Graham Rudd

Thanks Ian, It turns out it is the plumbing, I have a hose which has perished and snapped. To make matters worse its happened THREE times before and STILL it didn't click what it might be. I think I'll pay one of my work mates to give me a good kicking, whilst chanting the mantra check the f*cking hoses you knob! Unfortunately the last three times have used up any slack I had in it, so it looks like I have to find some replacements (which might be a good idea anyway). Any recommendations? On a different note, I don't really feels its appropriate to comment on someones choice of tuner/garage services in a technical forum post where I was merely asking for possible solutions to my problem. I've used TDI since I bought the Soop a few years back and I've always received a good, professional level of service. I'll continue to use them until they provide otherwise! I'm not trying to sing the praises of any one company here. I can also highly recommend CW. I just think this kind of discussion adds a certain undertone of backstabbing, old feuds and petty bickering that is probably best forgotten. Thanks, Graham

On the journey into work this morning there seemed to be a few added complications that are probably related to the problem. I noticed that the second turbo doesn't really want to come on line at all now. It seems to just flutter instead, i.e. start making boost, lose boost, start making boost, lose boost, etc. etc. Then, just I thought it had given up, it comes on strong and boosts immediately to 1.6bar *cringe* Any ideas? I'll be booking the car in to TDI for a service and check up soon, but they have a long waiting time and it would be nice to be able drive it until then. Plus I just know it'll all magically work as Toyota intended when I actually get it there, damned thing does it to me every time! Cheers, Graham

I've got a couple of problems with my Soop, hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on them. Problem one: This generally only happens in second/third gear, if I floor it then ease off, even *slightly*, I will get a crazy amount of engine breaking, then if I even think about changing the amount of gas I'm giving it I will get a HUGE surge in acceleration. It can happen two or three times rapidly, and its extremely violent. Imagine it as throwing a parachute out the back, then hitting the button for the booster rocket, which is obviously hidden in the back somewhere. Whatever is happening, it certainly makes a mockery out of trying to modulate the throttle! Problem two: I don't know if this is normal or not, and it never used to bother me but its beginning to now. If you creep past the magic 4000 rpm barrier then the second turbo doesn't come on-line. If you floor it before the 4k mark then its fine. This in itself doesn't bother me too much, the problem comes when you drop a gear and the revs in the new gear happen to be above 4k. When this happens, because I haven't floored it past the 4k barrer then the second turbo doesn't come on-line, or if it does it seems to take forever (i.e. 2 or 3 seconds) to realise that it should be getting off its lazy arse and actually produce some boost. Any help and advice, pointing or laughing etc. will be greatly appreciated as usual Cheers Graham

See if there it has an active spoiler ECU, if it has maybe there is a chance the wiring loom has been plugged into it? Reason I suggest this is because the same thing happened to me when I had my active spoiler removed. I was doing some work that required taking the dash off and I accidently wired up the defunct spoiler ECU and got the warning triangle and flashing light.

Err yeah.. cheers Mycroft Is it the same as the final drive value? Just been browsing and found a final drive ratio of 3.266 which would give me 515/3.266 ~158mph in my example, now that sounds more reasonable!

Ahha! Thanks Mycroft. Now... umm does anyone happen to know what this rear axle ratio is? Cheers Graham

For some reason that totally escapes me (perhaps the fact that I'm sat at work, all packed up ready to relocate with absolutely nothing to do has something to do with it) I started thinking about gear ratios and as the only gear ratio I know on the Supra, and handily the one that also makes the maths a little easier is 5th at 1/1 I thought I'd figure out how fast I could theoretically go at 7000rpm. Bearing in mind I know *nothing* about what the gear ratio means I thought I'd apply a little common sense (which it turns out will be a tragic mistake on my behalf! ) So here was my train of thought: 1. Get rpm to rph = 7000*60 = 420000 2. Work out wheel circumf. 18" 285/30 = ~45.72+(285/10*.3*2)*PI = 197.4 3. Centimetres travelled in an hour = 82908000 4. convert result to m = 82908000 / 160934.4 = 515.2 5 WAHEY! 515 MPH in 5th at 7000rpm!!! 6. Ho Hum.. Ok, 515mph eh? Even I know this is wrong so can someone who actually knows something about this subject let me know where I've gone horribly wrong with my assumptions? Clearly I have no idea what 1/1 means, I was assuming that 1/1 meant whatever the thing that is turning at a given RPM *cough* is turning the wheels at the same speed. So what are the things that are turning? Surely my calculations can't be THAT stupid? Someone please tell me I can just divide my result by a constant that represents some mysterious component I don't know about! Yours confused, Graham

Sounds like your RL unit is kicking in so severly because its getting garbage wheel speed data from the ABS sensors (hence the warning light). Mine did this for a while, it turned out to be my ABS relay. I switched it for the stock traction control relay and hey presto! Problem gone. I'm not saying this is definately your problem but it could with worth checking.

Just thought I'd chip in with my experience. Very similar problem and unfortunately, as in Lee's case, no. 2 turbine blade had gone AWOL. Eventually found as lots of tiny pieces bits hiding out inside the first cat. As a frame of reference, mine disintegrated running 1.25bar boost. Graham

I was out for a blast yesterday and had a terrifying near death experience. I was haring into a quite tight corner over a very bumpy stretch of road and suddenly lost all power. Everything just died.. have you tried to turn one of these beasts without the power steering!? One of the scariest moments of my life. After pulling off the road and getting over my fright a little I turned the key, and much to my suprise she started up first time. I limped slowly home, with the engine cutting out again a couple of times, just momentry each time, lasting only a second or so. After much head scratching, test runs and probing with a mulimeter yesterday afternoon and today, I've reached the conclusion that my problem is probably being caused by an iffy ground connection to my RL unit. So my question is, where did you ground yours? Mine is currently on one of the bolts under the passenger footwell cover. I'd be interested to hear of any other good grounding points. Maybe I need to clean the contact point (i.e. the bolt) up with something? Thanks Graham

MONKEYmark, My car does feel a little laggy at the bottom end, but I don't know if I can attribute it soley to the cams. Full spec of my car is: 6 Spd Silver J-Spec (RZ), Blitz ECU, Hybrid Turbos, HKS 'R' spec FMIC, ERL Water injection, Half decatted (was overboosting), HKS EVC (1.25bar), HKS Induction kit, HKS 'Priest' Exhaust, HKS cams 256in, 264ex, TDI uprated fuel pump, Uprated Clutch, Racelogic Traction Control, Front and Rear Strut Braces, Tein Coilover Adjustable Suspension, 18" Blitz Technospeed Z1 wheels, BM short shift kit, Greddy Boost Gauge. My car doesn't fly away from the line, but give it a second and it takes off like a freakin' rocket and keeps going . Doesn't bother me at all, but I can see how some people would prefer instant acceleration. Graham

I have HKS 256in, 264 ex. It makes a quite a nice difference once the car picks up and gets going.

I vaguely recall there being two flags that can be set that change the clutch switch behaviour. I haven't got my handbook handy and I can't remember what they are. Could be worth a look at though. Maybe one of them is enable clutch switch?

Yep

Yep, just get it fitted and get a DAT from Phil and you'll be sorted. I'd assume the DAT is stored on some kind of EEPROM, the fact that its stored is all we need to know though! BTW I reckon any half competent electrician could fit it for you. Its a simple job (space available aside). Graham

Pete, to answer some of your questions: 1. All of the systems handle 6 cylinders, just some of the default setups (mine included) were set to 4. It can easily be changed. 2. Nope, no *need* to remove the stock TC system at all. 3. I'm sure something could be done, but you'd probably want it to stay connected to the stock system if you aren't removing it. Don't panic, there's been a lot of discussion about the RL system which has maybe made it sound a bigger PITA to set-up than it actually is. Its pretty easy in reality, in fact I'm sure Phil Wall could provide you with a perfectly good DAT file so you don't have to do anything! Graham

Steve, with the front cat in I get stock boost. I use an EVC to raise it. Graham

I can't see how the RL unit could possibly defeat fuel cut. It just uses what it sees coming from the ECU. It doesn't actually control the injectors, it just makes decisions based on wheelspeeds on whether or not to let through the normal pulses to the injectors. I'd be utterly amazed if it had removed your fuel cut... unless RL fixed some dodgy wiring to a your ECU from an old FCD when they were fitting it Cheers Graham

Oops, quick apology time. I've just realised I posted something stupid. I didn't have both of CW's pipes, only the front one. The rear cat was replaced with an HKS system. That'll be why I was overboosting. Sorry, Graham

Thanks Pete, thats exactly what I wanted to know, and what I was trying to say.. in a cak handed way. Graham

Just to add a word of caution, and to fly in the face of the advice you've already been given... My J-Spec with both cats out, using CW's pipes, boosted to over *1.5* bar quickly and easily. Mine was so bad that I had to have my first cat put back in, damn shame Some people get away with it, some don't. I was one of the unlucky ones. Graham

Yep, Pete already does one, so I'm hoping he wanders into this thread and has the patience to answer. I don't really want to ask him directly as he might find these questions (very simple questions from his perspective) a little tedious. Graham

I want to make a device to measure the duty cycle of an injector but I'm not 100% certain of how the duty cycle is measured, I *think* I know, but lets make sure. To get the duty cycle percentage is it as simple as measuring the pulse width and dividing by the pulse width + the time until the next pulse? Or is there some subtlety I'm missing? i.e. pulse width duty cycle% = --------------- pulse width + time measured until next pulse Any help would be much appreciated. If anyone has any good links to technical articles on this kind of thing then that would be fantastic. Many thanks, Graham

Pete, what voltage range does the O2 sensor output? I'd like to knock something together myself to monitor whats happening with mine. [OT] BTW Pete, I've managed to get hold of an ICD. Don't suppose you could recommend a good place for PC data acquisition cards? Preferably for a laptop. Thanks, Graham

1. I didn't bother earthing mine. 2. I hid it under the gear stick gator (manual). Very easy to get hold of when needed, which is very rarely. Graham