Smithy77

You my Sir are a genius! I was debating whether to return the cable or just keep it... definitely returning it now! Oh by the way, I paid £38 BEFORE VAT.... so £45.60 total!! 😔

I ordered a spare throttle cable from Redline recently. I measured it up against the existing cable and, without getting the tape measure out, it was nearly twice the length! I called Redline to ask the question why it was so much longer and apparently the short cable have not been in production for the last 6 months or so, but was assured it will still work OK, only there will be excess cable travel in the engine bay - I've no reason to disagree. Anyone else bought an extra long throttle cable in the last 6 months, and has it fitted/worked OK?

Winning! The leads and coil packs have just arrived on my desk! Should I be worried that they have the part no. NEC100730? Looking at Rimmer this version appears to be discontinued

Halstock, I'll just be washing the bonnet off the car from now own - no biggie! It also reinforces my decision to invest in a long nose shower cap. Regarding a replacement lambda, I assume this is what I need? For a genuine item I'm guessing I wont be beating that price anywhere!?!

Quoting revilla: I'm beginning to feel a bit bad because you are running off buying things left right and centre based on what I'm telling you and I may on the wrong track! If it was my money I was spending on my engine I'd probably be going down this route but it's not my money it's yours. Revilla, don't take this the wrong way but... behave Sir! I have nothing but gratitude for your advice (and everyone else's for that matter!). Let's take a look then - I bought new spark plugs for £8 (probably could have done with them anyway), second hand leads/coil packs for £18 (I'm pretty sure I knackered the originals) and a OBD2 scanner for £10 (which is a handy tool to have anyway). It's hardly cost me the earth and hopefully none of it will be wasted money spent. Chill mon! Quoting revilla: I've looked at the manual you posted and it looks to me as though the scanner doesn't do what the eBay advert says it does. I can't find live data instructions either. I'd complain and ask for your money back. Sorry if I made a duff recommendation there, I just based it on the cheapest available that said in the descriptionthat it did what you wanted. Again, behave Sir! You didn't make a duff recommendation. It's was a good recommendation on an item with a duff description! I will indeed try and get my money back, but looking at alternative cheap options I've found the 2013 version of yours here for £15 delivered, but I'll keep my eye on this auction for a 2014 model to see what it goes for. Quoting revilla: The DTC code suggests you have a lambda sensor problem; I'd eliminate that first and see how it goes before worrying too much about if these is another problem, although I too find it surprising that the default map would misfire. I only mentioned the fuel pressure as one example of why the default map may be off-calibration. Back to the problem... what I was kind of alluding to was that fact that it would make sense that something else, other than the lambda, is also contributing to the problem. Your own assessment suggests this, I think! I am fairly certain the coil packs are also at fault. It has been mentioned by other members too that the symptoms point towards ignition/coils. And when someone asked about washing the car with the bonnet on... yes I had....and the engine was cold! The evidence is compelling. I'm hoping the replacements arrive today Could it be possible that, assuming it was the coils causing the misfire, that this misfire then in turn has damaged the lambda? P.S. I might take you up on that offer of borrowing a lambda sensor though Edited by - Smiffy7 on 16 Apr 2014 10:05:45

Revilla, Thank you, truly priceless information! So are you basically saying the lambda could just be part of the problem, going by the middle section of your post talking about fuel pressure? I did try and diagnose the lambda by disconnecting it as one of the first things I tried, but it didn't make a difference. It is probably just me, but I'm struggling to understand why, if the sensor is running open loop and therefore the ECU is using it's default map, the engine would run so poorly. Or is it this that is suggesting that something else is up? In any case, do you know the part number of the lambda I need (1.6 EU3) and where is the cheapest place to pick one up? I see from old posts that it can be quite expensive! Regarding the scanner, I was aware of those claims on that particular eBay listing, however, doing a search around that was the only listing that stated those features. Needless to say, I followed the instructions closely and couldn't see any mention of 'live data'. I'll try and find the instruction online... Edit: Instruction manual here, it is not identical to the one that came with the scanner, if anything this online version has more information in it. I still couldn't find any reference to live data though Edited by - Smiffy7 on 15 Apr 2014 22:50:12 Edited by - Smiffy7 on 15 Apr 2014 23:01:39

It's a U480 Universal Scanner manufactured by someone somewhere in China 😬 here

Right chaps, my OBD scanner arrived today so I gave it a whirl this evening. It was straight forward enough to get the fault codes, but to get the inspection and maintenance readings less so; I will come onto that in a minute. So I plugged it in and switched the ignition on to reveal just 3 faults (I was expecting more!): 1. N/A 2. P0195 - Engine oil temp sensor circuit malfunction 3. P0135 - O2 sensor heater circuit malfunction (Bank 1 Sensor 1) I then cleared the faults, started the engine for 5 mins, switched off and rescanned to reveal the same 3 faults. So, the questions I have are: - Other then realising that the faults relate to the oil temp and O2 sensor circuits, that's about as much as I can glean from the descriptions. Can anyone more familiar with diagnostics be any more specific?? - Considering that there are generic fault codes in the instructions specifically described as "Cylinder X misfire detected", and the fact that I didn't get one of these come up, does this mean that there definitely is not a misfire? I thought based on the symptoms I have that a misfire was pretty evident?? I then started the engine again to try out the I/M monitor status' but the scanner seemed less straight forward. There are 2 buttons on the device, ENTER and SCROLL. I hit the scroll button until I got to IM in the menu and hit enter. At this point the instructions give definitions of a series words: MIL light off = All monitors can be tested MIL light on = At least one monitor has not completed testing READY = shows that a monitor being checked has completed its testing NOT RDY = shows that a monitor being tested has not completed its testing N/A = The monitor is not supported on that vehicle > = additional information is available on the next screen ...READY (hit scroll) FUEL... > ...READY (hit scroll) CCM... > ...READY (hit scroll) CAT... > ...NOT READY (hit scroll) HCM... > ...N/A (hit scroll) EVAP... > ...N/A (hit scroll) 2AIR... > ...N/A (hit scroll) A/C... > ...N/A (hit scroll) O2S... > ...NOT READY (hit scroll) HO2S... > ...NOT READY (hit scroll) EGR... > ...N/A (hit scroll) MIL....OFF (the same list would then repeat/scroll as previous) The problem I found was that although with each monitor it had an arrow (>) symbol suggesting there was additional information on the next page (presumably the monitor reading?!?), I couldn't seem to find it! It just went straight to the next monitor as above I also tried the same procedure with the engine off but ignition on and the only difference was that it read MIL... ON, which is the only bit that makes sense! Does anyone know how one might get the readings from the various monitors? Quoting Smiffy7: Quoting AntonyH: Quoting Smiffy7: 7) When switching off the engine it will continue to run for approx 2secs after turning the key. This has happened since buying the car but thought nothing of it Is the radiator fan running? If so, when you turn off, the still-spinning fan motor becomes a generator and sustains the ignition for a second or two. Not that I've noticed. I'll check this out though I took notice of the above and the one time I tried it with the fan off it didn't seem to run on! Seems odd though as I was sure it did it more often then not, if not all the time Edited by - Smiffy7 on 15 Apr 2014 21:45:21 Edited by - Smiffy7 on 15 Apr 2014 21:48:46

Is that now 5 people interested? (inc. OP)

Quoting AntonyH: Quoting Smiffy7: 7) When switching off the engine it will continue to run for approx 2secs after turning the key. This has happened since buying the car but thought nothing of it Is the radiator fan running? If so, when you turn off, the still-spinning fan motor becomes a generator and sustains the ignition for a second or two. Not that I've noticed. I'll check this out though

Hi Fil YHM Unfortunately during my wash it was before going out with the engine cold, although I did go out after a quick chamois. I've already been recommended Tom New for any local professional work on the Caterham (cheers Daz ). I'm hopeful of getting this fixed by Good Friday. Banking on a combination of new spark plugs and replacement leads and coils will do the trick Edited by - Smiffy7 on 14 Apr 2014 22:12:39

Quoting oldbutnotslow: This really does sound like the plugs have become flooded with water and as a result the coil packs have become corroded inside the big rubber bits to use the non technical term. Ive seen several cars that have had similar problems all of which have been traced back to the owner having washed the car with the bonnet on the car. Washing the car with the bonnet on is a real no no! I'm starting to think I am the victim of my own doing here. I did give it a quick wash a few days after picking her up after driving in the wet weather we had. I didn't know I should have removed the bonnet! I just thought I should be careful not to flood water through the bonnet vents, my thinking being, "some water must get in there when it rains???". It would explain why it ran sweet for the first few day and has deteriorated since. We live and learn I suppose... I have ordered a second hand set of coils and leads off eBay for £18. Hopefully that solves it.

Quoting revilla: Edited to add that the ODBII scanner will probably have a feature to allow you to reset any error codes. It might be worth doing this as there may be all sorts of historical errors logged to confuse the issue, then take it for a drive and scan it again when you get back to see what new error codes have popped up again. How long a drive would you say is required to create new fault codes?

Quoting revilla: If you want to get new ones, parts numbered 4 and 6 here are what you want but to be honest if it were my car and the eBay ones worked and looked to be in good condition I'd probably just keep using them. Cool, thank you! Rimmer looks like a good website - is this considered the best/cheapest place for genuine k-series parts?

Quoting Jonathan Kay: Yes, those are fine. Jonathan The battery voltage?

Revilla, thanks again. I think I'll buy a second hand set off eBay as you suggest. Presumably I can buy any set which says it's from a 1.6 or 1.8 k series, from any year or from any car? I've already had the old ones off to clean so I'm a bit of an expert If a second hand set of lead and coils cures the problem, would you suggest investing in a set of new items? - Measured the battery voltage and got 12.8 off, 12.6 ignition on, 10.5 turning over, 14.3 idle. As no one has mentioned anything about my battery voltage readings above, presumably they are healthy? Cheers