JohnJo

Hi Andrew, you came to my rescue by fitting a new alternator for me when mine failed. You are welcome to check out my mapping if my Caterham is of interest. Unmodified 1.8K X Power. No idea if it's Roadsport or Supersport but was advertised as Roadsport when I bought it. No idea if X Power makes difference to standard mapping. I'm in Markyate, Herts, near Harpenden. John at purethought dot co dot uk

That's what I do Paul. I'm now into my second year of ownership and really had no idea what to do over my first winter. That first year was a bit of a trial as I have an unpowered garage so after a few close calls of almost not starting on a fine winters day with a drive planned I eventually gave in and took the battery out. That was a pain too as whenever it was a fine (but usually cold) day I would think about taking the seven out but that whole battery re-fitting & removing thing often put me off. The arrival of spring had me at a local sports car garage having a battery isolator switch fitted. Best money I've spent on the car. This winter I plan on using her whenever the weather suits, usually on a fine day after rain has washed salt away. I'll commute to work in her when I can and take her out on weekends. I don't like leaving her idling early morning when neighbours are still sleeping although she'll get a few mins while I close up garage and strap in. I keep her below 3000 revs until water is up to temperature and oil pressure settles. 1.8 K series.

This problem has now been solved with the kind help of Andrew (revilla) & Jonathan Kay. Andrew suspected a: "faulty diode in the rectifier section of the alternator" which "can leave some phases of the winding coming into play and some not; the result being pulsating voltage at the regulator with regular dropouts. So the battery will still charge (over most of the cycle, so not full strength) but the warning light may still be on (over the rest of the cycle, so maybe not full brightness but sometimes hard to tell). A multimeter wouldn't show that fault very clearly, the waveform is too fast. A scope probably would". Amazingly Andrew offered to stop of at my place on the way elsewhere and replace the alternator with a unit he already had (we did keep our distance, which was relatively easy). I fired the Seven up and no warning light :) Thanks again to them both and to everyone else for their comments and suggestions.

Update FWIW: Handbook shows the 7 went back to Caterham to have a starter button fitted very soon after original purchase. Not sure if relevant. So this is what has been discovered using a multimeter with guidance from JK: Reading at battery with engine off: 12.47 Reading at battery with engine running: 14.16 dropping to 13.9 Reading at battery with engine running at 3000 revs: 14.24 dropping to 14.17 Ignition Warning light remains on after ignition/engine running, which wasn't the case until a few days ago. It's been suggested to me that the problem could be the connector behind the tacho. I've had a feel around and found nothing loose. I may have to just live with this until I manage to get her to mechanic at end of June.

Hi John, Thanks for the reply. Will see what the multimeter says later on today.

Thanks for the reply. Jonathan has been kindly walking me through some stuff. So far all the wiring from the alternator to the battery seems solid. Belt good. Have ordered a multimeter and will take it from there.

Hi all, About 20 mins ago Spanky's red engine warning light came on. (Ignition Warning Light) 2002 140 SV 1.8 K Series X Power, unmodified. About 22,500 miles. Overdue a service by about 5 days. I was pootling about for about 35 mins, grinning mostly, then accelerated hard for a couple of overtakes just before home. The light came on just after second acceleration. Oil pressure as normal (mechanical stack), engine temperature as normal. Engine still responsive and sounding good. Garaged it. Turned off and set imobiliser, then disabled imobiliser and restarted. Light still on. Any ideas appreciated. Last engine I took care of myself was a Spitfire 1500 so not up to speed... Cheers UPDATE: Handbook says "Ignition Warning Light" (not, as I put, "Engine Warning Light")

Just a quick update on Ralph's suggestion. I bought a roll of the recommended tape, cleaned the screen area as suggested and it seems to have worked a treat so far (though, obs, not driven a massive amount). The tape is easy to work with and super sticky.

Hi Mark, I was in exactly the same situation as you. Garage in a block with no power & a K series 7. For the first winter I ended up having to remove the battery after a drive and bring it into the house for charging on a ctek charger as a couple of weeks or less would see the immobiliser drain the battery. I had an isolator fitted with the switch located on the bulkhead near the fuse box on the passenger side but easily operated from the drivers side (harness off). It really changed the way I used the car over winter. Previously, moments of opportunity to drive the Seven were tempered with the fact that I had to re-fit the battery first which had lazy old me sometimes not bothering. The isolator changed all that. It's well worth doing.

Hi Ralph, will give it a go. Cheers!

I've never managed to get my mirror back up again since it fell off. Alcohol wipes, gentle screen heating, just won't stay on. I had a good look around for alternatives, eg something that could clamp over the top of the screen but still allow half roof on but to no avail. I know, it's a big ask for something like that I guess. Closest I found was this: https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/products/a-17681-interior-rear-view-mirror-6 But would need removing if half roof needed to go on and profile probably wouldn't look good. I currently use suction cup and temporary put back original mirror using stickies for MOT (with fingers crossed).

I thought I spotted a stripe but it all happened so quickly.

You went by in a flash so only just saw you.

This happened to me last year (my first as an owner) driving without a hood. I'd not experienced anything like it before so it took me completely by surprise. The road was entirely clear with excellent visibility but the fields either side were misty. My wing mirrors very suddenly went white, then the whole front screen in what seemed like a second. I don't know if it was a frost hollow as such (just looked it up) but it was an interesting experience.

Glad to hear you'll be back on the road.

Early this afternoon towards Welwyn Garden City (couple of miles or so from junction). Whoever you are, sorry to see you being towed by the AA.

Fantastic! Well done.

Really sorry to see that this has happened.

Cheers Tigger.

Clap, clap, clap. Had the work done now and they've done an awesome job. Weirdly, but I think rightly, two days after I picked it up they changed their name to Bell Sport and Classic in recognition that their growing base have more modern supercars.

In the eight months since my last blog post I have entered my first winter as a Seven owner and come out of the other side. I was a bit worried going into the winter months mainly because I have an unpowered garage and the immobiliser on the Seven would eventually drain the battery if the car sat unused for long enough. Don’t get me wrong, I intended to use the car over winter as much as I could but only in the dry so there could be weeks at a time where she would be left to stand. Turns out about one month was the longest period. This meant removing the battery, bringing it into the house, and using a CTEK charger on it to keep it well conditioned and topped up. It was a real pain which often took away the spur of the moment drives but it had to be done. Me being me I decided that spring was the time to do something about it. As I saw it there were three approaches I could take to fix this problem. One, dig up the garden and concrete path so that power could be run to the garage. Two, move home to one with a powered garage. Three, fit a battery isolator switch to the Seven. I’m really lazy so I chose option three. I’m so lazy that I decided to pay someone else to do it. But who? This lead me onto my other winter dilemma. Who was going to service my Seven when the time came? Who could I rely on to fix her up when she eventually let me down? Who would take enough care when I want this or that other thing done? Not me. I’m lazy. Sure I could take her back to the excellent folks I bought her from but Kent is some considerable distance from the North of Hertfordshire. Even the fabled workshop near Ware was a fair distance from my village. I wanted the convenience of a local garage because, you know, I’m lazy. I discounted everyone I could find within a convenient distance from my home. Everyone except those exotic car guys in the next village over. These guys are all Ferrari, Lamborghini and the like and specialise in really early model cars. Big ticket ones. Tickets the size of the sun. Surely they know how to treat a car. -- Dear all, I don’t suppose Caterhams are on your radar. Kind regards, John -- Hi John, They most certainly are. Why don't you pop in and one of our engineers will sit and have a coffee with you while you discuss what you would like to have done? Regards, L -- Sit and have coffee. Sounds super expensive already. I’m an idiot so I was in. A week later I was heading towards Big Ticket Autos (I made that up) in the Seven which I reached in about 7 minutes. I was confronted with imposing automatic wrought iron gates and a button on a pedestal. Attached was an intercom. Through the gates I could see approximately 8 million quids worth of old steel and new carbon fibre. It was all on wheels. I released the harness and swung open the door but it was prevented from opening fully by the pedestal. I drove forward so I could open the door fully but now I can't reach the intercom button. I drove backwards with the door open but even then I can't reach up to the height of the button. I move forward and get out. I hope no one saw that. "Hello, John here. You're expecting me." "Hi John, come through." The gates glide open and I park the Seven next to the cheapest looking thing I could see. Some kind of Porsche. They all look the same to me. (Ed: so do Sevens). Within one minute two well-dressed engineers are shaking me by the hand and showing me around the showrooms. I mean workshops but they could have been showrooms. I'm underneath a raised Enzo, I'm next to a 1960s racing Lancia, there's an E-Type over there with its engine out, here's a Dino and that looks like a Lamborghini monster truck. You can eat off the floors and there's not an oily rag in sight. The model boat in the window is designed and built by Ferrari. The guys talk like they're in love with the machines and I'm falling for it all hook, line and sinker. In truth I'm having a ball. You know that feeling you used to get as a kid when you went to a really good toy shop? You're kind of glazed over and all dreamy? Yeah, that was me. "So we've removed the engine from the Enzo and have found the oil leak. The replacement part will be here soon. We took the opportunity to check the clutch, given that the engine was out. That vintage Lancia was a bit tricky. We've had to remanufacture part of the <slips my mind> but it's all going back together now. It won a lot of races back in its time. It really is very rare. So the Caterham, what do you need doing?" Oh poop. "Ummm, mumble mumble" "Sorry Sir?" "Yes, I’d like a battery isolator switch fitted thank you very much" "Yes Sir, we'll come up with a plan for it. Absolutely no problem. We'd also like to book your car in for a two hour slot. We like to get to know our customer's cars personally. We'll give her a good checking over for you and then let you know about our plan for the switch. How does that sound?" "Take all my money. Here, just take it!" Engineer Dennis books me in and we walk outside. It's just the two of us and he seems nice. "Dennis, I know if I have to ask I can't afford it but how much do you guys charge?" Turns out it was £10 an hour more expensive than the guys who dealt with my old Audi. Not cheap, but I thought remarkably affordable given my expectations. I left Big Ticket Autos (I made that up) feeling that I'd just been to the theatre. It was just so utterly entertaining. I never did get a coffee, though one was offered, but I’m willing to bet it was made from some of the best coffee beans money could buy. Part 2 to follow (possibly). Dropping off the Seven, having her checked over and that isolator switch.

I was in the blue seven, you were sporting a white helmet as we flashed by each other waving.

Thanks guys. Good to know it can be removed. Gulf, to answer your question, my vent hose just vents towards the floor (open ended pipe quite low down). Paul, I have no power to the garage.

Hi all, Just a quick one. I went to start the seven over the weekend and she really struggled to catch. Battery drain via immobilizer I'm assuming (no power to garage). I took her out for a good drive but am going to have to whip out the banner battery and trickle it elsewhere while the car is not in use (I'm eventually going to have a battery isolator fitted). The banner battery seems to have what I'm guessing is a vent pipe coming out of it. The main length of it is quite well tied up (nice and tidy) and I don't really want to touch that if at all possible (ie remove battery with whole of pipe attached). Can I just yank it out from the top (as depicted) and then slide it back in when I refit the battery? Cheers!

Thanks fordy :)