griffchris

Thanks Nigel, I think the principal ongoing concern now is the fuel contamination in the oil, would an intermittent sensor issue be enough to cause this level of contamination (and the rather excessive fuel usage)?

A brief interim update: I took the car up to Kenricks yesterday, they phoned me this morning, though the phone line was poor so the conversation was brief: It passed the emissions test therefore it is not currently overfueling, however they agree there is definite fuel contamination within the engine oil, and also excessive sooting of the exhaust etc, possibly indicating an intermittent overfueling problem? I believe they have interrogated the ECU and failed to identify a problem. Their current hypothesis is that there could be an intermittent lambda sensor fault, particularly in view of the excessive catalytic converter heating that occurred on the 1st start (faulty ECU with no spark to 2 cylinders which lead to copious unburnt fuel igniting in the cat), and plan to replace the lambda sensor, and obviously will need another oil and filter change. Hopefully Caterham will at least cover the cost of the new lambda sensor. Chris

Thanks for all the input. I thought I should add the photo of the liquid in the glass is the engine oil, not the liquid from the exhaust. For peace of mind, I'm going to take the easy option and take the car up to Kenricks to let them have a poke around, if any warranteable(?) work is required they might be able to undertake it, as an authorised caterham service agent, I'll liase with Caterham depending on what Kenricks find. I'll report back. Cheers Chris

Thanks all, replies thick and fast, I can't keep up! I'll take her out and get her warmed up as soon as I get a chance, and report back. The tail pipe is orientated downwards. I do have a sneaky suspicion there might be some overfueling going on though, I committed the cardinal sin of running out of fuel on circuit yesterday, from a full tank, having covered no more than 60 to 70 miles - do they all do that???

Yes, I'm very much hoping it is soot rather than oil, the implications of it being oil would presumably be much worse. I wiped a rag around the inside of the exhaust tip and there is certainly alot of soot there - but should I be seeing this after only 600 miles, particularly after a spirited run on track yesterday? - I've also been careful to avoid excessive idling, labouring etc whilst running it in. Should the plugs look like that after 600 miles? Gentle "googling" suggests blackening of oil occurs very rapidly and this may not be a issue (though is mentioned more in respect of high mileage vehicles) - is this to be expected at this stage? Since spotting the problem this morning, I haven't warmed the engine up so hard to know!

Nearly new self-build 420R with roller barrels, only had it back from PBC and IVA for a month. Run in "hard but fair" on Millers competition running in oil x 2, with oil & filter changes at 20 miles, and again at 400 miles, now running on supplied Caterham synthetic 5w 50, 600 miles covered in total now. I did my 1st trackday yesterday at Oulton Park, the car ran well (I am very much the weak link!), fully warmed up, water temp and oil pressure fine throughout, don't think I went above 7k RPM. This morning, I started the engine from cold and, within a minute or two, noticed black liquid pooling on the floor under the exhaust pipe, doesn't particularly smell like oil (I don't tend to leave the car idling when cold). I checked the oil level in the dry sump, looked OK, but the oil looks very black, was only changed just before the trackday (less than 200 miles ago). I checked the spark plugs, all look quite sooty to me. Coolant level is fine and looks clear (and pink!). I did have an issue with a faulty ECU on 1st start prior to the PBC, and the ECU was changed by Caterham. Not sure if relevant, but I did wonder whether the catalytic converter might have been damaged on the 1st start as it got very hot (glowing red) due to unburnt fuel igniting, but I guess it wouldn't have passed the IVA test if it wasn't working? Does the above suggest a problem (running rich? faulty lambda sensor??) or something potentially worse? I shouldn't be getting carbon build up in the exhaust at this stage should I? Can any old garage check this out, or do I need a Caterham specialist (I'm in Shrewsbury, so would be Kenricks or Oakmere) Any advice gratefully received Thanks Chris see photos below /sites/default/files/images/users/12129/20160427_152334_resized.jpg /sites/default/files/images/users/12129/20160427_152309_resized.jpg/sites/default/files/images/users/12129/20160427_152436_resized.jpg/sites/default/files/images/users/12129/20160427_154314_resized.jpg

From Amazon, here

So, an update: The Torx Plus sockets arrived, they do seem a better fit than the standard Torx - I was able to get one of the remaining 2 bolts out of the caliper using the EP12 socket, unfortunately the last bolt head was too far gone to get purchase and I ended up having to drill it out etc - lesson learnt! I replaced the Torx bolts with cap heads as above, I had no luck in locating the external Torx heads even if I had wanted to replace like with like, Caterham parts have not been able to come up with them either. As an aside, the reason I wanted to take the calipers off in the 1st place was so I could thoroughly check the front wheel bearings, having read previous posts about a lack of grease applied at the factory - sure enough there was very little grease evident, so I packed them as best I could! I've only covered a couple of hundred miles so far so not too much harm done I hope...

Good thought, but the head diameter (22.3mm) is too wide to fit into the recess in the caliper body - hence why cap head (16mm head diameter - same as the external torx head flange) seems a better bet.

Yes, you read my mind, I've just been looking at M10 x 70 cap heads. The External Torx bolts are grade 10.9, but I can only find the cap heads in 12.9 (i.e.higher grade - I've looked at Namrick, Westfield and a few other websites) - would this be a problem (?impact on torque values etc)?

Yes, I spoke to parts today and they confirmed these are a new upright/caliper configuration. They didn't know what the bolts were either - but are going to get back to me. Last night I managed to coax the bolts out of one caliper using the E12 Torx socket, but on the other side (the side I tried 1st), the bolt heads are too rounded off to get a purchase. Doing a bit more research, I am fairly certain that these are External Torx Plus bolts (M10 x 70), which have their own specific socket range, denoted EPxx, I found comments such that using a standard Torx socket on a Torx Plus bolt is likely to lead to damaged bolt and socket I have ordered a Torx Plus socket set, in the hope that these will still get purchase on the damaged bolts, I have also ordered a bolt extractor kit as a back up.....

Thanks again Jonathan. Looks like the external torx plus as you say. The calipers are the original calipers supplied with the kit as delivered to me last September.

The photo is of the bolt head, not the socket. This link here shows a similar bolt rather better. Excuse the poor description, but it seems to be the rounded protruberance onto which the splines sit that prevents the E12 socket from sliding on far enough to get a really good grip. As an aside, my calipers are different to the uprated front calipers shown on the Caterham parts website.

Thanks Jonathan, I've edited my post above to add a photo. I looks like the E12 socket I have should fit but it is a wee bit loose and I don't want to round off the bolt head any further. I am having to put a lot of force through it against the loctite. E10 is too small.

I'm trying to remove my uprated front brake calipers (420R), they are loctited in place with 2 star headed bolts. I purchased a star socket set from Halfords today, and set to it - the E12 socket kind of fits, but its chewing up the bolt head, so I don't think it is the correct socket type. The bolt head has a couple of markings - "10.9" and , I think, "BC". From reading it appears there are "Torx" and "Torx plus" standards - not sure this is relevant, does anyone know what socket I need to get a proper purchase on these?? Thanks Chris /sites/default/files/images/users/12129/xlarge_20160412_212849_resized_0.jpg Thanks Jonathan!!!

Going full circle, the relevant Magneti Marelli lithium battery is now listed as unavailable by the ebay seller. Here's hoping Simon (Meteor) comes through for us instead.... I have just ordered a battery master switch from Caterham in the meantime.

I have been running this MM battery for about a year so far on my Vauxhall powered 7. I also have the CTEK charger. The battery has been great, it cranks really well. I have had to use the charger a few times (alternator stopped charging and once over the winter) and it is a pleasure to use. So much better that the cheaper chargers I have used in the past. Thanks for that, have you got a battery cut-off switch to avoid parasitic loss from the immobiliser when not being used?

Simon, any estimate as to when you will be selling these?

It's a novel use in a niche market so you'd expect some... overcharging. But I recently bought a CTEK MSX 5.0 for about £58. That's rated at 5A for 110Ah batteries. The Lithium XS costs £100 for 5A and 120Ah. I'd take a lot of convincing that the difference is more than the programs. Yes I've got a CTEK MXS 5.0 too, as you say the problem I believe is the software, it has an automatic desulphation step which kills lithium batteries. All the lithium specific chargers seem to be around the £80 to £100 mark, I've been very impressed with my 5.0 and already have the 12v socket connector etc so will likely stick with CTEK.

I've read all the old forum posts I can find, and have more or less decided to go ahead with a purchase of : ww.ebay.co.uk/itm/BATTERY-LITHIUM-MARELLI-53034-CATERHAM-SUPER-SEVEN-1-6-1590-4C-CONVERTIBLE-/191469157564 I plan to keep it on constant top-up with a dedicated lithium charger such as: http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/LITHIUM%20XS Before I take the plunge, has anyone else got any particular experience of the Magnetti Marelli battery in particular, any horror stories (or good experiences)? I have opted for the MM because, whilst it isn't the lightest, it appears to have (relatively) good capacity and cranking current, is marketed (on ebay, I know) specifically for Caterhams, and is similar in size to the Banner so shouldn't require to much packing out to secure under the existing battery retaining strap. The battery and charger together are not cheap, but still provide good value in the £/Kg metric - "added lightness" and all that... I have a 420R duratec, which I hope will get quite a bit of track action, but will sadly get little if any cold weather usage. Thanks Chris

I used Dinitrol and ACF-50, and Contralube 770 on all electrical connections, when I built mine last year, after quite a bit of research. Similar planned usage profile to you. Bit early to determine whether it did any good though...... Chris

1st track day for me, just booked into the Pack Horse, only a couple of rooms left so don't wait too long! Looking forward to meeting you all over a beer/curry! Chris

My self build 420R is currently sat at Crawley, post PBC, awaiting IVA ( and has been since early November!). IVA still not scheduled until around Jan 18th, so this thread has inspired me - Phoned Crawley yesterday and I'm going to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and get them to do the 210 to 220bhp upgrade while it's there with them (though will have to be done post IVA). Happy Xmas car, I miss you....

I finished my 420R build a month or so ago, and had similar 1st start issues, it was only firing on 2 cylinders. Eventually it was traced to a faulty ECU, replaced at PBC. Are all 4 exhaust primaries heating up - you should see even discolouration?

Had a conversation with Derek at Caterham about this during my recent build, Watts is no longer an option on any variant aside from the 620R apparently.