27/10/09 - Winch Remote

Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00) Written by Martin Lines Tuesday, 27 October 2009 21:01

I found these wireless winch remote kit on Ebay from a company called "Winch-It", they seem to have a collection of reasonably priced accessories.

The dual control wireless remote will enable both myself and James (the co-driver!) to operate the winch in a number of situations. Often the person outside the car has a better  view of the winch situation so, although I already have dashboard switches fitted, this will give extra capability (and its a bit of a show off as well!)

The kit consists of the receiver that fits inside the solenoid housing on my particular winch along with two remote controls. The receiver is a straight forward fit as it comes with the wire ends terminate with rings that fit onto the screw terminals on the winch solenoid. I simply removed the solenoid cover and attached the leads to the solenoid terminals. A quick play showed that I can control the winch from distances which are too far away to even see whats going on, so it will have more than adequate range on a 4x4 event!

23/10/09 - More Jimny Wobble

Last Updated (Friday, 23 October 2009 19:15) Written by Martin Lines Friday, 23 October 2009 17:57

There is a fair bit of information around about the Jimny "Death Wobble". Followers of this website will know that I am a firm believer in sorting out the Kingpin Bearings and Wheel Bearings as a main source of problems with wobble. However, this is not the complete cure in some cases. I know from other websites that people have rebuilt the front end of their cars and yet still suffer from wobble. This has reached the point where Suzuki have brought out a kit to help reduce the problem. Suzuki apparantly say that the Jimny was designed for small wheels and that larger wheels change the loading on the bearings and result in "harmonic wobble". This is partially born out by the number of instances of wobble in Jimny "O2" variants - with large factory fitted alloy wheels. Suzuki has now brought out a kit for vehicles affected by this and (as only Suzuki can) charge a fortune for it.

I have looked at what is in the kit and put a DIY version together and, of course, I had to test it out on my car.

The kit consists of small shims that increase the loading on the Kingpin Bearings.

NOTES:

1. These are NOT the same as the SJ shims which start by decreasing the load on the bearings and increasing the load as you remove the shims. This kit is NOT for SJ owners despite the set-up being almost identical

2. As stated this kit INCREASES the load on the bearings. Clearly there can be consequences of this, premature wear and bearing failure. If you are going to do this then you are responsible for the results!

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

The kit I have put together comprises of 3 shims per Kingpin bearing, there are 4 bearings so there are twelve shims in all.

 

The shims are in a selection of sizes - 0.2mm, 0.5mm and 1.0mm

This will let you put together different sizes:

0.2mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 1.0mm, 1.2mm 1,5 mm and (if you are really desperate!) 1.7mm

Installing them is a trial and error process. First of all - YOU HAVE CHECKED AND REPLACED YOUR KINGPINS BEARINGS AND WHEEL BEARINGS HAVEN'T YOU. This is not a cure for worn out bearings!

First jack the car up and undo and lift the brake caliper clear by undoing the bolts on the rear of the caliper carrier.

Undo the bolts on the steering bars (one on the drivers wheel and two on the passenger wheel)

Split the steering joints with a splitter, the hub has to be completely free to move around from left to right.

Undo each Kingpin and slip on a shim. Do both the top and bottom at the same time and then tighten the kingpins back up. Try moving the hub from left to right. If you are doing the "Suzuki" method you should pull the hub with a spring balance and measure the starting "pull". This is really difficult so I did it by hand. Add and remove shims until the wheel moves smoothly but firmly (not too loose) from side to side. Sometimes it feels "lumpy", this is not desirable and add or remove more shims to remove it - strangely adding more shim thickness can remove it. Do not get it to the point where the hub will not swivel. Take your time and get it to a point where you are happy that it is firm but not at the point where you will wear out the bearing in 5 minutes.

So what's it like?

Well I have got the firmest steering I have had in a long time. It is smooth with no wobble. I can still feel bumps in the road steering the car (bump steer) but no wobble!

Mine took 0.7mm on the drivers side top and bottom and 0.2mm on the passenger side lower kingpin. I think the fact that the passenger side took an uneven amount of shimming shows that in fact I have a wearing bearing on that side.

If you want to try this for yourself then they are in the shop HERE

 

 

 

31/08/09 - Jonplace's towbar wiring guide

Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00) Written by Martin Lines Monday, 31 August 2009 18:05

Jon has sent in a wiring guide to fitting a towbar...

 

....it can be found HERE

 

Many thanks

 

Martin

26/6/09 - Gauges and Scan Tool

Last Updated (Friday, 26 June 2009 21:01) Written by Martin Lines Friday, 26 June 2009 18:16

Here is a nice little gadget I found on the Internet...

NOTE: SINCE WRITING THIS I HAVE JUST FOUND OUT THAT IT WORKS IN US GALLONS - NOT UK - I AM CHASING WITH THE SUPPLIER

This plugs into the diagnostic socket under the dash and gives you 4 main functions...

1. Digital Gauges

2. Trip computer

3. Scan Tool

4. Black Box Flight recorder

In the box you get the computer, OBD cable, USB cable, Manual and Programming cord. The USB programming cord and software is for updating the unit.

 

It is a nice small unit, sensibly it gives you two connector positions so you can either have the connector cable coming out the side or the rear, see the picture below.

 

It has a nicely illuminated display and auto switches on and off with the ignition, you can configure which display it comes up with first - the picture below shows the main menu.

The first thing I did was to look at the stored diagnostic codes in my ECU. The pictures below show:

Fault 1: P0105 - DTC P0105 (DTC No.11) Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) Circuit Malfunction

Fault 2: P0335 - DTC P0335 (DTC No.23) Crankshaft Position (CKP) Sensor Circuit Malfunction

Still the MIL light is not on which suggests these are old codes and, as you can see, I can press the ERASE button

It has a "Gauge Mode" - here it is showing that I am stationary, with the engine idling at 790 RPM, water temp is 154 deg F and the battery is at 14.6 volts

In trip mode it shows more detail. I am burning 0.1 Gallons per hour, I have 0 gallons left and, as I am not moving the Avergae MPH and Miles to fill up are ---

It shows you a good number of engine parameters and trip parameters. Each trip is recorded automatically and averages are maintained.

In Back Box mode it records up to 300 hours of information.

Before I can run it in these modes I need to go through a fuel tank fill/empty routine to set it so it knows the capacity etc. of my fuel tank.

The only issue I have found so far is that it only works in EITHER metric OR imperial rather than a mix of both. I would like to see MPH/MPG with temperatures in Centigrade. You can only have MPH/MPG with Farenheit or KPH/LPK with Centigrade.

I bought mine from www.talktomycar.co.uk -

It would have been nice to stock it in the BigJimny shop but the minimum order quantity is 50 units! - If you like it tell www.talktomycar.co.uk where you saw it!

The full specification is below (cut and paste from manufacturers site).....

MaxiTrip™ TP100
This innovative 4-in-one automotive
computer from Autel is exactly what is
needed for real-time engine monitoring,
failure prevention and trip tracking. The
compact and intelligent gadget includes
4 most useful modes: trip computer, digital gauges, scan tool and vehicle black box.
Trip Computer
The MaxiTrip™ TP100 is a compact automotive computer designed to monitor information about your vehicle in real time. It will display such useful information as average trip MPG, tank MPG, average speed per trip, average speed per tank of gas, miles to empty, miles driven on tank, and more.

●　Maximum Speed	●　Average Speed	●　Driving Time
●　Driving Distance	●　Fuel Used	●　Trip Fuel Economy
●　Distance to Empty	●　Time to Empty	●　Fuel to Empty

Digital Gauges
The MaxiTrip™ TP100 can be configured to measure and monitor up to four different sets of information simulta-
neously, providing real-time engine performance analysis, allowing you to adjust driving behavior and save gas.

●　Vehicle Speed (MPH)	●　Manifold Pressure	●　Battery Voltage
●　Engine Load	●　Coolant Temperature	●　Throttle Position
●　Intake Air Temperature	●　Ignition Timing	●　Engine Speed (RPM)
●　Closed/Open Loop	●　Water Temperature

Scan Tool
The MaxiTrip™ TP100 will also work as a scan tool that is able to help you troubleshoot problems of all OBD2/EOBD compliant vehicles.
　　　　　●　Works with all 1996 and later OBDII compliant vehicles
　　　　　●　Reads & clears trouble codes
　　　　　●　Easily determines the cause of the “Check Engine Light ( MIL)”
　　　　　●　Turns off Check Engine Light (MIL), and resets monitors
　　　　　●　Views freeze frame data
　　　　　●　Displays monitor and I/M readiness status(emissions)
　　　　　●　Retrieves vehicle information (VIN, CIN and CVN)
Vehicle Black Box
The MaxiTrip™ TP100 will be able to save up to 300 hours of your driving data. It works as a vehicle black box to store every trip you make. The information it records includes:
　　　　　●　Time and date for each trip 　　　　　●　Distance travelled each trip
　　　　　●　Maximum speed during trip 　　　　　●　Time overspeed
　　　　　●　Number of times of deceleration limit exceeded during trip
　　　　　●　Number of times of acceleration limit exceeded during trip
　　　　　●　Hard accelerations and braking
The MaxiTrip™ TP100 is perfect for
　　　　　●　Auto enthusiasts, hobbyists and DIYers
　　　　　●　Drivers who care for engine performance and fuel economy
　　　　　●　Parents of young drivers
　　　　　●　Business owners