charlie_pank

Richard, you are right, depressurising it while hot will lead to localized boiling which will push coolant into the header tank. There are 2 reasons you should never do this: 1. There's a serious risk of scalding. 2. The localized boiling erodes the aluminium alloy in the head leading to localized hotspots leading to localized boiling etc...

 

I had assumed that the coolant level was increasing when the cap was removed when cold.

What is pushing the coolant into the expansion tank?

 

It has to be a gas somewhere in the system that was compressed until the cap was loosened (as liquid is not compressable). Could be air, could be exhaust gas...

 

C

Just ask them what they sent me, or send them the old one, or ask Caterham...

The symptoms you describe are due to the clutch not fully disengaging when you push your foot down. It is up to you to determine why that is happening, here are some possibilities:

 

1. Clutch cable has stretched (use adjustment in cable sleeve to fix)

2. Clutch release arm is bending (replace release arm)

3. Friction plate is coming away from backing (replace clutch)

4. Pedal stop has moved (move it back again)

5. Clutch cable is about to snap (replace cable)

6. Hydraulic leak in master or slave cylinder of clutch (replace seals, refill with fluid and bleed)

 

etc...

My guess is that whoever glued it on in the first place didn't care as much about the thermal expansion as you do, thus any old Bostik will probably do as good a job as they did...

Quoting Glasgow: 

 

Presumably you know this because you see the temperature creeping up on the gauge. This must mean that the radiator temperature is significantly different from the engine temperature. Perhaps it might be more effective then to link the fan to the indicated temperature on the gauge rather than the radiator temperature?

 

Although the counter-argument might be that if the radiator temperature is not high enough to trigger the fan, while the engine temperature is what you judge to be too high, then artificially triggering the fan will cause even colder water to arrive in the engine from the radiator leading to thermal shock?

 

C

I also had excellent price and service from Bigg Red

Venhill cables

I've got one made out of an old oil jug, cable-tied to the chassis just in front of the pedal box. I bet it's lighter than the Mocal one :)

 

Under the 'patina' I think it has Shell 'decals'

Quoting ssheldon: 

 

If that were true then the relay mod would never have fixed the issue in any of the starter click problems that people have experienced in the past...

 

 

 

Edited by - charlie_pank on 16 May 2013 16:46:29

Lots and lots and lots and lots in the archives...

 

I think replacing the solenoid feed will fix it, there's nothing else left! To understand which wires go where, unbolt the starter and let it drop down, see for yourself which wires go where and replace appropriately!

If only SBD option is with a 'new loom' I bet if you had the pinouts of old and new ecu you could easily make an adaptor...

All 4 wheels on the tin top leak up to 10psi a week. I'm pretty sure it's not punctures, but a poor seal between the rims and the lip of the tyres (second hand alloys). I've had some of the tyres re-seated, but it hasn't made much of a difference. I'm thinking about using 'punctureseal' to stop me having to pump them up EVERY week. Does anyone have any advice/experience on using it?

Sounds like it is over fuelling. You need to think about how the ecu decides how much fuel to inject: air temperature and pressure, coolant temperature, engine speed, throttle position. I would start with the throttle position as this sensor (TPS) is often troublesome. Somewhere in the archives will tell you what the max & min voltage outputs should be (normally 0-5v). I'd start by testing this...

Is the suspension bottoming and/or topping out? The spring should always be in compression, the only way it could move relative to the damper-end is if it tops out then crashes back down again

 

If your battery is going flat while the car is sitting in the garage, then something is draining it. Fit an FIA switch and take it out once you have armed the immobiliser. When you put the FIA key back in the immobiliser will flicker back into life in immobilised mode.

OK so the guy bought an R500 but I think we should credit him with at least **some** common sense!

I can't think of one, it'll chuck what it doesn't want into the catch tank.

It's dry-sumped. Overfill it as much as you like.

Do you know anyone with the same car from whom you can borrow an ECU?

You don't need to take the fuel line apart. If you can't hear the whine of the fuel pump priming before you spin the starter then it's probably not running. If that's the case then it's almost certainly an immobiliser problem or an electrical problem.

 

Work your way up the chain from the fuel pump and think of little tests at each step:

1. Is the fuel pump priming (listen for it when key at position 2) if no, then...

2. Is fuel pump broken? (Brush +ve feed at fuel isolator switch against +ve terminal of battery while listening for pump) if it's working then...

3. Is isolator switch working (continuity test across switch) etc...

 

Edited by - charlie_pank on 20 Apr 2013 07:38:43

Plausible that the clicking he's hearing from under the dash is the immobiliser complaining that it hasn't been de-activated then.

It's a while since I had a K, can anyone let us know what the immobiliser immobilises? I know it allows starter motor to turn, and doesn't allow injectors to fire. Does anyone know whether it allows the fuel pump to prime when it's in the 'car immobilised' status?

 

 

Fuel pump priming is a high-pitched whine from the fuel tank area when you turn the key 1 click from 'off' position. If you don't have this, then you'll have no fuel pressure!

 

Is immobiliser deactivated before you turn key? How do you know? If fuel pump isn't priming, then with the ign in pos. 1, does it prime if you short the terminals on the fuel cutoff?