AlastairA

Thanks for the reference prisoner7 - glad you found my blog helpful - and completely agree with your comments. I didn't track my 420SV build to the hour but estimate I took over 200 hours. I did have a couple of component shortages but they didn't result in a delay. I enjoyed the build beyond measure and the satisfaction of DIY is great. Additionally, if you're not a car expert, the learning experience and confidence to look after your car in the future is well worth it. Would highly recommend it.

Stupid idea? I've read a lot of posts about oil temperature and how a lot of folk fit a dam in front of the oil radiator for road use - then remove it for track use. I've looked at my 420 and wondered whether an oil radiator dam that is controllable from the cockpit might be possible (and worthwhile??). Perhaps an aluminium plate, hinged at either end with a Bowden cable running up to the driver's footwell? Probably a stupid idea (definitely in my case since I haven't done the oil temp mod yet!)

Thanks All - the car is going into Oakmere this week to be flat-floored and I've asked them to look at the LSD. Will preoort back their findings.

I initially filled with 0.8l but one of the feedback points from PBC was that there was insufficient oil in the diff. CC advised they had topped it up and said that in production they normally use 1l. During the service I managed to extract and replace about 0.8l. Whilst there is no gasket between the housing and backplate there does seem to be a black sealant that has been used. I'll check around the drive shafts

I have a 420R with the BMW / Titan LSD and have spotted a small leak - more of a dribble really. During the first service a few months ago, I replaced the oil and fitted a magnetic filler plug. Since then there is a consistent drop or two of oil on the floor after a drive which seems to be directly below the plug - however the leak is definitely not from the new plug. I have a feeling that it might be from the seal around the Caterham LSD back plate. I've read a few historical comments about the fact that the diff oil can leak from the seal(s) if the diff is overfilled. Would this be the seal between the back plate and BMW body? Or the seals around the drive shafts? Probably nothing to be concerned about, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it. Thanks for any advice or experience.

Just to close this out - I cleaned and cleared the gap between the wheel and DeDion, but the squeak persisted. I couldn't help but focus on the fact that said squeak seemed to disappear when I applied brake pressure. Today I disassembled the nearside rear brake to inspect - the only oddity that I noticed was the stainless steel spring plate that sits under the caliper and above the pads was loose (one end was not under the caliper and would not stay in position when I put it back). I reassembled and in the process tweaked the springs on top of the pads a little higher, reapplied CopperSlip to the edges of the pads, and then bent the end of the stainless spring so that located correctly in the caliper housing. Not sure which of the above did the trick - but no more squeak! Trivial issue, but I find it really difficult to put up with things that aren't quite right - especially squeaks!! Thanks all for the helpful comments.

Thanks for the comments - will double check all those points and try the masking tape idea. Appreciate your help.

Thanks all - very helpful. I spent this morning taking a good look at everything again - no wheel bearing play - a 2mm gap between the wheel and DeDion, so I think the scuff marks on the wheel and DD are indeed just from road debris occasionally getting trapped in this bottleneck. However - on a test drive this morning the squeak is still there. Actually it's more of a rubbing noise consistent with every wheel rotation and seems to disappear when I apply the brakes. I checked both the rear discs and there is even wear on both sides of both discs so i don't think its a stuck piston. The only witness mark I could find was on the reluctor ring, so I backed off the speed sensor a minute amount. Another test drive and the noise was still there but it seemed to be slightly less. Any comments greatly appreciated!

I was out for a blat at the weekend and in slow moving traffic noticed a squeak coming from the rear nearside axle. It seemed to be periodic consistent with a wheel rotation, so when I got home I removed the wheel for an inspection. I found the inside surface of the wheel had a witness mark that was at a position equal to the outside edge of the DeDion: The end of the DeDion was also marked: With the wheel refitted I checked the clearance between the DeDion edge (where the mark is) and the inside surface of the wheel and estimate it to be around 1.5mm to 2mm - so the abrasion is not from constant contact caused by a tolerance issue. I'm struggling to understand how this might have been caused. Any ideas - anyone else experienced similar?

Hi Andrew, I have the MkI design and would be very happy to test the Mk2 version on my fuel gauge (new version). Apologies again that I can't currently remove the gauge and send it to you for testing, but very happy to do whatever tests are necessary for you. Alastair

Here's the current approach recommended by CC that I used on my car : Link

John - one idea taken from mountain biking experience would be to attach a tie wrap to one the shafts on one of the dampers such that it gets pushed up as the damper works - and stays at the maximum travel. Although the upper part of the coil is quite closely wound, I would think it might be possible to get a tie wrap in there. At least this would give you some accurate empirical data after a stiff drive. Alastair

Many thanks for the follow-up JV

Open to offers. Alastair

Hi Andrew, Great design work - just ordered one from you and looking forward to solving my fuel paranoia! Intrigued by the "fuel sloshing" problem - just wondering if some kind of peak-detect filter and using the stationary level (measured at ignition on) would help? Anyway - a fabulous piece of work - thank you!

Hi Dave, Tricky measurements to take so I took some photos which I hope helps - first one is from the primaries port to teh underside of the chassis tube. Second is from the primaries port to the wishbone port: Best, Alastair

A pair of used but perfect condition Leather Seats for an SV chassis. Less than 3 months old - only 1,000 miles of use. £1400 + £40 delivery (Cost £1850 + delivery from CC).

John - appreciate you contacting CC to chase down the apparent change in coolant temperature switch point. James - thanks for the detailed explanation and I'm glad to know everything seems to be as it should be, but moreover I've learned so much from the collective wisdom of helpful club members. Much appreciated. I'll continue to work on how to post high resolution images....!

It measures as 42 degrees C, John.

Hi John - second attempt (with coolant temp added).

Hi James, Thanks again - your help is much appreciated. Before reading your last message, I de-installed the software and reinstalled it. Once I had set the page up again with the channels of interest, connected to the car and switched the ignition on, the Lambda channels came alive! Still using the f49a template. The only thing I can think is possibly the drivers were not correctly installed first time around. Anyway, I fired the car up and got the below results. The Oxygen A (Raw) channel was doing it what it was yesterday - oscillating nicely after warm-up. Identical to Oxygen A (Lim). The Lambda channel was also oscillating but only between 0.96 and 1.04 V as an inverse to the Oxy A. Target Lambda from Map and actual Target Lambda stays fixed at 1.00.

HI James, Thank you again - yes, I'm using the Advanced Level profile. However, the ECU firmware is being listed as 9A4bf850 and the software automatically configures itself to use 9A4bf49a. When I click on that template file and look through the list of options, there isn't one that corresponds exactly to the ECU firmware version. If I do select another one, when I turn on the ignition, the software states "ECU 9A4bf850 detected. The program will close and reopen with the correct template" and it reverts to 9A4bf49a. Here is the bottom part of the screen with the template versions available to me: The top of the list looks identical to yours. Do you have a 9A4bf850 template?

Hi James, I'm afraid that I am a novice (grasshopper level) user of Easimap. It must have auto-detected the flashed file in the ECU because I wouldn't know how to select and use a different one. How would I check the firmware version on the ECU and how do I select a particular template file in Easimap? Thanks, Alastair

Apologies for the images being a little small and blurry - not sure how I can improve them. The panels on the left hand side are all of the ones listed under the "Lambda Control" folder for the 9A4. All of them, except for Oxygen A, were just cycling through the Demo routine. Must admit that I didn't look at any of the panels in the Short or Long Term Lambda folders.

Thank you John & James. I re-ran Easimap again this morning, from cold. After closing many irrelevant panels, I added all the available Lambda ones from the list but only Oxygen A was returning any data (see the dashboard image below). The resulting data is also below. What is interesting is that it seems to switch to closed loop operation at a much lower coolant temperature than yours John - looks like around 43 degrees C. Anyway - thank you all for your help. I am reassured that the Lambda sensor is working and everything looks okay. Also checked the TPS settings for idle - the TPS site seems to bounce around between 0.1 and 0.6 but not hunting.