Dear X-Air, Blick, and WeatherCat automobile enthusiasts,
I went over to Orinda Motors yesterday afternoon and took two videos of my trusty wagon after her Sportsman upgrade. Here is a short video of the engine idling just after being started. It starts out rough, but the self-tuning recovers relatively quickly:
https://youtu.be/7JCXZlJdaQsGreg and Rich (the guy who sold me the new electronic fuel injection system,) made some more adjustments to the starting settings. Tomorrow, Orinda Motors will see how she starts after completely cooling off overnight.
Here is a 5 minute video shot while Greg was driving my wagon on a local freeway. It shows the engine operating under various conditions:
https://youtu.be/Mnnz8Ng1qX0When accelerating there is definitely the assertive sound of a performance engine, but once at speed the cabin has never been quieter. At times during this drive the engine was idling with the transmission in overdrive at highway speeds. If I'm going to manage to get any fuel economy with such a large displacement engine, I really need to make it turn a little as possible to get the car moving.
I seem to remember something about the carburetor needing a different fuel/air mixture until the engine gets a bit warmer, even if not all the way to the 'normal' operating temp.
The ECU (Engine Control Unit) has a program to deal with the various conditions that the engine will experience. It also has sensors including an engine temperature sensor. So it is supposed to adjust the fuel and ignition settings to give the engine the most comfortable starting experience that is possible. That's part of the adjustments that these guys were trying to iron out this morning. If they aren't happy with how my wagon starts tomorrow morning, they might fiddle some more and try again on Friday.
I am assuming, therefore, that the new computer also controls the intake manifold to enable warmer air for at least a few moments after the start?
Unfortunately, there is no way to regulate the air temperature going into the engine. The engine is pulling a lot of air and there is no practical way to heat that much volume. Instead, you need to adjust the fuel and ignition to compensate for the ambient air temperature.
Sounds like you may need a spare battery or a temporary power supply just to run through the starting sequences several times. Just be careful and don't over-heat the starter motor!!
Well, if the battery were to get run down, there are chargers in the shop to bring it back up. On the other hand, my wagon did get a brand new battery as part of the deal. She now has a top and side terminal battery. Most of the electronics require a direct connection to the battery because the battery acts as damper on any electrical signals that might be generated from other devices. The electronics is vulnerable to electrical signal feedback, so the less of that the better. Between the air conditioner, the fuel injection system computer, the ignition controller box, and a few other things, there was no way to hook all these things to the battery without an extra pair of terminals!!
This is a fascinating story. Please let us know what kind of mileage you are getting, when you get some.
It will be a while before I'll know. Even with all the manual fiddling, this system continues to self-tune. So I might have to wait a few hundred miles for the system to settle down.
Thanks for your support!
Cheers, Edouard