November 2002
Saturday 30th November 2002
The Race Technology DL90 data logger arrived during the week, and I had a quick go with it on Friday on my trip home from work. The results are amazing. It even measures acceleration laterally, and longitudinally, so if you had it fixed to the floor of the car, you'd be able to see the g's that you're pulling as you accelerate or corner. The software package allows you to play the data back, through a virtual dashboard, so you can reeplay the speed, engine revs, distance etc, and the blue circle on the map tracks your position during the play back. Very useful. The map above shows my journey home, and the speeds attained during the run. A more comprehensive review will follow in a few weeks.I'm off to Coventry this afternoon, to view a part-restored Gilbern car, like the one we bought for a friend in June this year. This ones supposed to be in much better condition. Photo's to follow.
The strange problem with the Mondeo has now gone. It seems that the Shell Optimax fuel upsets the ECU in the car, so switching back to normal Unleaded petrol fixed the problem. Most odd. She now starts on the key, with no throttle, and the cooling fan no longer comes on and off when the engine is stone cold.
Saturday 23rd November 2002
We have a new sponsor for the car.www.race-technology.com are supplying a DL90 GPS data logger for the car for next season. Weighing in at 200 grammes, and using GPS signals, it records your position, speed, acceleration, rpm etc, 100 times a second for nearly 90 minutes! Ideal for when I'm testing and competing in the new year.
Sunday 10th November 2002
Received a written apology from REVS for the use of the picture of my car in their magazine. Someone had placed the advert using their on-line facility, and it slipped through, despite rigorous checks that are in place. They assure me it won't happen again, and the image has been deleted.
Changed the coolant temperature sensor on the Mondeo, as it has still been playing up. Seems to have made little difference. The cooling fan still comes on when the engine is cold, so there's either a short in the wiring to the sensor, or the ECU has a fault!
I'm looking for a replacement car at the moment, the Mondeo is getting on a bit (8 yrs old next year), and I asked the Ford dealer how much they're give me for her, and they offered £700. I walked away. I'm looking for a BMW 523i right now, a four year old example with low milage. There's plenty around, all looking like very good vfm. Watch this space for more news as it happens.
Monday 4th November 2002
Still no reply from REVS magazine concerning the advert. I'll try emailing them again tomorrow.
I reset the memory in the Mondeo ECU on Saturday. I've had this weird cold start problem for several weeks now, where the radiator cooling fan comes on even when the engine is stone cold. The fan goes off, then comes on again, and the engine stalls. A user of the Mondeo Enthusiasts Group forum, suggested that I try resetting the ECU memory. And it looks like it may have done the trick! To reset the memory, you need to switch the ignition off, remove the cover from the fuse box, remove fuse 11 (3A pink fuse) and leave the car for at least 5 minutes. Then simply replace fuse 11, replace the fuse box cover, and go for a drive, making sure that you load the engine up by turning on the lights, heater, windscreen wipers, radio, heated rear window etc, so it learns the stall speed etc of the engine. And thats it. She drives like a new car now, even sounds different, if thats possible. The fault seems to have gone. I suspected it was the CTS, but if this simple fix has cured the problem, so much the better.
Here are the pictures from Croft British Rally Cross Finals on October 26th. As ever, click the images to see a bigger version (900 x 600 pixels). My favourite car is still the Metro 6R4, that V6 engine still sounds the best of any rally car I've heard. Sweet.
