Dartmoor7

Sadly...

Thanks Tazio, that was good of you.

I will reassess when I come home.

The stick goes into reverse but there is no drive.

Physical investigation will have to wait until I get back from holiday in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your help and excellent diagnostic questions!

Hi Jim,

Yes, the clutch is OK.

Is the selector cover under the tunnel cover?

What is under there that might shed further light?

Thanks everyone.

Regrettably, the 'silver lining' option requires silver.

Strewth, that sounds expensive.

Think I might have to bury my head in the sand for a while.

Visions of driving through the wall!

Yes, the car will move in fifth but not in any other gear.

A couple of times when I tried fourth I got a bit of a click/clonk from somewhere but no drive.

On my own at the moment and the car is blocked into the garage.

With the engine off, I can get the gear lever into all gears, but only fifth offers any resistance to rolling the car.

No unusual noises.

Hi Jonathan,

Cable ends normal, adjuster and lock nuts normal.

Clutch action feels normal.

Video here, is this the normal action of this part? 

With the engine off, I can get the gear lever into all gears, but only fifth offers any resistance to rolling the car.

1400 SS 5 speed gearbox.

All fine three days ago.

Just got in it and when I let the clutch up there is no drive to the wheels.

Any ideas anyone?

The 'best' battery is the one in a car which is used regularly.

I'm on my third (standard) battery in 19 years.

I also recommend Tayna if you need delivery.

Toby,

Looking at your posts, your car is a 92 or 93 isn't it?

No dry sump, no Apollo, no Accusump, no anti-cavitation, etc, etc?

If so, check it cold.

If someone has changed your original yellow notched dipstick for a newer one, just fill sump with the recommended amount, dip it cold, and mark the level. That is then your cold level henceforth.

Back in 1999 when this confusion started I emailed CC for clarification:

Q:
Is it true that you now recommend checking oil level on a K-series with the engine running and is this applicable to a 1994 Supersport? Mine has a yellow plastic dipstick with a notch cut in the side which I assume is the correct level?

A:
Jerry, you only need to check the oil with the engine running if you have 
an anti cav tank fitted to your car. Otherwise, you'll be fine.

My car is a 1994 1400 SS.

For the last 70,000 miles it has always been oil-checked just like any other car, cold.

As my car is pre-Apollo, I've never had a problem.

This confusion all started with the Apollo, I remember  Len Unwin of CC explaining it thus:

"When I was at Caterham the original dipstick was a modified Rover, which we cut a notch in. When the Apollo came in I noticed that the oil in the sump was very low when the car was running so I recommend to Reg. who designed the Apollo that oil should be checked running i.e. when the Apollo is full. We then made the vvc, which had problems running bearings, but when checked running, the oil was ok, on investigation we found that the vvc dipstick was different to the standard k due to the amount of oil the head retains. I then decided that with all the different combinations that the simplest way was to check all engines the same way with or without Apollo, vvc or standard. So the correct way is: - Use a Caterham dipstick which are now bespoke to the sump, run the car and warm the oil and check when running, in practice you can check with the engine stopped as long as you do it immediately. Those with vvc may also want to rev the car as the head when running at reasonable revs seem to retain an awful lot of oil. The simple test is to check when cold and having not run and then running to see how much the level drops. The thinking being that the oil level should be correct when running, now the standard Rover stick allows for the drop but with a different sump and the fact some cars have Apollo’s I went for one dipstick to avoid confusion and one method for checking for the same reason"

Maybe, if I ever have the 'box out.

Thanks Ian, good idea.

Thanks for that.

Measure twice, cut once, eh?

Thanks Jonathan.

Although, as that's a race chassis I imagine I wouldn't be drilling right down at the footplate on my non-race chassis?

I'd like to cut a hole in the passenger footwell to access the gearbox filler plug.

Has anyone seen a guide or template as to where to cut?

1994 1400SS 5-speed.

Many thanks for that, the diagrams in my build and owners manuals are too small to be of much use.

>>On your build manual?

Could be, the whole garage smells like the moor after some blats.

Brilliant!

Thanks everyone, that's my job for the weekend sorted.

I'll see if there's a diagram in the old build manual.

Need to clean it up a bit first, there's a lot of pony/cow/sheep crap under there.

If I've understood correctly, that measurement is 0.33V.

So, both wires connected to bulbholder, bulb in place, check voltage between earth and the supply wire?

11.80 between the supply wires when not attached to bulbholder.

Between live and as good an earth as I can get on my old rustbucket, 11.94.

Between supply and earth wire ends when attached to holder and bulb,46mV.

Incandescents.

All other lights OK.

Two reverse lights standard on a 1994 car.