Chris W

I would also recommend connecting blocks over Scotchloks. Some people buy a Scotchlok which is too big for the wire diameter which is why it's often unreliable. The crimped-on piggy back connector would be good too. Cut the black/white tacho lead and rejoin it using a male/female blade connector, the female of which is the piggy-back version. Then crimp a female blade connector on to the Omex lead push it on to the piggy-back and the job's done. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

The power lead can be connected to any convenient ignition-switched wire. The earth can go to any other convenient earth lead (usually black) or directly to a chassis screw or bolt. The third lead needs to be connected to the black/white on the tacho. You can carefully cut back some of the insulating cover of the loom with a Stanley knife. Once you have about 3" visible either use a Scotchlok connector which means you don't have to cut the black/white wire or DO cut it and use a plastic connecting block to connect the two ends back together but this time including the shift lights lead. If you use a Scotchlok, you want the red version that takes smaller diameter wires to ensure a good grip on the leads. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I usually find that the passenger seat is not a good location. My advice is to screw it somewhere else and it seems to quieten down. If you then regularly check the number of screws, it operates perfectly. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Myles If you click on your links above, Part 1 on your site is Part 2 so there are two Part 2's !!!!!!!!! However, from the Contents page on your Home page, it works fine. Cheers Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 24 Jun 2006 22:22:04

For the avoidance of doubt, I don't have any problem with their being hosted on multiple sites so long as the © stuff is there. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I'm happy to have anyone host them. I nearly emailed Myles as it happened because he has such a good maintenance page. If you do put them on your respective websites, could you send me an email to let me know and ensure the section is marked ©Chris Wyles 2004 please. Thanks Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Following a request, I have now posted the series of 4 "Electrickery" articles that I wrote in 2004 and which were published that year in Low Flyer. The articles cover the theory and practice of a lot of the electrics and electronics used on the 7. They assume no prior technical knowledge and only a basic knowledge of simple maths. Topics include volts, amps, resistance, switches, relays, alternators, motors and gauges. You can access them from Myles' site: see below......... If anyone has any ideas for topics they would like covered for more follow-on articles, please let me know. Cheers Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 25 Jun 2006 17:54:44

Still sounds like one bad side on the switch to me despite your having tested it. Can you swap it over temporaily with the indicator switch on the dash which is the same type? Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Strongy Where are you located? If you're anywhere near Bedfordshire, contact me and I'll take a look at the problem for you. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Strongy Remove the two leads from the tops of their repective senders. Now, with the ignition ON, touch each lead in turn to ground (chassis). With the switch in one position the gauge should show full scale (ie: full over to the right) and with the switch in the other position the other lead when grounded should give a full deflection. If this doesn't happen, disconnect the switch and connect a wire from the back of the gauge (to the gauge terminal that normally goes to the centre terminal on the switch) and ground this wire with the ignition ON. If you get full deflection, your gauge is working OK and the fault is in the switch somewhere or the wiring to the switch. If the gauge does not show full deflection, either the guage is faulty or, more likely, power is not reaching the gauge for some reason. You should have 12v between the gauge's green wire (power) and the gauge's black wire (earth) with the ignition ON. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

If you put one multimeter lead on the centre conductor of the HT lead at one end and the other multimeter lead on the centre pin of the HT lead at the other end, you should get a reading of about 2K-4Kohms. So set your multimeter to read up to say 10K or 20K. Note that a digital multimeter when overscale (ie: the ohms read are higher than the scale to which it is set) usually show a large figure "1" at the left hand side of the display to signify "over range". Chris Edited to say: I have just measured the resistance of my own HT leads on my 1.8K and they read 3.4K (ie: 3400 ohms) 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 22 Jun 2006 16:48:03

Just for the avoidance of doubt, as it might be unclear, the resistance I was talking about above is measured ALONG the length of the centre conductor (ie: from the centre pin at one end to the centre pin at the other). The resistance between the centre pin and outer sheath should be infinite. (many megohms in practice). Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

1. The fault can't be in the gauge or else you would have no water temp reading 2. Swap over the leads at the back of the toggle switch (ie: swap the outer 2 terminals and leave the middle one as is). If the fault now moves to the water reading and the oil now reads OK, the fault is at the toggle switch. 3. If the fault stays with the oil reading, then either the oil sender is faulty or the wiring to the oil sender is faulty. 4. Pull the wire from the top of the oil temp sender and run it (via a temporary extension wire) to the water temp sender (from which you have removed the wire at the top also). If you get a reading, then the oil temp wire is OK and the sender must be at fault. If still no reading there is a fault in the oil temp sender wire. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I'm sure this has been asked many times before, but which Haynes manual do I need for the 1.8 K series 140HP? Thx Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Ozzy I have just replaced mine (2003 K series SV). I didn't encounter the problem you had. The sender screwed straight in, no problem, a one minute job with an eggcup of oil lost in the process. Is it maybe because mine's an SV and there's more room in the engine bay? Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

The resistance of an HT lead is usually around 2000-4000 ohms although I haven't actually measured the ones on my 7. The leads contain resistance in order to cut down the actual current produced which helps reduce interference. It's a trade-off though as the higher the resistance the more voltage that the coil has to produce in order to create a spark across the plug's air gap. Too high a voltage cause dby too high a resistance and the high voltage will find any route it can to earth. This may include a small crack in the dizzy or cable insulation Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I agree with you Dave. It's very frustrating when one offers advice along with others and one never gets to hear what happened in the end. I'm fully booked for 2015 already. 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Nifty Can you update us all again in 2009 please. 😬 Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I'd be amazed if you could measure the resistance of the old and new wires unless they're both reading zero. If you got any reading, it would be too much. Imagine if the wire only had a resistance of 1/100th of an ohm and you could measure that with a home-type multimeter. With about 300 amps approx going into the starter motor, that would result in a voltage drop of 3v. I suspect what you were measuring was the contact resistance between the wire and the multimeter probes or the multimeter itself has a small offset from zero and doesn't read zero with its probes shorted together. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Tyrone This is definitely an earthing problem and is caused by 2 functions (in this case the left rear indicator and left rear sidelight)sharing a common earth. ie: the earth side of the 2 lamps are connected together and then they run to earth. If the earth connection is corroded, or in some other way a high resistance (eg: loose), then the current through the indicator lamp flows throught this "resistance" and then to earth. In doing so it creates a voltage drop across this "corrosion resistor" (just as if it were a real resistor) and effectively raises and lowers the voltage on the earth side of the tail light, as the indicator flashes on and off, which therefore causes the tail light to "flash". You should find that the tail light doesn't actually go hard off when it "flashes" but probably goes from full on to a softer glow at the flash rate of the indicators. For those interested in the maths, the indicators are 21W lamps (about 7 ohms) and so carry nearly 2 amps each. If the corrosion adds just 2 ohms to the earth resistance then the total resistance in the indicator circuit will now be about 9 ohms which means the current reduces to about 1.3 amps. Now, 1.3 amps through 2 ohms will cause a voltage drop of close to 3 volts. This may not sound much but it's a 25% voltage drop. However, the brightness of a bulb is dependent on the power it is dissipating and since power is proportional to voltage squared, then at 75% of the normal voltage, the power will have dropped to 0.75 squared which is about half power or, in other words, half brighntness. Hence the softer "glow" of the tail light as the earth side of its connection moves up and down by maybe 3 volts or even more, on every flash cycle, instead of staying at zero (ie: earth). The fog and rear light cause the same effect but since they are both on, and are not flashing, you get the softer glow (ie: a dimmer light) all the time they are both on. Check the earthing arrangement and clean it up/tighten it or run a fresh wire from the lights concerned to a good chassis earth and the effect will disappear. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 10 Jun 2006 01:17:38

The real LIPO suction 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Colin Aha, that's why your R/C models have such a big fan on the front 😬 Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Ahhh, I'm obviously not hip anymore 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here