Warm Spec

[gee118]

So it turns out I've the warm spec car with no heated mirrors, no heated wiper bay, and a small battery and alternator. /Grrr

My question is though, what do I need done to the underneath to make sure it doesn't rust AND is there anythign else I should do to her?

thanks for any advise

[Nice But]

Mines a warm region too....... you get used to wiping the mirrors :thinking: I had the underside undersealed by the company I bought it off, they did a pretty good job as well, but I will be doing all the box sections myself and will probably redo the whole underside in 12months or so.

I got them to put a bigger battery on mine, they extended the leads so thats a job to do, replace them with full length ones. The only other difference, apparently, is there is a panel under the dash thats not there........

Oh and all the dust I keep finding everywhere....... apart from that it's the same.

[Robotnik123]

My car has heated mirrors, does that mean it is cold spec? Further, someone also fitted a remote starter to it. It's a Japanese used import.

Both are fairly useless features where I live because it isn't really cold enough, but anyway...

[Nice But]

If you look under your wiper blades and you see some heater elements then it's a cold region car, more likely is as you have heated mirrors.

Remote starter is defo an aftermarket......... I stand to be corrected on that one though./pan

[Robotnik123]

You mean the windscreen wiper blades themselves have elements? If so, whoops - I replaced my original blades (the rubber refill holder part I mean)years ago because they were all manky looking. And yep the remote starter is aftermarket for sure - the receiver antenna unit is just sorta perched on the dash and looks really out of place.



If you look under your wiper blades and you see some heater elements then it's a cold region car, more likely is as you have heated mirrors.

Remote starter is defo an aftermarket......... I stand to be corrected on that one though./pan

[Nice But]

No the elements are in the black bit at the bottom of the screen under the blades....../pan :happy:

[White Lightning]

Mine is a warm spec car and has the small battery.

It was flat when I left work at about 7pm last night. Had taken a work colleague out in it at lunchtime and he hadn't shut the door properly ... /pan

Six hours powering the interior lights and it was flat enough not to start ... /Grrr

[Robotnik123]

OK I'll have to check.

I wonder if a cold spec car has any sort of extra underbody sealing? I think though that the Japanese use salt on their roads, only occasionally on high mountain passes, so it may not have been considered necessary.

They don't salt roads here in New Zealand, but unfortunately I parked the car outside in the elements 300 yards from the beach for a couple of years, so that wouldn't have been very helpful for it - no rust yet though.

[Robotnik123]

Mine is a warm spec car and has the small battery.

It was flat when I left work at about 7pm last night. Had taken a work colleague out in it at lunchtime and he hadn't shut the door properly ... /pan

Six hours powering the interior lights and it was flat enough not to start ... /Grrr

Couldn't you just buy a bigger battery? Or is the reduced battery life also a function of the smaller alternator in the warm spec car?

On my car (possibly a cold spec one) I have left my cabin lights on for several days and still not had a flat battery. This was with a newish high spec battery though.

[HMG1K]

No the elements are in the black bit at the bottom of the screen under the blades....../pan :happy:

Is it an easy thing to spot on close inspection...? I didn't know such a feature existed!

[gee118]

[QUOTE=Nice But]Mines a warm region too....... you get used to wiping the mirrors :thinking: I had the underside undersealed by the company I bought it off, QUOTE]

How did they underseal it?
Do you have any photos per chance/Camera?

[White Lightning]

Couldn't you just buy a bigger battery? Or is the reduced battery life also a function of the smaller alternator in the warm spec car?

On my car (possibly a cold spec one) I have left my cabin lights on for several days and still not had a flat battery. This was with a newish high spec battery though.

I could. But I am not going to spend £50ish on a battery when it's OK 99% of the time. The only times I have had a problem with not starting were a) recently when I left the car in the garage for a month and didn't start it and b) yesterday when the door was not shut properly. I think the battery was only just flat enough to not start the engine though as it only took 1hr 20mins to recharge.

[Davezj]

If anyone is thinking changing the battery make sure you specify the + and - terminal positions as these are none standard on our car. so if you just buy a battery off the shelf you will have to extend the battery connection cables as they will not reach the terminals in the opposite positions, same side of the battery. The battery cable extention is a bigger job than you think. So order the battery from a place you can specify the terminal location (from the battery catalogue.

hope this helps.

[Beastlee]

If you want an uprated battery then ask for a type 27+. It is the correct orientation and cranking power for our cars and more than enough amphours to last for days with the interior lights on.

I am currently looking for a very cheap set of heated wing mirrors from a UK spec car to see if I can convert the VR4 ones to heated but being in Germany is kind of hindering that plan. If anyone feels like sending me some for the benefit of the forum I woul dhappily create a detailed write up on how to do it, should I be successful.

[Davezj]

me too i want some heated mirrors.

was wondering if there are ay kits out there to covert your current ones. after all it only heater element that sits behind the glass and the wires go to pin 1 and 4 of the connector in the standard fitment. you could put the wires in anywhere really.
suppose i could get any old damaged heated wing mirror and get the element out and see about fitting it should only need to relay it in triggered from the heated rear window signal.

[Robotnik123]

In NZ the Exide or Champion 55D23LMF from Battery Town or Repco, with 550 Cold Crank Amps and and Reserve Capacity of 100 was an exact fit for my facelift VR-4 and has been starting my car flawlessly for a couple of years now.

[Robotnik123]

No the elements are in the black bit at the bottom of the screen under the blades....../pan :happy:

Yes it looks like it has those.

Someone said something about heated windscreen water jets? I wonder where the heating elements for those might be? Unfortunately, I had to replace my car's bonnet after a crash, so if there were elements in the nozzles then those would be gone now I guess.

[Nice But]

Robo...... not sure about the heated washer jets.......anyone else?

HM..... If you look under the parked wiper you will see 2-3 elements in the black bit of the windscreen.

WL...... swap all your interior bulbs to LED ones and you can leave the door open for weeks:inquisiti the RX8 boot has a habit of looking closed but isn't so you end up with a flat one.......LED bulb, left open for 3 days no flat battery :happy: /toycar

[HMG1K]

HM..... If you look under the parked wiper you will see 2-3 elements in the black bit of the windscreen.

Thank you !!!!


WL...... swap all your interior bulbs to LED ones and you can leave the door open for weeks:inquisiti the RX8 boot has a habit of looking closed but isn't so you end up with a flat one.......LED bulb, left open for 3 days no flat battery :happy: /toycar

White Lightning - you'll never look back with interior LED lights!

[Kieran]

Robo...... not sure about the heated washer jets.......anyone else?

Nah, there's no heating elements in the washer jets. What you do find on the VR-4 though is that the heat from the rear turbo rises and heats the water in the tubing up - Probably by accident rather than design, but it's a handy passive heating system!

[White Lightning]

WL...... swap all your interior bulbs to LED ones and you can leave the door open for weeks:inquisiti the RX8 boot has a habit of looking closed but isn't so you end up with a flat one.......LED bulb, left open for 3 days no flat battery :happy: /toycar

Good tip ... I might have to investigate :pimp2: