TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

this is posted in the racing forum you know, the only thing you’re likely to hear about auto climate control conversion, and on an S2 no less, is snoring ...

Laminar

Yeah, I hemmed and hawed about where to post it - this forum doesn't have a "Build threads" section. And it took me quite a while to stumble on John's build because it wasn't in the Engine Swap section where I spend most of my time browsing. Is there a better section for a general build thread? Or do I need to start making individual threads in the respective sections for each question I have?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

Sorry, your thread is in the proper place, but the non-racing question could be posed separate in a more appropriate area, likely where the answer already exists if a search there is performed. Because it seems like I recall that being brought up in the past. Let me take a look and see what might be found for you.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

S2 specific

https://www.rx8club.com/series-ii-te...rences-217800/


S1 info

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...oclima-173944/


looks messy, but hth’s ...

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Laminar

Oh we're on the same page here.

Laminar

Thanks for those! I had found the S1 thread but not S2.

Spent a few minutes on the car last night. The passenger door handle would pull out at the front when opening that door.



So I pulled off the door panel and snugged up the bolt holding it in place. I also took a look at the power window as the passenger side has been acting funky. Looks like I have a busted gear in that motor, so I'll have to fix that.

Another problem I've been having is that the driver's side auto up/down doesn't work. All of the threads say to just go full up and down a few times and it figures it out. That hasn't worked for me so far. If I hold the button up/down after it has reached max position a few times, eventually I'll hear a "sprong" noise which I assume is a circuit breaker and the window won't work for a minute or two, then it goes back to moving, but it never works automatically. I swapped to a different switch assembly and get the same result. The passenger side auto mode works fine. What am I missing here?

Laminar

Here’s the exhaust as it sits:

peloponisios

Sounds good though.

Laminar

I'm not sure that everyone within a 7 mile radius of the car's location would agree.

Laminar

Okay, so I went ahead and bought:
Solar Sensor: (new, $56)
Interior Sensor: (eBay, $27)
Amp for Auto A/C (eBay, $53)
Resistor Pack For Auto A/C (eBay, $6)
Auto A/C Control (eBay, $53)

$200 all in and I never have to fiddle with the fan speed **** again. Maybe while I'm in there I'll try and address the horrendous dash rattles I get over every bump.

Laminar

Got the car back in the air last night. Decided to check the PPF alignment to see if that might be affecting my driveline shudder. Per this thread, I need the gap to be 48-56mm. I measured mine at 39mm...oops. I supported the trans with my jack and loosened all of the bolts. I lifted it up to achieve the 56mm gap and torqued all of the bolts to spec. After releasing the jack, the assembly settled down to right at 48mm.

I checked the "Ford/Asian 3-prong" adapter for my Motive pressure bleeder and found that it doesn't match the RX-8, so I'll have to bleed the old fashioned way.

Then I went ahead and dropped the midpipe and got cutting.



I'll tack it in place and then drop it down and take it to my friend's place to TIG it up.

Here's an aside - is it just me or do all of the photo attachments on old posts no longer work? I can see the thumbnail but when I click on them I can't see the full size image.

peloponisios

I open the thumbnail in a new window and then I can see it full size.

Laminar

That works, thank you!

Laminar

What's the best way to get a compression test done? I don't anticipate doing more than one, so buying the tool for myself seems like a waste. Going to the dealership is guaranteed to be a waste of money. I've previously built comm cables for my BMW's old communication system and loaned it out to anyone that needed it, since I only use it every couple of years, I just asked that it get shipped back when someone was done. Does anyone do that with compression testers, since I assume most of them spend most of their time in a drawer somewhere?

Laminar

edit: Let's have fun with cars.

DocWalt

I've got one laying around, currently on loan to another autocrosser. Pay for shipping and it's yours to borrow for a little bit.

Laminar

Got the resonator oriented for maximum clearance and tacked in. There's a bit of a gap in some portions of the connection, so I'll need to tighten those up in order to get a good weld.

Ordered some toe plates last week, just saw that they were delivered to Arizona. That's...not where I live. Following up on that now.

Laminar

No worries, deleted my stuff, too. It wouldn't be an RX8club thread without a Team tangent, right?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

if that resonator is hanging down below the bottom it may end up rubbing the ground depending how far the car is lowered. I had tried a 6” OD resonator at one point with it up as high into the tunnel as possible and had that issue over heavy bumps when competing.

Laminar

That's a good note. The body is 4.75" x 6.5". It's probably 5-5.5" in diameter at the low point. I'll put a straight edge between the frame rails and see how much it sticks down.

Laminar

Weekend progress. Did my first TIG welding. It is not pretty, but it is solid. It was a lot of fun to learn, and I'm hoping to do it more, it's a very cool process.



The resonator does stick down just a little bit.



I'll go slow over the big speed bumps...

Survey says it's about a 1dB reduction. Maybe a touch less drone on the highway, but not a big difference.

What DID make a big difference, though, was doing the PPF alignment. HUGE reduction in clutch engagement shudder. I may bump it up so that it lands in the middle of its range and see if it gets better still.

I noticed I'm getting a little drip from the bracket on the side of the trans.



I might swap the fluid with the Motorcraft GL-4 since I don't know what's in there and 5th is occasionally a little crunchy. Not sure if this leak is something I can easily address while it's drained.

I also looked at the auto climate control, looks like I'll need to find the right terminal so that I can add some pins to a couple connectors. If I knew what the terminal specs were, I could probably find the right stuff on Digikey. Or if I could find a junk harness, I could depin some of those connectors and reuse them. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

Laminar

Oh, a couple more things. I cleaned the MAF sensor while it was apart. My idle is great now, not sure if that was MAF-related or the ECU has had time to learn since having the battery disconnected.

I have a TPMS light on, there are two codes - one for wheel sensor 1, and one for some kind of system failure? I have a new sensor and will get that swapped out when I have a chance. I'm pretty sure wheel #1 is the front passenger wheel, but I don't know why I think that. I'll need to do some further testing.

DocWalt

I have the Motorcraft GL-4 in my trans. Not super impressed. Better than whatever the PO had in there (it was reddish stuff that came out and super fresh looking) but "eh ok" when cold and on track it just doesn't feel like you can shift quickly at all. I'm gonna be trying Motul DCTF as it's been magic in every car I've tried it on with similar fluid requirements.

Laminar

I'm interested to hear how it works for you. My fear is they put some GL-5 in there and it's eating up the synchros.

I'm circling back to the TPMS light to see if I can eliminate that. The exact code I'm getting is U2616-E0.

It comes on right away and not after 10 minutes, so I don't think the issue is that it can't find a sensor.

The description is:


So it seems like maybe the "wheel unit" is the receiver for that wheel and not the TPMS sensor in the wheel itself? Got to do some more digging.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

it won’t really matter, not sure why I’m even bothering to comment on it any more, but all GL4 and all GL5 are not created equal. I ran both, but mostly certain GL5 fluids, and never had any synchro/shifting issues over 6 or 7 different transmissions up to a 10k redline, several of which were rebuilt multiple times. The one exception was a 5th gear synchro that got a fracture and a whole 1/2” long piece broke out/off of it. I wrote that off to a freak occurrence since I rarely even used 5th gear seeing that the car wasn’t street driven much then. There’s a picture of it on the forum somewhere; the fractured ends don’t have any appearance of corrosion etc. It just flat out fractured. Otherwise none of the synchros themselves ever showed any issues from multiple tear downs and rebuilds. Which were always due to shearing off all the teeth on 2nd gear shifting hard from 1st at Pro Solo launches.
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