Discussion
For those of you not following along on the Facebook group, I thought I'd repeat today's post here:
"After the better part of 14 months, I achieved a successful first start of my Ultima GTR this afternoon. Thanks to my wife, Jean, and great friends John and John for helping me get this far with it. Thanks, also, to the factory (principally Richard, Andy, and Dave) for answering all of my many questions.
I shut it down after only 40 seconds or so because my wife noticed some smoke. I think it was just a little spilled coolant burning off, but I'll wait until one of my friends is next here before firing it up again.
The only instrumentation squawks I noticed were that the oil pressure gauge pegged high (I probably got the two wires on the sender switched around) and the fuel quantity gauge isn't reading for either tank.
Anyway, it runs!!
"
The engine fired instantly - I don't think I'd fully depressed the start button when it lit off, so kudos to Gail and American Speed. It sounded fantastic, even idling at 1,000 RPM. I thought it might start out quite a bit higher before the ECU stepped it down, but it settled right in at 1K.
So, I've got the oil pressure squawk, as well as a fuel gauge that isn't indicating any quantity for either tank. I was happy to see the tach working, as the wiring was a bit of a mystery between the Ultima loom and the engine loom. Given that the tach worked, I'm hopeful that the speedo will, too.
Ken
"After the better part of 14 months, I achieved a successful first start of my Ultima GTR this afternoon. Thanks to my wife, Jean, and great friends John and John for helping me get this far with it. Thanks, also, to the factory (principally Richard, Andy, and Dave) for answering all of my many questions.
I shut it down after only 40 seconds or so because my wife noticed some smoke. I think it was just a little spilled coolant burning off, but I'll wait until one of my friends is next here before firing it up again.
The only instrumentation squawks I noticed were that the oil pressure gauge pegged high (I probably got the two wires on the sender switched around) and the fuel quantity gauge isn't reading for either tank.
Anyway, it runs!!
"The engine fired instantly - I don't think I'd fully depressed the start button when it lit off, so kudos to Gail and American Speed. It sounded fantastic, even idling at 1,000 RPM. I thought it might start out quite a bit higher before the ECU stepped it down, but it settled right in at 1K.
So, I've got the oil pressure squawk, as well as a fuel gauge that isn't indicating any quantity for either tank. I was happy to see the tach working, as the wiring was a bit of a mystery between the Ultima loom and the engine loom. Given that the tach worked, I'm hopeful that the speedo will, too.
Ken
Corsair613 said:
For those of you not following along on the Facebook group, I thought I'd repeat today's post here:
"After the better part of 14 months, I achieved a successful first start of my Ultima GTR this afternoon. Thanks to my wife, Jean, and great friends John and John for helping me get this far with it. Thanks, also, to the factory (principally Richard, Andy, and Dave) for answering all of my many questions.
I shut it down after only 40 seconds or so because my wife noticed some smoke. I think it was just a little spilled coolant burning off, but I'll wait until one of my friends is next here before firing it up again.
The only instrumentation squawks I noticed were that the oil pressure gauge pegged high (I probably got the two wires on the sender switched around) and the fuel quantity gauge isn't reading for either tank.
Anyway, it runs!!"
The engine fired instantly - I don't think I'd fully depressed the start button when it lit off, so kudos to Gail and American Speed. It sounded fantastic, even idling at 1,000 RPM. I thought it might start out quite a bit higher before the ECU stepped it down, but it settled right in at 1K.
So, I've got the oil pressure squawk, as well as a fuel gauge that isn't indicating any quantity for either tank. I was happy to see the tach working, as the wiring was a bit of a mystery between the Ultima loom and the engine loom. Given that the tach worked, I'm hopeful that the speedo will, too.
Ken
Well done Ken - a great feeling I remember the day well on mine!"After the better part of 14 months, I achieved a successful first start of my Ultima GTR this afternoon. Thanks to my wife, Jean, and great friends John and John for helping me get this far with it. Thanks, also, to the factory (principally Richard, Andy, and Dave) for answering all of my many questions.
I shut it down after only 40 seconds or so because my wife noticed some smoke. I think it was just a little spilled coolant burning off, but I'll wait until one of my friends is next here before firing it up again.
The only instrumentation squawks I noticed were that the oil pressure gauge pegged high (I probably got the two wires on the sender switched around) and the fuel quantity gauge isn't reading for either tank.
Anyway, it runs!!
"The engine fired instantly - I don't think I'd fully depressed the start button when it lit off, so kudos to Gail and American Speed. It sounded fantastic, even idling at 1,000 RPM. I thought it might start out quite a bit higher before the ECU stepped it down, but it settled right in at 1K.
So, I've got the oil pressure squawk, as well as a fuel gauge that isn't indicating any quantity for either tank. I was happy to see the tach working, as the wiring was a bit of a mystery between the Ultima loom and the engine loom. Given that the tach worked, I'm hopeful that the speedo will, too.
Ken
Few things that might be helpful:
1. Fuel gauges on my car are near on useless. No reading below half a tank, so if less than at least 20 litres on each side I get no reading. If you can fill one side up more than 25 litres you should hopefully see a reading
2. Smoke - I had the same. I think it was from the exhaust coating, after 10 minutes it stopped. I wouldn't worry about it unless it is obviously something else
3. Oil pressure - does it peg to maximum before engine is fired up but ignition on, or just when engine running? When engine is running cold you will get a high reading until engine warms up (mine reads 5 bars) but it should not go off the end - if going off the end you probably have a loose connection somewhere (or perhaps wires wrong way around as you say).
Again, well done on getting this far!!!
Mark
Thanks, guys, for all the kind words! I really appreciate all the help and support with various issues and questions along the way. I'm sure it'll be at least a few weeks yet before it's on the road, but yesterday was a big day for sure.
Mark: Thanks for all the good information.
1. I put 5 gallons in each side, so just under 19 liters. Still, no reading whatsoever. I was wondering if the gauge might be bad? I suppose I could do another round to the gas station with my two 5 gallon gas cans and see if that moves the gauge needle off the peg.
2. Glad to hear that you had smoke, too! The exhaust coating makes perfect sense. In combination with the coolant I spilled, I bet that's it.
3. Oil pressure pegs to maximum when the engine is running. I'll watch it closely at the next start to see if it comes down a bit as the engine warms. If not, I'll switch the sender wires, see what happens, and go from there.
Not too awful a squawk list and better than I feared/expected! :-)
Ken
Mark: Thanks for all the good information.
1. I put 5 gallons in each side, so just under 19 liters. Still, no reading whatsoever. I was wondering if the gauge might be bad? I suppose I could do another round to the gas station with my two 5 gallon gas cans and see if that moves the gauge needle off the peg.
2. Glad to hear that you had smoke, too! The exhaust coating makes perfect sense. In combination with the coolant I spilled, I bet that's it.
3. Oil pressure pegs to maximum when the engine is running. I'll watch it closely at the next start to see if it comes down a bit as the engine warms. If not, I'll switch the sender wires, see what happens, and go from there.
Not too awful a squawk list and better than I feared/expected! :-)
Ken
pilbeam_mp62 said:
Did you remember to remove the pins from the sender tubes before you installed them ?
If you dont do that,you won't get any reading at all
Yep, I removed those pins from the sender tubes. I think it's just not a very sensitive system. I'll see whether I get any gauge indication once I've filled the tanks past halfway for the first time.If you dont do that,you won't get any reading at all
Ken
Corsair613 said:
pilbeam_mp62 said:
Did you remember to remove the pins from the sender tubes before you installed them ?
If you dont do that,you won't get any reading at all
Yep, I removed those pins from the sender tubes. I think it's just not a very sensitive system. I'll see whether I get any gauge indication once I've filled the tanks past halfway for the first time.If you dont do that,you won't get any reading at all
Ken
compliments!!!!!
I don't know how to post a video (is it the same process as for photos?), but here's a link to the First Start video…
Ken
Ken
My std Ultima fuel level senders are litre perfect on my non std gauge. A simple way to check if they are good is to connect a basic ohm meter to them and slowly fill the tanks. There is no change for a couple of litres and then the readings change all the way to full. I was able to calibrate my gauge so that it read perfectly on both tanks.
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