Yet Another L400 Conversion

[Profister]

I've also thought about interfacing to the OBD-II plug of the van but not sure how useful this information is.

As a matter of fact your van does not have OBD2; neither does mine or any other L400 in Canada. Not yet.

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
I was wondering when an Arduino friendly bunch was
going to show up here! I got a subscription to "Make"
Magazine a great publication,
Which I would enjoy even more if
I was Arduino savy.
Very interested to see what you come up with.

Right On!

[northriver]

As a matter of fact your van does not have OBD2; neither does mine or any other L400 in Canada. Not yet.

I have not checked ... but from reading on the UK Delica website I was left with the impression that it was there ... somebody on that site indicated that the OBD-II plug was provided starting in the 1994 model year ... has anybody checked to see if there is one at the base of the steering column after some of the panels are removed?

I have found the ECU (in the front passenger seat foot well) so I imagine it would be possible to link directly there if there was some information about what the wires are.

[Profister]

It is OBD but not OBD2 which was introduced in 1996. As you can guess you need a proprietary OBD reader from MMC for this OBD; OBD2 readers are useless. The good news is that you do not need a reader to get the error codes off it; there is a simple procedure for this matter. Otherwise you need a scanner that supports a MUT protocol.

[northriver]

Does anybody know if the Maximum Overdrive hitch kit will interfere with my WVO tank?

I was just looking at this hitch on the internet and with the basket it seems to make a great WVO carrier?

PS - Made another trip into Kamloops ... now up to 400 KM on WVO ... no problems seen yet. I did shutdown the van without purging for a brief (15 minute ?) stop while in Kamloops. The van was hard to start afterwards ... do not think I will be doing that again! I'd read and assumed that if the engine was still warm it would not be an issue restarting ... but there definitely seems to be a time limit.

[Kuan]

What was the temperature out when you shut down the van? Probably safe to do in the heat of summer where the viscosity of the oil will stay low.

Have you figured out how long of a purge you need?

I've been looking into doing an arduino based controller for a while now as I have a programming background. It looks like it would be fairly straight forward as the logic is pretty simple. I was planning on using a 1K thermocouple to take the temp of the coolant for early switch over prevention; a second temp probe to control the vegtherm; and finally a timed purge.

I think the key to a controller is to keep the functions basic but make a system that the user of the vehicle does not need to do anything unless they want to. I just think of my wife driving around with the 3 kids. She doesn't need anything extra to deal with!

Ha ha ... I feel funny - I'm all talk right now as I haven't put anything in yet. But its coming. I wish I had a garage or covered area to work...

[northriver]

What was the temperature out when you shut down the van? Probably safe to do in the heat of summer where the viscosity of the oil will stay low.

Have you figured out how long of a purge you need?

It was around 0 C ... you are probably right about summer vs. winter.

I have been purging for about two minutes and this seems fine. Not sure how short you could make it.

[northriver]

I've been looking into doing an arduino based controller for a while now as I have a programming background. It looks like it would be fairly straight forward as the logic is pretty simple. I was planning on using a 1K thermocouple to take the temp of the coolant for early switch over prevention; a second temp probe to control the vegtherm; and finally a timed purge.

Have you gone as far as identifying a thermocouple? Or a pressure gauge?
I am looking for ones that are 1/8" NPT with data sheets ... I'd be curious as to what you have found.

I agree ... it should be pretty simple to program.

[Kuan]

I was looking at probes from http://www.auberins.com which is where some of us have bought the EGT probe and guage.

2 minutes for purge seems like a long time to do everytime you shut down... Have you actaully checked how long it takes to purge the wvo out of the engine or are you just going by gut feeling.

The reason I say its long is because we have a turbo timer on the van and it does gets annoying sometimes having to wait, or to leave the van running like that. Something I am not that comfortable with. I get a lot of comments too...

cheers
Kuan

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
What info is available from the older OBD?
(which I did not know we had.
I edited my previous post to be less confusing and seem less an idiot.)

These guys sell some neat sensor modules.
http://www.plxdevices.com/sensors.php
They also have an iPod or Android interface capability
wifi for iPod, Bluetooth for Android or hardwired.

There is the VO controller too,at PlantDrive.
http://www.plantdrive.ca//index.php?mai ... ucts_id=50
it has windows based interface capability,but maybe
someone who knows their way around these types of things could
figure a way to send the info to a iPod or android interface.

There are quite few 3rd party apps for showing the sensor Data but
I have not seen one with switching capability (like for valves)
An open source (Fun and Cheap) controller would be sweet!

Right On!

[northriver]

2 minutes for purge seems like a long time to do everytime you shut down... Have you actaully checked how long it takes to purge the wvo out of the engine or are you just going by gut feeling.

I have just been going strictly from a gut feeling ... everything I have read seems to imply 2 minutes is more than enough time.
I have just been switching back to diesel a few minutes before I get to where I am going.

[northriver]

What info is available from the older OBD?

I spent most of my time looking at OBD-II because it is more standard ...
From what I have read about OBD it is very manufacturer-specific and would require a lot more digging around. If there is no OBD-II I think I am going to leave interfacing directly to the van ECU alone. There are a few examples of people connecting directly to the vehicle sensors so that is always an option.

For an initial version I am aiming for:

• Monitoring coolant temperature,
• Monitoring WVO filter pressure,
• Monitoring WVO fuel level,
• Controlling WVO valves and in-line heater

I am fairly confident if I get the above inputs and outputs worked out adding additional ones would not be that hard.

[Kuan]

I have just been switching back to diesel a few minutes before I get to where I am going.

Ok, that totally makes sense - I was just thinking with the turbotimer its after you turn the car off.

The purge cycle is one that would be nice to automate somehow as it makes things much simpler for all drivers using the vehicle. I guess you can manual purge if you remember but if not it auto purges on shut off.

[Kuan]

For an initial version I am aiming for:

• Monitoring coolant temperature,
• Monitoring WVO filter pressure,
• Monitoring WVO fuel level,
• Controlling WVO valves and in-line heater

I think it would be good to monitor actual WVO temperature before injection as this is the critical item that could go unnoticed indefinitely but actually cause problems in the long run.

[northriver]

Posted pictures and a description of the aluminum tank installation at this location.