Brammo Spa Dash Water Temp quesiton (not already asked)

[silver]

At least I did search and couldn't find this exact question/topic being covered


My WT guage has fairly accurate temp readings except for the fact that it changes between -57 and the real temp randomly back and forth.

Has anyone else noticed / discussed this problem. 

I believe this is a different problem then the early Brammo cars where the dash reset, but would like some input here.

Nothing else on the dash changes while the WT guage flashes back and forth between -57 and normal temp in F then sometimes it shows the WT around 40 ish which I'm guessing is C.....


anyone?

[bolus]

Mine would do that right before it reset.  you probably have the same slight power drop just not enough to reset the dash.  My other WT problem was fixed with a better ground though.

[benyeats]

[quote="bolus"]
My other WT problem was fixed with a better ground though.
[/quote]

Thought I posted earlier but it was either on the wrong topic or I didn't !

Point being the WT gauge on my car used to vary with the lights being on or off by 7degrees or so which must also be ground related.  Since I re-built the car last year and provided a better ground to the ECU it seems to be ok.  The ground on the dash is also pretty minimal so could stand being beefed up a bit

Ben

[bolus]

Yeah, the temp change with the lights on was my problem too.  That was fixed with a better ground.  It got worse and worse until the temp went up to like 500C on the dash when the lights went on.

[silver]

OK so my issue has nothing to do with the Lights...and my gauge is accurate except when it flashes to -57 degrees...or changes to celcius...but when the dash shows WT over 200 (maybe 205) the fan turns on and cools it down again, which means that the temp is pretty accurate to what the ECU is reading.


Although I'm not disagreeing with the grounding problem being a possible solution, should I run a new ground from the dash to the battery?

[bolus]

do you have the capacitor fix brammo sent out?

[silver]

Supposedly my car was built after the capacitor fix was put into production so I don't know where to look for it to make sure it was installed

[bolus]

Before I had the capacitor fix it reset all the time.  after the capactor instead of resetting it just flashes -57  occasionally like yours.  The fix was just a 'mostly fix' fix instead of a 'completely fix' fix. 

[silver]

Ok so basically the spa dash in the Brammo atom has 4 things that don't work well....sweet. Unreliable fuel gauge unreliable WT unreliable speedo above 80 degrees and unreliable power without the capacitor...looks like a sturdy piece of equipment that works well with tha harsh envirronment of the atom...lol good choice hehe

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="silver"]
Ok so basically the spa dash in the Brammo atom has 4 things that don't work well....sweet. Unreliable fuel gauge unreliable WT unreliable speedo above 80 degrees and unreliable power without the capacitor...looks like a sturdy piece of equipment that works well with tha harsh envirronment of the atom...lol good choice hehe
[/quote]

This is the same dash as is used in the UK, as mandated by Ariel. Brammo had gotten to the point where they had a mockup of a new dash and the contract engineers had a breadboard prototype and were working on the software, when Brammo decided to get out of the Atom business.

By the way, the production change that implements an equivalent to the "capacitor fix" is a somewhat complicated re-wiring in the fuse box. Cars produced after the fix have a wiring change, not a capacitor. I've place the write-up for this procedure at  http://www.tmk.com/atom/dash-fix. Note that I STRONGLY suggest that this fix not be attempted by car owners without a very good reason - the capacitor fix works just as well.

By the way, using a capacitor as a temporary fix was my idea, as documented in this email from me to Brammo in mid-September, 2006:

[quote="my email to Brammo"]From: IN%"terry@tmk.com"      18-SEP-2006 00:56:06.74
To:  IN%"tom@brammo.com"
CC: 
Subj: List of stuff I'd like to get

Hi -

[snip]
  First, the list of ideas for things you might want to consider for future Atoms:
[snip]
o Something to deal with the Microdash display resetting (actually, I suspect it is the control unit, since sometimes it does the whole "SPA DASH" start-up sequence, though usually it just blinks off and back on). I bet a big filter capacitor right at the point where the wiring loom connects to the Microdash control unit would be a sufficient band-aid to the problem. Some people report the same behavior on the regular dash and feel it may be related to the cooling fan cycling on.
[snip]
        Thanks,
        Terry[/quote]

[benyeats]

[quote="silver"]
Ok so basically the spa dash in the Brammo atom has 4 things that don't work well....sweet. Unreliable fuel gauge unreliable WT unreliable speedo above 80 degrees and unreliable power without the capacitor...looks like a sturdy piece of equipment that works well with tha harsh envirronment of the atom...lol good choice hehe
[/quote]

Can't comment on the speedo above 80deg but the rest of the faults lie squarely with Ariel / Brammo:

i)  WT gauge can probably be fixed by improved grounding, this is a function of the installation not the dash.
ii) Fuel gauge is a dash setup problem, it could be set up to accound for tank shape etc but for some reason isn't
iii) Capacitor is a unique to Brammo issue and suggests a wiring loom problem.

Tons of other cars use the SPA dash with no problems.  I admit I am coming across pro SPA here, this is because they have been very helpful when I had a problem coupled with the fact I don't get the impression the electrical side of car design is Ariel's forte !

[quote="silver"]
Although I'm not disagreeing with the grounding problem being a possible solution, should I run a new ground from the dash to the battery?
[/quote]

No need to go to the battery, just make a better connection between the dash and the (grounded) chassis.

Ben

[Lane]

[quote="benyeats"]
ii) Fuel gauge is a dash setup problem, it could be set up to accound for tank shape etc but for some reason isn't
[/quote]

I did this and it improved the reliability (and linearity) of the fuel gauge greatly.

[silver]

awesome thanks Lane,

now what to do about the ground for the dash...perhaps nothing since it's not really causing any problems...and i don't want to undo the harness to find the ground wire for the dash.


but I sure will change my fuel tank reading.

can't believe I hadn't seen that post before

[bolus]

there are something like 4 or 5 grounds around the car.  I dont know where they all are but those are the ones you check.  There is one by the battery, one on the frame in front of the fuel pump and one on the oil cooler.  I dont remember where the others are.

[silver]

ok but I'm not 100% clear here.....BECAUSE...

it's only my WT reading that's flashing back and forth intermittently, not the entire dash, therefore, how am I supposed to know if the ground for the dash isn't good versus something else.

I guess test them all.

couldn't the ground be bad on the water temp senseor............where is that by the way.