Gen 3 maintenance

Check out the latest version of the Spec Racer! LBoth ligher weight and more powerful!!! Available soon, racing in 2015!
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:14 pm
Location: Black Forest, CO
PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:26 pm
goolsbey wrote:Mark, I will check out the light as suggested.

One thing that I have noticed is that this engine seems to run much cooler than the 1.9L. I don't have the benefit yet of having a way of monitoring the oil temperature, but I assume the oil cooler fan is working. Has anyone actually verified that it works? I am wondering, if for some reason it fails, if the mounting of the fan, wouldn't actually restrict the cooling, thus creating a larger problem had it not been there in the first place?

Pat


I'm pretty sure I can see the difference when the fan is running vs. not. In previous test days when the air temperature was lower, I saw oil temps between 210-218, and it seemed to move back and forth between those two readings. My assumption is that the fan kicked on, thus causing the temperature to drop back to 210. This past weekend was a LOT hotter, and I saw it as high as 223, and it just held steady state there, so I'm assuming the fan may have been running continuously at that time.
Dan

Formerly Teamwork Motorsports #99, Chassis #460
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 767
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:21 am

Chassis:
595
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:50 am
I can attest to the fact that the fan works. We inadvertently forgot to connect the ground wire of the oil cooler fan and it was running hot under load during initial testing (hit the alarm I set at 230.) We initially thought it was a coolant bleed issue or a fan problem. Running voltage directly the fan showed that it was working, but when we ran the engine hot enough the fan only turned slowly (the wire was loosely grounding intermittently as it was laying on the floor pan. Fortunately, we caught it early and connecting the ground to the frame for the fan made a significant difference, so it does its job effectively.
Bob Breton - SRF 51 - San Francisco Region

Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 208
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:12 pm
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:54 am
Bob,I think it's becoming clear to me that I need to update my AIM, so I can monitor everything. The cooling fan is a nice idea, but I am thinking if it doesn't work, it actually hinders the oil cooling process because of it's placement, something we didn't have to worry about in the past.

In addition to this, I haven't found anyone that can show me the path to getting the information directly from the ECU. Guess the only solution I have is to update my aim data logger so I can access the information from it.

For anyone out there considering the gen 3 conversion, check to make sure your current system will interface with the ecu. If it doesn't consider the cost when you decide to make the change.

Pat
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 481
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:08 am
Location: Lisle, IL
Chassis:
217-2 169
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 11:22 am
goolsbey wrote:In addition to this, I haven't found anyone that can show me the path to getting the information directly from the ECU. Guess the only solution I have is to update my aim data logger so I can access the information from it.
Pat


You may not need to modify your data logger. I am using an AIM MXL Pro 2005 and accessing the ECU channels.

To make an older AIM data logger work with the ECU channels you need to download the latest version of the RaceStudio2 software from the AIM website. AIM has added a predefined logger configuration called "SCCA Enterprises Spec Racer", or something close to that, to the RaceStudio software. When I get home from work tonight, I'll look on my computer and get you the exact name of the configuration.

The configuration includes all the channels available from the ECU. You can then modify that configuration to add channels for any of the sensors from your old configuration that you want to carry over such as brake pressure sensors. You then load the modified configuration into your AIM hardware.

Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:21 pm
Location: Stillwater, Mn
Chassis:
784
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 11:38 am
Pat - I agree with Peter, you should be able to download the latest version of RS2 and it will have Performance Electronics (PE3) in there. Then go into configuration and you should be able to pull out 10 different sensors from the ECU. Because I have an MXL2 I use RS3, but I believe it may work the same. I'm not sure what AIM dash you have, I used the MXL with RS2 and it showed up in the configuration with a lot of ecu sensors.

Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:21 pm
Location: Stillwater, Mn
Chassis:
784
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:40 pm
Pat - Check your e-mail. I sent you a screen shot of how my AIM dash is set-up for the PE3 ECU. I am not sure if yours will be the same or not because you have to set yours up manually in RS2 I think, where as mine was predefined in RS3.
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 481
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:08 am
Location: Lisle, IL
Chassis:
217-2 169
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:04 pm
Pat, here is how to access the ECU channels with an older AIM unit.

1) Download and install the most current version of RaceStudio2 from the AIM web-site.

2) Launch RaceStudio2 and select the "Device Config" button.

3) In the menu that appears, select your data acquistion system. For example, "MXL".

4) A window appears listing all the various configurations saved for your device. There are a couple of menu lines at the top of the screen. On the lower menu line, you should see a button labeled "new" on the far left. Select the "new" button. A blank "new configuration" pops up on the screen.

5) On the new configuration, go down to "ECU Manufacturer". You should be able to open a menu of manufacturers. Scroll down until you find "SCCA Enterprises". Click on SCCA Enterprises.

6) The software will pop you back to the blank configuration screen. Take a look at what is listed as "ECU Model". In my case, this value defaulted to "Formula Enterprises". If you click on it, a meny should appear that includes "Spec Racer Ford, GEN3". Select Spec Racer. Then click "Ok" at the bottom of the "new configuration" pop up window.

7) The new configuration you just created will be highlighted at the bottom of the list of configurations residing your computer. You can go down to the highlighted line and change the installation name from 'Default' to something that is more descriptive. You can scan across and check that the logger, ecu manufacturer, and ECU model are correct. If you have GPS installed on your car, you will want to change the "Lap Timer" specified from the default of "Optical" to "By GPS".

8) Look up toward the top of the screen. Just above the "new" button you selected to start this process is a menu starting with "Select Configuration". Select the "Channels" tab immediately to the right. Scroll down the channels list. You should see several "channel identifiers" that start with ECU. These are the data items that are available from the ECU. Most of the channel names are straightforward. The one I struggled with was "SRF_ECT". This is water temp, Engine Coolant Temp.

9) If you scroll back up toward the top, you will see channel identifiers such as "CH_1", "CH_2", etc. This is where you will need to add in information relative to the sensors you are carrying over from your old configuration, such as brake pressure sensors. You need to name the sensors and carry over the appropriate sampling frequencies, sensor types, measuring units, low and high scales.

10) Before you go to "transmit" the new configuration to your data logger I would recommend "receiving" a copy of your old configuration so you have something to go back to if your new configuration turns out to be incorrect. Also be sure to download any data that you want to keep that is in the device before you transmit the new configuration. The "transmit" will erase all data that is in the logger.

Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:21 pm
Location: Stillwater, Mn
Chassis:
784
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:55 pm
Peter - Good write up. I got stumped on item 6, "Formula Enterprises". I assumed it was not going to work for a Gen 3, so I went to the PE3 configuration instead. In RS3 it is a little more straight forward for the MXL2. See you at BlackHawk Saturday.
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 1200
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:38 am
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Chassis:
068 415
Facebook Page:
http://facebook.com/HSERacing
PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:20 pm
Too bad Peter doesn't write the AiM manuals :)
Dave Harriman
"It looks crazy, I understand. But, we only live once and I am going to give it a good try." - Alex Zanardi
User avatar
Needs a Life!!!
Needs a Life!!!
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:14 pm
Location: Black Forest, CO
PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:00 am
AIM Manuals??? We don't need no stinking manuals!!! :D
Dan

Formerly Teamwork Motorsports #99, Chassis #460
PreviousNext

Return to Spec Racer Gen3

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests