bjw

Hi John, thanks for replying. I found this post from 2003 (only a year after the 8V was discontinued):- https://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/anyone-got-vx-8-valve-owners-manual Anyone got a VX 8 valve owners manual Went to the Factory today for one of these items and have been informed they have not only no stock, but are out of print and are unlikely to produce any more (apparently they only sold eleven in the last year of publication.) Only manuals for the K series variants are now available. - So it appears there was one, but any official supply dried up almost immediately. They sold every single one they had, but there was no demand... Cheers, Barry

Just for completeness I'd very much like to get hold of an assembly guide (in any format) covering my VX Classic 1600 8V (a 1998 kit). (And yes, I've already asked Jonathan! He doesn't have one.) I can't find anything anywhere on the net, and I've not spotted a 'real' one on eBay in the year or more I've been looking. According to Wikipedia (..?) the VX 8V was supplied from 1997 to 2002 (224 cars) so there must surely be a few guides around even if a good proportion of those were factory built. I guess it would have shared a guide with other models during that period, although perhaps it might even have been just included in an addendum? Can anyone shed any light? is it really that rare? Many Thanks, Barry

You're probably right, mine are from 1998 and appeared to be the same as those in the photos above as far as I could see, but looking at the Caterham parts site they added an extra brace in 1999 which I must assume means they could no longer be adjusted. Shame they didn't check the clearance! Cheers

I have an S3, narrow track and a standard rack, but my cycle wings remain a good 10mm clear of the indicator pods. Doesn't the clearance just depend on how far the headlamp bracket tubes are set into the clamps ? Cheers

This sounds very much like the classic failure of the hollow roll pin that secures the striker block to the selector shaft. This will 'disconnect' both 1/2 and 3/4 selector forks, with no effect on 5th. It wouldn't cause an oil leal though, so that may just be unrelated. Might it have been leaking a while without being noticed ar was there far too much for that? https://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/wisdom-welcomed-no-drive-wheels Cheers

>> https://drive.google.com/uc?id=178yOHi7m0Dllq5CCqh9S0YDNJ9P2jQ03 didn't work though. << That's because it's not an image - it's a PDF, and most browsers don't support embedded PDFs using <img> tags. Cheers

Is this working ? I used the image button but changed: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16osmYVQ_5G6hG9mVbdFVm-Wv35orq-Wjgw/view to: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=16osmYVQ_5G6hG9mVbdFVm-Wv35orq-Wjgw

The in-line pdf in post#7 is not visible to me in Firefox, ChromeOS, or Android. As far as I have been able to ascertain, PDF's are apparently usually embedded with <object>, <iframe> or <embed> tags. In theory the <img> tag can be used with single page vector pdfs but the majority of browsers have never supported it. Because links in forum editors aren't live until posted I've developed the habit of copying them and pasting into a new window to test. Unfortunately it didn't register that the link generated in this site's file browser is a relative one, so won't work in the new window. (In future I'll use the preview window...) So - select text for the link, click the (chain) link button at top of editor, 'Browse Server', select file, 'Insert file', 'OK' Fusebox Labels.pdf - where the link generated is a relative one: /sites/default/files/images/users/42534/Fusebox%20Labels.pdf To create a direct link (the norm...), simply prepend the site address:- https://www.lotus7.club/sites/default/files/images/users/42534/Fusebox%20Labels.pdf Cheers Barry

The pdf printed at 1:1 will produce labels of the correct size so a link is more useful than simply displaying it In the file browser it states:- Permitted file extensions: jpg jpeg gif png svg pdf doc docx ppt pptx gpx gdb itn xls xlsx . - great, but for what ? I really don't see the point of being able to upload a pdf (or any other non-image file) to my user area if I can't create a link to it ! Perhaps I've misunderstood and it's just somewhere to keep files from prying eyes.... In the source of your post I see:- <p>PS: That pdf:</p><p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/inline/images/Fusebox%20Labels.pdf"></p> But nothing is displayed. Do you see something? Cheers

I don't know if a non-scholarship 1999 VX 1600 Classic is exactly the same, but I'm guessing it's close enough. The modules from top down are:- 1: Horn relay, 2: Headlight relay, 3: Indicator enable relay (comes on with ignition), 4: Flasher unit Fuses from top down are:- Brake/Reverse Light 15A Instruments/Heater 10A Radiator Fan 15A Heated Screen 10A Rear Fog Light 5A R/H Side Tail Light 7.5A L/H Side Tail Light 5A Main Beam 15A Dip Beam 15A Wipe/Wash 15A Horn 20A Flasher Unit 10A I've uploaded a pdf I made to print some replacement fusebox labels into my club file area. I can click on it and view it ok, but I can't find any way that works to display it or link to it in a post !!! (Drupal or me ???) ...So here it is on my Google drive: <link> (Label text is more to my liking, i.e. not the same as the original above.) Cheers

Message sent re oil gauge and jack. Cheers, Barry

Since a lot of plausible possibilities are being eliminated, a (very) long shot - "Misfire with Low Fuel" is equally "Misfire with Too Much Air". As I read your post#1 it happens at higher vacuum, so possibly an inlet manifold leak ? (Although how that could be intermittent isn't obvious...) If it were a leak, it would presumably be at cyl #4 for it to register as low fuel. Cheers

>>Is it easy to get the female connectors out of the loom plug?<< Looking down the hole in the housing from the open end the brass contact has a single rectangular barb on the opposite side to the split which need to be pushed inwards toward the centre while gently pulling on the wire. A tubular type extraction tool is best but a small watchmaker's screwdriver is fine, but then it's easy to push the barb in too far so it needs bending back out (just a little) before re-inserting. Cheers

Ever since I've had my car (a Classic VX), switching the hazards on and off has resulted in a nasty buzzing noise from under the dash as the switch passes through the midway position. It was a bit alarming the first time it happened, but a quick internet search revealed it was a known feature and unlikely to be a sign of a deeper problem. Various theories were put forward (and even one suggestion that CC had fitted a buzzer but couldn't remember why !) Well, a year on I've finally got round to looking at it and it just turns out to be a fairly basic design problem... Switching on the hazards connects four pins on the switch together - the output of the flasher unit, the left and right indicators, and the warning lamp. The problem arises because these connections are not made simultaneously, but in two stages via a sliding contact. Somewhere between fully 'off' and fully 'on' the flasher unit is connected to just the warning lamp. This is far too small a load for the flasher to work properly, but it tries its hardest and 'flashes' so fast it just screeches. In the diagrams below the warning lamp is shown separate from the switch for clarity and 'H' represents the contact block:- I don't know how common this problem is. (?) Probably not all makes and ages of flasher units behave the same way with very light loads, but for those who do suffer from it there's a very simple fix... Just swap the flasher/warning connections with those for the left/right indicators as per the diagram below:- Now in the intermediate state only the left and right indicators are connected together, and there's no load on the flasher unit until the switch is fully on. Hazards can now be switched on and off without further embarrassment... Cheers Barry

>>@bjw: I forgot to ask...how did you do that?<< Hi John, answered in your PSP thread: https://www.lotus7.club/comment/2274327#comment-2274327 Cheers, Barry

If you display the front view, and then flip-flop between 420 and 620, this becomes apparent. Indeed it does:- Quite a bulge. Cheers

Why not just remove the crossbar / wheel wells and lift the chassis on the 'H' frame ? Cheers

Thanks Jonathan. Found it - https://www.lotus7.club/forum/chitchat/membership-renewal-11 Cheers

I was going to attempt writing my first blog so went to my user page, clicked 'Blogs' and was presented with 25 pages of blog titles. When visited all are apparently authored by 'Anonymous (not verified)' and seem to pre-date the forum changeover. Similarly 'Forum Posts' presents 179 pages of posts, again 'anonymous'. I tried a couple of other user pages with the same result - is this the same for everyone? Cheers

As a footnote - I found a wiring diagram of the R400 which throws a little light. All the grounds from the rear end (pump, sender, all lamps, speed sensor) are commoned at a point buried in the loom in the transmission tunnel ~900mm from the fuel pump connector. The actual ground connection is made via a wire that runs all the way from there to a tag on the chassis near the left headlamp connector ! Cheers, Barry

Andrew, Note that in post #41 that John is seeing a voltage on the sender when it's disconnected and the engine is running. Even if the wizard is abandoned this is a significantly peculiar observation that I think should be investigated in case it's an indication of another problem elsewhere. Maybe I'm too fussy, but... (To summarise - that voltage appears to be what caused the gauge to read low only with the engine running following the initial calibration. It's backing off the wizard measuring voltage and making the resistance appear higher than it is, hence reducing the gauge reading.) In the last set of data direct measurements of the disconnected sender are still showing higher with the engine running. Cheers Barry

I think the first priority would be to eliminate the spurious voltage. This is of course speculation, but it could well be a grounding problem, where there's a common between the sender ground and something else drawing power which together are not making good contact with the chassis. The obvious nearby candidate is the fuel pump, which I had dismissed thinking it ran all the time the ignition was on. (I have Webers and forgot that on injection cars things are different...) I believe your fuel pump runs for a short time to prime the system then turns off until cranking is detected ? Your measurement with 'ignition on' would then be with the fuel pump off, and with 'engine running' with the fuel pump on ? The way the wizard measures the resistance is likely to use less voltage across the sender than the conventional system, so may well be much more sensitive to any spurious voltage, hence the consistency in readings when you reverted. Cheers Barry

1: The two major electrical differences between engine off and engine running are the increased system voltage, and additional noise on the supply. The wizard seems to be a well established product so noise really shouldn't be an issue. 2: A small spurious +ve voltage developed at the 0v terminal of the sender would produce an apparent increase in sender resistance. It's not terribly obvious however how #1 might result in #2 !! Just to eliminate the possibility I would check to see if there's any voltage on the disconnected sensor wire with the engine running. Cheers

Ah, I see. So when you say: >>But when I started the engine, the gauge dropped immediately to just over 3/4 and the resistance increased to 73 ohms.<< You do actually mean the resistance of the disconnected sensor changes ???? That surely can't be right ??? Cheers, Barry

Hi John, In post #19 you wrote: To measure sender resistances, touch the multimeter probes to the green/black and black gauge wires (or, if you've already hooked up the Wizard, to the green and black terminals in the Wizard connector block). It's unlikely that you will obtain a correct measurement of the sender resistance with it connected to the Wizard even with power off, but with power on you certainly won't. How were your setup values measured? Cheers, Barry