jrgibb72

Hi all, Any recommendation of someone in Kent who's familiar with Caterham who can do a geo check and setup, possibly corner weight. Thanks J

Derek, Same car, got a Caterham decat pipe, a little louder but mainly did it as I think it looks a lot better with the cat removed, 20 min job to fit and pop back on come MOT time. In theory there should be a marginal power gain as less restriction for the exhaust gases but not so you'd notice

Thanks - Hydraulic clutch on the 150, got AA European who have been brilliant - Had a serpentine belt go on my S4 in Spain last year, typical Audi not a roadside fix it's front of the car off, they were brilliant from start to finish all sorted in 2 days. Could have done with the language converter mind!! Good call

Ha ha - first item on the list to check, the lambda sensor, loose as in 3/4 turn before it was finger tight - if that was drawing air would the bad signal to the ECU cause it to rev high like that?? J

Thanks Chris!!!

Another sticky or candidate for a Wiki entry - some good stuff in here, wiper blades!! ;-)

The oracle - thanks J

Hi all, My hi revs on idle post has got me thinking - I've a trip to the Alps planned for late June and have started to stock up on the obligatory collection of bulbs etc. Are there any other must haves that I should put on my "spares bag" for the trip - the car is a 2008 Sigma 150. Any hoses that are prone to going? General stuff in bag already; Assorted jubilee clips and cable ties, throttle cable, bulbs all round, alt belt, bake fluid, premixed coolant, oil, cuddly toy, kenwood mixer . . . Thanks, J

Chris - you helped me setup my car remember :-) The balance was out not on the pairs but between the front two TB's, the TPS was at the right voltage - since your setup the car is still starting up first pull and ticking over nicely. Will be checking all the physical bits first, this all happened after a long run with car running for 2 hours plus, may be something sticking as everything was probably a little hotter than normal after such a long run. Going to start at the throttle pedal and work forward - thanks J

Thanks guys - plenty to check and work on! J

Hi all, RoadSport 150 on ITBs been out today, about an hour and a half, stopped for 30 mins at a cafe, then headed back. After covering about 80 mile the car would’nt drop below 3500 revs. Turned off the engine at lights, re started, the same. Clutch in and a few good blips of the throttle, the same. Pulled over, turned off key out, tried putting key in position 2 and press the throttle through full travel a few times, turned on the same (that key 2 thing is the TPS reset on the Elise, just trying something). Stopped, lid off pushed the throttle linkage in the ITBs a few times and this sorted it for a few miles when it started again. Got home same procedure lid off pushed the throttle linkage a few times through full travel and wiggled the TPS wire and it tick over ok again - in the garage safely. Any thoughts?? Thanks J

Brilliant - thanks Simon

Hi all, Is there a deeper centre cap for the 13” rims, swapping over from 15” and the centre shaft is sticking out preventing the caps (off the 15”) from popping on; Thanks

Philip, Do you know the combined weight of the 13" 6" fronts plus a tyre? My spare 15" with a CR500 is around 13.7kg (13.9kg with the the two prong cradle still bolted to it). I'd be interested to get an idea of the comparable unsprung weight. If there's not a lot in it then it'll be about how the tyre wall of the 13" feels / contributes to the suspension plus any rolling diameter difference which I guess will be negligible with the correct tyre size. J

Hi all, I've had some discussions in another place regarding rims / tyres and I'm struggling to find any clear answers. Owning an Elise the rims size is fixed and a fundamental part of what makes the car what it is - Lotus developed the handling right down to tyre development with people like Bridgestone, the Potenza for the Elise had a specific DOT code (the manufacturer identity part) specifically for the car. Given the nature of the Caterham the rim and tyre selection are a fundamental part of the setup I guess I'm surprised that there are so many rim (size and width) options each one will have significantly different impact on handling; 14” Classic silver alloy with 185/60 tyres 13” Apollo silver alloy with Avon ZZS (6” front & 6” rear) 13” Apollo silver alloy with Avon ZZS (6” front & 8” rear) 13” Apollo black alloy with Avon ZZS (6” front & 6” rear) 13” Apollo black alloy with Avon ZZS (6” front & 8” rear) 15” Orcus silver alloy with Avon ZZS It's only when you get up to the 620 that Caterham restrict the options to the 13" 8" rear and 6" fronts, but you can still go for the 15" Orcus - again I image you'll notice the difference on that car! Don't even start me thinking about the rolling diameter differences!! From what I've discovered on t'interweb there's even a difference in the tyre weights ie the CR500 being considerably lighter than for instance Toyos and the ZZS (I think) all of which contributes to the unsprung weight. I've got the 15" rims (which look great I have to say) however are these the best for the car (Roadsport 150)?? I think they are 6.5" front and rear - I honestly don't know, I'll look tonight . . the spare is a 6.5". I guess after these ramblings my question is this - Do Caterham know / or recommend a particular Rim diameter and width size as being the optimum handling setup for the road?? PS this is not a questions about tyres it'll all get too messy I think my car looks great but is it on the wrong rims??

Hi All, Thought it appropriate to say a big thanks to ChrisC for spending the time this weekend to setup my TBs for me on the 150. Clearly someone had been fiddling around with the setup at some point in the past. The airflow on one of the TBs was out quite a bit clearly this being the exception to the rule that each pair are usually balanced. As a consequence the two pairs were balanced and the idle adjusted to compensate making it lumpy on idle. Once sorted the pair were correctly balanced and the idle set, the TPS did’nt need adjusting. Instantly sounded smoother on tick over and a nice smooth progressive acceleration. Thanks Chris for the 10 min job that I think took almost 2 hours of your time - what a star!! Thanks mate!! Jason

Hi all, Some weeks on now and I've had the 150 for about a month, decat fitted, aeroscreen and the engine is fantastic - as mentioned by DRH above similar characteristics to the Elise (with a ported VVC K series), nice smooth power delivery up past 7000rpm with the induction noise which is magic. There is a little lumpiness at tick over but nothing but smooth delivery as you put the power on. Similar in overall performance to my Elise however the handling is on another level. There's not the ever present under steer there is in the Elise, but certainly more twitchy, the Elise feels more sure footed due to the modern rear suspension but actually isn't when you approach the limit. Lovely cars to be able to drive back to back on a Sunday morning! In terms of upgrade guessing a flywheel change will not be too taxing plus maybe find someone for a remap. Would like to get the geo setup (don't know how spot on the suspension setup needs to be with thse cars), that just a carry over from by Elise experience, I tend to get that checked and setup once a year with the MOT. Thanks for all the comments above! (with my mates frighteningly fast 205) J

Table of the runs and videos added Here

Hi all, I'm after a two piece tonneau that'll fit an SV and or a drivers side half door. Can travel to collect (a reasonable distance). Thanks Jason

To paraphrase Blue Peter, here's one I've done myself if anyone want to contribute any GPX or similar files I'll gladly add them; Click here

If you have to replace, try Redline - £30 a pair.

Hi, Any chance the blatmaps could be displayed on a map or the county, state or province captured so they can be sorted by location? Also how do I add one, got a couple I'd like to share Thanks Jason

If you do a head gasket replacement get the SAIC kit - false economy using anything else imho. Kit here J

Totally agree - they are easy to setup in curtain web based products - I run my web sites using WordPress and there are templates for wiki type applications. I did my own just for links to how to's for the Elise for my own benefit (and a bit of techi curiosity). My wiki

Hi, This may be not help, my experience of the K is from my Elise. HGF externally is typically between pot 3&4 so on the Caterham towards the front on the right as you look at the car above the exhaust manifold. Internally you'll see either a rise in the water level in expansion tank if it blowing into the water system or a loss of coolant and viscosity in the oil if it's water into the oil, smell and feel between the fingers will give you an indication of this. Hard water pipes will also indicate HGF when it's up to temp (high pressure in the system). If you continue to suspect the temp switch for the fan bench test it with a battery, a bulb and some boiling water. it sounds like an airlock with there being a difference between the temp at the gauge sensor and the fan switch sender - ie it's hot at the gauge sensor thus showing high temp on the gauge but below the fan operating temp elsewhere in the system. whats the recommended process in the Caterham when changing coolant? You may want to try raising the front of the car to get any air into the rad? Id avoid drilling the stat, again if there's any suspicion it's that bench test it in the kitchen in a saucepan and with yr Mrs food temp gauge (when she not around!) You may want to try this DIY pressure bleeding process (part way down the page) http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Bleed_the_cooling_system Hope this helps!? Jason