Victor Bray - The Automotive Technician

r o t c i V n o o h n i a g a Born Bray

October 2010 Issue 17

www.tat.net.au

a farm r o f d a b t No llangur a K m o r f boy

‘s a fact

problem solving

• A not so old Merc and

another case for annual aircon inspections by experts

• A tiny air leak in the

plenum chamber brought this Nissan NX to its axles

$115 gives you: • 12 months subscription to TaT • Six magazines mailed to your postal address • Access to illustrated solutions on line • Technical assist service APPLY ON PAGE 29

If you want: Increased service customer satisfaction. Increased service customer retention. Increased labour sales. Rejuvinated workshop profits. Service teams trained to be the best, every day. To deliver a noticeable difference to every car that leaves your service department. A supplier focused on driving sales, not delivering inventory. Call us today, and we’ll show you how we are ticking the boxes for Australia’s New Car Dealers and Independent Workshops, and over 100,000 others worldwide, every single day. We can do it for yours too. AUSTRALIAN HEAD OFFICE

PHONE: 02 8084 1745

DISTRIBUTOR ENQUIRIES WELCOME!

with Ken Newton

O

ccasionally, I accompany Jeff Smit or Nick Murphy to their training sessions.

So, how do we manage to produce a magazine as popular as this one if its editor doesn’t know an ECU from a BMW.

It’s a show of TaT strength and these two knowledgeable auto trainers are usually gracious enough to introduce me to the room full of technicians as the TaT magazine editor.

Easy. There is an award winning team of real car experts writing the stuff.

To avoid having to explain me away, they choose not to tell the audience that I know as much about cars as I do about the nocturnal habits of the African aardvark. Which makes things a little embarrassing for me when, at half time or the end of the training session, someone asks for my opinion on their latest problem job. Then I usually have to own up. ‘I know nothing about how cars really work,’ I confess. They usually assume I’m joking. ‘How the hell does this guy put out an automotive magazine if he knows nothing about cars?’ I hear them thinking.

My job is to provide the balance of stories, clean up their creative spelling, try to translate their abbreviated code language to something that everyone can understand, and generally put the commas and full stops in the right places. This synergy of skills is, I believe, the reason why our magazine is so readable and so popular. I’ve seen magazines published by automotive experts and they are predictable sales pitches thinly disguised as technical information. They have no editorial expertise and probably wouldn’t know a journalist (an editor is a journalist) if they fell over one in the bar. And that’s where most of them live. But putting out a magazine without

a journalist is like trying to run a daily newspaper using mechanics as reporters. Get my point? So next time you see me at a training night, drop the scanner codes and the CAN Buses and talk to me about women or fine 12-year-old whiskey. That way, you will get a response based on experience. Another thing. I really don’t know how you people keep up with the jargon, abbreviations and acronyms that seem to have become the exclusive language of the auto industry. I’m going out on a limb here. I’m guessing that many of you would prefer to use, or at least read, real words without having to resort to code to be understood. Quite frankly, I think this whole acronym, abbreviation thing has spiralled out of control. I really don’t see the point of reducing random groups of words to their initials simply to save space or to compensate for a lack of keyboard skills.

Publisher The Automotive Technician Pty Ltd ABN 27 121 589 802

International correspondents Julian Hentze - Georgia USA Hayley Windsor - Australia

72 Holtermann Street CROWS NEST NSW 2065

Reader Bron Robinson

[email protected] Ph 1300 828 000 Fax 1300 828 100

Advertising inquiries Jeff Smit [email protected] Ph 02 9966 8600

Technical editor Jeff Smit [email protected] 1300 828 000 Technical research Deyan Barrie [email protected] 02 9476 6277 Technical advisers Jack Stepanian Nick Murphy [email protected] Wayne Broady www.broadyauto.com.au Gil Sher [email protected] Garry Reid [email protected]

As you will see by an article in this edition, I’m on a mission. We at TaT think that it will help expand our readership if we make our text as straightforward and understandable as possible without going to extremes. As little as I know about engines and stuff, I happen to find most of the stories we handle very interesting and I’m sure your customers would agree. If I were running a workshop, I would make sure any spare back issues of TaT were on the coffee table in the waiting room for perusal by your more discerning customers. The TaT effect is to enhance the perception of a technically savvy automotive workshop. TaT has become part of your point of sale. Use it.

Contents

The TaT team

Editor in chief Ken Newton [email protected] 0438 569 517 Fax 1300 828 100

I just call that laziness, or perhaps too many writers have been led to believe that this form of expression is the accepted way. It’s not. It is more likely to lose readers’ interest because very few short forms are universally known and understood by everyone.

Graphic design Russell Jones Russell Jones Graphic Design 07 5532 2840 0408 123 287 [email protected] TaT logo design Allan Green CEO Design [email protected] Printing Immij NSW 3/12 Mars Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066 www.immij.com.au Affiliated associations VASA [email protected] AAAA member [email protected] Capricorn Society Alliance Supplier

•TaT Assist •TaT Chat •TaT Train •TaT’s a Fact •Tips for TaT are all registered trade names of The Automotive Technician Pty Ltd.

Victor Bray - Doorslammer champ………4

The Automotive Technician Pty Ltd publishes technical advice and actual case studies for the purpose of educating technicians.

Storage system to lift your spirits………10

These advices are given in good faith, and are based on actual workshop repairs. No guarantee is given, nor any liability accepted in respect to any published advice.

Street Cred - are car hackers next?……14

The Automotive Technician Pty Ltd is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in material submitted by third parties and published in this magazine and accepts no liability in relation to such materials or their content. Newsworthy articles or comments are welcomed, and should be submitted to the editor in chief. All material appearing in The Automotive Technician is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is illegal without prior written consent from the editor in chief.

Hot to convert volt scope to current scope...6 You said it - $4000 fuse…………………8 You said it - sensor gets a dust up………..8 You said it - accident waiting to happen… 9 To hell with THWA……………………11 Letter from America - electric end……13 You said it - roadside assist - yeah, right…13 You said it - the relay race……………14 Top Tools - finding the G-scan…………15 Tats a fact - Nissan NX………………16 Tats a fact - Mercedes ML320………17 Exploring multi-coil ignition systems…..19 Is Bourke the little engine that could?…20 LPG and the Holden Commodore……22 Drive Belt System Part 2………………25 Power to your multimeter………………27 Intelligent towing is coming……………28 TaT training……………………………29 Last Word - Jason Smith……………30 Tat’s interesting………………………..30 The Automotive Technician is a member of the Circulations Audit Board. CAB Audited as at 31 March 2010 average net distribution per issue 9,869.

All advertisers agree to indemnify the publisher for all damages or liabilities arising from their published or unpublished material. The Automotive Technician 3

Victor Bray

Cover story by Ken Newton

The fastest tomato grower in the world!

F

or a boy obsessed with fast cars, donuts and burn-outs, Victor Bray has found his nirvana. He idolised the drivers of fast cars who had made big names for themselves on Australian and American drag strips and now he is world Doorslammer champion.

Inside the Bray factory

‘I’ve done alright for a farm boy from Kallangur’ (a northern Brisbane suburb that was once all farmland), crops up often in our interview with him. He’s a guy who can earn more than a million dollars every year in sponsorship from companies like Castrol, Century Batteries, Champion and Hog’s Breath Cafe. He’s a champion. He’s earned respect and he’s a big name on any drag strip from Perth to California. The Automotive Technician 4

Keeping a fleet of hot cars on the track is high maintenance and without sponsorships Victor is little more than a ‘tomato grower’. And he can grow a mean tomato. He did two years at Gatton Agricultural College to earn his certificate as a horticultural geneticist. Victor and his son Ben are now famous on the drag racing scene, particularly the Doorslammers, so named because, to qualify in this class, the vehicle must have two fully functional doors. In their sprawling workshop, built almost on top of the original family tomato farm, high performance engines are built from the block up in what looks more like a surgical laboratory than a garage. Outside under the huge shed are three Mack semis, custom built to carry Victor and his teams in comfort to any race track in the country. Inside these behemoths on wheels are living quarters, workshops, racks for the racing cars and their spares, and bright, shiny new standby engines strapped to the floor of the lower deck. His racing stats are impressive. In June 1996, Victor leapfrogged world standards and became the driver of the quickest and fastest Doorslammer on the planet. His race car is a carbon fibre customised 1957 Chevy replica.

The engine is a 511 cubic inch supercharged, fuel injected, alcohol burning Chrysler Hemi which makes up to 3,000 horsepower depending on the weather conditions at around 2,200 ft/lbs of torque. The fuel system is considered the most important part of the car and Team Bray develops all of their own fuel systems inhouse. Among their sophisticated testing equipment is a computerised fuel flow bench, which allows the team to simulate run after run in the workshop without having the expense of making the actual runs down the race track. Both Victor and Ben have held the world record for mph for a Blown Doorslammer many times over the past 20 years. They remain in the top Doorslammers in the world and have won eight Australian Top Doorslammer Championships between them.

If there’s one thing you can be sure of in the auto industry, it is that nothing stands still. Victor muses at what he merits as the biggest change in vehicle technology, the simple magneto.

Inside the Bray garage

Basically, Victor’s racing engines are little different to the original Chrysler Hemi, developed by Chrysler to give US cops a vehicle powerful enough to chase the crooks. There are no computer aided technologies or electronics on the race cars. His engines are tweaked to minute precision specifications after and between every race meeting. The computer technologies and sensors which now control almost every action of the modern vehicle are used only to monitor the racing vehicles and analyse the performances on the bench. ‘We monitor everything that rotates and everything that moves or is under pressure,’ says Victor.

‘There’s no limit to what these engines can do,’ Victor explains. ‘There is always something we can do to get another burst of power. We can currently generate 3,500 horsepower, but we could make it to 5,000 if they allowed us to move the bore centres out a little. They are currently at 4.8 inch centres. Moving them to 5 inch centres would make all the difference. But rules are rules.

‘They were 2 amps at the start, then they went to 12 amps electronic and just when the world thought they’d reached the top, out came a 44 amp MSD, which is the current state of the industry. ‘However, they are now trying to release a 60 amp magneto.’ Victor is popular as an after-dinner and convention speaker, and even on his website he has begun explaining the intricacies of racing engines in a series of videotaped talks.

‘We learn more about engines by pulling them apart, and I have developed a keen instinct for reading every component of an engine.

Victor and his son Ben are famous on the drag racing scene

For example, I can tell how a bearing has spread by looking at the spark plug and checking the amount of cad plating burnt off around the earth strap. ‘Our first line of defence is a combination of spark plugs and rod bearing upper and we back that up by looking at the computer data,’ Victor said.

Take your Multimeter

to a new level PART No. TE014

Introductory offer: comes with Piercing Probe

This comprehensive kit is designed for automotive technicians to quickly connect into automotive wiring securely. The kit includes: • 2 x 5k ohms variable resistors with banana terminals for sensor simulating • 2 x 2 colour / 2 way LED testers. Tests hall sensors, injectors, switches etc. • 2 x heavy duty alligator clips • 4 x black and red multimeter connector leads • 4 x needle / piercing probes • 12 x female round terminals to banana plug. Sizes: 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 3.5mm, 4.0mm • 12 x male round terminals to banana plug. Sizes: 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 3.5mm, 4.0mm • 24 x female flat blade terminal to banana plug. Sizes: 0.8mm, 1.2mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 5mm, 6mm • 24 x male flat blade terminal to banana plug. Sizes: 0.8mm, 1.2mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 5mm, 6mm Equipment

DAT

Available from your nearest Injectronics reseller or contact 03 8792 6999 For the complete range of DAT Equipment www.DAT-equipment.com.au Take your multimeter to a new le1 1

The Automotive 30/8/10 Technician 6:41:44 PM 5

How to convert: volt scope > current scope

H

ave you ever been in a situation where a car was driven to your workshop after a roadside service guy had given the fuel tank a good tap with a mallet to bring the pump back to life, and yet, in the workshop, you were unable to simulate the symptom that caused the car to stop?

Pic. 1

Power rating of the resistor At times, the commutator, brushes and/or the windings fail, resulting in either excessive current draw or no current draw at a particular instant. Should the fuel pump be stopped at that instant, the fuel tank tapping stimulates a rotation of the commutator, allowing the brushes to make contact. While a digital multimeter clearly is not able to display the instantaneous current draw, or lack of it, a current scope can.

How to convert the scope Pic. 2

In the situation above, despite how many times we measured the fuel pressure, the supply voltages and the current draw with a digital multimeter, the results were unproductive. Everything was well within the specifications. It became obvious that measuring average voltage and current with a digital multimeter was not sufficient and we needed a device that would measure and display instantaneous current draw of each and every cycle of the commutator. A current probe connected to an oscilloscope is the device, but since ours had gone astray we had to instantly convert our volt scope to a current scope. Here’s one way of doing it.

Basic principles of DC motors Most automotive DC motors have two brushes at either end of a commutator that make connection with the armature coil winding creating a magnetic field that rotates the shaft. The Automotive Technician 6

fuel pump supply that runs on 14.2 volts. So, as the commutator rotates, the brushes make and break its connection to the coil winding, giving rise to a varying current draw which is measured as a voltage drop across the resistor. Therefore, the voltage drop across the resistor is directly proportional to the current flowing through the circuit.

You could be left wondering whether the symptom was really due to a failing fuel pump. Here’s a good way to take the guesswork out of the equation. This is a quick and simple way to convert your oscilloscope from a volt scope to a current scope. This little trick is not limited to diagnosing intermittent fuel pump motor issues but you can apply it to all automotive applications where a DC motor is used, such as electric window winders, windscreen wiper motors and AC vent/flap controls.

by Jack Stepanian and Sam Nazarian

To calculate the power dissipated in any circuit, we submit to ohms law, volts = amps X ohms and power = volts X amps. Therefore power equates to amps X ohms = 4.0 amps X 4.0 amps X 0.1 ohms = 1.6 watts which is well within the 5.0 watt rating of the ceramic resistor. It will hardly get warm to touch on full load. Pic 4 shows how the resistor is soldered to terminal blades similar to the fuel pump relay terminals. Pic. 4

It is common knowledge that all oscilloscopes display voltages (using the vertical axis) plotted as a function of time (using the horizontal axis). Pic 2 shows the fuel pump voltage supply. In order to convert volts into amps we simply use good old ohms law and a ceramic 5 watt resistor. These can be purchased from any electronic store (pic 3) and the ohmage rating will depend on the current being measured. Pic. 3

For example, while most fuel pumps draw 4.0 amps of current, we used 0.1 ohm resistors (instead of 1.0 ohm) for the following reasons. Assuming that, on average, fuel pumps draw a current of 4.0 amps, using a 0.1 ohm resistor in series with the circuit will yield a voltage drop across the ceramic resistor of volts = amps X ohms = 4.0 amps X 0.1 ohms = 0.4 volts (steady current draw). Indeed, less than a half a volt drop is hardly noticeable for a

Connecting the resistor Having determined the resistance value (0.1 ohms) and the power rating (5.0 watts), connecting the resistor in series with the fuel pump circuit is a simple task of locating the fuel pump relay, removing and identifying pin 30 and pin 87 (normally designated as the supply and switching terminal of the fuel pump) and connect the resistor in those pins (pic 5). Then connect the two oscilloscope probes across the resistor. Note that while most oscilloscopes have floating earth connections, check that your oscilloscope is the same. Refer to your oscilloscope operating manual.

Current scope pattern Let’s analyse the snap frozen waveform of pic 6. The horizontal time base is set on 2 seconds per division (X–axis) and depicts ignition off (bottom left of screen), then start (2.5 seconds into the trace), then crank/start for a further 10 seconds, and then ignition off.

Pic. 6

Snap frozen pic 7 is the same as pic 6, but the time scale has been expanded (stretched) from 2 seconds per division to 1 milli-second per division, enhancing and illustrating the level of detail of the varying current draw of the commutator as it makes and breaks connection with the rotor winding.

Pic. 7

Summary As seen from the current scope waveform, the fuel pump was operating normally. The Y-axis (vertical) depicts the voltage drop across the 0.1 ohm resistor which equates to the current being drawn by the fuel pump. Since the voltage scale is on 100 millivolts per division, the scale is now effectively re-interpreted as current scale of 1.0 amp per division.

Expanding time base and citation cyclic current draw of fuel pump. Pic. 5

If it was faulty, either or both of these would have occurred: a) One or some of the oscillations would have spiked higher than the average 4.0 amps (depicting internal electrical and/or magnetic short circuit)

b) Some of the varying current changing ripples would have dropped to lower than the average 4.0 amps (depicting internal electrical and/or magnetic open circuit). Clearly, there was no evidence of such mishap. So, if the fuel pump is suspected to be intermittently stopping due to failing commutator/brushes and/or armature windings, then current scope can eliminate the guesswork. Using a simple 0.1 ohm/5.0 watt ceramic resistor in series with the fuel pump circuit we produced an easy way of converting an oscilloscope from volt scope to a current scope by intervening the circuit and placing the resistor in series and measuring the voltage drop across it.

The Y-axis then instantly mirrored the current draw in amps per division. Yes, it is as uncomplicated as that. In a future TaT issue, we will investigate, measure and analyse an injector current draw pattern using the old faithful 0.1ohm/5.0 watt ceramic resistor. Till then, happy current scoping. Sam and Jack References: www.google.com.au/images?hl=e n&q=commutator+dc+motor&um= 1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=4OQTMScK42IvgOr7_ nJCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_gro up&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDc QsAQwAw&biw=1003&bih=567 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Brushed_DC_electric_motor

The Automotive Technician 7

YOUD SAI ! IT

The $4000 fuse

T

he car was a Toyota Landcruiser HDJ100R, 7/04, 1HD-FTE turbo diesel, with 146,802 kilometres on the clock. This guy sounded desperate. His 100 Series Landcruiser’s speedo was not working and, despite being seen by a couple of workshops and his local Toyota dealership, it was still on the blink.

The dealership had spent a couple of hours on it, removing the cluster to get the speedo tested and that was OK. They had also tried a new speedo sensor, or transducer but the speedo still didn’t work. The owner was already out of pocket a couple of hundred dollars but then the Toyota dealership told him to bring the car back so they could spend more time on it. They said this could cost another $4,000. The owner was not happy. When the car landed on my doorstep, I spent about 15 minutes with the owner, trying to gather as much information as possible. He told me the speedo had not been working for about three weeks, the check engine light was on sometimes and the transmission didn’t shift properly sometimes. He had owned the car just four months and had not had anything fitted or fixed recently. The electric trailer brakes

YOUD SAI ! IT

that I noticed on the dash had come with the car. There were really no clues. In a road test, I found the speedo not working, the check engine light was not on and the transmission seemed OK. Back at the workshop, we checked the lights and found the reverse lights and transmission shift selector light not working. I wrote that on the job card. Next checked the battery (there are two of them in this car) connections and charge rates and these were OK. Checked the fuses under the bonnet – OK. Checked the fuses inside the right hand kick panel and found the 10 amp fuse named gauge number two was blown. Fitted a new fuse and the transmission shift light and reverse lights worked. I thought to myself, ‘I bet the speedo works now’. On the road test, it did work. I loaded all systems and tried all accessories to try to get that fuse to blow again but it didn’t and all systems seemed OK. Back from the road test I plugged in the scan tool to check for DTCs. I should have done this before the road test but I was too excited after finding the blown fuse. Found code P0500 – speed sensor fault. Cleared it and contacted the owner. He was absolutely blown away with what I had found and almost didn’t believe what I was telling him. I was still concerned

A new sensor gets a dust up

I

know the VL is a bit long in the tooth, but someone may have grandad’s well kept model and present it to you when it won’t go. And when you find that the crank sensor is crook, you simply replace it. The Automotive Technician 8

But wait! Is there any gold dust inside the distributor from the top bearing? You need to know, because that will ruin the new sensor. Because the owner was short of funds, we decided to coat the bearing with water pump grease to stop gold dust particles. However, I cannot claim this as my own

as to why the fuse blew in the first place, so it we agreed that I would keep the car overnight and try it in the morning. In the morning, on a long road test, I once again loaded and tested all systems and all was OK. On my next conversation with the owner, I finally got a critical piece of information. About four weeks prior he had towed a brand new trailer with faulty wiring that had blown a fuse in another circuit which an auto electrician had fixed. Now all the pieces of the puzzle were in place. The gauge number two fuse must have blown via the reverse light circuit due to the faulty wiring in the trailer. That’s my theory anyway. Time taken was about 1.75 hours taking into consideration that two of the three road tests were long ones. The owner happily paid the bill, looked me in the eye and said, ‘You have no idea how much time and money you have saved me’, and then gave me a nice tip. What a good bloke. This story proves yet again – don’t forget to start by checking the basics. Jason Smith JDS Automotive MOOROOLBARK VIC (For a guy who by his own admission didn’t really want to take this job on, you did well Jason. Doesn’t say much for the dealership though and we hasten to add that the dealership in this story was not Jason’s local Toyota dealership. Ed.)

discovery. I found it on the internet and wanted to publish it because I didn’t want anybody out there to get caught as I did, with a three-week-old sensor failing. Neville Rodman Skyline Service Centre Hobart TAS (We don’t care where you dig up these little gems of information Nev. The important thing is to share the information with others. Well done. Ed.)

YOUD SAI ! IT

A serious accident waiting to happen

T

hought this might be good for a story about why brake fluid should be checked and changed regularly. This was in a 1999 VT Commodore wagon which regularly tows. It’s a scary thought. Tim Byrne Belair Road Auto Electrical KINGSWOOD SA (Scary! I would have said suicidal. My guess is that this is a guy who may get his car serviced at one of the cheapy franchise outlets, where checking the brake fluid would rarely be included on an essential service check list.

This car would not pass any safety test with this low level of fluid which is obviously full of gunk and badly contaminated. Manufacturers recommend that brake fluid should be totally flushed and changed every two years, no matter what. Moisture is a real issue in brake fluid, and in our workshop we believe it’s our obligation to check the brake fluid condition and level on every vehicle and inform the customer if we suspect any deterioration. This pic is one of the worst I’ve seen, and it is a miracle that this guy still had brakes at all. Imagine coming down a hill with a caravan on the back. Doesn’t bear thinking about. I hope you set him straight Tim, and thanks for the ugly pic. Jeff Smit)

Fuelmiser offers the most comprehensive range of fuel system components in Australia and New Zealand... simple. It now all comes in one comprehensive catalogue which also includes cabin air filters... easy.

Thanks to our sponsors

BRAKES

...be efficient

To secure your copy of the new Fuelmiser catalogue call 1800 605 673 or visit www.motospecs.com.au The Automotive Technician 9

A storage system to lift your spirits – and your parts

W

e never seem to have enough spare parts storage, do we? Have I found a system for you!

I visited Hanvic South Yarra Autoparts

by Jeff Smit

where I saw the ultimate storage and retrieval system in practice. The storage system is manufactured by Hanel and is called the Lean Lift. The centrepiece of the Lean Lift is a computerised positioning elevator called the extractor. In front and behind it are the storage shelves, where parts are kept in containers.

BRAKES NEW RELEASE

RDA EXTREME HEAVY DUTY BRAKE PADS 250 PART NUMBERS INCLUDES NEW WARRANTY LIFE

18 month or 30,000km Warranty Australia Wide Semi Metallic Disc Brake Pads

Low dust. Extremely quiet. Exceptional pedal feel. High metallic compound. Baked enamel backing plate. Every pad is centre grooved. Every pad has chamfered edges. Every pad has a shimmed backing plate. Ideal for those with heavy cars who often carry large loads, 4wd’s, people movers, fleet users, couriers, taxi’s, towing trailers & those with a tendency to brake heavily in everyday driving.

When safety counts

What’s stopping you? Another quality product from RDA Brakes Available from all good brake part sellers. www.rdabrakes.com.au The Automotive Technician 10

The storage locations are accessed electronically by the extractor which stores or retrieves the parts. At the Hanvic South Yarra Autoparts outlet in Artarmon, Sydney their Lean Lift system holds more than 4000 parts and if you were to use normal storage shelves you would need more than 400 square metres. When you consider the cost of a square metre of space in Sydney, you begin to appreciate the value of this system. The Lean Lift claims to create more than 60% additional cubic meters of space than is attainable with the miniload systems, the popular automated robotic systems used for storing and retrieving small articles in boxes of trays in a warehouse. Hanvic South Yarra sort their parts into groups which are likely to be sold together, such as timing belt parts or brake pads and rotors. The operator selects the parts required on a computer keyboard and the elevator retrieves the required shelf and places it on the display shelf for easy removal. You have no doubt worked out by now that the Hanel system is vertical lift technology, which means that it uses the vacant air space you find in large workshops or factories, from the floor to the roof. They call it maximum storage on a minimum footprint.

At that point, your client suffered a severe case of MEGO (My Eyes Glazed Over). All you’ve really done here is made yourself feel important, and you could well have lost the customer forever. Every industry has its own exclusive jargon and those time-wasting acronyms and abbreviations, but the auto industry seems to have more than most. Remember when TaT first started, we published a list of known acronyms and abbreviations to serve as a glossary for the guys working at the bench. It contained almost 700 entries, and among them we found abbreviations that meant different things between makes of cars.

Or at least we assume it is. Studies tend to show that even among our own kind, the technicians of Australasia, we are just adding to confusion.

How can we assume that everyone understands what we mean. First, understand the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation. If you can pronounce it as a word, it is an acronym; if you spell out the letters when you say it, it is an an abbreviation.

Abbreviations save space at the cost of clarity. The plain truth is that abbreviations take more time to read and understand than normal words.

LL WITH HE

! A W H T AB

by Ken

Newton

NS

You want to show how knowledgeable and professional you are, so you let fly with: ‘We discovered no PERF, but we got a DTC from the ECU which led to a fault on the harness plug next to the PCM.’

The world is burying itself in jargon, abbreviations and acroynms and as a result, we understand less and less about more and more.

TO

Y

our customer is waiting patiently for your diagnosis.

B R E I AT I O V

In the auto industry, abbreviations have become buzz-words. They distinguish insiders from outsiders.

But take heed of Mr Shakespeare who said – ‘Who understands thee not, loves thee not’.

The point I’m trying to make here is that abbreviations are unfriendly and writers who use abbreviations thoughtlessly risk confusing their readers.

You might be an insider, but as you try to explain to your motoring customer why they must now prepare to spend a couple of thousand on their ageing car, you had better be sure they understand what you are saying.

I acknowledge that the whole of the TaT system, and indeed this magazine, uses common abbreviations which are everyday language in every workshop.

So drop the ECUs and the DTCs and all the other buzz abbreviations and talk in plain language so that you and your diagnosis are easily understood. The customer does not want to know the technicalities, just the practicalities. So even if you convert ECM to engine control module, your customer will still suffer from MEGO. You need to come up with simple explanations. The ECU would probably be ‘the main computer which controls most of the functions of your car’. My TaT fellow director and head trainer Jeff Smit agrees that we need to take more care in the use of abbreviations for our own readership. At a recent training session, he used a particular common abbreviation and asked a technician if he knew what it meant - the technician got it wrong. So, we’re going to do our TaT readers a favour and use language you can all understand without reaching for your glossary.

V8 Utes Australia now harness the Power of Two.

The same Champion Iridium spark plug available as a replacement for popular vehicles is now the spark plug used exclusively by the entire field in the V8 Ute Racing Series. The power of two precious metals. Patented iridium centre and platinum ground electrode ensures maximum life.

Champion Iridium, the official spark plug for the Australian V8 Ute Racing Series

For Champion tech support call 1800 605 673 or visit www.motospecs.com.au The Automotive Technician 11

INTRODUCING THE

HAYMAN REESE SMARTCLICK™ BODY HARNESS PROGRAM Connect Brake Controllers & Auxiliary Power in a Flash NO MORE SCOTCH LOCKS NO MORE SOLDERING NO MORE PROBE LIGHT TESTING Hayman Reese provide a range of trailer sockets and ECU’s

BATTERY ISOLATOR PART # 04995

Every Hayman Reese wired bar comes with vehicle specific nodes for easy installation Plug & Play connectivity with any Hayman Reese and Tekonsha brake controller

BRAKE CONTROL HARNESS (STANDARD) PART # 04999

Anderson style connectors enable high powered connections to the caravan

POWER HARNESS (50 AMP) PART # 04996

Brake Control Harness Standard Part # 04999 Enables Plug & Play connectivity with any Hayman Reese or Tekonsha brake controller.

3 STANDA RD

BRAK E HAR

PART # 0499 9

POW ER

95 049

Smart Battery Isolator Part # 04995 The "smart" battery isolator will have a voltage "cut in" of 13.2volts and "cut out" of 12.7volts. Prevents the primary vehicle battery from over draining due to load from the auxiliary circuit .

OL NTR O C SS NE

7

PAR T#

POWER AMP 04996 50 PART #

Power Harness (50 AMP POWER) Part # 04996 Supplies 50 AMP power through an Anderson style Connector. Ideal for higher current requirements.

T# PAR

30 AMP P PART # 0 OWE 499

NESS HAR

Power Harness (30 AMP POWER) Part # 04997 Provides up to 30 AMP auxiliary power through the use of a 12 pin tail*. Enables the operation of small 12 volt appliances like fridges and 12volt lighting circuits in caravans.

0

POWER AMP 04998

R

Brake Control Harness (30 AMP POWER) Part # 04998 Enables brake controller connectivity as above. This allows up to 30 AMP auxiliary power through the use of a 12 pin tail*.

BATTERY ISOL ATOR

Accessory Body Harness Model Body Harness Type

*Hayman Reese wiring tails sold seperately

Wiring Systems Just Got A Whole Lot Easier Every Hayman Reese wired bar comes with Smartclick ™ vehicle specific wiring solutions. The body harness program will further enhance the value to installers using the same Plug & Play concept. For more information, please call our Customer Care Centre on 1800 812 017 or visit our website:

www.haymanreese.com.au/bodyharness


Letter from  America 

A

utumn has arrived in the US, but you would never know with the current temperatures still sticking with averages of 35 degrees Celsius where I am as we slowly wind down into winter.

It’s been a long and hot summer with temperature records being broken across the States. I was recently at a NARSA trade show in Tennessee where everyone, workshops and wholesalers included, was saying that this is the best year they have had in a long time, but all are now concerned with next season. The heat might have brought in a lot of business but the economy is still in a major mess.

YOUD SAI ! IT

An electric end of year With fewer breakdowns in the modern vehicle, the motorist is no longer forced into repairs without a very good reason. But we all know that the heat destroys everything. So the big question is will they go back to their old habits of driving cars until they fail, or will they be proactive and service them? On the positive side for the aftermarket, people don’t have the money to buy a new car in the forseeable future. By now I was hoping to have raced down to my local GM dealer to research a story on the electric Chevrolet Volt – you know, the vehicle that GM promoted to try to distract everyone from their bankruptcy issues and to prove they were listening to their customers.

by Julian Hentze

The release date has now been set for late November 2010 with a recommended retail price of US$41,000. A few automotive writers have had the chance to drive them and given good reviews but rumours about the life of the battery pack are clouding the euphoria. Some reports indicate that the whole battery pack will need to be replaced at 100,000 miles at a cost of $10,000.

commute for an estimated 70% of average Americans. Even then, if they run out of battery power, there’s a small engine that recharges the battery to extend that range to 483 kilometres. Also on the electric horizon is the Nissan Leaf (Leading Environmentally Friendly Affordable Family car) which has a recommended retail tag of US$32,780. Nissan has pre-sold all of the first batch of 20,000 vehicles, well ahead of schedule.

If this is true, the aftermarket could be in for a field day. Chevrolet is predicting that re-charging the Volt will cost about $1.50 a day or $40 a month. Based on the $60 a week I put into my Explorer ute, that’s a great saving. The range on the Volt’s battery is about 64 kilometres, which is about the length of the daily

Roadside assist – yeah, right!

G

reat story in TaT Issue 16 ‘Don’t take his word for it’ (page 29) which dealt with roadside assistance and fuel pump wires. Isn’t it funny how people think the roadside assist man is always right no matter what. I used to get upset about that, but now I channel my anger into repairing the car properly. The burnt wires in the pictures on that story were still nowhere near as bad as the ones I encountered a few weeks ago on a Mazda 323 with the noise in the fuel lines after I did the right thing and replaced the suspect filter, wiring and pump.

But that’s another story. Thanks for a great story. Jason Smith JDS Automotive MOOROOLBARK VIC (More and more motorists are gradually getting that message Jason. But you are right – ignore it and make money out of their poor diagnostics. Ed.)

Our comprehensive range of products

READY FOR YOU THIS

SUMMER

Jason Smith, one of our most prolific You Said It contributors.

®


STREET CRED with Hayley Windsor

D

oes anyone remember the Microsoft versus General Motors humorous debate of the 90s, when Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer business with the automotive industry, implying we’d all be driving super-cheap cars that run at hundreds more miles to the litre if cars had kept up with computers?

The retaliation went viral. ‘If motor vehicles had kept pace with computers, everyone would crash twice a day and the airbag would ask “are you sure?” before it saves your life.’ And my favourite, ‘if your car died on the freeway for no reason, you would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all the windows, shut off the car, restart it and reopen the windows before you could continue.’ For some reason you would simply accept this.

YOUD SAI ! IT

The relay race

Are car hackersnext? A decade or so down the road and system issues and software glitches in our cars are no longer a laughable concept. As cars become more complex and increasingly ‘connected’, security becomes a major concern. Launched in Australia just months ago, Audi’s A8 limousine has more than 80 computers on board. Aimed at the wealthy, successful male, A8 offers mobile wireless internet connection for up to four separate devices, and a plethora of technological features including adaptive cruise control, electronic seats with memory function, a light and rain sensor which automatically controls wipers and headlights, and a sophisticated navigation system. The capabilities of modern, luxury cars are mind-boggling. But as research suggests, modern car makers and owners might be opening themselves up to the chaos that can result from remote ‘hacking’ of a car’s computer-controlled operating systems.

In an experiment to assess how much resilience a conventional vehicle has against a digital attack, US computer science and engineering students were recently granted full, unrestricted access to the electronic control units in two unnamed, late model cars. During the driving tests, university researchers were able to lock and unlock doors remotely, start and disable the ignition, and even apply the breaks remotely, proving just how vulnerable a computer on wheels can be. While it doesn’t exactly simulate a reallife situation, the tests put a serious case to the car manufacturers, owners and mechanics (or shall we say, car-cumcomputer technicians) of the future. We can only hope the car makers can learn from bygone computer technological flaws and get it right the first time around.

The vehicle: A 2002 Lexus ES300 The complaint: No air conditioning. The light on the button flashes, indicating a malfunction.

call it an a/c relay?) Toyota didn’t have one (about $105) for a micro relay so I opted for the aftermarket one from OXE for about $8 (p/n ACX1980). I then rang my mate at Toyota who had told me last time they never have relay problems and let him know that I have had two in six months. In the picture of the two relays, the original one is white and the OXE one is black. Anthony Tydd Bendigo

I checked the gas pressure, wires and fuses and thought I would hot wire the compressor to check that it actually had enough gas to get cold. When I went to remove the a/c relay I recognised it to be the same as the faulty one on the Prado I did six months ago. If you look in TaT’s a Fact under Toyota Prado, no a/c and it’s already there. Same symptoms, same problem and same repair – fit a new relay. It is the white one in the bottom right of fuse box picture. The fuse box label is also a little misleading because it reads MG CLT for magnetic clutch (is it too hard to The Automotive Technician 14

(This little sucker is a very common relay problem with not just Toyota but also Mitsubishi models. With the Toyota and Lexus of that era through the complete range, when that relay fails the light starts to a/c flash. That relay is readily available these days from lots of suppliers and it also comes in Bosch. The prices will vary from as little as $5 to $10 trade. No wonder your mate never sold one at $105. I have gone through heaps, not just for a/c. When I have intermittent problems this little micro relay is the first thing I have a hard look at if I find it in the circuit. Deyan Barrie)

with Nick Murphy

op

ools

Wow, I found the G-scan!

S

can tools are now an essential part of a technician’s life, and they are going to be with us for years to come. Choosing your scan tool, if you haven’t already got one, is a very important decision. You need to think of things like updates and capabilities such as security, accuracy in data and the longevity of the tool. My first impression of the new G-scan was that this was good quality and it felt like it had a toughness about it. It also had a screen that is very easy to read, which for an old bloke like me is very important. The tool is extremely fast and that was a pleasant surprise, particularly in this fast moving work life where you want things to happen instantly. G-scan has a touch screen or you can use the keys on the side.

The inbuilt battery helps keep the tool alive while cranking, or preselect the option you want before connecting it to the car. The inbuilt data access is quick and easy to access trouble code information. It has provision for wireless connection to the data link connector which means you can be at any point of the car to have the information required while looking at the component in question. The capabilities are endless, including common rail diesel injector configuration and security on most very late models including VE. The tool is particularly strong on the Japanese vehicle range with coding and data access. The record function and data gathering are extremely large to the point where you could record all day and still not get to the end of its capacity.

It has the ability to record all live data information at once without being restricted to only a couple of items. For me, data access has to be the strongest attribute of any scan tool. G-scan will run live through your computer without affecting the speed of the tool. With PC access so easy, it makes the tool very quick and hassle free to upgrade. The G-scan might be a new kid on the block, but the engineers who developed it have been in the industry for a long time, working with some very prominent players in the field. I personally loved using the tool and was reluctant to give it back. It’s a pity that more scan tool manufacturers don’t create a product that is as user friendly as this one. G-Scan incorporates hi-tech hardware including dual CPU, colour touch screen technology, 2GB SD card memory and rechargeable lithium polymer battery. Software features include self test function, full parameter descriptions for VW/Audi, quick test (Automatic System Search), screen capture and quick note.

Primarily introduced into the Japanese market specifically for Japanese vehicles by Inter Support, a Japanese market leader in the development of diagnostic tools for over 10 years, the G-scan won critical acclaim and also won Tool of the Year 2008/09 on its debut. Korean company GIT joined forces and soon established the G-Scan as OEM scan tool for Hyundai and Kia. Now, besides Japanese and Korean makes, the G-Scan is further enhanced due to software development company EZDS to cover vehicles in the global market including European, US, Australian and Malaysian vehicles. By all means have a look at this one, but it is always a good idea to get feedback from other people who own the tool. As always, do your homework before diving in. The supplier in Australia is Mount Auto Equipment at www.autoequipment.com.au. Ask for a demo. Happy diagnosing Nick Murphy The Automotive Technician 15

‘s a fact

problem solving Customer Complaint Vehicle would not run intermittently and had to be towed. Customer reported that prior to this problem the car had issues with poor performance.

Problem Summary Vehicle was towed. It started off the tow truck and ran for a short time until it cut out and would not fire up again.

Diagnostic Sequence Checked for codes. Only code in memory was for the knock sensor and it would not clear. Spark and fuel pressure OK. Suspected there was over-fuelling. Checked the connection at the coolant temperature sensor and found by moving it we could get the vehicle to start and play up again. Found the sensor had a bad internal connection and corrosion. Sensor and connectors were replaced and the vehicle road tested. It was then we noticed the poor performance the owner was talking about.


Fault Description The vehicle had a bad flat spot and on the road it felt like a lean miss plus there was an occasional exhaust leak sound. There was an isolated air leak to the underside of the intake plenum.

Fault Solution Removed the intake plenum chamber. When we turned the intake assembly around we noticed the casting plug had a hole in the centre of it. It sits in the EGR track – that was the sound we heard. Removed the plug and inspected it, and replaced it with a new plug. It was a gas thread plug. Reassembled and refitted the intake assembly with a new intake gasket. Vehicle road tested and running well.

Recommended Time Labour time was 5.5 hours, taking into account research time, location of parts and actual time spent fixing the problem.

NISNX94112 NISSAN NX COUPE B13 1994 4 Cylinders

MERML00615 MERCEDES ML320 163 SERIES 2000 6 Cylinders

‘s a fact

problem solving Customer Complaint A/c system not cooling as it should.

Problem Summary A/c compressor cutting in, not cooling at all. Fan and all controls checked OK.

Diagnostic Sequence System pressures checked by hooking up gauges. The low and high sides were very low. Low side hose not cold and the system very low on gas. Recovered the gas from the system (only 100gms). There appeared to be UV dye in the system but no service sticker and the filter drier was the original.

Fault Description Visual inspection carried out and found the high side hose at the compressor end showed signs of a slow leak due to the oily patches around the fitting crimp and hose. The leak was verified with a UV light. This fault manifests itself over time due to the consistent movement of engine and vibration.

Fault Solution

A new hose was found (ex Singapore). The original hose was sent out to have new hose and crimp ends made up. Refitted the re-fabricated hose. A new filter drier was fitted, system service carried out and recharged. Performance tested OK.

Recommended Time Labour time was 2.5 hours, taking into account research time, location of parts and actual time spent fixing the problem.

tips for

ideas division

We have found this to be a fairly common problem with a lot of different models of this era. The interesting thing is that most of the models do not get picked up for the problem, possibly because of cost and poor part availability. If an a/c system is used for a prolonged period of time when low on gas, it will adversely affect and damage the compressor and in turn contaminate the rest of the system. It should be recommended to the customer that an a/c system should have a yearly inspection to make sure the gas level is OK and the system is performing correctly to minimise costly failures.

The high side hose was removed and inspected.

It should also be noted that an a/c system must not be topped up or recharged without first finding and fixing any leak.

Noticed that the other hose crimp end also had a leak and probably is the larger of the two.

It is against the law and there is a government a/c Code of Practice that has to be adhered to.

There was quite a lot of UV dye around this area.

Compressor side Condensor side

Read it at: http://arctick.org/pdf/ Automotive_RAC_CoP.pdf


$XWRGDWD)XOO%RG\:LULQJ'LDJUDPV 1RZLQFOXGHV)RUG)DOFRQ(%)*DQG+ROGHQ&RPPRGRUHÙV9596,,, )XOO%RG\:LULQJ'LDJUDPVLQFOXGH à$%6 7&6 à$LU&RQGLWLRQLQJDQG(QJLQH &RROLQJ à$LUEDJV à&HQWUDO/RFNLQJ

à&RQWUROOHU$UHD1HWZRUN&$1 à'DWD/LQN&RQQHFWRU'/& à(DUWK3RLQW/RFDWLRQV à(QJLQH0DQDJHPHQW à)DVFLDDQG,QVWUXPHQW3DQHO

à0XOWLIXQFWLRQ&RQWURO0RGXOH à3RZHU'LVWULEXWLRQ à9HKLFOH$UHD1HWZRUN9$1 à3RZHU:LQGRZV à:LSHUVDQG:DVKHUV

)RUDFRPSOHWHEUHDNGRZQRIDOO$XWRGDWDPRGXOHVYLVLWZZZDXWRGDWDFRPDX

Wiring diagrams postcard 2009:Layout 1

13/11/2009

09:48

Page 2

6XEVFULEH:LWK&RQéGHQFH'D\&RROLQJ2II3HULRG

ZZZDXWRGDWDFRPDX The Automotive Technician 18

)RUIXOOWHUPVDQGFRQGLWLRQVVHHWKH$XWRGDWDZHEVLWHZZZDXWRGDWDFRPDX

by Exploring multi-coil ignition systems Jeff Smit

I

gnition distributors are slowly disappearing and the demand for spark plug wire sets is also declining. Although many distributorless ignition systems have plug wires, coilon-plug ignition systems are appearing on more engines, eliminating the need for plug wires altogether by fitting individual coils directly over each spark plug.

Multi-coil ignitions come in two basic types – coil-on-plug and coil-near-plug ignition systems. Placing individual ignition coils directly over the spark plug eliminates the need for long, bulky spark plug wires. This reduces radio frequency interference, eliminates potential misfire problems caused by burned, chaffed or loose plug wires, and lowers resistance between the coil and plug. Consequently, each coil can be smaller, lighter and use less energy to fire its spark plug. From a performance standpoint, having a separate coil for each cylinder gives each coil more time to recharge between cylinder firings. With single coil distributor systems, the coil must fire twice every revolution of the crankshaft in a four cylinder engine, and four times in a V8.

With a multi-coil system, each coil only has to fire once every other revolution of the crankshaft. This provides more saturation time for a stronger spark, especially at higher RPM when firing times are greatly reduced. The result is fewer misfires, cleaner combustion and better fuel economy.

The problem with these coils is that the plugs are deeply recessed and the plug wells tend to trap water and heat. If an engine is experiencing repeated misfiring, the coil may be working too hard or is just faulty. The underlying cause is usually high secondary resistance (bad spark plug wire or spark plugs) or, in some cases, a lean fuel condition caused by, for example, dirty injectors, vacuum leak or leaky exhaust gas recirculation system valve. It is recommended that connectors and terminals be cleaned before installing the new coil. Corrosion can cause intermittent operation and loss of continuity, which may contribute to component failure. Applying dielectric grease, which has high temperature performance, to these connections can help prevent corrosion, ensure a good connection and help prevent spark plug to coil boot fusion. Having a separate coil for each cylinder also improves the engine’s ability to handle more exhaust gas recirculation to reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions which is important with today’s low emission standards. A better spark also makes spark plugs more resistant to fouling and helps 100,000 kilometre spark plugs go the distance. Multi-coil ignition systems also improve idle stability and idle emissions. On older distributorless ignition systems, an electronic module is part of the coil pack assembly and controls the switching of the coils on and off. On most newer systems, the switching function is handled by the electronic control module, though there may be additional coil driver electronics built into the top of each coil.

With the newer vehicles, the OBD II system can detect coil problems as well as ignition misfires. If there’s a problem, the engine warning lamp, or emission light in some cases, will come on and there will be one or more diagnostic trouble codes set in the engine control module’s memory. These can be read with a scan tool or code reader to diagnose the fault.

Some helpful tips • Using the wrong coil may damage other ignition components or cause the new coil to fail. • On engines with distributors or distributorless ignition systems, the spark plug wires should also be replaced following a coil failure to assure a good spark. • Remember to use silicon dielectric grease on the inside coil-on-plug boots and spark plug boots in general.

The powertrain control module receives a basic timing signal from a crankshaft position sensor and sometimes a camshaft position sensor to determine engine speed, firing order and timing.

• When fitting coil-on-plug coils or ignition leads to spark plugs make sure the boot is correctly attached to the spark plug, as a poor connection can cause ignition component failure.

The engine control module then looks for inputs from the other sensors to determine how much timing advance to give each plug. Most of today’s multi-coil ignition systems are capable of making timing adjustments between cylinder firings, which makes these systems very responsive and quick to adapt to changing engine load and driving conditions.

TaT acknowledges the technical assistance provided by Fuelmiser in the preparation of this article. Fuelmiser Ignition Coils and Engine Management products are made to original equipment specifications and currently cover 3,300 vehicles and more than 21,000 applications from approximately 1,500 components. The Automotive Technician 19

Is Bourke the little engine that could?

by Ken Newton

T

he story of the Bourke engine may not yet be writ in automotive legend, but it does stand as one of a handful of technologies which might have changed the world. Indeed, if a World War and other commercial pressures hadn’t intervened, it might have halved the world’s car fuel bills a long time ago. The Bourke engine, designed in 1932 by Russell Bourke, a 33-year-old Californian self taught engine designer, has been treated seriously by some, denigrated by others. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is trying to prove some of the early theories and several active websites keep the engine and Russell Bourke’s writings in the public domain. Dotted around the world are enthusiasts in backyard sheds toying with the Bourke ideas and, in some cases, producing prototype engines which sort of prove some of them. Some say the Bourke engine was one of the world’s great inventions. Pure Energy Systems Wiki goes as far as to say that the Bourke engine is a technology long overdue. ‘Bourke may be to engines what Tesla is to radiant energy – a scientist who did not realise the actuation of his revolutionary technology in his day, but whose technology may be the salvation of the 21st century energy needs.’ A German professor of combustion wrote of Bourke’s engine: ‘I would call it a little atomic engine in your motor. An atom and electron combined with excessive combustion or oxidation with a powerful reaction, as in your motor.’ There’s a Bourke engine project in Australia, and TaT has tracked down the man who has devoted the past 12 years of his so-called retirement life to replicating Bourke’s invention. The Automotive Technician 20

His name is Laurie Gyler, and his workshop is a boatshed on a northern Gold Coast canal. Laurie is a bit like Russell Bourke, in that he has natural engineering skills based on trade training in fitting, machining and toolmaking, as well as infinite patience. In his many careers in major engineering plants such as Sweden’s SKF Bearings, Borg Warner and Koyo Bearings, Laurie earned the nickname Inspector Gadget because there appeared to be nothing that he couldn’t fix, rework or rebuild. He has travelled the world, for work and pleasure, including three months training at the Morse Institute of Technology in the US for Borg Warner. His love of engines no doubt was set alight by his eight years at Waggott Engineering in Sydney. ‘Merv Waggott was a genius and his love was producing engines for the world of speed. His enthusiastic approach to problems rubbed off on all his employees,’ recalls Laurie. Just prior to being bitten by the Bourke bug, Laurie was working with Split Cycle, the company which tried to bring a different workable engine into the world but, as Laurie says, they were all too complex for any efficiency. So what’s so unique about the Bourke? Russell Bourke made these seemingly outrageous claims:

• The exhaust components of his engine were carbon dioxide and water vapour • Matches could be held in the exhaust without igniting • The engine would run on any low grade fuel • A brake-specific fuel consumption of 0.25 pounds of fuel per horsepower hour would be achieved • This incredibly simple engine had only two moving parts • There was no detectable wear when he tested the engine for 2,000 hours of marine use on an outboard motor lower unit. • Based on reliability, fuel consumption, and multi-fuel tests, this engine would be very economical to operate

Laurie Gyler has built, from the ground up using mostly scavenged parts, a number of Bourke inspired engines. Some have fired up, some have not. His current interpretation of the Bourke engine proves some of the claims of its inventor and he’s now convinced that, with time and investment, he could produce an economical engine which would do all the things Bourke said it would, and more. The modern combustion engine is, according to most people who should know, a most inefficient beast. Typical internal engines lose around 60% of their total energy to heat through the exhaust and radiator. Laurie believes his current working engine is 85% fuel efficient. So the aim of Laurie and others of his ilk around the world is to prove any or all of Bourke’s theories, to the point where some serious investors will one day pick up the challenge and go into serious trials and production tests. He was so keen to pursue the idea that he travelled to America to see the original Bourke engine and paid a large sum of money for a detailed book published after Russell Bourke’s death by his wife Lois. He was shown the motor that Bourke built and was allowed to pull it apart. ‘It was so simple,’ he recalls. It appears that up till now, nobody has been able to completely replicate Bourke’s results. Laurie Gyler showed TaT technical director Jeff Smit one of his engines which, unfortunately, was not working at the time. Jeff could see the genius in him, but agreed that he really needed to have a working engine. Laurie’s got that now, and I saw it. I watched an impressive demonstration of combustion efficiency as Laurie fired up the engine, soaked a paper taper in petrol and held it at the exhaust port, right on the engine. It didn’t burst into flame as you would expect with a conventional engine. ‘It’s the combustion technology I’m playing with,’ said Laurie Some entrepreneurs have knocked on Laurie’s door. They were trying to convince the Indian government that it should finance tests on the motor, produce a commercial prototype and mass manufacture it for a planned ‘people’s car’ in India.

The missing VZ

Laurie is philosophical about it and hopes that he can keep going long enough as a hobbyist to one day have his work carried on by someone else with the same level of enthusiasm.

A team came over from India and were so impressed they asked if they could take his engine back for testing. Without a business deal, or at least a sizeable cheque, Laurie showed them the door. ‘I reckon I’m hot on the trail, but I’m a nobody and without major investors I can’t prove anything’

It’s now been 92 years since young Russell Bourke gave some thought to a combustion process that would allow a specially designed engine to utilise detonation as a means of extracting more power from hydrocarbon fuels. Russell Bourke called his first engine the Little Eagle. It was assembled in a radial pattern or, simply put, a crossed four. It used standard Maytag two-stroke cylinders, each originally good for 1.5 horsepower at 6,000 revs per minute.

Even though it was a four-cylinder unit it had only one crank pin which ran in a complicated cage assembly to give the correct timing for the four pistons. Where today’s engines run on a mixture of around 15 parts air to one part fuel by weight, Bourke achieved a range of mixtures from 15 air to 1 fuel, down to 60 air to 1 fuel. There was no flame from the exhaust and the exhaust was just warm to the hand. The fuel economy, he said, ‘is beyond belief’. FOOTNOTE: Laurie Gyler suspects he is the only one in Australia building Bourke engines, but concedes there may be someone else out there with a similar passion. If that someone reads this story and would like to touch base with Laurie, please contact the TaT editor.


LPG and the Holden Commodore by Wayne Broady

S

tarting with the VN Commodore back in the early nineties, Holden has provided a dual fuel option for VN and VY standard Holden V6 engines which, in most cases, is converted by a specialist after delivery. Some vehicles were also converted by Holden by Design prior to delivery. Factory warranted VE Commodores are converted by Holden in-house. All these vehicles were fitted with Impco developed components using plug and play wiring harnesses with computer memcal changes for models VN and VT and an adaptive digital processor. The cars were then computer reprogrammed by Holden’s Tech 2 for VTII to VY models. VN and VTI models used the Impco adaptive fuel processor to control fuel mixtures through a fuel control valve similar in operation to Ford’s. The memcal provided a means of petrol start, fuel pump control and fuel pump cycling while on LPG. It helped keep fuel flowing which prevented fuel deterioration due to heat soak and injection timing changes required for LPG. Later versions VTII to VY required the vehicle ECU to be reprogrammed to control all of these parameters including full mixtures. The reprogramming of the instrument cluster then allowed the control of the existing fuel gauge on the dash to indicate how much fuel or LPG was in the tank, depending on which fuel was powering the vehicle. VN–VTII adaptive digital processor used Impco’s fuel systems analyser to check the duty cycle of the fuel control valve. The adaptive digital processor uses signals from the O2 sensor as well as the RPM, and then controls the duty cycle of the fuel control valve which in turn redirects air valve vacuum to the atmospheric port of the LPG convertor. This action leans or richens the mixtures. The more vacuum there is at the atmospheric port at the convertor the leaner the mixtures, less vacuum gives richer mixtures.


As with all venturi based or carburettor based LPG systems, ignition system maintenance is very important to prevent backfiring. Backfiring in most cases is caused by a faulty ignition system. High tension leads, spark plugs and coils are the main problems. As LPG is harder to ignite, more load is placed on the ignition system so good quality high tension leads and reduced gap spark plugs are recommended. Backfiring can damage the air filter assembly, air inlet hoses and Impco mixer assembly. A fuel systems analyser is used to check the LPG mixture closed loop control. Connections for the analyser are provided in the LPG wiring harness. Four terminals are provided In the wiring test connector – two are bridging for set-up, yellow is for duty cycle and green is O2 senor signal. A specific procedure is required to set up the adaptive digital processor and mixture control. A scan tool can be used to read the parameters for the fuel control valve and the O2 sensor reading in models VTII to VY. In some models, under heavy load conditions, extra petrol is also injected to help prevent higher temperatures and this also helps prevent valve, valve seat and guide wear. This is not always successful and some models were still prone to valve recession. In the VZ-VE Commodore with the alloy engine V6 a BRC Impco vapour injection kit is used.

BRC was also factory approved for the Holden Rodeo RA 3.5. Vapour injection eliminates backfiring issues and controls the LPG for lower emissions. It provides a better performance, closer to that of petrol, and better fuel economy. Holden initially provided a special build motor with high quality valves and valve seats so all Holden approved conversions were done in house only to modified engines. My understanding is that all later model VE Commodores have valve modifications which allow Holden to convert any Alloytech motor. Current model VE Commodores have older (non SIDI) motors fitted so that Holden can still provide an LPG fuel option. A separate LPG ECU is used to control the LPG injector which reads the required millisecond duration from the petrol ECU calculations, and this in turn provides a base for LPG injector duration. Petrol injectors are turned off while on LPG. The calculations to control LPG injectors are done by a mapping program. Specific software and diagnostic cable are required to read and diagnose issues with the LPG system. Service requirements include changing vapour filters every 20,000 kilometres, checking convertor pressures with a software program, checking Delta P which is the convertor pressure less manifold pressure. The base setting for Delta P is 1500. As with all LPG systems, mechanics must be licenced to work on the liquid side of the system. The vapour side can be removed and worked on without a licence but a good understanding of how the system works will give mechanics the clues they need to repair the system.

:hl\a8CLK88¦8;hfikâ^glbo^ oâb\e^8\ho^kZ`^8Zm8rhnk8yg`^kmbil

98l\Zg8mhhe8pbma8\hfikâ^glbo^8oâb\e^8\ho^kZ`^8bl8obmZe8_hk8phkdlahil8La^8CLK88ªihp^k^]8[r8 :hl\a8=KA¬mkhgb\8lh_mpZk^«8nmbebl^l8Z8\hfikâ^glbo^8]ZmZ[Zl^8h_8eh\Ze8=nkhi^Zg8Zg]89lbZg8fZd^l8 h_8i^mkhe8]b^lê8Zg]8ar[kb]8oâb\e^l8hk8_nkma^k8bg_hkfZmbhg8hg8ma^8:hl\a8CLK88\Zee8ma^8:hl\a8