Rabbit troubles (the furry kind)

[Shadow_7]

Well, this critter has all but moved in on my engine block. Fixed it, drove to Houston for a day. Came back, and less than 24 hours later, he chewed right through the fix. And he's getting a bit slow on the draw about scattering when I open the hood.

Anyway, this is what I rigged up for my car. All parts from radio shack. Although I got the wire a while back at home depot. Not that it matters, the rabbit finds it tasty. Even the shrink wrap. I put some yellow splice things on the wire tonight. Drilling out the center with a wizard tool (walmart dremmel). Hopefully that proves to be some form of armor.

http://home.earthlink.net/~shadow_7/car_fix.gif

Good enough to get me to the Mardi Gras in Galveston from 210 miles out. And back (~422 miles round trip). I was kind of worried about it falling off with 70mph winds at freeway speeds. But it held. And probably running better than my car did off the show room floor. A little research on MAP sensor testing and soldering, and apparently a bad map sensor can lead to engine surging. Which was a trait, when first started, i.e. cold. But doesn't seem to be an issue now with this wiring configuration.

Also the clock seemed to blink off, and then on, and reset to 1:00 with the previous rigging. The 2nd of 3 wires was only partially chewed, even though the one in front of and the one behind it was fully chewed. But it was exposed and corroded, and currently snipped to pull the original harness connector. With 3x fresh wires, kind of scary good / working. I've been averaging ~ 32mpg, maybe a hair less since having to splice things. With the current soldered / crimped wiring as pictured. I'm expecting at least 34mpg when I top off the tank after said trip. And that's with 150+ miles on the old configuration / tank of gas. Maybe even more than that.

[Shadow_7]

Fixed again (and again.. and again.. and...). And quasi armor plated this time. No rabbit on board this morning.

http://home.earthlink.net/~shadow_7/car_actual.gif

Maybe I'll get out to the HW store today and top off the tank for post fix specs and other supplies. Suffice to say, then when the sensor is fully connected the car has most of it's new car pep again. When I step on the gas, it goes. And it seems to shift more logically too (more so than when I first got it). 3 little wires doing all that? Plus the clock not going twilight zone when fully connected. I'm not liking the flimsy crimp things meant for computer connections. But it seems to work and holds, at least on the short term. The thick wire (16 guage?) seems to provide most of the staying power / structure. Two pre-made spares in the glove box now. And still 4 tips to make more.

I hosed one of the first 3 as the solder got up into the crimp part. Lessons learned. And the middle one currently installed has a tiny bit in the crimp part which is why it kind of sticks out further. Now to find a way to adapter-ize them so I can lock them in there. Somehow tape doesn't seem like a good ideal. And I currently have to slide them on one by one, without the possibility to put the plastic hose cover over them as it'll knock them off. I was worried that the wind at freeway speeds would have knocked them off, but that doesn't seem to be an issue.

[Shadow_7]

Good enough to somehow make it to Houston and back, but since adding those yellow splitters (hollow out) to the first wire, I've had them come off while driving twice now. Parking at BK and it stalls out which makes steering and braking interesting. Virtually no turn radius without power. And the engine is quiet enough when running that it's hard to tell that it's stopped running (in the city). And today was I came to a red light after getting off the freeway. Stalled out. Kind of drifted up into the drive of a service station and kind of out of the road, while I took the 30 seconds to reclamp the wires. So I'll be making a clamp mount type thing I guess to hold them in place. I guess the other armor plating has too high of a wind profile. But it seems a lot more like summer now (89F today) and the rabbit has found cooler lodging than my engine block for the past week or so. But I'm still checking daily with rabbit grabber thingy (old man tool) before driving off.

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

Good enough to somehow make it to Houston and back, but since adding those yellow splitters (hollow out) to the first wire, I've had them come off while driving twice now. Parking at BK and it stalls out which makes steering and braking interesting. Virtually no turn radius without power. And the engine is quiet enough when running that it's hard to tell that it's stopped running (in the city). And today was I came to a red light after getting off the freeway. Stalled out. Kind of drifted up into the drive of a service station and kind of out of the road, while I took the 30 seconds to reclamp the wires. So I'll be making a clamp mount type thing I guess to hold them in place. I guess the other armor plating has too high of a wind profile. But it seems a lot more like summer now (89F today) and the rabbit has found cooler lodging than my engine block for the past week or so. But I'm still checking daily with rabbit grabber thingy (old man tool) before driving off.

Walmart sells connectors that have a tapered bar in the center and screw ends. You cut off the insulation after the screw cap is on the wire. Push the wire over the tapered bar then screw the cap on it won't pull apart. Buy the ones with silicon or use a tube and coat the ends. This keeps out mud and moisture. If your not going to solder them use these. They will hand pulsed loads like a coil wire.