SC400TT Project Car Stage II by SC400TT

4 minute(s) of a 718 minute read

Well,

I finally have an update for you all. Once again, thanks for your well wishes with my wrist/arm. I am healing well, and quickly, but it is challenging with the Physical Therapy.

I finally got a chance to get back on the car this past Sunday, and it was an eye-opener. The easiest way to get the alternator replaced was to dismantle the passenger side turbo, and remove the cold side only. All the plumbing stayed intact, and I only had to remove the Belt, and the Power Steering Pump to get to the alternator. Dan had to do a lot of it as I am still operating with a gimp hand, and I am only allowed to lift 5 pounds right now. Hard to wrench much one-handed.... When the alternator came out, saw additional issues that made me quite happy that this was done with not a whole lot of driving...The wireharness to the alternator was melted, and the (3) wires were fused together mainly in the melted shielding. The main power connector was also melting. This was due to the forward positioned manifold being real close to the alternator, and because I did not wrap the manifolds prior to installing them, but after, there was a runner that could not be reached and wrapped, and that sent to much radiant heat to those wires. So, rebuilt the harness, and replaced the power cable with a (1) gauge, shielded them, wrapped that section of header with DEI Titanium wrap, and re-routed the power cable and harness away from the manifold. Should never be an issue again. Lextreme's HO alternator is now installed, and preliminary tests were excellent.

Installed the Boost-A-Spark, and it was fairly straight forward. Just cut the power to each coil, spliced in the BAS, wired them in series per direction, and the car fired right up. Still have to drill the firewall and run the cable through for the potentiometer, and it will be complete. Once I get that done, I will drive it around and see if the charging system functions at 100%, if so, it goes to the shop for a thorough look over, and then gets the big tune. Gee whiz this project has dragged. But I do expect soon. AT this popint, I just want results...

I figure those melted wires were actualy having a profound effect on several issues with the car beyond charging as Darin could not understand why the car started breaking up at higher revs, and I suspect unstable voltage was an issue, as well as possible being the battery drain I got from parking the car. We will see.

9-23-2012

Overall, the test went well. It was a very hot day today...90 degrees and fairly high humidity. Anyway, drove the Lexus around town and on the Interstate, and it drove quite well. Now that the voltage is correct and stable, not only did the car drive and idle better, but it also corrected the AFR readings on the Gauge. The Gauge has always showed around 11 at idle, no matter what, yet Darin stated he tuned it closer to stoich than that. Anyway, the gauge read consistently around 14.7 to 15 at idle during the 3 hours I drove the car around today. So that is great. As I drove at different agressive throttle positions and load conditions, I consistently saw between 10.5 to 12.5 AFR's on the gauge, so, again, it looked good. Car still needs more tuning, but I am beginning to believe there may be a light at the end of the tunnel this time...

I also believe my starter is crapping out on me, and I will probably have to change it. Pain in the arse for that one...

Perhaps the big tune will be able to be done soon.