Problem - the wheelspeed says 9kph
while standing still.
Vehicle – rallycross 4 wheel drive car
These guys had mounted the speed sensor with the the propshaft as the
trigger because that was the easiest place to mount it. The bracket was some
flimsy piece of aluminum, vibrating around. If the propshaft stopped in the
right place, the speed sensor could see it. Thus with the engine running the
vibration was enough to generate a wheelspeed signal. The harder you revved the
engine the faster you went ! ( in neutral )
Answer – make
wheelspeed sensor mountings rigid and in the correct place even if it does take
time !
CASE STUDY TWO
Problem – can't set up the dash
Vehicle – Formula Ford
The customer rang saying he
couldn't work out how to set up the dash. He could go so far with the buttons
on the dash and then it stumped him.
When asked if he had read the
manual he said no.
He was trying to set it on the buttons only –
like it used to do with his old system ( from a different manufacturer )
Answer - READ THE *£$^&*) manual ! If he read the manual, he
would tell him how to setup the software and set the parameters from the PC.
CASE STUDY
THREE
Problem – no information
from ECU to display
Vehicle – rally car.
The customer said
he couldn't get any information from the ECU to display on to the dash. He had
made some effort and now time was counting down to the weekend.
Even
from the phone call it sounded like that there were multiple problems. It
turned out to have one incorrectly wired sensor ( that was easy ) but the core
problem was no information coming over the serial link to the ECU.
When we asked if they had the ECU software - the answer was no. We downloaded
if off the net.
When we asked where the communication lead was for the
ECU to pc we were told no, we don't have one. We made one on the spot.
After setting up the ECU to turn on the serial communication every one
was happy.
Another problem here was the number of people contributing
to the car and the poor communication between them. This often happens on more
complex vehicles and some proper project management is often called for.
On this one we had involved
Owner of the car
Car
preparation company
Engine tuner ( who sold the ECU but didn't /
couldn't support it )
ECU manufacturer
Electrician ( who
rewired the entire car )
Dataspares ( sold the dash / logger
)
Answer. - When buying an ECU get a communication lead with it, expect
help from the company selling the ECU.
Pay for expertise ( for sorting
out the mess - which the customer did )
At all times have pc, software,
ECU manual, comms leads, charger for pc.
Manage all the parties
contributing to the solution.
2005 TOP FIVE
PROBLEMS
Number 1 - wheelspeed related,
poor sensor mounting brackets
Number 2 - no communication from ECU - ECU
datastream not configured. See case study 3
Number 3 - phone calls from
customers not reading manuals
Number 4 - Old software. Both Motec and
AIM software is free, and available on the web - that is one of the reasons we
support their equipment.
Number 5 - USB drivers - unfortunately some
persistence is required here. This is improving with XP service pack 2 and
newer drivers.
SUPPORT
Think about this carefully before buying. We support customers
over the phone and travel to circuits where the customer or championship is
paying for the service. However we only help genuine customers who have
purchased from Dataspares. We always ask for serial or invoice numbers as proof
of purchase.
