Duratec Front Pulleys

Some of the more recent Duratec versions uses a larger front pulley trigger wheel than before. The trigger wheel diameter must match the style of the engine front cover, at least if you plan to use the standard crank sensor and mount.

Also, if the pulley size is large on high rpm engines it may cause the alternator to over-rev, and the water pump could experience cavitation that causes cooling problems. It is also said that unnecessary power is lost. For these reasons aftermarket under-drive pulleys are available in various models.

On the picture above there is to the left a 164mm under-drive pulley, in the middle a stock 146mm old style pulley, and to the right a stock 164mm pulley.

Aftermarket underdrive from TTV Racing.
Weight: 776g
Trigger wheel: 164mm
Pulley: 100mm
Alternator rpm @7800: 13000 rpm.
Waterpump rpm @7800: 7428 rpm.

Stock old pulley
Weight: 1529g
Trigger wheel: 146mm
Pulley: 137mm
Alternator rpm @7800: 17810 rpm
Waterpump rpm @7800: 10177 rpm

Stock large pulley
Weight: 1949g
Trigger wheel: 164mm
Pulley: 155mm
Alternator rpm @7800: 20150 rpm
Waterpump rpm @7800: 11514 rpm

The alternator pulley above is 60mm, water pump pulley 105mm.

According to the book Four-Stroke Performance Tuning by A. Graham Bell, a water pump's maximum efficiency zone is usually between 4000-6000 rpm.

A good article/calculator addressing how the pulley weight affects power output can be found here: http://hpwizard.com/rotational-inertia.html#flywheel

Tierp Arena

Great day! Great fun racing with some other sevens. Probably the last outing for the season.

My car is both wonderful and terrifying at the same time! Especially in the morning on a wet track with cold slicks... Ehh... The concrete barriers added another dimension to it. During the day the track dried up and I could start pushing, but I had most fun trying to overtake the red Westfield. I was faster but still it is very hard to overtake someone.

The alternator broke again. Since last time I let a local mechanic fix it 'as new' to a reasonable price but it didn't last long. I'm probably over revving it. In the winter I must change the pulleys so it rotates a bit slower.

My shoulders will be sore tomorrow!

Finally some driving!!

A "test drive a Radical SR3" event at Mantorp. I was also invited but drove my own car.

The engine runs great! The car handles great! Even the weather was great! My driving - not so great, but who cares? Well not that bad, today's best was 1:22.3. Compared with my all time best 1:21.8 it is all right considering I had no "rabbit" in front of me and I was feeling a bit rusty. The Radicals didn't stand a chance with those inexperienced drivers.

But of course...

Fuel surge and alternator problems!!

This spring when my engine broke, it was because of the small wire from the alternator went loose and it stopped charging the battery. The fuel pump couldn't keep up with the lower voltage and the engine run lean. Things got hot inside the cylinders and the engine got damaged.

Today the alternator broke completely.

The same symptoms - no power on the long straight. But this time I knew, and backed off the throttle immediately. Also the no-charge light on the dash was lit this time.

I also experienced fuel surge in the long right hander "Parisern" when the fuel level was below half. I always had that problem, even with the stock CSR200 engine. Today it annoyed me more than ever before.

I need a more robust fuel system! I can't risk loosing my engine because the alternator fails, or if a connector jumps loose.

Anyway I got five or so laps on film. Here are a couple of them. I'm not very satisfied with my driving here, as soon as I try to push hard I get sloppy and miss the apexes.

Mantorp first time 2013

This years first trackday was a warm day with blue skies on Mantorp and a huge mix of different types of cars.

Things didn't go that well. It started with me being a bit late.

Then there was a Porsche that spilled oil on a long section of the track. (Those German cars....)
Then someone else went off and one corner was covered with gravel and the track was closed again.
When I finally got the tires warm there was too much traffic and no clear laps.

Engine problems

Lost top end power and the top speed on the straight was a bit too low. It got worse and worse, so I stopped driving and went home instead, worried that there was something very wrong with the engine.

When I got home I did some troubleshooting and found out the alternator warning light connector was broken, and that prevented the battery being charged. (Stupid design!) My speculation is that the battery's voltage went down during the day and caused the fuel pump not being able to keep up the pressure when the fuel demand was peaking, making the engine run lean. Running an engine like this lean is not good at all and could cause fatal pre-ignition.

I need some way to prevent this from happening again.

I would like to be able to log the fuel pressure, and have some warning system for a fuel or oil pressure drop.

Here is a video I found describing how voltage affects the fuel pump flow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjykWzDr1Kk

Noise check

A couple of months ago I bought a cheap noise meter from Hong Kong, and today I asked someone to measure the drive-by noise of my car.

The guy told me it made 106.4 dbA!

In many race circuits in this country have from this season a drive-by noise limit of 95dbA.

I started measuring the other cars, and no-one, except a stock Corvette, was below that limit.

Then I moved a little, and all readings changed. Then the wind changed, and the readings changed as well. Then I realized I could not get the same reading twice for the same car.

It seems like measuring noise at a race track is not an exact science.

I refuse to think my car makes as much noise as 106db, but I'm not surprised I have to do something about it if I'd like to drive on other circuits. I just don't know what yet.

What about all the work done this winter?

All good!

The roll cage... stayed in place. 

The suspension bushes hold together. The car felt nice and precise.

The exhaust manifold was not leaking!

The silencer mounts did not break.

No oil spew from the catch tank.

Engine did not leak oil from the front cover

Overall the car feels wonderful. Too bad I was worrying about the engine instead of enjoying myself.

I did not have the aeroscreen mounted as I didn't think it would do much difference. At the end of the straight the force against the helmet was overwhelming. I must put the aeroscreen back on.