Red SLR Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Mine would not idle propely with it in #4 See X777CAT here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gasmaninaseven Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 My lambda sensor's been in #4 primary with the cat in place from the start; only "running in" at present but I'm happy with the low speed running- idles fine and pulls without hesitation from lowish revs ( only using up to 4k or so ). Just about to get into the garage and look at putting on the non-cat collector I would hope that with some suitable attention your engine should be running sweetly Darren 😬- Pitty about the wait ☹️- hope it's sorted ASAP Mobile at last in my R300!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
993RS Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 I've just picked up an R300 today from Caterham (it was the Blue one for sale at Caterham Midlands) and basically it is almost undriveable at low speeds. Very, very violent kangoroo jumping intermittently in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears at anywhere between 2-5k revs. Not happy at all as this car was driven down from the Midlands and then supposedly checked by the factory yesterday. I was rtold everything was fine with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren f Posted May 4, 2003 Author Share Posted May 4, 2003 Mmm, this one seems to be running and running (the joy of a public forum ). I'm intrigued that Bafty was advised by CC to put the lambda in No.4 primary- they advised me to put it in just before the cat- I even checked this out again when the cable almost didn't reach . 993RS- I think the R300 has this 'kangeroo-ing' tendancy in nearly all cars- I find it's made worse by any jolting of your foot on the accelerator- a pretty common occurence on the bloody awful roads we have round here. Driving in town or in 30s is a first or second gear exercise for me- my car also has the problem that it will not pull from anything below 2500rpm in 4th or above. Having said that upon driving it yesterday it was better (although I was attempting not to aggravate the problem). However, after stopping for a few mionutes and then re-starting it was a right b*****d, coughing and spluttering when trying to pull away from rest. From my sparse knowledge of engine management, I am worried even more now- sounds like a sensor somewhere 'is up the creek' 🤔 darren f The Building of R300SEV is Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 Darren, I'm sure that you've checked it all over a thousand times, but are the connectors into the ECU / MFU all seated properly and tight and free from any water ingress? No experience to back these thoughts up, but might be worth a look. Sorry to hear that you are still having issues as normally these cars are an absolute joy and very flexible in their driving characteristics. FWIW, my Lambda sensor is just before the cat. My car will bunny hop in any of the first 3 gears too at anything up to 40mph, but it is caused simply by rough roads and my foot bouncing up and down on the trigger like throttle and not an engine issue - 993RS, does yours bunny hop when cruising at reasonable speed or when giving it some welly? SteveP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
993RS Posted May 4, 2003 Share Posted May 4, 2003 Just been out in the car again and it's a total nightmare around town, problem is not caused by bumpy roads. Happens mainly in 1st & 2nd at anywhere between 2 & 5k revs, lifting off doesn't seem to help. Only thing that seems to work is dipping the clutch or flooring the accelerator which isn't an option around town. The kangarooing is really violent and very embarassing. Cannot believe Caterham didn't know about this ! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
993RS Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Also, what is the typical fuel comsumption on these cars. I only managed 120 miles (motorway and dual carriageway) before having to refill. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren f Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 Haven't measure mine accurately, but its only doing 20-25mpg. But I didn't buy it for its economy *smile* *smile* *smile* *smile* darren f The Building of R300SEV is Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bafty Crastard Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 This is has got to be the most economical Caterham I have had yet My last car was a crossflow R300 NUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiff Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 My R300's done 1K miles and has always pulled smoothly from low revs. I have the lambda in the CAT (as advised by Caterham technical !!). However I have experienced the kangarooing a couple of times, but put this down to wrong revs/wrong gear like when I was learning to drive. Generally no problem. My fuel consumption varies greatly depending how I drive it. I've had so far figures varying from 18mpg to 34mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Jim -have you checked you TBs are matched? Sounds odd that its that bad. My car will do about 120 miles on 30L (about 17mpg!) - the 1600SL did 180 on 30L. (24mpg) See X777CAT here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bafty Crastard Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 The person that "suggested" installing the oxy sensor in No4 was Mr Ian Webster, In hindsight his recommendation seams sound as the car runs fine. As an add, I would have thought removal of the "cat" in the future is unlikly to upset the running of my car significantly R300 NUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
993RS Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 I've just checked the archives and it appears the original owner had the same problem when he picked the car up from the factory in November. I'll give Caterham a call tomorrow. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan T Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 As a prospective R300 owner later in the summer I will be interested in hearing what they say. Hope you get it sorted pronto Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver-7 Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 So I'm not the only one with dire fuel consumption ! 120 - 130 between fills on the R300 compared to 160 - 170 on my previous 1600K supersport, and too think I used to take the mikky out of the crossflows ! looks like the jokes on me !!!!! Alex M Lambo orange R300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Panks Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 I know of another person in our area who is currently experiencing BIG problems with his R300 (I think you know who i'm talking about Darren) It is running very lean and occasionally on 3 cylinders. Needless to say it is going back to Caterham very soon to get fully sorted and a successful SVA. I must admit your R300 didn't sound too bad when leaving the CW on Monday, well apart from the engine dieing on you! But it should run better than you are currently experiencing. I'd get it sorted by Caterham considering: a. it's in warranty and b. You've shelled out a lot of money! I'll bet they don't lend their R300 demo car to journos with the faults you describe, your car should be no different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
993RS Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Funny you should mention journalists. Came across this today (Auto Express dated 18/7/02):- After reading our criticisms of its new Superlight R300 in issue 710, Caterham has retuned the engine to make the car easier to drive in traffic. The MG TF-sourced 1.8-litre unit has had its electronic 'brain' reprogrammed after a session on a rolling road to improve fuelling at lower engine speeds. And a test drive of the revised version showed the problems with the ultra-light roadster had been fixed. Even in heavy traffic it performed faultlessly and was less stressful to drive than before, with no hint of 'kangarooing' on partial throttle openings. Luckily, the rorty exhaust note and supercar-bashing performance have not been affected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren f Posted May 11, 2003 Author Share Posted May 11, 2003 So, CC do seem to be able to do something to the R300s that get returned to them with problems - this has cheered me up a bit. Ernie- the car was really on its best behaviour Monday night (not wishing to be shown up by its brethren no doubt 😬), which makes me think the problem is an intermittant one- that or I'm driving 'round it'. I'm not going to say anymore until its come back from CC later this month- this is public forum and I'm a bit worried about who I might be upsetting 😳 😳 darren f The Building of R300SEV is Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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