AlastairA

Thanks James - so helpful. John has kindly agreed to lend me his MBE cable should CC not diagnose or fix the issue - in which case I'll follow your instructions and recommendations. It'll be a few weeks until I see my car again though (PBC, IVA, Registration etc etc)!

Thanks James - I am on a very steep learning curve here!! I re-read John's blog just to see if he references the ECU model, but I didn't see it any where. It is a 2019 420R kit though and for anyone who is interested, here is the relevant page (scroll down past the flat-flooring description) : Link Cheers, Alastair

#109: Rich I will indeed report back what CC say about my car and whether they manage to make any improvement over and above my uninformed and amateur efforts. One thing that struck me when I read your note was something that was reported by John Martin (aka purplemeanie) on his website - he went to a professional who (if I remember correctly) stated that sometimes the issue is caused by the ECU not be programmed with the correct Throttle Site 0 position. This was remedied by inserting the ignition key and turning ten times over from ignition positon 1 to 2 and back again. Apparently this causes the ECU to reset the throttle site position. I tried this on my car and it made no difference but I think my issue is more related to the throttle body being completely closed. However, I wonder whether this might be relevant to you? I can try to find John's blog page if that is of interest.

Thanks all - my car is being collected for PBC today and I have informed Caterham of the issue. They have said they will investigate and let me know the outcome - I'll report back here what they say and also see if I can glean some information about how they make initial adjustments of the TPS. Best, Alastair

Thanks JV - so if I understand correctly it is simply the TPS voltage reading? Yes the cable + windows licence + virtual machine software cost is very prohibitive. If it is just the TPS voltage reading then using a multimeter might be a cheaper approach to set it up correctly but then I guess I would be missing the TPS Site information. When the kit was delivered, the engine pallet had collapsed and the plenum was resting against the side of the van. The TPS had taken the worst of it - although it still worked, the connector had been damaged on both sides, so I replaced the sensor and the cable connector.

Hi Mark, I've just finished my 420 build (yet to go through PBC / IVA) but have the same hunting and stalling issue after a cold start that you described. I've read this thread and your blog with great interest but I'm trying to get to grips with the root cause of the problem. I did have to replace the TPS during the build so that could have something to do with it. I've informed Caterham that I have this issue and they said it will be investigated during PBC - but in the meantime I'm wondering whether it would be sensible to get the Easimap cable and software - clearly a very sensitive area for set up. Seems like the two variables that are critical are the Throttle Site at idle and the Throttle Angle Increasing. I understand that the Throttle Site at idle is creating a relationship between the actual TPS voltage when no throttle is used and the Throttle Site number used by the ECU - but what does "Throttle Angle Increasing" represent? Thanks, Alastair

Hi, I bought a pair of the Sthl ProCom's from here : mowers2g For £281 each Inc. VAT. They are indeed based on Sena which becomes apparent when you use the app (Sena logo is visible). Playing with them indoors I find the mic settings a little tricky. You can set the sensitivity level of the mic to automatically transmit when the mic detects noise above a certain threshold - which is fine. But that means a sharp background noise will trigger the mic - noticed this when putting my coffee mug down a bit sharpish on the counter. So I'm not sure this setting would work well in the noisy environment of a 7. The alternative method is the set the mic to MUTE and then use the Push To Talk button on the side of the headset. This works really well although of course it means you have to take your hand off the wheel. Music sounds great - but I use Spotify which can't be streamed to two headsets at the same time. The way round this is to pair each headset with the wearers own phone over Bluetooth and then start a Spotify Session between the phones. This also means only the driver gets the SatNav instructions. Hope this helps.

Thanks Jonathan.

Hi, Does anyone have any recent experience of battery monitors? (I suspect there are old threads on this subject but I seem to get very strange results when using the site search engine). I like the idea of having a bluetooth enabled battery monitor permanently connected across the battery so that, particularly through the off months, I could get notified when the battery needs some charger attention. Not too keen on the idea of having a charger / conditioner permanently connected when not driving and this seemed a good compromise. I note that CTEK have a good one, but have discontinued production (although they still support the phone app).

Having followed this discussion with interest, I think I will fit the necessary switch to allow me to toggle the gauge between water and oil temperature. I have the oil sender wired into the loom already. Does anyone have the details of the loom wiring behind the dash on a 420 to allow me to complete the mod?

Wow! Thank you James - I'll PM you.

Thanks!

Hi, I've got the same problem! Managed to break one in the last stages of my build and need to replace it ahead of the IVA next month. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it. Best wishes, Alastair

Received Mark's Handbrake Handle today - can't recommend it enough. A fantastic upgrade:

#33 - really helpful Colin - thank you. I think that's the direction I'll take. Clearly very helpful / important to be able to see oil temperature and it does make you wonder why Caterham haven't included it as a standard.

Again - apologies for my ignorance but what is the finger filter for? I've noticed the cover on the side of the sump but haven't investigated.

Thanks all - sounds like oil temp is more relevant than water temp but I'll investigate the mod. I've wired the sender into loom but will need to find where it emerges behind the dash. Thanks again!

That makes sense - thanks for the reply

Hi All, I'm currently building a 420R and of course there is a water temperature sender and gauge built in. I'm just wondering whether it's worthwhile connecting the oil temperature sender and putting in the modification to be able to switch the dash gauge from water to oil. Is having the oil temperature as well as water temperature helpful / useful? Sorry for the basic question but thanks in advance for your education!

Hi Mark - is it a good match with the Caterham carbon dash?

Photographs and description available here : https://www.tiggercaterham.co.uk/post/28-dry-sum-guard

Thanks - I spoke to Caterham who advised that on many cars the shoulder bolts will not fit through the bell housing. They sent me some standard cap head bolts which fit perfectly. Makes you wonder why these are not standard issue!

Hi Max - if it's the same part as posted in the thread mentioned by Jonathan, then my experience was that the shoulder bolts supplied by Caterham would not pass through the bell housing properly. When I talked to them about this they told me that was a common issue and sent some standard M8 cap heads. With those in hand the install was easy.

Hi Jonathan, I'm about two thirds of the way through my build now so I still have several unopened fastener packs - but I will happily do this when I'm finished (probably next month). Best wishes, Alastair

Hi All, Many thanks indeed for all your helpful comments. The issue was with a headlight assembly that arrived from Caterham with a piece of masking tape across the front marked "Wrong Lense" - so I was quite concerned. With the help of the wiring information above, I found that no power was getting to the LED assembly on the Red wire (sidelight). The red and black cables had spade connections halfway along the length, but were wrapped in insulation tape rather then heatshrink (which was evident in the other headlight). On removing the insulation tape I found a rather bodged crimp on the spade connector. Restoring that connection fixed the issue. Many thanks again!