Dear All,
Yesterday I collected a new batch of brackets that I have had made. If you are interested in one, then please email your enquiry to helenstodart@gmail.com

 

Andy: I installed your bracket and the improvement was noticeable from the start. I have about 200 miles on the bracket and performance improved even more with time. Not sure why — but I’m VERY happy.
My experiences:
1) Gas-pedal responsiveness is greatly improved (delay is now undetectable)
2) The car maintains speed on uphill climb with barely the need to depress the pedal any further.
It’ll take a while to get an accurate measure of fuel economy but now that I am pressing pedal less I can’t imagine that it hasn’t improved as well. Only one problem, its more fun to drive now so I tend to press the pedal more.
You’ve made this car so much more enjoyable to drive. I wish I had your bracket years ago!

 

While I agree with your whole post, I find myself pressing the pedal MORE!

 

Hi Andy,

I have sent an e-mail yesterday asking for the bracket.
Please take this post as a kind duplicate J

 

Have just fitted one to my 95 x300. Was simple to fit, "there's a u tube video of a guy who has fitted one"'. Andy also emails instructions after you have made inquires.
I cant offer any figures or graphs regarding the exact improvements but can say, it has made my Jag feel a lot lighter on her feet. I will have to run a tank or two through to see what MPG improvements I get however watching the trip meter I'm betting three will be improvement there.
The bracket cost me 70 pound which included registered post to Australia. Thanks Andy

 

Andy,

On our '93, the onboard computer doesn't seem to recognize the improved fuel economy - I assume that is because the ECM doesn't realize the timing is being advanced. But measuring our actual fuel economy by the old school method of topping the tank, driving, then topping the tank again, we're getting an improvement in economy of 1 - 2 mpg.

Cheers,

Don

 

Don,
The trip computer should still register the improvement in fuel consumption, because the engine ECU will inject less fuel, in order to make the same amount of power with more advanced ignition timing. However, you would need to use the average fuel consumption over a large mileage in order to get an accurate comparison. It is very difficult to get repeatable fuel consumption in vehicle testing due to all the variables in a series of journeies:- traffic conditions, driving style, vehicle payload, ambient temperature, use of AC. Brimming the tank is probably as accurate as the trip computer. in the case of the XJR6, when I worked at Jaguar, I actually used the brimming technique to calibrate the trip computer.

 

May I ask what might be an epically stupid set of questions?

I have a 1993 XJ40, and it's my understanding that in order to cope with altitude changes etc, that the ECU will adjust the mixture to suit the measured volume of air flowing into the engine. If I were to add a powerful electric blower (I'm thinking of a large electric ducted fan as used in model making, the largest of which are really quite impressively powerful now) with suitable control electrics, could one realistically expect to get an increase of power? I'm thinking of a push button for a bit of extra oomph in overtaking situations. And secondly, is any detailed information yet available on the 1993 diagostic interface? I am told it is a subset of the OBD standard, is it possible to adapt a modern scanner to read it, or if one has to do a complete DIY is the protocol and hardware interface yet available?

And finally, have you considered running an ebay listing for your bracket? you'd access a bigger market, the payments would just arrive automatically, etc. I'd be happy to help with your listing, as I have acquired an exceptional understanding of how the search system works.

 

Regarding using an electric "fan" of any reasonable size as a supercharger, the answer is "no".

A quick Google on "electric supercharger" will find a bevy of more detailed scientific explanations of why a "fan" will never work (well, perhaps a wind tunnel fan would, but it all boils down to pressurizing the air over ambient, not 'blowing' air) and why it also would likely cost you performance as well as present a variety of risk, not limited to injesting bad bits into the intake when a homemade kit disintegrates.

There have been however some advances in pure electric and turbo driven superchargers as opposed to crankshaft driven superchargers and that is an interesting area. But it takes a lot of electricity to run a compressor (supercharger) at enough speed and capacity to overcome atmospheric pressure and produce a net add.

The only "fans" that can compress enough air in an engine to matter (or not hurt) are those in a jet engine, and those are large in comparison to the engine and spin at very high speed. And they really aren't "fans" in the common sense.

...no ordinary "fan" can do that physically unfortunately. They just can't keep up with the surpising amount of air an engine injests at higher RPM. BTW this is also true why most "ram air" solutions are really just marketing, except perhaps for giving the engine some cooler air outside the engine compartment to injest


Here's one site on the subject that is a fun read: http://www.wildweasel.ca/HowTo/Auto/eturbo.aspx

.

 

Interesting question from XJ40 pilot. I agree with much of what Al says about the need of such a system to be able to generate a significant positive pressure and the high volume flow rate required to effectively boost a 4 litre engine. However, electric motor technology has progressed quite a long way in the last few years and such devises are now in development. For instance take a look at Controlled Power Technologies website for details of their "Cobra" water cooled electric supercharger. I should stress that CPT are a Tier 1 supplier who work with major OEMs. I don't expect that they supply this kind of technology to the aftermarket. It uses a switch reluctance electric motor to drive a centrifugal compressor, as used in an exhaust driven turbocharger.


Thank you to XJ40pilot for the offer to help me create a listing for my bracket on ebay. I have considered it in the past, but have always struggled to think how describe it to maximise the search results. Essentially I'm offering a product that people don't know exists until they read about it, so what are they likely to be searching for in order to find my listing. Please can you contact me directly, as I would welcome your insight into how to maximise the results of such a search..

 

I hope this helps a bit...

 

Surprisingly encouraging set of answers and a particularly useful mythbusting video. The EDF units I am talking about are way more impressive than even a leaf blower, and the limiting factor may turn out not to be the battery but the strength of the electrical system. I'm beginning to think that the power consumed by a proper blower is measured in the thousands rather than hundreds of watts... Thanks for treating the question with respect, and making learning enjoyable.
Mind you, there is around a kilowatt hour in your freshly charged jaguar battery, you only need full power of a few seconds at a time, so I wouldn't rule it out completely. I think one might stand teh best chance of winning by using a proper blower of a correctly sized turbo and spinning it with a brushless motor of a size that might actually not yet be availalble although it's only a matter of time. (Brushlless motors are a relatively new technology that have the advantage of spinning at turbine speeds, and seem too make a magnitude more power for a given size than the more conventional types do, it's why there has been an explosion in recent years in flying models and their capabilities.)

Right-ho, let's go PM Andy about that listing...

 

I am trying to locate the crankshaft/camshaft sensor on my 4.0 liter supercharged engine. I can not find it for the life of me. Anyone know it's location or have a diagram. My project all started from a no start which after running a few tests I discovered my fuel pumps were bad. Replaced both of them as well as the fuel filter. Now the car starts and runs for a short time then shuts down and check engine light comes on after the engine shuts down. The code I get from my reader is p1336 which is chrankshaft/camshaft sensor. And p1000 which is some kind of test not complete code.

 

An old video, recorded with potato... But hey, maybe it'll help you to locate it!

 

Funny bit of trivia in the video above that is very evident now that I've made the repair; his radiator bushings are nearly gone.

I could tell before I even saw where the video showed the top of the radiator because every time he bumped the fan assembly while uninstalling/installing the bracket the radiator would swing a bit back and forth

 

Cheers for letting me know mate! I'll add it to my long 'to do on El Gato' list! It keeps me entertained

 

Maybe a good job to tackle on your birthday.

BTW, it's FireCrow's birthday.

 

XJ40Pilot... Check me on this pls. I thought the alternator took over as the source of electrical power once the engine is running. If so, I would venture to say that a hefty regulator would be in order to keep voltage from drooping when an electric blower / super-charger motor kicks on. I'm very interested in this -- maybe we should take this off to another thread.

 

Hahaha, cheers Tim! But we're getting here a little bit off the topic now

 

Recently I have been doing some more research to try to determine when Jaguar changed between different designs of crank sensor brackets, so that I can advise owners, whether I have designed an alternative bracket to fit their car. It appears that Jaguar started fitting a bracket marked with the part number EBC1253 to AJ6 4.0L engines from engine number 108835. This part was fitted up to engine number 161586, which was about XJ40 VIN 667829. I have designed a replacement for EBC1253 which provides an extra 5 degrees of ignition advance. 4.0L AJ6 engines after number 161586 were fitted with a bracket with a part number EBC5017. This bracket was also fitted to all AJ16 engines. I have also designed an alternative to this bracket with an extra 5 degrees of ignition advance and this was the basis for this original post. These engine numbers and XJ40 VIN should only be used as a guide. The only way to be certain if a bracket is an EBC1253 or EBC5017 is to have a look at it. Hopefully this information will allow any XJ40 owners reading this to see, if they can fit one of my revised brackets. I might be persuaded to design revised brackets for 3.6L engines, but I would need one of the standard brackets from one of these engine, on which I could base my design. I would also need to know that there was sufficient design for such a bracket. I have had to disappoint a number of 3.6L XJ40 owners and 4.0L XJ40 owners with engines before 108835.