Your non-diagnostic vehicle-related problems solved by Steve Rothwell
GENERAL
Jump-starters
QCan you recommend a reasonably priced jump-starter, the type that can be stored in the glovebox. I recently purchased one from Argos for £75 – the make was Ring. I know you probably have a good one being in the trade, but I just need a small one for emergencies. I charged it up as per the instructions to 100%. Yesterday I tried to start my neighbours 2.0-litre diesel with it, but it hardly turned the engine over so had to jump-start it from my own car.
Reading the reviews, some have said it’s no good for diesels, but on the box it says engines up to 2.0. I’m going to return it – is there any make I could replace it with?
A I suspect the unit you have is the 300A version which mentions vehicles up to 2.0-litre, but this is for petrol engines and not the more power consuming diesel versions.
Within the budget price at the moment is the NOCO GB20 500A Jump Starter – this is £89.95 at this website bit.ly/ CMLFNBJ but can be found at other online retailers for £75. This unit has a delivery rate of 500-amp and is said to be suitable for petrol vehicles up to 4.0-litre. The unit though, as many, is not rated suitable for diesel engines.
If you did want to accommodate your neighbour again, you would need to go up to something like the NOCO Boost Plus GB40 1000A – these retails at £93 and suitable for petrol engines up to 6.0-litre and diesel engines up to 3.0-litre.
One of the problems when using a small unit such as these compact jump-start batteries is that not only does the unit have to supply the power to the starter, it has to accommodate the draw from the flat battery, and so the capacity for this does need to be incorporated in the unit.
GENERAL
Oscilloscope
QWe have undertaken the kit build of a SBR/DJC V Storm road/track day car.
We have used a rebuilt Subaru engine and 5-speed manual gearbox, and have stripped a Subaru harness to provide an electrical harness between the engine and ECM. The kit has been built with a Link g4x Subaru plug in ECM, and connected to a IJ Innovations Toucan display screen – so that we can select the engine performance level for use on the road to match the capabilities of the driver. We have also incorporated as Race Technology Dash2 Pro display screen.
All is currently meeting basic requirements and display expectations except for the vehicle speed (speedo) displays on Toucan and Dash2. The transmission manual 5-speed gearbox has a Subaru VSS fitted, which required wiring to the power/earth and provides the output signal to the ECM and Dash2. We have researched Subaru manuals available for original period build of Impreza WRX Turbo models.
Since the speed is not being displayed (vehicle on jacks and engine running at 1000rpm with drive wheels rotating). Checks on the VSS
