The EV Rally on Saturday August 29th was a great success. Soon after setting up the space I had a constant stream of educated, interested EV enthusiasts checking out the car. Lots of good questions comments and good words. A number of people were interested in the kit, and there were a few who were interested in a completed car rather than attempting the conversion themselves - even had one guy offer to buy the car!
Later in the afternoon I had Jerry Pohorsky, the
EAA Silicon Valley President and organizer of the event, come by and give me an award for the best classic conversion. He was very complimentary of the car and our kit.
The event was scheduled to end at 4:00 and by then the crowd was dwindling. I had a couple of people interested in a ride, so off we went. I knew I had an error on my Zilla because the check engine light was lit and the charge light wasn't, but the car ran fine so I decided to ignore the error. Once behind the wheel I noticed the needle on the tach was pointing straight down - as if it was pegged - hmmm. The car ran fine so off we went, spinning the tires out of the parking lot and on to El Camino Real. 2 blocks down and 2 blocks back and I noticed the blinkers weren't working, but the tach needle was pulsing when the blinkers were on - hmmmm again.
For the next ride I had my passenger check the brake lights before getting in and took it much easier, even when we saw a 67 Mustang GT at a stop light... We got back into the lot without insident (or a ticket). I said goodbye to my passenger and started to break down my booth while trying to figure out what whent wrong with my 12v system. The first guess was a blown fuse and that the circuit fed back through the Tach causing it's problems.
After returning home I located the blown fuse and realized I probably popped it while towing the car. I have a trailer wiring harness connected to the Miata's lights so that when I tow it to a show the tail lights and brake lights work. I must have had it wired to the tow car with the power on in both cars to blow the fuse. Once I replaced the fuse the check engine light went out, the charge light is lit and he blinkers work (yay!) the tach, however still has its needle on the wrong side of the dial. Now, when I start the car up it pegs under zero rpm. I'll have to pull the dash apart to fix it...
Later in the afternoon I had Jerry Pohorsky, the
EAA Silicon Valley President and organizer of the event, come by and give me an award for the best classic conversion. He was very complimentary of the car and our kit.
The event was scheduled to end at 4:00 and by then the crowd was dwindling. I had a couple of people interested in a ride, so off we went. I knew I had an error on my Zilla because the check engine light was lit and the charge light wasn't, but the car ran fine so I decided to ignore the error. Once behind the wheel I noticed the needle on the tach was pointing straight down - as if it was pegged - hmmm. The car ran fine so off we went, spinning the tires out of the parking lot and on to El Camino Real. 2 blocks down and 2 blocks back and I noticed the blinkers weren't working, but the tach needle was pulsing when the blinkers were on - hmmmm again.
For the next ride I had my passenger check the brake lights before getting in and took it much easier, even when we saw a 67 Mustang GT at a stop light... We got back into the lot without insident (or a ticket). I said goodbye to my passenger and started to break down my booth while trying to figure out what whent wrong with my 12v system. The first guess was a blown fuse and that the circuit fed back through the Tach causing it's problems.
After returning home I located the blown fuse and realized I probably popped it while towing the car. I have a trailer wiring harness connected to the Miata's lights so that when I tow it to a show the tail lights and brake lights work. I must have had it wired to the tow car with the power on in both cars to blow the fuse. Once I replaced the fuse the check engine light went out, the charge light is lit and he blinkers work (yay!) the tach, however still has its needle on the wrong side of the dial. Now, when I start the car up it pegs under zero rpm. I'll have to pull the dash apart to fix it...
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