ScottR400D

#7 I'm sorry to say it but that's sounds awful! It's reminiscent of my Titan/BMW after being rebuilt with sintered plates. But worse....... Have you asked R&R what they think of it?

The engine inclination is a red herring. The Duratec is tilted downwards by a small amount to clear the hood but the diffs I've been involved in measuring are also tilted downwards, in some cases more than the engine. That doesn't mean that there won't be an alignment error but does mean that it would be worse were the engine horizontal. And if you do bring the engine more to the horizontal you then risk it touching the underside of the hood In any case the alignment is well within tolerance to rule out any effect from the UJ rotation, which is what is alluded to. It's common to get a light chatter in the conditions you describe rather than a whine, or even what some describe as a scream! I understood the spacer was more to do with stopping the Mazda box hitting the tunnel sides but have no experience of it "R&R also mentioned their special LSD oil blend they make (with friction modifiers?) which sometimes reduces excessive noise from plated LSDs, though I imagine if it reduces friction in the LSD plates it means your LSD is less effective than with a higher friction oil?! " Correct. It deals with a symptom, it doesn't fix the issue.

All I would say is that 30 psi at cold idle rising to approx 50psi at higher RPM seems low in any case. My dry sumped Duratec hot idles at around 2.5/3bar, 40/45psi and with more than a couple of thousand rpm shows at least 5bar, 75psi. Others will know better but that sounds like a pump issue to me.

Edited

It's located in the tank, the filter is integral and not replaceable. It shouldn't need regularly cleaning.

"Are we still forgetting the battery is only 1kg still?" Of course, that went out of the window ages ago!

My 7's standard battery, like hundreds of others probably, is held in by a simple bracket using rivnuts. That was OE.. How many failures have there been?

#5 Caterham only recommend whoever's oil they're promoting at the time. There are a host of good quality oils that will do the job well.

#5 Caterham only recommend whoever's oil they're promoting at the time. There are a host of good quality oils that will do the job well.

Whenever I've had watermarks I've just hit them with a hot air gun. Once they've gone, wax.

Just ask Opie for a recommendation Bob. Your car only came with a recommendation for Motul because that's who CC have a deal with at the moment. When I bought my car it was Comma, then it was Millers, who were superseded by Motul. I've used Millers Nano CFS for some time without any issues but Opie will give you a good steer.

Does that say 30A for wipe/wash? Didn't that used to be 10A?

As it's a question, perhaps he's asking if there are any?

The whole episode brings shame on CC IMO. It's far from their only failing but one of the very worst. If anyone is to really benefit from this one might hope there'd be a shift in the quality of aftercare from CC but I doubt we're even close to that.

Dozens, I should think. CC must have done well from sales of open diffs!

It seems, and not for the first time, that CC and Titan came up with an idea and then opted to let customers test it, then washed their hands of those folk as it failed. I was told by RRT that early carbon plates worked OK then there was a change in supplier/spec that created this scenarios, though I am aware of failures going back to around when they were first introduced as far as it is possible to know.

But how would that allow transmission through a gearbox in neutral, Geoff?

"Seemed the right thing to do. In these current times people appear to be reluctant to peer over the battlements, volunteer or make representations due to unwarranted push back." You're right. Compensation - forget it. It was a case of we made our choice outside of warranty. For me it wasn't a choice. My original Titan was fully rebuilt after its premature total failure but was, as seems to be accepted by CC unacceptably noisy and harsh. I took the matter up directly with CC but all I got in return was the 'servicing requirement' that had never been mentioned before and "no idea" in response to other queries. To say we 'made our choice outside of warranty' is frankly disingenuous and cheap. No surprise at all to me. Even 3+ years on CC can't offer a fit for purpose solution; what were people meant to do?

Thanks for doing that Geoff, you went to a lot of trouble, hopefully it will pay off for many. I do wonder why it had to rest on you as an affected individual to do all this but hey ho....... Thanks again. "They are aware of what problems this caused to owners both mechanically & financially. They were disappointed that owners had found alternative replacements outside of the Caterham product line." No mention of compensating those owners I suppose..........? They were disappointed? How do they think the owners who were forced to find alternatives felt? Especially when it involved significant expense and effort? As for the issue at last being given priority, that's cold comfort for those affected and I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were a prospective owner in any case. Actions speak louder than words and action is well overdue.

It's more than a clutch issue given the creeping forward when in neutral. When I built my R400D/6 in 2015 I had a similar issue after a few hundred miles. When completely cold the car would creep forward when in neutral unless the clutch was depressed. It was also noticeably hard to roll about with the engine off. Once hot the car seemed fine. CC fitted a replacement box under warranty and told me there was a synchro issue with the original. As a long shot what oil are you using? Not a GL5 is it?

I spent more to resolve my diff issue than the cost of fuel and tyres too; and more than it cost me to upgrade to RBTBs..........

Geoff, please try to find out why they still don't make clear to prospective owners the onerous maintenance needs and operational shortcomings of the Titan LSD, whether carbon or sintered plates.

Find the number and have a good look around for the genuine part because it's often the case that you can find them much cheaper than you might think. For instance I bought one Tuesday for my Duratec at £38 on Amazon. (That's give up to £50 now but still cheaper than many other places) Incorrect advice though, it does fit, and is exactly what the car had originally.

"If you mix 1/3 of Motul 300V 5W50 with 1/3 of Motul 300V 10w40 with 1/3 of Motul 300v 15w50 with 1/3 of Motul 20w60 , you will obtain a Marcel Pagnol Pastis recipe ... not sure it is nice for the engine" Well, no, you wouldn't but where has that even remotely been suggested? "If your question is how to obtain a 10w60 oil with a 5w50 already in the engine ... the answer is : drain the old oil" it wasn't his question, was it?

I would definitely check whether the car has been washed with the bonnet in place? As above I always wash and dry the bonnet off the car, there's definitely a possibility of water getting onto the engine if you don't, so at least he would know not to do it again.