102 February 2010
Hi there
I know there has not been a Newsletter in the past 2 months, but it has been busy.
Anyhow I tend to publish most things on Facebook when they happen.
So whilst setting up this Newsletter, I had the feeling inch up on me, as if most has been said.
So at the risk of repeating myself to those of you who subscribe to Nick’s Racing page on FB…
I placed a stock order for the festive season with K&N yesterday. Whilst doing that, I realised that none of my distributors and K&N dealers have placed an order for Christmas yet. I know business is slow for some, but I cannot stock quantities that are only warranted by mass sales. Please let me know what you expect to sell during the festive season, so I can stock that. As usual I will discount pre-ordered items more J
As you will know, I have not been a friend of snorkels, as many of them are too restrictive.
I once had a customer put his snorkel equipped 4.5 Cruiser on the Dyno- imagine our surprise when it gained a few kW by us lifting the Airbox lid up and therefore bypassing the snorkel.
The main positive aspect of a snorkel, is that the motor can get cold air. Some say clean air, but if you run a K&N Airfilter, who cares ;)
We have been offered the agency on a Snorkel that is similarly designed to the Safari Snorkels. We retail them at 3250 incl. Vat
So far these are available for the following vehicles: Hilux Vigo, Fortuner, Prado 95 & 120 series, Landcruiser 80GX and 100/105VX. At the beginning of March you can also get Cruiser FJ 79, Nissan Navara D40, Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Ranger 07 on (Diesel) & Mitsubishi Triton (diesel)
When you have been in business for awhile, you will realise trends come in circles.
I remember as a child; one year it was Dingbats, then Yoyo’s and a few years later again Dingbats.
Back in the mid 90’s Headporting was the rage and it seems to be coming back. Sure the prices have increased and the labour on our modern multicammed engine is not to be underestimated, but in the end you do benefit from a smoother running engine that makes more power and uses less fuel doing so. This is my definition of efficiency J
I get a lot of requests for Sponsorship. I have written an Article about this on my Website under Articles- personal comments. Sponsorship falls under Advertising. I give somebody money, so they can send customers to me J
* * *
During
the cold days of winter, we sometimes get “Unichip failures”.
Once
we do fault fining we have always found something else to be at fault, except
for one case.
The
cold causes metals to expand & contract more than usual causing poor earths
and bad connections.
Consider
that most signals going to your vehicles Electronic
Control Unit are 0-5v signals or proportional, such as 0-2V and then 5 to
3V. If such a bad contact now only references 1.3 instead of 1.5V can cause
massive changes in the way your ECU responds. So a bad ground, which is the
basis of most signals, is a major issue.
The
way we do fault finding on the Unichip is done as following:
Blank
out the Unichip and if the fault persists refer to service agent or workshop
If
the fault is gone we replace the Unichip with a new unit and check our wiring
Now
it get’s interesting because normally the fault persists with the new Unichip,
and if the customer has been driving with a chip for a few years, it is
obviously not the products fault.
The
Unichip modifies signals going in and out the stock ECU and if such signal goes
sour then obviously the Unichip only magnifies the fault.
To
remove the Unichip altogether is only a short term solution, as the problem is
still in the vehicle and can rear its ugly head anytime in the future.
I
hope this is a simple explanation to educate you in the Uni’s function and how
it works.
Now
if somebody can just educate me in the workings of the human mind J
WE
now have a Land Cruiser 4500 EFI fuel pump replacement from
Price
is 2160 Retail including Vat, but without installation.
The
last time I priced one from
Remember
Good
communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep
after."