Hanaldo

Better bring this up to date, been pretty busy since I last posted here! I pretty much got stuck straight into mounting the flex-fuel sensor - a job easier said than done! Despite the new flow-through design of the sensor, the thing is still quite physically large which makes it hard to find a place to mount it in the engine bay. I eventually found a place on the chassis rail: I also drilled and tapped holes in the rail for the other two mounting holes on the sensor, so it's nice and solid. I then started on mounting the ECA display. This is where I wanted it to go: However it wasn't enough for me to simply mount it there, I wanted something a bit more custom. You probably all know what this means by now... I started with this: Used it as a plug to make a mold, then used this: And did this: To make this: A bit of dremel work later, and I was finished with this: For those of you wondering what the little switch in the corner is for, I'll get to that In the mean time, I ran the wires for the sensor through to the cabin. While I was under the dash, I winced at the wiring job I had done a few years ago when I installed my gauges. I just couldn't let that remain as it was, so I decided to completely rewire everything: While I was at it, I ripped out the Apexi turbo timer that was in there, and was just shocked at the wiring job the workshop that installed it did. I mean my wiring was messy and I knew it, but it was at least connected properly. Unfortunately I didn't think to take photos, but I'm talking like they spliced into my ECU harness and other wires by tying granny knots in the wiring... No solder, just stripped the wires and literally tied the turbo timer wiring onto it. It was horrific. But all gone now! Fast forward a few days, and this is how my wiring looks now (ignore the unplugged harnesses, not much I could do about them! ) : I managed to get rid of almost half a kilo of unnecessary wire! And I set up these distribution blocks as sources for my earth, constant 12v, switched 12v, and illumination 12v: Perhaps not up to the standards of say Simon-S14's work, but it's a damn lot better than what it was and I'm much much happier with it! With that all done, I finished running the ECA analog signal wire and pinned it into the ECU expansion harness, and also tidied up my ECU wiring loom and everything while I was at it. I then connected all the wires using bullet connectors, and put everything back together: None too shabby! Time to light it all up... This brings us back to that little switch next to the ECA display, which allows my to display both ethanol content: And fuel temperature: Something I'm quite pleased about being able to monitor. This will help me decide whether my setup requires a fuel cooler in the future. So I'm pretty much done now really, I just need to set up the sensor in the ECU which shouldn't be too hard, I'll do that just now. Then I'm ready to convert the thing to ethanol!

Lol yeh I know man, was a tongue-in-cheek reply to James.

Haha boom from what, no det on ethanol

Danny @ Garage 101.

Buy some farkin injectors and get on with it

Ahhh quick google search showed me Koyo's NFlow design, clever system. So yeh, triple pass would work. As for OEM thermostat; Hitachi... Maybe? Don't quote me on that, I can't actually remember. Probably just had Nissan stamped on it.

Make sure your air-con is on, might get a little stuffy at 450 degrees

Yeh see that claim annoyed me. The thermostat isn't usually fully open, it shouldn't need to 'flow' more than the factory item. It's a simple thing that does a simple job, there doesn't need to be anything complex about it. If you are getting overheating issues, it's highly unlikely to be because your thermostat can't flow enough coolant. And comparing the two side by side, I couldn't see how they justified that claim anyway. As for the radiator, are you sure yours is a triple pass not a triple core? My understanding was that triple pass radiators required the inlet/outlet to be on opposite sides, yours are on the same which tells me it must be a dual pass... Also, not that it matters too much, but just read this while looking for pics of your rad: This doesn't make much sense to me... The coolant is in a closed system. So if it's in the radiator for longer then it is in the engine for longer, which can only increase temperatures.

It forms a layer on the part that prevents corrosion. It's usually done by dipping the parts in a molten bath of zinc. It's actually a lot like soldering really, the parts are chemically cleaned and then coated in a flux,which helps the zinc bond. The advantage of zinc plating over other anti-corrosion methods like paint etc. is even if the zinc layer gets scratched, the part underneath will still be protected. Nifty stuff really.

Ah nice! Between Ossy Park and the one coming soon on Gnangara, I'll be set! Just finished installing the flex-fuel sensor, so I'm ready for a tune

A lower temp thermostat wouldn't help overheating issues anyway. Once the thermostat is open its open, it's up to the rest of your cooling system to keep the engine cool. I doubt there would be any correction, low temp thermostats don't run that much lower. I know my tune doesn't have any enrichment or timing correction between 70 degrees and 85 degrees, as I was driving around with a leaky thermostat for awhile there. Also using a Tridon now. Can't say I've put too many kms on it, probably only 50 or so haha. But it works well from what I can see. I would have preferred to go genuine Nissan though to be honest, I only went the Tridon because I wanted it done on the day and nobody stocked genuine Nissan.

Can't be done, need an ecu with inputs.

Yeh I have this handy thing attached to my leg, right at the bottom there. Useful little thing commonly referred to as a 'foot'. The right one is pretty effective for keeping me alive, when it's wet I simply choose to not be an idiot. TC can suck it.

Yeh this is obvious; Hattori didn't specify though. Just said no external gate. I was quite sure a plumbed in external wastegate is fine, though I haven't been through the process myself, so just wanted to clarify.

Don't need to have heard your car, all NA's sound the same

Do you mean can't have an external gate venting to atmosphere? Or no external gate at all?

You need one input per signal. So if you wanted to set the ECU up for fuel temp correction then you would need two inputs.

Yeh this is what I was thinking of. It would be so much easier if I could cut the standard hard line, but I don't want to lose the flared end. I think the easiest thing would just be to run a longer length of hose to the sensor. Just seems such a messy way of doing it

Yeh so they say. Its fkn massive! Ideally I would mount it close to the rail, but I can't see it fitting anywhere unless I remote mount the sensor and run like 2 meters of hose to it

Yeh the old style sensor I could see being much easier in the boot... The flow-through design is a bit trickier Thanks for the photo though Paul

From memory I paid $160... But I got mine without flanges, they weren't offering the bolt-on version when I got mine. So I guess that answers your second question as well haha. It only cost me $40 to have two flanges welded on, and that guaranteed perfect fitment.

Yeh? I did think of putting it there. Could maybe work something out... All seems a bit tight though, I can hardly see my return line let alone find a place to put two tees into it

Also using one here

Do you know what micron filter element you've got, Scott? Another one, where are people mounting their GM flex-fuel sensors? I've got the flow through type and I thought I could mount it between my regulator and return line in the engine bay, but I can't see it happening. This thing is quite hard to mount with the factory hard lines

Hey all, Just wanted to ask a quick one about fuel filters. What are you guys using these days? I've read a number of older posts about using the standard Ryco filters, some good some bad. I'm also aware of the situation with needing to replace fuel filters regularly just after switching to E85 until the system is clean. So right now I'm considering three paths. 1. I stick with the Ryco paper filter and just replace it regularly. 2. I stick with the Ryco paper filter for now, then after my first tank of E85, switch to a billet filter (Aeroflow, Speedflow, Proflow, or similar?) 3. I switch to a billet filter now, before getting the E85 tune. At the moment I'm leaning towards option 3 for a couple of reasons. Firstly I have the standard feed line to my Ryco filter, then a -6 fuel line to my HKS rail. It works, but considering the Ryco filter has 5/16 push on barbs, it doesn't quite fit as nicely as I would like. With the billet filter I could use a -6 AN fitting on one side, and a -6 AN to 5/16 tail barb on the other side. Second, if I need to replace filters regularly, would a washable element not be a cost effective solution?