Caterham Rear LED Lights Fitting - Loom Routing

[CtrMint]

Hey All, 

I'm starting to look at my winter upgrades, starting with fitting Caterham's rear LED light upgrade to the back of the 620.  Having been moaned at throughout the year for running the standard lights on circuit, it's time to finally fit the kit I bought from Caterham on their launch.

I've watched the install video from Caterham a couple of times, and concluded the video shows the new sub loom being run under the fuel tank bracket at the very rear of the chassis.  Not sure I really want to do that, suspect it will be very exposed and it's a bit of a naff solution.  Has anyone found a solution to this, so that the loom can be routed within the chassis as per the original wiring.

Removing the boot floor for me isn't ideal as I've already upgraded the suspension with external canisters mounted in the boot, so there's a tonne of work just to get the boot floor up. 

Any assistance or recommendations really appreciated.  Or should I concede the need for external routing,

Thanks

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Have you already checked whether you have the reversing light problem?

Jonathan

[CtrMint]

hahaha.

It's been awhile since I've done anything practical on either of my Sevens.  I'm starting to remember why now. 🤣

I didn't know this issue existed.  Thanks for the heads up .

[CtrMint]

hahaha.

It's been awhile since I've done anything practical on either of my Sevens.  I'm starting to remember why now. 🤣

I didn't know this issue existed.  Thanks for the heads up .

On the off chance, has anyone retro fitted on a 620R, just in case the inclusion of the Sadev, helps mitigate the wiring issue mentioned by Jonathan.  Thanks

[John Vine]

56 minutes ago, CtrMint said:

I didn't know this issue existed. 

I understood it to exist only for older cars (up to around 1996?) fitted with a reversing-light switch that switches to earth (that is, with a single pole/wire).

I doubt a 620 is like that.

JV

[ScottR400D]

I routed the harness over the fuel tank which I think is the best solution but you’ve ruled that out. 

[Benton]

I liked the idea of routing the loom neatly under the boot floor.
Having read how it can be a bit of a faff getting the boot floor out, a while ago I thought I’d have a trial go before committing myself to purchasing the lights.
What defeated me was the black box (fuel pump control module I assume) firmly fixed to the bottom of the boot floor, with certainly in my case its associated cable tied wiring with apparently zero slack, I couldn’t see any way of getting anywhere near the control module plug/socket in order to unplug it, so I gave up!
Has anyone come across this problem or am I going about it the wrong way? Thanks.

 

[CtrMint]

When I built my 420R, the fuel float was fitted incredibly poorly, and it never registered correctly, so I was forced into removing my boot floor to fix that. I too needed to remove the pump control module, I believe I used a combination socket extensions to get up through the gap. I did blog about it here, if I can do it, it's not that difficult.  I'm sure once' unbolted it drops free.

On my 620R it's just going to be a massive faff that I'm not eager to get into.  There's the suspension reservoirs and all the extra bracing in the boot.

I'm starting to wonder if the large round plugs can be dissembled, or replaced, so the cable can be feed through.

Edited November 12, 2023 by CtrMint

[CtrMint]

Quote

I doubt a 620 is like that.

Hey JV, I've confirmation via the Facebook 620 owners group that at least x1 620S and x1 620R are good. I suspect I'm in the clear of that the reverse light issue. Just the routing to solve.  Thanks

[Benton]

CtrMint - Thanks for the info

 Luckily haven’t got any extra suspension parts, but have got the extra diff bracing plus the plumbed in fire extinguisher, which it seems you can’t remove without taking off at least one of the diff braces…Also just remembered since last trying I’ve  added some extra “carpeting” to the bare metal boot areas which no doubt will try to get in the way.
 Maybe I’ll just forget it for another year 😀 

 

 

[SLR No.77]

Mark, you’ve worked it out yourself already! The issue is the chassis sections that support the tank and the wiring isn’t great being run underneath them.

In my case I removed the boot floor to enable moving the fuel tank forwards a little, then fed the new loom in from the top. Clearly an alternative method would be to remove the connectors to enable the new loom to be fed through, but you’ll still need to secure the loom above the chassis tube.

If you have the honeycomb tank protection there will be very little gap between the protection and the rear chassis tube which may actually be a benefit to prevent the loom dropping out of the bottom.

Stu.

[CtrMint]

Starting to think I'll fit the CC kit to my 420R and move the JAL rear LEDs to the 620R.