Hello.
I'm presently trying to install a RioCar into my newly aquired <a href=http://dk.evang.no/~jane/2cv/DSCF0009.JPG>Citroen 2CV</a>. This car is known to be "As close as you can get to not having a car". (It has 2 cylinders and 29 horse power for instance)
There is already a cassette deck in the car, so for the preliminary tests, I have planned to use a cassette adapter. But, when I connect the RioCar to the same power source as the cassette player, the voltage drops down to 5.5V. The cassette player goes on playing, but the RioCar does not boot.
I'm going to follow the power lines on both + and - to see where the voltage drop occurs.
Any suggestions?

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark 2, 2CV + Mark 2a)

Any suggestions?

Pedal faster?

Hehe :-) I have tried rev'ing the engine, but I haven't had time to look at it.

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark 2, 2CV + Mark 2a)

If you find a way to make this work, I will have truly seen everything.

But, when I connect the RioCar to the same power source as the cassette player, the voltage drops down to 5.5V.

What is the voltge at the cassette player before you connect the RioCar?

Is it possible that your Deux Cheveaux is old enough that it is equipped with a 6-volt system instead of the more contemporary 12-volt?

I envy you your 2-CV. I would love to have one, but they are next to impossible to acquire in the U.S. as they don't meet any kind of safety or emissions requirements, and the few really old ones that are "grandfathered" in sell for preposterous prices (approaching $10,000 if you can believe it!).

tanstaafl.

Hehe. I've already checked that, of course... the voltage is actually 14.8V with the engine running. Which should be enough for anyone...
I'm presently living in Denmark, and the government here seems to think I should'nt be allowed to use my Norwegian car here any more, and they want 50.000 Danish kroner to give me Danish number plates. That is about 7.000$, and this is a Ford Escort 1988. Stupid.
So, I decided to buy another car on Danish license plates, and the only one I could find that was both cool and below the 50.000kr price was the 2CV. This, on the other hand, was very cheap compared to Danish standards, and only cost med about 1500$
The 2CV should actually not be too bad when it comes to emisions, but it is very bad safety-wise. Luckilly it will not run faster than 80km/h (about 50mph), so this lessens the risk slightly.

Marius

the voltage is actually 14.8V with the engine running. Which should be enough for anyone...

Yeah, but how big is the battery and alternator for that little 2-cyl engine? I mean, its charging system was designed to fire two spark plugs and *maybe* some dim headlights once in a while.

Here's a question: Are you connecting the amplifiers and the player's yellow wire directly to the battery (through a proper fuse block of course), or are you tapping off of one of the factory wires? Maybe the battery supports that kind of current draw, but the factory wiring does not.

All I can tell you is that I didn't have this problem - so it may be something in your wiring/battery etc.. but, change of circumstance, I can't go out and swap notes - Oh please, let me have my 2CV back!


I wired direct to the battery with some of that 70amp, amp wire that I happened to have left over from wiring my motorhome, I don't know if that made a difference. My chief problem was radio reception, I never stopped engine whine. I never got round to making the speakers and installation look neat, either.

I realise that you are not doing this at the moment, but I think that you might be in trouble fitting a proper auto-amp, I used the 5w amp stage of an old Blaupunkt car radio.

I don't know how much you're in to 2cv's but you may know that Citroen produced a four wheel drive version, the Saharian - from memory, by simply putting another 2cylinder and mechanics in the boot. Maybe you should do the same, but just to power the Empeg!

You may wish to bear this in mind, and in fact, it may be the answer to your problem, most 2cv problems seem to be distributor/electrical, in my experience - well, apart from rust.

I have fond the problem. Bad earth lead, as I guessed myself. It is true taht most 2CV problems are electric (appart from rust), but the distributor is never faulty... because there *is* no distributor. They saved some cost by having all spark-plugs fire at the same time. (Even if they are not needed).

I have alse heard about the 4 wheel drive version. I have never seen one, but would love to. The idea of puting another engine there to power the stereo is excelent :-)

But, alas, mye Empeg is not as well as it used to be. My dog ate it. Or, actually, he pulled it down from the table while still in its bag, and carried it over to the couch, and had chewed half-way through the bag when I discovered him. I'm pretty sure the fill-.nipple has broken, although I havent¨t opened it to check.
(but I aløso have a RioCar as a spare!)
Marius (Escort Cab + 2CV)

But, alas, mye Empeg is not as well as it used to be. My dog ate it.

Heck, I thought that I had the monopoly in dog problems on this BBS, at least mine only want to eat cats, sheep and the neighbours's children.

because there *is* no distributor. They saved some cost by having all spark-plugs fire at the same time

I'm working from memory here, I accept that it does not have a distributor in the accepted sense, but, does it not have that cam-driven, make and break circuit that distributes the spark to the right (or left!) cylinder, instead?

does it not have that cam-driven, make and break circuit that distributes the spark to the right (or left!) cylinder, instead?

Not necessary on a two-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine.

It will have the cam-driven breaker points to build and collapse the primary field in the ignition coil, which then triggers the secondary (the high-tension) output. But at this stage, the spark is sent to both spark plugs simultaneously -- one cylinder is on compression stroke where the plug will actually ignite the fuel charge, the other cylinder is on exhaust stroke where the spark harmlessly fires into the outgoing exhaust gas.

Thus, no distributor (in the sense that the spark is distributed independently to left or right cylinders) is necessary.

tanstaafl.

By, 'eck, thou's a sight cleverer than I, Tanstaafl - and I've got the Haynes manual for a 2CV on my bookshelf.

If you really want a 2CV, the leading UK place is only 20 miles away and will sell you one for between $1,600 and $3,000. I could ship it one piece at a time in the Johnny Cash fashion!

Hehe.
The two plugs fire at the same time... and... one of them "fires backwards", both in the sense that it firen on the "back-stroke" as you say, but it also fires with reverse polarity, because the spark plugs are mounted in series and not in parallell (!).

Marius (Escort Cab + 2CV)