Canam on the road - few teething problems
Discussion
We have got our Canam, SVA'd registered and on the road and have started putting a few miles on the clock.
However we have a few niggling problems which we could use some assistance with.
1. Problem with lid on brake fluid reservoir. When it gets warm, it comes loose and fluid spills out. the first time this happened we had it replaced, then it happened again. The factory says there is no problem with the lid.
2. Has anybody experimented with the gearing on the G50? Ours appears to be a little low geared, 3000rpm is 60mph is this normal?
3. The fuel gauge reads empty on both tanks after 50 miles which frankly is pretty poor accuracy. Both tanks at that point are still half full. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there an adjustment we should be making somewhere.
4. And finally what kind of temperature does everyone elses's run at? Ours is running at around 90-100.
Thanks for any comments.
However we have a few niggling problems which we could use some assistance with.
1. Problem with lid on brake fluid reservoir. When it gets warm, it comes loose and fluid spills out. the first time this happened we had it replaced, then it happened again. The factory says there is no problem with the lid.
2. Has anybody experimented with the gearing on the G50? Ours appears to be a little low geared, 3000rpm is 60mph is this normal?
3. The fuel gauge reads empty on both tanks after 50 miles which frankly is pretty poor accuracy. Both tanks at that point are still half full. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there an adjustment we should be making somewhere.
4. And finally what kind of temperature does everyone elses's run at? Ours is running at around 90-100.
Thanks for any comments.
No problem with brake fluid reservoir lid although I did have to re-tighten the clamps on the hose from reservoir to master cylinders a few times.
Your gearing does seem exceptionally low. I have a G50-03 which is too low geared IMO but 3000 rpm is 75-80 mph. Are you sure speedo calibration OK?
Fuel gauges and sensors as supplied by factory I found reasonably accurate.
I think 90-100 deg too hot. I have a 82 deg thermostat and that is what it runs at when cruising. It will get hotter in traffic and under very hard (track) use. I had problems with air in the cooling system which caused higher than normal temperatures, worth checking.
Your gearing does seem exceptionally low. I have a G50-03 which is too low geared IMO but 3000 rpm is 75-80 mph. Are you sure speedo calibration OK?
Fuel gauges and sensors as supplied by factory I found reasonably accurate.
I think 90-100 deg too hot. I have a 82 deg thermostat and that is what it runs at when cruising. It will get hotter in traffic and under very hard (track) use. I had problems with air in the cooling system which caused higher than normal temperatures, worth checking.
1- Why is the brake reservoir getting warm? Also, have you been over filling? If sited properly it should be well away from any major heat source.
2- That does seem far too low. Have you got Ultima guages? If so, check that the toggle switches are set to V8 and not V6! It could be a "get the car through SVA noise test" trick! Means it will over read.
3- Not sure!
4- Does seem hot. Check for air locks in the system, and that the 'stat is working properly. Try running with no 'stat in and see if that brings the temp down.
2- That does seem far too low. Have you got Ultima guages? If so, check that the toggle switches are set to V8 and not V6! It could be a "get the car through SVA noise test" trick! Means it will over read.
3- Not sure!
4- Does seem hot. Check for air locks in the system, and that the 'stat is working properly. Try running with no 'stat in and see if that brings the temp down.
1.Should not be getting warm unless you mean a warm day. Even if the lid came off it should still not spill fluid unless over filled.
2.My box gives 80mph at 2900rpm. Most of the G50 boxes have very similar top gear ratio so I would suspect the speedo.
3.I have a Stack dash so I don’t know how the factory gauge is set up but assume there must be a way to calibrate it.
4.Mine runs at 85 unless in traffic.
Your not alone with the teething problems. It will all come good.
Steve
2.My box gives 80mph at 2900rpm. Most of the G50 boxes have very similar top gear ratio so I would suspect the speedo.
3.I have a Stack dash so I don’t know how the factory gauge is set up but assume there must be a way to calibrate it.
4.Mine runs at 85 unless in traffic.
Your not alone with the teething problems. It will all come good.
Steve
hornie said:
We have got our Canam, SVA'd registered and on the road and have started putting a few miles on the clock.
However we have a few niggling problems which we could use some assistance with.
2. Has anybody experimented with the gearing on the G50? Ours appears to be a little low geared, 3000rpm is 60mph is this normal?
4. And finally what kind of temperature does everyone elses's run at? Ours is running at around 90-100.
Thanks for any comments.
2.Not normal. You might need to recalibrate your speedo. What G50 do you own? 00,01,02,50? You should be seeing speeds at least 10-15mph faster at 3000rpm.
4.This sounds like temperatures around town and in traffic. I am playing with this at the moment. Here in Texas on a 94 deg. F day with a heat index of around 105 deg. F, my water stays dead on at 185 deg F while cruising on the highway. If I let the car sit at idle or get into slower city driving then it creeps up close to 200 deg. F. My alarm is set for 210 deg. F. Oh yeah, and this is with aircon running full blast. What does the temp read on the highway after 5 miles? Did you bleed the system? Jack the back of the car up off the ground? Make sure the resorvoir stays filled at the max line once the car has cooled back down. Your probably having to add a little water to the reservoir at those temperatures. Also, not a real big deal, but I prefer to have the hose which runs from the resorvoir to the swirl pot going into the top bung on the swirl pot. This way the swirl pot fills as high as it can and forces out as much air as it can. Also, do you have the radiator pieces installed to block off the sides and back of the radiator?
Keep us posted. Congratulations on getting the car SVA'd! Sure feels good doesn't it?
Cheers!
-Mack
steve_D said:
3.I have a Stack dash so I don’t know how the factory gauge is set up but assume there must be a way to calibrate it.
Nope. Fraid not as it's 100% analog. It's starting to really irritate me now so I'm probably going to build a little black box that linearises it. There might be a way of building a simple resistor network to at least allow the gauge show zero when it's actually empty.
My car runs at a fairly low 70 degrees when on the open road. What mix of antifreeze, waterwetter, water are you running? I've got at 33% antifreeze mix and single contianer of waterwetter in mine.
Either the speedo or tacho are fibbing. My G50/03 shows about a tick under 3k at a GPS indicated 70mph. Can you post the first part of your gearbox serial number? Between us it should be possible to figure out what ratios it ought to have.
steve_D said:
Your not alone with the teething problems. It will all come good.
Steve's right. You'll get the worst of your problems sorted out soon enough and get about the serious business of enjoying the car!
thanks for all your replies guys ,ultima is getting there slowly , we are using new ultima gauges there is no small screw on side of gauge it goes from full to empty in about 40 miles ???? gearbox code is 950.301.102.3r is this any help ?? brake fluid bottle is mounted on front bulkhead as manual .... factory are sending me new bottle hopefully this will fix problem!! new speedo has 10 little switches on back does anybody know the code ???also on std dampers which way to stiffen damping? we are going to le mans this weekened ... not in ultima [to many people !!!] camping at chanteloop ,see you there for beer!!!
Hornie said:After SVA I set mine to 4729 (you'll need to look up the dip switch settings on the chart that comes with the speedo) and when tested with my Road Angel that was over-reading by 3% (i.e. displaying 100mph at 97mph). I've since made it a bit more accurate than that but can't find the number right now. (standard Ultima wheels with Michelin Pilot sport rears).
gtr-gaz std settings would not pass sva ,do you know what they are set on yours?
On fuel guage, come to think of it, I've got the factory supplied sender but have a standard VDO gauge - I thought this is same as the Ultima supplied gauge but perhaps I'm wrong. This works OK given the shape of the tanks (first 1/4 tank goes down pretty quick). But it reads full when full, at 1/8 you can get in 65 plus litres.
canam-phil said:
Fuel gauge Problem
You did the adjustment on the display did you? You know, the little screw on the side of the fuel gauge housing.
I had a look on my car tonight...and lo there is an adjustment pot! Probably spotted this when I got the gauges but had forgotten by the time I'd put fuel in the tank a year later... The gauge claims to work with 60/90-0.5 ohm senders. Our senders are 70 ohms and my gauge was set to work with a 90 ohm. Tweaking the pot got me from showing nothing to having a 1/4 tank (with about 1/2 a tank I figure). It'll still be non linear but at least it's sort of useful. It looks like:
Thanks Phil!
Dave Fiddes great picture, but there is no hole in side of gauge!!! or any way of adjusting ,that i can see have had a chat with factory hopefully they can sort it !! gtr-gaz if you take out gromet in back of speedo there are 10 switches dave at factory has given me new code whitch seems to be right 3000rpm reads 80 mph code is ....on,on,off,on,off,on,off,on,off,off going to lie down got brain fade ........ p.s. went out for blast in dark last night what a rush better than sex[lasts longer!!!!] (pps hubby wrote this entry, most effort he's spent near a computer since they were invented!)
>> Edited by Hornie on Wednesday 9th June 19:57
>> Edited by Hornie on Wednesday 9th June 19:57
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