Chris W

Great to hear it's fixed and for less hassle than you probably anticipated. How long did they take to sort it? Cheers Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

BTW. Tchibo (coffee shops) are selling a 16 function Wireless Bike computer for £5.49 !!!! I got one for my push bike and the equivalent in Halfords is about £20. It says solar-powered (which it is but also has a lithium cell so it works in the dark too and is also illuninated. Amazing value. Gives trip distance, speed, average speed, maximum speed, odometer, time and temperature. The wireless wheel unit contains a battery too and is operated by the usual magnet. They are also available Tchibo's website here Tchibo only sell items for about a week or so and then they have new products. When they're gone, they're gone. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Sorry Mav but the circuit took a long time to design, prototype build, test, experiment with, redesign and re-test until it worked perfectly. I don't just want to give away all that effort for free. Cheers Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

IMHO the MFRU would not cause the ECU fuse to blow (unless it had a catrastrophic failure of course which would be terminal). The MFRU starter relay only actively draws about 100mA through its coil and merely passively switches the 20A or so to the solenoid. The reason the 20A fuse blows is exactly as stated, viz: the solenoid will draw more than 20A if it happens to stick slightly, (eg: when hot and the plunger expands). The reason it didn't work with the 30A fuse, that one time, was probably due to the fuse's being badly seated. Taking it out and putting it back again solved the issue.... again IMHO. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Mav I charge £100 for the finished and completed gearshift lights (you can see them on my website; click below). This also includes connecting them up in your 7 and testing them (at my home location only) nr Dunstable in Bedfordshire. I don't supply a kit. A circuit diagram only would be £30 cheers Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Tom I discovered this "inversion" a couple of years ago too whilst fiddling around trying to get the tacho LED to function. I built a transistor inverter which I installed inside the tacho itself and it worked fine. Phase 2 was to connect the tacho LED to a frequency to voltage converter chip which meant I could rotate a knob on the dash and have the tacho LED come on at any rpm value I chose. Phase 3 was to abandon the tacho LED and instead design and build a complete set of gear shift lights which work wonderfully. 10 LEDs (4 green, 3 amber and 3 red) mounted on the top of the scuttle cover the range 4000rpm to 7000rpm in equal steps. (changing circuit values allows a different frequency band to be covered). I also incorporated an LED brightnesss control primarily for night use. The commercial shiftlight sets only usually have only 3 or 4 LEDs and cover a very restricted frequency band (typically, 90% to 100% of max rpm). Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

If you're interested, the maths is pretty simple and is useful to understand: For every revolution of the wheel, the car will move forward the tyre's circumference which is (Pi)x (diameter) The overall diameter of the tyre/wheel combination is the diameter of the wheel (14" in this case) plus the height of the 2 sidewalls. So in this case (a 185/60 tyre), the width of the tyre is 185mm and the sidewall height is 60% of this (ie:111mm or 4.4"). Thus the overall diameter of the tyre wheel combination is 14 + 4.4 + 4.4 = 22.8". Therefore the circumference of the tyre/wheel combination is 22.8 x (Pi) = 71.6" For every 1000 rpm the engine turns, the wheel will turn at an rpm rate of 1000 divided by the gear ratio divided by the diff ratio. Let's call this result 'R' Thus the distance the car will move forward at a rate of R rpm at the wheels will be 71.6 x R inches per minute. Converting inches per minute to miles per hour means we have to multiply the result above by 60 and then divide this answer by (12 x 5280). ie: divide the result by 1056 So in say 3rd gear at a ratio of 1.26 the speed for each 1000 rpm will be 1000/1.26/3.92 x 71.6 = 14,496 inches per minute which, divided by 1056 gives 13.7mph per 1000rpm In 4th gear at a ratio of 1.0 the answer becomes 1000/1/3.92 x 71.6 /1056 = 17.3 mph/1000rpm In 5th gear at a ratio of 0.82, the answer becomes 1000/0.82/3.92 x 71.6 /1056 = 21.1 mph per 1000rpm thus the top speed at say 6000 rpm in 5th would be 6000/1000 x 21.1 = 127mph! However, air resistance with a standard screen will limit the 7 to a much lower actual figure as you won't reach 6000 rpm in 5th. 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Would anyone know where I can get about 150mm of elastomeric foam (MCU Elastomer) approx 23mm" in diameter as used in mountain bike forks? I want to refurbish an old bike and the elastomers have gone saggy and have shortened over the years by about 15mm. I tried boiling them (an internet hint) which gave me an additional 10mm back but they collapsed again under pressure when back in the forks. I have tried the internet extensively and a couple of local specialist bike shops to no avail. I can't believe it can be that diffilcult to find this stuff as lots of forks use elastomer. The forks are not branded (it was a high priced, high specc'd Halfords jobby at the time). Buying new forks is a disproportionate cost. I am always amazed with what people come up with on this forum, so here's your next "mission impossible"!! thanks Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Nigel Actually the alternator will usually carry on working even without the ignition light connected. It normally needs the small so-called "excitation" current from the ignition light to create a small amount of magnetism to start the ball rolling. However, in almost all cases there is enough residual magnetism in the alternator to cause it to self-start once it gets up to some reasonable revs (maybe 3000rpm +). What happens is that instead of providing a charging voltage from the moment of engine start, as is normal, the alternator doesn't kick-in till higher revs BUT, once kicked-in, it then works absolutely normally even when the revs drop back to idle. So Steve could test for this by measuring the battery volts at start-up. If the volts at start-up stay around 12.5v then the ignition light lead has indeed broken. Rev up to 3K or 4K rpm for a moment and re-measure. You should find that the volts are now around 14v indicating the alternator has kicked-in. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Myles Out of interest the figures for a standard lead acid battery are: 100% = 12.65v 75% = 12.45v 50% = 12.24v 25% = 12.06v discharged = 11.89v .........so there is clearly some difference from the stated Odyssey figures. Note in general though for both batteries that the open-circuit voltage vs charge curve has a very steep slope. Hence one needs a very accurate multimeter (not worse than +/-0.5%) to measure these values. A lot of the cheaper meters are just not accurate enough (typically +/-1%) Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Just to avoid any confusion, the ignition light doesn't have an earth connection per se Chris. 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Steve Sounds like a wire's either dropped off the alternator (usually brown/yellow) or the other end of the same wire has dropped off the ignition light or the 12v supply has dropped off the ignition light on its other side. One side of the ignition light should be connected to an ignition switched 12v and the other side of the ignition light is connected to the alternator. So when you switch on the ignition, current flows from the 12v supply through the lamp and then through the alternator windings to earth. This completes the circuit and the ignition light comes ON. When the engine starts, the alternator is producing the same voltage at its terminals as the supply voltage, so the ignition light now has the same voltage (usually around 14v) on both sides of it. Since there is now no voltage difference across the ignition light, it extinguishes. This is a good indication that the alternator is doing its job properly. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Hi Myles A reducing alternator voltage is normal. If you have an ammeter in the car you can see the initially high charging current inrush which drops about 30 secs after starting quite dramatically and then continues to reduce as the battery charges. Try swapping the Odyssey and the Banner over temporarily and run on the Banner for a few days/sessions. If the Banner continues to start the car OK, then maybe something is awry with the Odyssey. If the alternator was dropping significantly, say less than 13.5v then I might think something is wrong with the alternator. But this is only about 0.3v. I am not familiar with the Odyssey's characteristics, but for a normal lead acid battery (eg: Banner) an open circuit voltage of 12.65v indicates 100% charge and 12.45v is 75% charge. (These voltages should be measured after charging and then after running the headlamps for 5 minutes to mix up the electrolyte well). There is not necessarily any causal link between your engine's being hot and the reducing voltage from the alternator. The reducing voltage will happen normally as the battery charges and during this time the engine of course has also naturally heated. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

W.Nut My guess would be that when the solonoid is hot, expansion causes severely increased friction between the plunger and its cylinder. That's why (I presume) CC increased the ECU fuse rating from 20A to 30A to prevent its being blown by a sticking solonoid. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

W.Nut You won't be losing 5v across the switch. I'm sure you will find it's 7v at each of the two switch terminals when you try to start as you are effectively just measuring the battery voltage (to which the switch is connected). What you wrote was that you tried one terminal before starting and the other while starting. You will get: >before starting: 12v on one terminal of the BRSB and 0v on the other. >while starting: same volts on both terminals of the BRSB (which should be around 9v; see below) However, the battery voltage shouldn't drop below 9v to ensure clean starting at the starter motor. It sounds like the battery is not up to scratch. You need to be getting about 9v at the starter motor terminals to ensure the engine starts reliably. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Ian I did the same thing actually to monitor oil pressure for an oil pressure warning light. I noted the voltage at the oil pressure gauge for various oil pressures and used an Op-Amp as a comparator (LM741) with the reference input held constant by an appropriate zener across a pot. This way I could tweak the reference level to exactly what I wanted. It's a little more fiddly to do fuel as you would have to empty the tank, then slowly fill the tank until you had the "low" level fixed, capacity-wise, and then note the gauge input voltage. (With oil pressure one can simply rev up). Once the low fuel level is determined, simply tweak the pot till the light just comes ON. The advantage of the comparator is that there should be an extremely fast change over from "OK" to "Low Fuel". It's also safe as all the mods take place at the gauge... not around the fuel tank. I'll happily email the circuit to you if you wish. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

W.Nut Check to see if you are getting 12v at the starter motor when you try to start (ie: when the solonoid clicks). If you do get 12v, the starter motor is either jammed or kaput. If no 12v, the solonoid contacts are not closing properly. Did you clean the solonoid contacts (inside) while you had it apart? Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Iso-Propyl-Alcohol (IPA) - available from chemists is great as it doesn't harm plastics like acetone can. Aftershave is usually based on diluted IPA so you could try that first (and make the car smell good too). It usually removes most tape/label residue cleanly. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Jeff Remove the connection to the sender. Then short the sender input (on the gauge) to earth, with power on the gauge, ie: ignition ON. The gauge should read full scale when you do this. If it does, the gauge is OK. If not, either power is not getting to the gauge or the gauge is faulty. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Dave On the box it states that 12mm and 10mm adaptors are available. But from where? Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Dave Mine came with the 14mm as the standard with an 18mm adaptor to screw over it. No 12mm nor 10mm though. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I have a Gunson Compression tester which I bought some time ago and which comes with 14mm & 18mm adaptors for spark plugs. Does anyone know where I can obtain the optional 10mm & 12mm adaptors? I need the 12mm for the 7. thanks Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Switched lives from the ignition switch are WHITE. But beware because these wires are unfused. Don't short them out!!! They then go to the fusebox and emerge, now fused, as GREEN wires. Safer to use these. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Hugh I was an SV 2003 owner at Granchester the other night and I have never suffered from the issues you mention. My SV was January 2003 vintage and I've had it from new. I have fitted a fan-override switch with a tell-tale LED which illuminates if I switch the fan on, OR if the fan thermostat switches it on, so I can tell exactly how often and for how long the fan comes on. My fan is also wired so that it has a direct battery connection so that it can run (if necessary) after the engine is switched off. The fan always runs for a couple of minutes after I switch off at the end of a reasonable run. It also comes on occasionally whilst driving if I am really pushing it hard on a hot day. Even when it does come on whilst driving, it only stays on for a couple of minutes at a time and then goes off for a much longer time. However if I return to "normal" speeds and acceleration, it stays off. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here