been told that there are no Headlamp replays.  Seems odd as it means the whole current passes through the light switch?)

Status: Just need to track down the ECU Relay.  I can hear it clicking behind dash and instrument cluster.

The 'Boot' project

One of the major projects was to improve the boot. The starting point was a stainless steel cover, hinged at the front and nothing inside except the fuel tank. No room to store any tools, spare parts or emergency equipment. Difficult to open with the wet-weather gear attached and lots of sharp edges underneath. 

So, first step was to build a wooden insert. Fit carpet to it to avoid tools rattling, and fit a vinyl lined surround to match the dashboard.

So initially it takes the following: Jack, Wheel Brace, Screwdrivers, Spanners, Pliers, Wire, Fuses, Insulating Tape, Socket Set, First Aid Kit and spare bulbs. 

Followed by: Tow Rope, Jump Leads, Torch, Duct Tape, Stanley Knife, 2 x Adjustable Spanners, High Visibility Jacket, Spare Fan Belt and Spare Clutch Cable. 

Have I forgotten anything ? 

This is what it looks like installed on the car, with a nice vinyl covered lid, again matching the dashboard. 

Hinges moved to the back of the car so it can be opened with the wet-weather gear installed and fitted with a locking mechanism to keep things safe.

Finally a luggage rack added in case I have to take a passenger anywhere and cannot use the passenger seat and foot well as storage. 







All it needs now is a wicker picnic basket on the rack !! 

Status:  Complete

1000 Miles

Although I was spending quite some time 'tinkering' with the car, I still took every opportunity I could to make the most of the fantastic weather and drove the car quite a lot.   Today I passed the 1000 mile mark since July.   The car has behaved impeccably and continues to be an absolute joy.

Dashboard Project - Phase Three

The final aim is to make the dashboard of three removable sections, all vinyl covered and the gear handle mounting and transmission tunnel vinyl-covered to match. So the next stage was to cut away the right side of the dashboard, to allow easy access to the brake cylinder and pipes and the steering column. And then fabricate a matching vinyl covered dashboard section and cover the steering column with vinyl to match. 

 Status: Phase 3 complete, moving along nicely

Petrol Smell

After a fair bit of driving I figured out that the petrol smell only occurred if I went round left turns very fast. I had been doing that a fair bit as it was such fun. I assume that when I do that all the petrol in the tank slops to the right side of the tank, where the filler system is located. The previous owner confirmed that the petrol pipe between the tank and the filler cap was a bit of a bodge and might be leaking. In fact it turns out it was made from a couple of rubber gaiters off suspension units. 

So the first thing I did was replace the original hose with a proper brand new one.  

Before:  

                                   
After: 

As it turns out that did not help and the smell still occurs in fast left turns. But I was pleasantly surprised that it fixed the ‘slow-filler’ problem I had before. Now fills up as quick as every other car. 

Status: Still need to track down the leak

Steering Bushes

The picture shows that the rubber bushes were badly perished and had split in a number of places. A definite MOT failure. 

Turned out to be difficult to split the arm until I got the correct tool. Then it was easy. 









So here is the new bush fitted to one of the steering arms and then in place on the car. 

Status: Complete

Wheel Alignment

Following the ride height adjustment and bearing in mind the squeal on left corners I decided to check the steering alignment (Camber and Tracking, the Castor is fixed by the design of the kit). 

To do this I designed and built an alignment tool out of scrap timber, mating it with a spirit level for the camber and a laser pointer for the tracking. 

Here it is checking the camber. This gave results of -1.1° for the offside and +0.4° for the nearside. There are no laid down standards for kit cars but as a general rule they should be between 0° to -1.5° (A negative figure shows the top leaning into the car). So in an ideal world I ought to tweak the offside about a degree. Unfortunately it isn’t a simple adjustment, the suspension needs to be taken apart. Meanwhile it is OK for normal use, just might wear the tires a bit. 

And here it is checking the tracking. The wooden stand has 2 nails in it, one at each end, EXACTLY equal in distance from the wheel rim. So by putting the centre point of the laser on one nail and ensuring the laser light illuminates the other nail we know the beam is parallel to the wheel. The picture shows the laser beam illuminating on the back of the garage wall, and by moving the laser to the other end of the wood and facing the other way the beam illuminates on the garage door. Then swap over to the other wheel and repeat the exercise. Then measure the gap between the beams on the wall (XWall) and the door (XDoor) and knowing the length of the garage (LG) then you can work out the tracking using the formula:

 Tan-1 ( (XDoor – XWall) / LG) 

I was quite pleased to get a result of -0.826° (Toe-in). Again there are no official settings but most people advise a ‘touch’ of toe-in so that looks fine. I also did the rears and came up with -0.418°, again well within limits.

Status: Complete

Dashboard Project - Phase Two

The electrical panel was above the passenger footwell and almost impossible to reach, so the first step was to rebuild the passenger side of the dashboard to allow access, and to replace it with a vinyl-covered quick removable panel.  I also incorporated a lockable glove box to keep the vehicle documents, iPhone Charger, boot key and a woolly hat.

 

 

 

 

Status:  Phase 2 complete, more to do

The Sump Guard

Although I now had a decent ground clearance, just to be really safe I also manufactured a sump guard from some scrap sheet metal so if I do ground it will be this that hits rather than the sump. It reduced the ground clearance a bit but only by about 4mm. (First go at pop riveting, very successful) 

Before:

After:

Status:  Complete

Ride Height Adjustment

Again I did a lot of research into this and asked other owners.   The most common answer was to replace the shock absorbers as this was one area where going for the cheapest option had resulted in a very poor ride.  But that is going to cost over £300 so I have that on the ‘future’ list.

It’s difficult to tell from the picture but the bottom mounting is on the 3rd of 4 holes on the wishbone so it seemed obvious that moving it to a hole nearer the chassis would raise the ride height.  




Unfortunately the advice was that this would put excessive stress on the wishbone and risk bending it if I hit a pothole. 

So the next thing to try was to wind the coil spring up.  You can tell from the picture that it was fully extended. 
 

After buying the right tool off E-Bay I wound the coils up about 11 turns as shown.   This raised the ride height from the 2” clearance below the sump to about 3.5”.  doesn’t  sound a lot but it had a dramatic improvement on the ‘grounding’ and I haven’t done it since.

 








However, I did find the steering became a light above 60mph, so after a few weeks I wound then back down 2 turns.   I still had 3” sump clearance and the handling seemed better.