That’s great, thanks very much for your advice.
I can probably get a couple of molex connectors from work so I’ll have a go at that rather then dropping 50 quid on the cables. If I need to, I will, but if I can get away without it just now then it’d be preferable.
The VSE is outside at the front of the house at the moment where there’s not much light, due to working yesterday and today, I’ve been mucking around in the dark, I didn’t even think to look at the pins in each end of the plug. Simple things eh!
David.
Thanks guys, that’s most helpful.
On my car, the connector is just beside the ECU, it’s an 8 pin Molex connector that’s there. Does that mean i don’t need both of the cables in the link above?
As it’s been said in a previous post that i shouldn’t need to calibrate it, I’m tempted to just rebuild the reducer and fit the new filter and give it a try before spending another 50 quid on the cable.
David.
What was the cost of your recreation by the time you’d had it delivered? If it’s as easy as that, it’s probably not worth me pursuing the lead I’ve been working on.
David.
Thanks for the download. I've installed that and it's working without any USB key that the other software I downloaded was asking for.
Unfortunately it refuses to see my ECU. It comes up with an error saying that it can't connect when I open it. Is there only one version of the Tartarini software? If so, I'm wondering if the cable I'm using isn't compatible with the later type of systems. I notice the Tartarini cables advertised have a fancy box of tricks in the middle of them with LED's on them.
I wonder if it's worth trying to order one to rule it out.
David.
I'm actually in the process of speaking to a graphic designed friend of mine to have the Vogue SE badge recreated. If anyone is interested, let me know.
To make it affordable, I'd probably need a minimum of 10 orders.
David.
Well, I've just been and tried the Tartarini software that I managed to download from the net, I installed it, went to the car with me cable, opened the software and it said "Insert USB key. The software will be closed"
I'm using a USB > Serial adapter, then a Serial LPG lead that works perfectly with the Millennium and Leonardo ECU's I've used it on before. I wonder if for some reason it doesn't like this cable or if I need an unlocked version of the software.
I'll have a scour and see what I can find for now.
With a spot of luck, refurbishing the hardware might be enough to make it work if the map hasn't been lost from the ECU though.
David.
Thanks for the heads up.
I had Testbook out yesterday and gave the car a quick going over. There were a couple of faults stored on the engine ECU so I've cleared all of them and reset the fuel trims. It feels smoother then it did having done that. I've done about 65 miles since. I'll get a few more covered before the weekend and I'll run Testbook over it again and make sure that none of the faults have returned before commencing with any mapping or calibrating on the LPG :)
David.
Well, I've done some digging today and found the following:
- The LPG lead I have will connect to the Tartarini ECU :)
- There is only one filter between the vaporiser and the injectors, none on the solenoids like our other cars.
- It's a fully sequential system that's fitted.
- It's a 95 litre tank that's sitting in the spare wheel well.
I've ordered a new filter and a vaporiser refurb kit which will hopefully turn up before the weekend. Once I've got both fitted I'll try and get it to do an auto calibration and hopefully it'll be ok afterwards.
David.
Well, the LPG parts are ordered, hopefully they'll be here by the weekend and we can have a play.
Here's a couple of pics, first one of the Alvestone Red VSE:
Second one is the pair of VSE's together... I really must get that horrid window tinting film removed from the Blue car...
David.
Happy New Year chaps! Hope it's a good one for everyone.
David.
The L322's are fairly different.
My money would be on electrical rather then oils dripping on something. There was another that caught fire over on the FullFat forum recently.
David.
Just seen the video, that's an L322. In the video you can see the rear light clusters and tailgate with the reverse lights beside the number plate.
I believe the cable is the same as the LPG one that I’ve already got which is handy. The software I’ve managed to find as a free download online :)
David.
Well, we’re making progress. The power steering leak is definitely sorted... I’ve now accumulate a couple of hundred miles in it and haven’t had to top the fluid up since.
The side steps have been removed as one was rotten and I hate the look of the things. Also, being 6’ 4” they annoy me more then they help me so they’re gone now too.
Big thanks to Marty, his HEVAC connector arrived in the post this morning so I can now finally see what temperature I’m sitting at.
The car drives really well but I think it could do with a couple of bushes at the front as there’s a tiny bit of a wobble at the front if you hit a pot hole on the motorway at 70. I’m chuffed to bits with the car though, it’s running great. One niggle I’m not touching till it’s warmed up a bit though is the sat nav, it thinks I’m 50 miles from where I am but I’m not taking the scuttle off in case it’s gone brittle in the cold.
David.
It is indeed Multi Point. I’ve only ever worked in Single Point before so it’s going to be a learning curve.
I’ve been doing some more research on it today, the car will drive on LPG, it doesn’t feel like it’s misfiring or anything like that but it does feel lethargic. If you keep your foot int he same position and then switch it back to Petrol you can instantly feel the car start to accelerate. There’s a big difference.
The reducer/vaporiser is a Tartarini one, the Type RP/G E-97 the Version is RP/G 05/S/. From looking online there’s plenty of parts readily available so I’m going to order a service kit for that and the filters for it and see where we go from there.
David
I've just been printing pages for each job as I go.
As I've printed them I've put them in a ring binder rather then trying to print them all in one go. I've now got quite a comprehensive printed manual from just doing a few at a time.
David.
Right, onto the next issue on the red VSE.
It has a Tartarini LPG kit fitted to it that was installed in 2005 when the car was 3 years old and had covered 37k miles at a cost of £2150 according to the invoice I have here. The owner, a local gentlemen, was a jammy bugger as there's also paperwork in the history file for an £800 rebate he got from the green energy trust for having the car converted!
Anyway, the system is 12 years old and had done almost 80k miles since installation. None of the service positions in the book have been stamped so I can only assume that it's never been touched since it went in.
The car will switch to LPG and it will idle OK but when sitting on the motorway at a steady speed the car develops a stutter the second you switch it over, as if it's being starved of gas. When trying to climb the hill on the single lane road to our house, on LPG there's no power there either, it slows down on the hills, and won't go.
First things first, I was going to order the filters for it and change them but on the several single point systems I've worked on I've never noticed the filters getting that filthy. I can't help but think that the vaporiser/reducer is probably going to be due for replacement. If so, do I need to replace it with a like for like one? If not, is there any particular one that people would recommend?
Any hints/tips/suggestions would be appreciated as I don't know very much about multipoint unfortunately.
David.
Merry Christmas gents. Hope everyone has a great day and your P38’s all behave if you need to use them.
David.
Well, I think I've finally had success.
Today, Gordon came down for a visit and we set about removing the pipe I'd put in, giving everything a once over and fitting the new pipe. We noticed that the dowty washers sit in an ever so slight recess on the steering box... On that sealing face there was the tiniest little bit of corrosion, I used a small screwdriver and a blade and scratched it clean, wiped it with a rag and tightened the new banjo.
Interestingly, Island 4x4 picture the pipe without the banjo and they don't list a 16mm banjo separately. However, when the new pipe arrived and I opened the bag, it already had a new banjo and both of the dowty washers fitted to the banjo.
Anyway, we fitted it, torqued everything up, ran the car, moved the steering from lock to lock and the top of the steering box appears to be dry and the level in the reservoir didn't move. Fingers crossed when I go back out to it in a few hours the same is still true!
We had a poke around the Blue VSE which hadn't been started for a few months now. Connected the battery up and the car started straight away. On that car, there is no audio at all from the stereo. On the menu on the head unit there's no DSP options at all whereas on the red VSE there's the DSP options to choose from but a few speakers that don't work! Time for some more digging.
David.