Hey everyone! Sorry to be scarce the past few weeks, finishing teaching summer class and a few trips out of town. So I received and installed my RP Super-Cat today. I'm taking it in for emissions check tomorrow (3rd time). After not passing 2 times I had to get a 30 day temporary cardboard plate until I pass E-Check and get my sticker to put my "1AM ST1G" plates back on. - That's a whole other story. Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!

 

I have the box my new CAT came it if that will help, it is all yours!

 

The AP box is 5'x2'x2'

 

I def. could use it... not for the exhaust, but for other items... I had to use one of the midpipe boxes for the sway bars.

Are you still interested in picking up the premix?

 

The box is all yours. I totally forgot about the pre-mix My bad! Yes I'll still take it for sure.

Also, I passed my e-check this morning with the RP Super Cat

Here are the numbers:

With OEM gutted Cat
HC was 539.8
CO was 0.62
NO was 662.7
CO2 was 13.69

With the new Cat:
HC was 0.5
CO was 0.00
NO was 89.0
CO2 was 14.95

Now I can get my real plates back on and not the Temp Tags!

 

Interesting seeing the CO2 numbers increase between the two. I wonder if that was just a result of something on the days being run or if it is actually related to having a CAT installed.

 

You do know how a catalytic converter works right?

 

Brian - NO > O2 and HC > CO2...however...I would expect that more CO2 to be produced based on the HC numbers. My question was more around environmental inputs to determine the exhaust gases from the block.

So in my rush to type it up I guess it didn't get worded the best. Sorry about that.

 

^Not quite


Carbon monoxide -> carbon dioxide

Hydrocarbons -> water (hence water dripping out of the tailpipes and exhausts rusting away)

You did get the nitrogen oxide part right though.

 

called and left you a message about boxes bud.

 

Well Megan... first step towards trying to repair your TV is done.

This TV doesn't have a separate ballast for the lamps, its all together on the power supply.
There are 4 lamps (2 on top and 2 on bottom) and once the power is turned on, voltage drops after a couple seconds and the lamps turn off.
I tested each lamp by itself, and in each connector (1 connector per lamp).
So now the real fun begins... work my way back from the transformer and test the capacitors and diodes along the way!

 

ooooo...big fun!

Jon...someone here at the office is thinking about pitching a 37" LCD because the picture won't come on. If she decides to pitch it did you want to take a look at it and see if you can get a free tv outta the deal?

 

Sure

 

LCD TVs too?!? Jon you da man!

 

Well... after MANY hours of troubleshooting Megan's bad TV, I finally figured out what it was.
Lights have stayed on for 30min thus far!

Testing the inverter, driver transistors, capacitors, and diodes was leading me nowhere, so I started looking in the other direction.
I noticed on one of the lamps, the end of it where the wire is soldered, had a burnt looking color to it.
I lightly pulled on the wire and it came right out!
Took a jumper wire and soldered it to the end of the lamp, and the other side to the wire.
Turned it on and it worked like a charm!


So the wire was broken inside a protective grommet and created an "open" to that lamp.
The circuit is likely looking for a clean and consistent voltage through both pairs of lamps, which would explain why the good pair also shut-off when connected alone.

Now, the wire broke right at the bulb and it was difficult to solder the jumper wire.
So I wouldn't trust soldering the wire to the lamp... the slightest bump could break the connection again.
I might suggest ordering a new lamp... maybe replace both pairs just to be safe:
http://www.lcdparts.net/ccfldetail.a...ctCCFL=MS26413
Feel free to give me a call Megan and we can discuss this further.

 

It has been 3 days with the RP Super Cat and no CEL (with the original second O2 sensor). It defiantly has more PEP and it sounds great....a Cat-Back is next. Just made a 1500 mile round trip to Iowa last week with no issues.....I'm approaching 120,000 miles quickly and the 8 is still running great....I don't remember who recently said it but our 8s are truly easy cars to drive hard. They have their quirks, get "bad" milage and they are not as bulletproof as a Toyota but they always get looks and there is nothing like them on the road.....still worth the price of admission.

 

Toyota: Once you start driving one, you'll NEVER stop!

 

 

Yesterday I planned on swapping my brake calipers... but those plans were quickly defeated when I couldn't find my wheel lock
So I'll have to find out how much the dealer will charge for another key.
If its a ridiculous price... I'll just buy 4 regular lug nuts and be done with it.

Instead I decided to work on Megan's TV... this time I was able to get a solid solder joint on the lamp.
Took the chance, started reassembling it, and so far so good:

Taking a break now and will likely finish afterwards.
Even though we now have a solid and uniform back-light, I hope the picture looks as good as it did since there were several layers of diffuser sheets used to evenly "spread the light" throughout the display.

 

I want to say wheel locks are like $60 for the complete set.

 

I saw Mazdatrix has a set for $40... but that is the wheel lock and the lug nuts.
Not sure if I can buy just the wheel lock.
If they try to charge me $60, I'll just buy 4 lug nuts and ask them to remove the wheel locks.

 

I want to say that you have to buy the whole set of wheel lock keys which is why it ends up being so expensive.

 

Well... had a little hiccup on the TV...
Got everything put back together and plugged it into my Blu-Ray player.
Turned it on, saw the Polaroid logo, then the back-lights went out!
Back to taking everything apart to find out what went wrong...

Hooked up just the lamps like before, and they worked fine... interesting!
Hooked up the LCD and turned it on, and it still worked fine... interesting!

^Yes... that is the RX8club iSpy on the screen... I hooked it to my laptop through HDMI
I'm guessing while assembling everything, the wire I soldered for the lamp might have had a loose strand and grounded against the metal housing the lamps sit in.
So I'm going to look over that lamp again and see what happens!

 

Wow... many many hours later I FINALLY got the TV working!
It appears that something was shorting to ground, but can't find exactly what.
I basically had to insulate the power supply housing from the display housing, because when they touched, the lamps shut off!
So here is the proof that its working:


Think its time for bed now...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02...item2eadc8b87a

lost mine too. Bought a set from this guy.