Power

The system can be connected to an ignition feed through an optional inline fuse; if the ignition feed is already fused then the inline fuse is not required. It has reverse polarity protection and has built in over volt protection up to 36 volts. The system has a very low power usage, typically only 0.4A. The inline fuse is there to protects the car system if there is a major power fault with the system and it’s rated at 3Amps. When running cable please route the cable so it will not get pinched or cut. This damage could cause the system to short and blow the fuse.

The system has a green power LED located at opposite end of the main connect. It is easily visible through a hole.

NOTE: Please check that the system has power on a regular basis as if power fails then the Failsafe will become redundant and will NOT protect the engine.

Methanol Activation Signal

The activation signal is negative edge triggered. This is because the majority of methanol/alcohol injection system use a switched ground to control the pump. Using this signal the failsafe can monitor the system when it activates and deactivates.

Pressure Switch

The pressure switch needs to fitted in-between the nozzle and the control valve. The control valve can be one of the following: -

·         Check valve.

·         Solenoid.

·         Pulse Solenoid.

·         Race Valve.

The system requires a valve to only monitor a small piece of pipework and keep the system accurate. Not having a valve would increase time for low pressure monitoring and increase time for blocked nozzle detection. This would produce many false negatives and make the system unusable.

LED

The billet LED can be placed anywhere within the vehicle where it can be seen quickly and easily to ascertain the type of failure that has occurred. Whilst the LED is active the Failsafe is in Fault mode and the following LED status indicates the fault that has occurred: -

Solid Light – Low Pressure Level.

Flashing Light – Blocked Nozzle.

Failsafe Relay Contacts

The system contains an internal relay that separates the failsafe hardware from the car/lorry electrical system and as such can be used in a variety of different ways. For ease and to accommodate the most common failsafe configuration the internal relay is wired as follows: -

For the system to act as a failsafe the vehicle needs to be inhibited by some method to protect the engine.

Note: When interrupting any solenoid or sensor is best practice to use the ground rather than the power supply or signal to not introduce interference into the system due to extending the cable lengths.

Example 1: Boost Cut

The easiest and most common way is to interrupt the signal to the boost solenoid/mac valve.  Once this signal has interrupted the vehicle will only be able to generate boost up to the preset wastegate spring pressure, this should be well below the max boost level and easily be noted by the user.

Example 2: Sensor

Some modern cars do not have a Boost Solenoid/MAC valve to control boost so another method must be found.

Any sensor that can inhibit the cars operation can be used. This may put the car into limp mode or throw an engine warning light and should be cleared after a system reset and the vehicles power has been cycled.

The three most common sensors to use, but are not limited to, are: -

·         MAP

·         TPS

·         AFM

Operation

Initial startup

After the first power on when methanol system is not active and pressure switch is high then a blocked nozzle has been detected. It is rare this will ever happen if a methanol system has not been active for some time as even a blocked nozzle will allow the pressure to decrease eventually.

First Activation

When the methanol system activates and after a preset time for the pressure to build and the pressure switch is switched on.  If the Pressure switch fails to become on, then the system fails with low pressure.

Continued Activation

The system continues to monitor the pressure switch and if it even switches off then the system fails with low pressure.

Deactivation

When the system deactivates it waits a predefined time to check the pressure switch. If it fails to switch off, then the system fails with a blocked nozzle fault.

Low Tank Fluid

When the system has failed due to low tank fluid the pipework will now be filled with air. Air in the system causes incorrect failures both low failure and even blocked nozzles. To clear this air the system would have to be primed. If not, then the system will continue to fail until all the air has been expelled.

An example on how to prime the system: -

NOTE: you can remove the failsafe ignition fuse to stop the system from activating, but this is not recommended if you car is mapped for methanol injection.

·         Remove a hose as close to the nozzle as possible.

·         Place the end into a container to collect the fluid that will eventually come through.

·         Activate the pump manually.

o   Some controllers have a test function.

o   If you have a boost switch you can push the microswitch.

o   Connect power to the pump.

·         Note: The sound the pump makes will change when air is replaced with liquid.

·         When Fluid starts to come through the reconnect the hose.

·         Refit failsafe fuse if removed.

·         Make sure the Failsafe has power via Power LED.

·         Test the system.

Note: It may take a few cycles to remove all the air from the system and false negatives may happen.