Finally, after a number of attempts to get the BoostManager software to register an RPM signal I had success tapping into a previously used wire that connects to a fuel injector. Eurodyne was very helpful throughout the process offering suggestions on where to try tapping the wire.
With the manifold pressure and rpm now being sent to the controller I can start to fine tune the water-methanol pump duty cycle table to better pair up with the K03 airflow and injector fuel flow.
Using the Injector Duty Cycle as a rough guide along with manifold boost pressure I setup the following table:
Next up I’ll be logging the car to see if I have any recurrence of the bog I previously experienced.
It was brought to my attention that someone thought this photo showed a very unsafe setup for working on my car.
The reason given was that if something were to cause the parking brake to become disengaged, and someone were to come along and lean upon the vehicle while somebody was underneath, the vehicle could roll off of the ramps and crush the person beneath the car.
Being fairly safety conscious I was surprised to have it pointed out that I was working in a way that was described as “super dangerous”.
Review
So I thought about the setup in the picture a bit more, and then tested it out.
At the front of the vehicle providing support are a pair of jack stands. A single locking 2-1/4 ton pair and a double locking 3 ton pair.
At the rear are a pair of Rhino Ramps.
The suggested scenario involves several events occurring; the parking brake is deactivated, which allows the car to roll off of the ramp, and a person comes along who decides to lean against the car in a location and manner such that they can roll the car off of the ramps.
Hypothesis
Based upon the likelihood of these three events occurring I believe the risk of these events leading to a catastrophic outcome are very remote. The parking brake is only going to become disengaged if it suddenly fails, which is not likely if the parking brake system is not being worked upon. Alternatively it is unlikely that some other individual will come along and disengage the parking brake while the car is elevated and then depart. Even if this were to occur a quick check inside the cabin before commencing work would verify the state of the parking brake. Finally, even if someone were to come along and decide to lean upon the car they would have to do so along an axis that the car can roll, and with sufficient force to move the car off of the ramps.
Testing
I decided that I would assess how easy it is to roll the car off of the Rhino ramps. I thought this might take a little effort since the platform that the wheel sits upon is a slight bowl and the four sides all have ridges of varying heights that the tire would have to roll up and over. The most likely way that the car could exit the ramp is the way it entered, down the sloping side.
To test the effort involved I drove the car up onto the Rhino ramps and put the tires onto the top platform where they would normally be positioned during work. I then recruited an assistant to sit in the vehicle prepared to apply the brakes if needed. Next I went to the rear of the vehicle and leaned against the trunk to see if the vehicle would roll off of the ramps – it didn’t budge when I leaned against it. I then proceeded to push against the trunk. Moderate force again resulted in no movement from the car. Finally I leaned over, placed my shoulder up against the car, and bore down as hard as I could. The car moved forward perhaps an inch, but when the tire touched the front ridge the movement was halted immediately.
Conclusion
Being safe while working underneath a vehicle is important. Taking steps to mitigate the risks involved is a smart thing to do. I don’t believe the setup I use for working under the car poses significant risks.
I’ve got the Boost Manager working partially, it’s reading the MAP but not RPM. That’s enough to allow me to test it out on the road, which is what I did this afternoon. I set up an injection table that was tailored toward the boost only trigger and that would approach spraying at roughly 75% of the pump duty cycle once the stock boost level had been exceeded.
I’ve not yet established at exactly what compressor outlet pressure the K03’s are operating in conjunction with the AMD IC’s, but I figured they are probably around 17-19 psi at the initial peak boost. I therefore set the pump duty cycle to peak around that psi.
Boost Manager W/M Table
I then went out to log the car with the Boost Manager functioning and also with it disabled. First I did a pull without the system and then a couple with it on. The entire drive is graphed below.
During the period where the Boost Manager is active the intake air temperature drops in conjunction with the boost events, when the system is off the IAT’s either remain steady or rise. In order to better define the outcome I’ll need to look more closely at each event. For the time being I’m not going to be doing that because during the second pull I encountered something unexpected.
When I made the second pull, the first with the Boost Manager spraying, I found that around 4000 rpm the car bogged down.
Water-Methanol induced Bog
I repeated this twice to confirm the outcome and then secured the Boost Manager by swapping to a 0% duty cycle map that would keep the pump inactive no matter the boost level. With the Boost Manager back off I did another short pull without encountering the bog event.
It seems likely that using dual 1.0 mm Aquamist nozzles along with the Boost Manager at ~75% duty cycle is too much water for the motor to operate with. During this drive I was using 100% water.
Following the bog I had a flashing CEL which went away after a few seconds but when checking the ECU after the drive with VCDS I saw that it had logged a Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire DTC.
Next up I’ll need to start trying to dial back the amount of fluid being injected to prevent the undesirable results but still keep intake air temps in check.
