Things I would like-

[Guest Mycroft]

1/. As seen in other thread, a headlight self-levelling system that costs less than £50, if you have seen anything at all that could be forced into service

2/. I want a Turbo oil cooler, we all leave our cars running after a hard blast (TT's only) on a Turbo timer, but what I want is a system that works as if the car was an NA, just switch off and a little pump whirrs into life pumping a separate (say) litre of oil around only the Turbos, it pumps this 'fresh' cool oil for (say) 10 mins then shuts down, you dont have your car doing a less than 100% efficient job of cooling the turbos by passing hot gases over them, the oil introduced is from a little separate reservoir and no oil sits on the Turbine shaft 'cooking' after shut down as after 10 mins the turbos would be very cool indeed. The other benefit which is a good one is that on placing the key in the ignition next day (or whenever) the little thing whirrs up again, putting the bearings under a little pressure in that critical start up period. I measure the time taken to get oil flowing at 9lb at the Turbos on a cold morning, it is 10 seconds, that is a long time with a car running at 1200rpm  for 5 of them! We would need a little m'bike battery, a small 12v pump, a ltr container some robust flow valves and away you go. Have you seen anything along those lines?

 

It would also be better at fuel stops on long fast runs.

 

(Edited by Mycroft at 12:55 am on April 4, 2002)

[THOR Racing]

1/ Self Leveling Headlamps.

What do you want?

 

The control box?

The small motors that attach to the back of the headlamps to turn the leveling screws?

Or both?

 

I would have to say that the best motor control would be the one fitted to the UK spec cars (Any Toyota I think will do, say a RAV4 for instance.) They just fit over the screw in some fashion.

 

The control box is another matter.

How intelligent do you want the controller?

Does the self leveling have to operate ONLY after manually pressing a GO button? i.e. you've loaded up you car and now need the headlamps adjusted for correct level?

Or does it have to operate all the time, slowly averaging the tilt and adjusting, so going up a steep hill hill dip them slightly? Or something?

 

What does the law say about HOW they are to be controlled?

 

I would think it would cost £50 just for the intelligent controller. I could make one using acclerometer chips.

 

Not sure I know what it is you need?

 

2:/ This can be made. A controller for this wouldn't be difficult provided someone found a suitable pump and reservoir.

 

Not sure on the actual benefits as I've never thought about this method before.

 

I must add that unless you want to pay me to develop one I haven't got time but I'll add it onto the list of possible controller outputs from my new products. One product already has a 3 axis accelerometer so that could be used to measure tilt no problem. (It's not cheap though!)

 

Pete

 

[Digsy]

Are the turbos on the Supra / Soarer engine oil cooled only? We have used electronically timed *water* recirc pumps before on Garrett T25s. I think its a fairly simple part that can be plugged into the cooling system. A simple timer which senses the ignition switching off could control it.

 

[Guest Mycroft]

I think both cars have both, the Soarer definitely has both, but the real damage to the Turbo bearings happens as the oil gets super heated on the shaft, this leaves small hard carbon deposits and as the car is restarted those few seconds of no oil being forced around the bearings does 90% of the damage that leads to the majority of failures.

 

Pete thinks the electronics is not too hard to sort, Richard on the Soarer site can make the proper valving, the oil bottle is sourced from Cafco, the cute little 12volt battery is a Yuasa that is as long as the soarer 'space' is wide and can therefore sit along side the car battery quite neatly. All I need now is just a small fairly powerful pump that is no more than a 100mm cube.

 

Were the water recirc pumps usable for oil (seals etc) and do you have a Web address?

 

Any help appreciated, I have the fabrication drawing half way there but need just some more 'bits' to get it to fruition.

 

Trying to have a good look under the bonnet of a RAV4 is not as easy as it seems! Our nearest Toyota place hasn't one in stock.

 

The law is 'fairly clever' on this, an addenda clarifies a previous part of the legislation stating that the SL should be of a design that can react to 'undulations normally encountered on 'A' roads sufficiently quickly so as to form no hazard to oncoming road users' Any adjustment smade whilst moving must be entirely Automated and have a 'system failure' position agreed with the manufacturer at the time of approval.

 

 

 

(Edited by Mycroft at 12:43 am on April 6, 2002)

[Digsy]

Quote: from Mycroft on 12:41 am on April 6, 2002[br]Were the water recirc pumps usable for oil (seals etc) and do you have a Web address?

 

I don't know precisely what was used, but I would assume it was a dedicated water unit. I am on holiday this week, so I will try to find out more details when I go back to work.

 

Point taken about the oil deposits.

 

[Guest Mycroft]

I'd appreciate that, thank you.

[francesca]

I might be able to locate a RAV4, what exactly do you want to know?

 

[Guest Mycroft]

Francesca, it appears that some/all the later model RAV4 have HID lamps, under the bonnet located (probably) on the lamp housing(aroud where the 'bulb' goes in) the normal 'prongs' that adjust the beam are replaced with some kind of electro/mechanical device that does the job instead. I want to know if it looks like an integral part of the cluster or is screw on device!

 

My parts CD is Japanese area only and they don't require this so no parts are listed.

[THOR Racing]

Just checking your not confusing my post when I said that the headlamp leveling motors can be sourced from any Toyota vehicle, such as a RAV4 for example. I didn't say they were HID! Merely that it's another vehicle I have on the drive (the wifes) and when I looked the leveling motors looked very similar if not the same as those I'd seen before on the Supra. They may or may not fit. I would have thought that a scrap yard with a UK spec MkIV would get you what you need. You may not have thought this but I don't want you to waste you time on something I may have said incorrectly.

 

Anyway, the leveling electronics would consit of a vertically mounted accelerometer (or I suppose you could use a crappy electrolite tilt sensor, Yuk!). These give out either PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) for X and Y axis (obviously one of these axis is the vertical one) or a filtered analogue signal which I think you can measure the voltage from and determine tilt. They can measure dynamic and static changes in gravity.

 

I'm about to use these accelerometers for another project but the generic circuit could be used for other purposes.

Be warned the chips are about £15 a piece anyway so add a PCB and microcontroller (or descrete electronics) and you're looking at about £40-50 by the time it's all finished and boxed up.

 

I'd need to get to look at a UK spec car (or even the wifes RAV4) to determine how the motors are controlled and the rest is easy (barring time to do it)

 

Regards

Pete

[Guest Ash]

Quote: from TRL Performance on 7:00 am on April 4, 2002[br]1/ Self Leveling Headlamps.

What do you want?

 

The control box?

The small motors that attach to the back of the headlamps to turn the leveling screws?

Or both?

 

I would have to say that the best motor control would be the one fitted to the UK spec cars (Any Toyota I think will do, say a RAV4 for instance.) They just fit over the screw in some fashion.

 

Pete

 

 

Don't want to appear picky but does the Rav-4 have self-levelling headlamps? I think the UK MR2 did and if I am correct the motors controlled the levelling screws.  

 

Yours,

J

 

Adit: just read the rest of the thread, sorry I'm in a rush, but my wife has a new-shape RAV-4 NRG and I can check what is on there. I don't drive it all that often so I cannot say exactly what the lights are. They don't look like HID though.

 

 

 

(Edited by Ash at 6:01 pm on April 6, 2002)

[Digsy]

Mycroft,

 

I have just been furnished with a load of information about our coolant recirc. pumps. Far too much to post in here.

 

I have two alternative pump designs, together with engineering drawings and techincal specs. Slight problem: The specs are all in German.

 

My e-mail address is on my profile. If you send me a mail I'll reply to it with the stuff attached, if you like.

 

[Guest Mycroft]

Thanks, you have mail.

[Digsy]

No problem. So do you!

 

[Adam W]

The Mk2 MR2 does NOT have self levelling headlamps, at least my stepdads doesn't.  It does have a dial-adjuster thingy in the car though, which must control some motors as described above.

[Guest Ash]

Quote: from Mycroft on 12:47 am on April 4, 2002[br]1/. As seen in other thread, a headlight self-levelling system that costs less than £50, if you have seen anything at all that could be forced into service

2/. I want a Turbo oil cooler, we all leave our cars running after a hard blast (TT's only) on a Turbo timer, but what I want is a system that works as if the car was an NA, just switch off and a little pump whirrs into life pumping a separate (say) litre of oil around only the Turbos, it pumps this 'fresh' cool oil for (say) 10 mins then shuts down, you dont have your car doing a less than 100% efficient job of cooling the turbos by passing hot gases over them, the oil introduced is from a little separate reservoir and no oil sits on the Turbine shaft 'cooking' after shut down as after 10 mins the turbos would be very cool indeed. The other benefit which is a good one is that on placing the key in the ignition next day (or whenever) the little thing whirrs up again, putting the bearings under a little pressure in that critical start up period. I measure the time taken to get oil flowing at 9lb at the Turbos on a cold morning, it is 10 seconds, that is a long time with a car running at 1200rpm  for 5 of them! We would need a little m'bike battery, a small 12v pump, a ltr container some robust flow valves and away you go. Have you seen anything along those lines?

 

It would also be better at fuel stops on long fast runs.

 

(Edited by Mycroft at 12:55 am on April 4, 2002)

 

 

You can get devices that store a given quantity of oil that charge themselves against a spring. Such that when the pressure is released, i.e. when the motor is shut down, the spring gradually forces a flow of oil through the turbo bearing housing.

 

If you want a pumped version then the shutdown side of things would be okay. But these electric pumps shifting *cold* oil I'm not sure about.

 

"Think Automotive" have these kinds of devices, together with all kinds of pipe, fittings, adaptors, etc. I don't have a bang up to date catalogue. But the one I have lists 2 electric oil-pumps that *may* fit the bill. Their phone number is: 020 8568 1172.  

 

Yours,

J

 

 

[Guest Mycroft]

I like clockwork things!

 

Tell me more maestro!

 

Stuff soulless electrics, lets go all Heath-Robinson!

[Guest Ash]

Quote: from Adam Wootten on 12:23 pm on April 9, 2002[br]The Mk2 MR2 does NOT have self levelling headlamps, at least my stepdads doesn't.  It does have a dial-adjuster thingy in the car though, which must control some motors as described above.

 

 

Is that a J-spec or a UK-spec car?

 

My J-spec MR2 does not have self-levelling headlights, but I'm sure it mentions them in my UK Toyota workshop manuals.

 

Yours,

J

[Adam W]

It's a UK car, J-reg IIRC.

[Guest Ash]

Quote: from Mycroft on 5:44 pm on April 9, 2002[br]I like clockwork things!

 

Tell me more maestro!

 

Stuff soulless electrics, lets go all Heath-Robinson!

 

 

I'm not quite sure how current this information is (they may have a MKII version or whatever) but here goes.......

 

OIL PRESSURE ACCUMULATORS

 

Function: This device consists of a piston in a cylinder with air in the chamber behind the piston pressurised to 6psi. Engine oil pressure further compresses the air providing the means to store 6 pints of oil at normal operating pressure.

 

Application:

 

a) To provide oil to the engine when the oil pump is unable to pick up oil from the sump due to acceleration, braking or cornering.

 

b) To provide pre-lubrication to the engine when starting before the oil pump has built up pressure.

 

c) To iron out shock waves in the oil pressure system caused by rapid rpm increase on a cold engine, sticky oil-pressure relief valves, etc. Shock waves can damage.............. etc.

 

D)............... more blurb.

 

Can be mounted in any position & various methods of plumbing-in can be used........

 

It's a purely mechanical device and the plumbing diagram looks quite straight forward.

 

Yours,

J

 

 

[Guest Ash]

Quote: from Adam Wootten on 5:47 pm on April 9, 2002[br]It's a UK car, J-reg IIRC.

 

That probably explains it. They must have developed the system for the later car because I just checked my UK manual and it definitely gives electrical diagrams for what Toyota call, "Headlight beam level control". Which is complete with ECU, switch, etc.  

 

Yours,

J

[Guest Martin F]

 

Oil Pressure Accumulator

 

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=11805',650,505,'MOR23900'