It is a common misconception that LBC's use electricity in their
systems. In fact, hidden amongst what appears to be a wiring harness is
in fact a closed system designed to circulate and re-cycle a mysterious
liquid known to initiates as 'Lucasaide' (TM). This has properties that
appear to be a cross between freon and brake fluid.
This document is intended to break the stranglehold that a few
knowledgeable people have and use to control the market for repairs to
LBCs.
How the system works:
Lucasaide is compressed by a high efficiency pump (mistakenly referred
to as the generator) into a battery of pressure reservoirs. Transmission
of the this fluid around the car is via metal pipes surrounded by
plastic for better corrosion resistance. Although the liquid is used in
many components around the car, its use as engine cooling is its most
important application.
The Lucasaide is compressed to an extremely high pressure and injected
into each cylinder in turn via an arrangement similar to the distributor
pumps fitted to diesel engines. However in LBCs, the pump (occasionally
referred to as the "coil") and distributor are separate units. The high
pressure Lucasaide is then direct injected into each cylinder where it
can expand and hence performs a cooling action. This can be seen by
experts in the fact that overheating happens when the Lucasaide
injection occurs too late in the cycle.
Naturally, accidental spillage of the HP (High Pressure) Lucasaide leads
to loss of power, and its corrosive nature means that spillage onto the
skin can be exceedingly painful.
The Lucasaide is then collected by the generator and re-cycled into the
pressure reservoir.
As with air conditioning systems, the fluid leaks out over time until
the system fails to function. In the case of the Lucasaide system, the
car will not start due to lack of cooling.
Unfortunately, sudden leaks can also occur. Here its similarity to Brake
Fluid is observed as it is very corrosive and can destroy any parts in
its path to the ground.
Small spillages will always occur (such as when the bulbs fracture) in
cars and the owner should not be concerned about this as there is
normally sufficent surplus Lucasaide to allow for such spillages for a
period of 3-4 years until new Lucasaide will have to be installed.
Because of the dangerous nature of this liquid, the owner should only
attempt to top up the car's Lucasaide system by complete replacement of
the battery.
It is also known that plastic and concrete cause an anomalous ionic
bahaviour in Lucasaide. Until this is fully understood, the best
suggestion we can make is not to leave batteries on concrete as it is
suspected that this behaviour may be associated with leakage.
Regards,
Simon
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