I have been talking to the guys at Rallywiz for some time. In an effort to help Keith with what the others are doing with their units i posed several questions to them. Here is their response and information. It should help you guys with what is out there comercially.
1. Is the system hooked up to the switched power?
the main power to the power steering ECU is connected directly to the battery or master switch. The switched power switches on out EPs unit which sends the required signals to the corsa power steering ECU, when it receives these signals, it then powers up the internal relays on the ECU kicking the system into life.
2. On start up is there a defaut setting or is it where the "knob" was last set?
where the knob is left at.
3. At the extremes of the settings how much power is required/consumed?
At extremes, about 42A, this is when the steering is at full lock, and pressure still being applied to it. Normal loads from 0.2 to 10A, depending on pressure being applied.
4. Do I need a higher power alternator? Power items I have are fuel
pumps(lo and high), 2 front fans(12"), 2 rear fans(8"), 2 engine bay
fans(5" usually run just before shut down with a run on relay for 3
minutes) water pump, trans pump(rarely used),electronic ignition, & 3
rear view cameras.Current alternator handles this load well.
Generally a higher power alternator is reccomended, but this depends on the type of racing you are doing, if it is long sections of really twisty circuits, it is definetly needed, however, if it is short races, or normal load steering there is no need for a bigger alternator. (we have this system fitted to many rally cars here in europe, and dont need any modification for the 20km stages we have here, even though they are twisty, however, we also have systems fitted to cars running races in gravel pits which consist of about 10km of turning hard left and right constantly, these cars generally need a large alternator.)
5. How does the "knob work? Is it a smooth transition between
settings or is it a notched setting.
Smooth transition
6. How many phases does the controller go through, low,medium, high,
or just low and high?
A gradual phase from medium to high. no real low setting as the opel corsa is a small car here in europe, not meant to have a heavy steering.
7.Once it makes transition is it an all or nothing setting, or is it
a gradual rise/fall in power/assist.
Gradual, no sudden change. The only sudden change you will feel is when you are going from a minimum setting(where the power steering is off) to when it kicks in on the low setting.
8. Is the unit affected by vibration. Will it stay in low speed,high
assist?(rigid motor mounts)
No issues generally with vibration, it will stay in the setting the adjustment knob is set at, but as usual with
electronics, excessive vibration can damage circuit boards if they are exposed to really extreme vibration.
9. Is there a minimum voltage to work the system. If it is below say
11 volts, will it default to one mode or the other, or shut down or
none of the above?
Will shut down at approx below 9 volts.
10. If there is a failure of the system for whatever reason, does it
default to the low speed setting or the high speed setting, or does it
just stop working and go to regular steering?
Failure mode will shut the system down and return to regular steering.
11. What kind of mileage/time can I expect form the unit?
If you are buying a full power steering column kit from us, the mileages vary a lot, however, our suppliers know our requirements and provide us with columns from cars with less than 100,000 miles. however, our columns are fully tested and inspected, and if we are in any way unhappy with a unit, it will not be used.
12.What are the conditions of the warrenty?
With our EPs unit (our electronic part) there is a full 2 year warranty, provided it has not been opened or filled with water (the 2 most common things people do with them)
If you have a problem with the column, ECU or one of its components a 12 month warranty is offered on this, provided again it has not been welded/cut or opened in any way. However, we understand that this work is needed sometimes to get them fitted to the car, so we will generally ask for you to return the column to us in these cases, in its modified state, we will repair it at cost price if the fault is found to be on your side, if it is a fault from the failure of our components, it is a free repair. We understand this is not really clear, but I can promise you, we do not rip off our customers as our reputation is critical to our business, but i'm sure you can understand we have often been returned faulty columns also where critical components have been cut off (we even had one customer who returned a column to us with half the power steering motor cut off.
If you think of any other concerns I might have please relay any
information you feel I would need.
no other concerns really, just to note, if you are welding in the column etc, try to take off the motor and ECU off the column before doing this work, and refit them afterwards, this reduced the chances of damaging anything during the welding process. As an alternative option though, we will have an EPS controller available in a couple of days for the following US market cars which may save you some money. the Saturn Ion, Saturn vue and Chevy Equinox.
Chevrolet Equinox power steering control unit (coming soon) - www.rallywiz.com - (Powered by CubeCart)
coming Soon - Saturn ION 2003 to 2006 model power steering control unit - www.rallywiz.com - (Powered by CubeCart)
Saturn Vue 2002 - 2007 Power Steering control unit - www.rallywiz.com - (Powered by CubeCart)
these may help you with sourcing a column locally if you prefer, and parts are available locally, however, we are more than happy to supply corsa columns also if required.
Hopes this helps.
Bill
