January 2017
X10 wiring is now complete. I'm just waiting for a 6-way DTM connector for the ignition panel, and when thats fitted I'll try and refit the bodywork, if I can remember how it all goes back on. I've removed the intercooler and pipework, and I'm waiting for the water pipe fittings to come back before bolting everything on properly. Hopefully they'll be ready this Friday.
I've created a new page for the Life F88R and X10 module. See if you can find it under Resources, Life F88R from the menus.
Last night I trial fitted the TT turbo, and ran in to a couple of relatively minor issues. The main one being the water fittings provided are M14x1.5 and the OEM banjo fittings are M12x1.5 which means I cant just connect the water pipes to the turbo. I'm going to have to look for a M-F adaptor to allow the M12 fittings to attach to the M14 threads, and we're looking in to a couple of possible solutions at the moment. The other issue was the recirculation valve, or rather the lack of it. The OEM turbo has the valve built in, its a simple diaphragm with a spring pressing down on it to keep the valve closed. TT has supplied a solenoid operated external valve, but I dont want to have an electrical connection and ECU control of the valve for now, I'd rather it were mechanically operated like the OEM valve. So we tried removing the electric solenoid from the top of the alloy valve housing, and removed the diaphragm and lid from the OEM turbo, hoping to fit that to the external valve housing. Unfortunately, we found that the holes in the two didnt line up, and it transpires that the OEM turbo is in fact a Focus unit, not a Fiesta turbo, and Ford, for whatever reason, hasnt used the same positions for the three mounting holes for the lid. I did try rotating the lid and valve body, to try all three fitting positions, but each time, the holes failed to line up. Fortunately, **** has an OEM Fiesta turbo that they've removed the valve and lid from, and when it arrives I'll see if it does indeed fit the TT valve housing. If it does, result. If it doesn't, I'll have to look for another external recirclation valve that can be mounted on the silicon hoses provided.
The standard Ford turbo has been removed, which took me around 45 mins to complete. My first ever turbo removal, every day is a school day with this car. As the turbo is water cooled, I drained and removed the radiator first, saving the new antifreeze for later. To gain access to the turbo, I had to remove the tubular steel engine subframe that covers it, which was quite straight forward, just four bolts to remove and it pulls out of the chassis. I found even more adhesive silver tape on the back of the subframe, and there was me thinking I'd peeled it all off in 2015. Next the heatshield was removed, and both the oil pipes, and after the removal of a few more parts, the turbo was unbolted from the exhaust manifold and removed to the bench.
I shall fit the OEM water pipes on to the TT turbo, which for some reason comes with straight water hose connectors. Maybe thats how they're connected on Fiestas? I also had a recirculation valve in the kit from Turbo Technics, and these Mygales dont use them, so I'll not be fitting that then. I've had to order a pair of 25mm pipe bungs from eBay to plug the recirculation valve holes in the supplied silicon hoses, delivery in a few days time. Next job is offer the new turbo up, and make sure that every thing connects properly.
Slight change of plans to the calibration switches. I need to ensure that the pull-up resistor is turned off for the three IO channels in the X10, and provide a sensor ground to the three switches to allow the potential divider network (aka resistor ladder) to provide voltages between 0v and 5v for each switch position. The pull up resistor would have been connected in parallel with R1, which would have returned very small voltage changes for each switch position, and the X10 may have been confused if there was any drift in the 5V rail supplied. Easy enough to do, I'll just run a new section of 8 core cable in, and use 5 cores for the switches and three for the paddles on the steering wheel.
Finished wiring in the three calibration switches. I've also made a carbon fibre switch panel, which provides a location for the three switches, in place of the standard igntion switch panel. I then ran the engine to make sure that the additional pins I fitted to the F88 connector hadnt broken anything, and the engine started first time and ticked over as normal. Result. Now, I can aim to fit the new turbo, and refit the bodywork.
Rear wheel speed sensors are now connected to the X10. Now to wire in the calibration switches, and look at fitting the turbo and intercooler. I went to the Autosport Show last week and spoke to Life about the security on the locked ECU's, and they agreed finally that we could have a 'custom access' level to allow access to the sections of the ECU that we need, without unlocking the Ford IP part (the fuel and timing maps). I will need to arrange with **** for the levels of access that we need, to get to the point where I can alter parameters for launch, traction, etc, but not have access to the actual engine maps. Still no sign of the ROPS certificate for the Mygale cars. Pete Goulding and I are still waiting for these to appear. Ford are working with the MSA on the production of the certificates, and with the first event only two months away, I'm hoping both parties can get them out in time. I've registered in the Hill Climb and Sprint Association championship for 2017, and I'm sending off my form for the British Sprint Championship in the next few weeks. I will really need the extra horsepower this year. I'm hoping for Top 12 finishes at every round. We'll see at Castle Combe in March if the car has the straight line speed to compete with the quicker V8's.
Here is my wiring diagram for the Mygale FF200. Its still not finished, but its as accurate as I can make it at the moment.
The Turbo Technics turbo and the Pro-Alloy intercooler both turned up on Monday. I'm very impressed with the quality of workmanship of the intercooler. Its beautifully made and is far bigger than the intercooler that it replaces. The turbo and I/C will not be fitted straight away. I'm still wiring in the X10 expander, and thats posing a few challenges of its own. I've had to order different female crimps for it as the ones provided werent the right length for the connector, and I've also had to order a fuse holder for the X10 +12V supply, and a few other bits and pieces. Slow and steady progress as usual.
CAN02 is now added to the Life ECU connector. I bought the connector pins from RS.COM, stripped the heatshrink boot off the end of the backshell, and pulled the connector apart. Pins 79 and 80 now have a pair of twisted wires in a shielded cover, that run to the IO expander. I've also fitted the expander to the front of the ECU, so it shares the same aluminium mounting bracket. I've also fitted a microswitch to the clutch pedal, and that is now wired in to the redundant rain-light cable. This switch tells the ECU that the clutch is depressed, and that allows the selection of first or reverse gear from neutral. Without the switch, if the up or down paddle were pressed when in neutral, the ECU would just select the gear, and without the clutch depressed, this would most likely damage the gearbox.
I ordered the Turbo Technics S242 turbo from ****, price is £1040 inc VAT for exchange of the spare turbo. The water supply needs to be altered to make it fit. The std turbo has a pair of steel pipes with banjo connectors, that provide coolant to the turbo. The TT turbo doesnt use the same pipes, so I'm going to have to find a way to make a neat installation using silicon hose. So long as the engine cradle doesnt get in the way.
Dont forget, pictures from the work over the last few days are on the Facebook page
I ran the engine today, to check the alternator works, and it does. I'm seeing 14.1V on the dashboard, and there were no squeaks or rattles, for the 10 minutes I ran the engine. I also finished wiring the radiator fan, and when the engine temp reached 95C it came on, and it went off again when the temp dropped to 92C. It blew a 10A fuse at first, which was due to the switch on current drawn by the fan. So I quickly pushed a 30A fuse in its place, and the fan started spinning. I'll drop the fuse to a 15A, and see if that survives the switch on current.
A huge push saw the continuity testing of the spare loom complete today. And the tables in the spreadsheet are now updated. This exercise has been most useful. We've determined that the ECU is definitely a F88R, which has had a GDI daughterboard added, as the pinouts for the INJ 8-way connector used four pins on the ECU that were labelled DO NOT CONNECT. I checked with Jason at Life, and he confirmed that these four pins had been reassigned for GDI operation, though there is no datasheet as such for the FF200 version of the F88R.
I also determined that the X10 IO expander 100% can be used for the Ti-VCT (VVT) control. I get 10 inputs and 10 outputs with the X10, and it will easily cope with the extras that we're looking for. And I asked if the GDI4 is pin-for-pin compatible with the FF200 F88R, and there are differences that need addressing, otherwise there may be damage to the GDI4.
The pins that would need changing are as follows:
IGNITION:
IGN1 pin27 to IGN5 pin5
IGN2 pin26 to IGN6 pin4
IGN3 pin25 to IGN7 pin3
IGN4 pin24 to IGN8 pin2
GDI:
GDI1+ pin31 to 27
GDI2+ pin30 to 26
GDI3+ pin20 to 25
GDI4+ pin47 to 24
Finally I asked what the COMP BYPASS connector was intended for, as it is cable tied out the way on both mine and Pete's engines. Jason said it was just a spare that never got used in the end for an electronic dump valve so you could wire that to the inlet VVT instead.
