Scotland North AR

Yes, maybe should have clarified that, they won't insure the 7 but have recovered it a couple of times using the breakdown number provided by Nationwide.

Ah ok, thanks. Highly recommended. We've been insured with LV on the tin tops for years and always good service on that side too. They won't touch the rollerskate though.

I've had to use the breakdown cover which comes "free" with my Nationwide current account. Very efficient they were...whoever it is that provides the service on their behalf.

In the end, WOSP, who made the alternator, gave me a new one free of charge as a gesture of goodwill. The alternator was tested on another Caterham and rattled before going back to WOSP. WOSP tested the alternator in their factory a couple of different ways but couldn't generate the rattle. I suspect that this was because they couldn't replicate the amount of side load which the tensioner applies on their bench top rig. They also stripped it down again and couldn't find anything visually. The alternator pulley is solid (no clutch) aluminium. It exhibited very high wear after 11,000 miles so I'm just waiting for WOSP to supply a steel pulley which they also agreed to do FOC. You live and learn....and sometimes end up the poorer for it. Still, another trip to the Picos booked in the car plus the diary filling up with other car runs so not all bad.

Hi Jonathan, the whole process ended up taking about two months and therefore each step was done as each bit was ordered and then fitted.....then being disappointed when it rattled.....again....

Well, it appears to be fixed...a few false starts over the last few days, ordered the wrong flywheel locking tool, then had the wrong crankshaft stretch bolt.... Engine rattle Changed idler pulley - thought I felt play in it Changed belt tensioner - as above Sent alternator away for checking - returned all fine from manufacturer Changed alternator drive belt and pulley Changed water pump Changed crankshaft damper pulley Fitted brand new alternator and pulley Rattle gone!The rattle came on 3-4 minutes after engine start originally. I can only assume something is warming up inside the alternator, expanding and then catching causing the rattle. The alternator will be going back to the manufacturer for a further check. The engine is 60,000 miles old, 11,000 after a rebuild and now everything one the front of the engine is brand new so not all bad. Good job this is December and not June i.e. mid driving season.

Morning, all the items on the crankshaft are keywayed on since Premier Power upgrade. Forgot to add that the water pump was changed also. The only thing not new on the driveline of the belt is the crankshaft pulley, dropped the car off just now to get it changed. Strictly speaking the 11,000 mile old alternator is not new but has been away for stripdown and inspection.

.......and...... The story so far: - alternator belt tensioner and pulley assembly changed central idler changed alternator belt changed alternator pulley found to be worn down from 55 mm diameter to 53 mm diameter at the top of the grooves when compared to new pulley. The peaks of the teeth seem to have worn down after 11,000 miles. Changed the pulley and refitted existing alternator. Alternator is a small WOSP unit. Checked all of the bolts. Still rattling with the alternator drive belt on when running, quiet with the belt off! Tomorrow a new crankshaft pulley goes on! Can't help but think it will be something embarrassingly simple after all of that :(

Morning, another crank damper pulley arrived today, borrowed alternator hopefully tomorrow, expect to find out where I'm at by Thursday......without a rattle I would hope!

Morning, tried all of the above. Had car up on stands, checked everywhere with mirrors and lights, straight edge across pulleys. Checked tightness of everything. Am now borrowing another alternator, trying that, then change the crankshaft pulley/damper.....and after that.... Thanks for the advice to date, will update mid next week when I've done the above. Very pleased it's not mid season!

It's as if the alternator was loose and therefore a lower frequency rattle rather than a buzz. Just listened at engine idle rather than other speeds. metallic rattle at the front of the engine, nothing near cam cover for example.

Thanks, pulleys in line, brackets fine and tight. Alternator bearings checked at strip down. I did initially think it was alternator bearings hence sending it off. The alternator is only 11,000 miles old.

Evening all, very irritating problem on 2009 150 Sigma SV, circa 60,000 miles. The engine started rattling, take the alternator belt off and it stops. Changed belt tensioner for new one, also the idler below the cams, water pump changed, had alternator sent away stripped and checked, all ok. Feedback from alternator person was that the belt was worn. This belt had done 11,000 miles since change. Belt changed also. The only thing which is now 60,000 miles old is the damped crankshaft pulley. Brief inspection with light on mirror on a stick didn't seem to show the rubber perishing or damaged in any way when looking from the engine side towards the nose. I'll be getting another pulley to try but any other thoughts from anyone as to further checks I should do or possible causes? The belt wear may be an indication that something is not entirely right with the crankshaft pulley? Answers on a post card to.,,,

hi, does anyone know the make and model if the brake master cylinder please. Small leak out of front seal so will need to buy a new seal kit.

I ordered two park switches, one off SVC and one off Fleebay. The one off Fleebay has just arrived and is in bits, packaging very good though. In addition the spring clip for fastening to the the wiper motor body is missing. I think SVC must have supplied the genuine article, it looks roughly the same but vastly more robust in feel. I would have been a bit peed off if I'd had it all in bits just before heading off somewhere then received this!

Hi, that's the parking problem fixed at least, it turned out to be the return spring broken under the plunger on the little switch. I bought a new one off SVC (Stafford Vehicle Components) https://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/wiper-park-switch-14w/ This picture shows the plunger on the top right which had no spring return to it. The new one has a good positive spring The black clip in the centre of the block is very tight and hard to get on, needs forcing on from inside the cover of the wiper motor after you have put the switch on on the other side. If not, the switch is likely to drop off....probably when you have got the motor nearly back in. This can be got at without removing the wheel. Whilst waiting for the switch to arrive I scoured Youtube and found out the following video on a . Very helpful on all sorts of problems which may be encountered with a wiper motor. It finishes with the immortal saying...."that's that, time for a beer!". I think his job turned out bigger than expected.I took the opportunity with the wiper blades off to trim the bottom edge (looked at when the wipers go fully to the passenger side) of the blades such that they didn't hit the windscreen surround whilst also having the right parked position. If trimming the blades, use a Dremel with a cutting disk. Doesn't rip the rubber as a hacksaw would. Will look at fitting the flick switch at a future date. Thanks for the help above.

Hi, six years ago I had the same thing with my 1800 k-series, LSD and slightly damp road. Low speed accident but a lot of cosmetic damage, a new front chassis would have done it I think. The Police attended and were extremely helpful, car in field at this point. I was insured with Adrian Flux. My crash happened on a Saturday morning up near Aberdeen where I live and found it impossible to get any sense out of Flux, they wouldn't recover the car. I used my breakdown to get that sorted. I now check my policy to make sure the claim and recovery procedure is crystal clear - insurance is now with REIS. I spoke to Kenrick Motors (Wales, not the North of Scotland), sent them plenty of photos and they said they'd have my car race fit in a week from the info provided (I didn't race it) or road and cosmetic fit in six weeks. The issue would be getting an insurance assessor in the North of Scotland who knew what a Caterham was to properly assess it for repair or write off. The assessor wrote it off. I had paid my £25 for agreed value cover so getting the cheque to replace the car took two weeks which was fine. I have normally gone for insurance with agreed value subsequently. Flux increased my premium from £300 to £1800 subsequent to the accident, obviously I went elsewhere but could only get it for £900. It took 3 years to get it back to normal levels. My mate in Middlesbrough (i.e. not the North of Scotland) saw the car on the back of a trailer coming out of a breakers in Hartlepool. It had been on Ebay from the breakers and was sold for £7,600. It had a six speed box, LSD and a few other bits and pieces. It would have been repairable for well less than the £25,000 agreed value but I guess it is a percentages game. Best of luck with your repairs.

Thanks for all that, will read further on the links above. Incidentally, my wipers don't self park as it is so not sure whether that is a motor problem or not. I met up with Colin the other day and he said that taking the motor out to do anything was a quite a bit of a faff. Might be on the winter jobs list.

Hi, I saw Colin's thread on the failure of his wipers, I was there that day and the weather was shocking! There was quite a lot in it about the intermittent wipe...or in his case...no wipe at all. I have a 2009 Sigma 150 and was wondering whether it is possible to retro-fit intermittent wipe capability to it or does it need an earlier harness to be possible?

Just had this problem myself and the fix was down to making sure that the light went off all 43 times for each notch on the drive shaft. On mine, it was only reading 33 of the 43 so creating the same error as yourself. The 10 it wasn't reading, or more to the point reading as one, were all in one area. Moved the out a tad and rotated the hub to get the count right and hey presto. Odometer spot on, speedo slightly high according to sat nav.

Just come back from Holland/Belgium, got randomly breath tested on the way off the ferry at Ijmuiden so worth bearing that in mind. There was an officer with a breath tester on each line of cars by passport control. Two of us had all manner of problems with satnavs. Mine died completely on the way up the motorway back to Ijmuiden, very very inconvenient with all the junctions nearer to the port. Fortunately we had two phones also to use for navigation. One of us had a Tom Tom, the other a Garmin and there seemed to be problems with the USB power leads on both. Nothing wrong with the power to the sockets however.

Many thanks John. I wish the speed sensor came with a set up/check procedure....maybe it did but don’t remember it.

.......and another thing which you can't price for is warranty support. I had a problem with my F175 and Stuart sorted it without question, immediately...even though I do live in Scotland. 1,100 miles done in the last week over to Belgium in some serious temperatures and the car went extremely well and didn't use a drop of oil. 0.5L per thousand miles before the upgrade circa 6,000 miles ago.

Excellent guide, thanks very much for doing it. The website search facility doesn't do too good a job of finding it though.

Speedo now rock solid, slightly over reading compared to sat nav. Trip similarly slightly over reading when compared to sat nav/My Route App. 27 miles on trip, 26.5 miles on sat nav and My Route App. Result!