Chris W

Paul While I don't dispute your starter problems went away after you fitted the relay, I suspect that what actually happened is you unknowingly cured a dicky connection somewhere in the starter circuit at the same time and that was the real fault. I fully understand what the relay is doing, and the circuit details, but don't understand why putting in the relay would cure the "hot start" problem. The wire which normally carries the solenoid current to start the car will carry it just as well whether the engine is hot or not and IMHO is of sufficient diameter that a relay should not actually be necessary. In fact, adding the relay probably increases the chances of problems at some time in the future as it's one more mechanical item that could fail. Further, if the "hot start" problem is a function of the actual starter motor or solenoid getting hot and causing a problem then again the relay won't cure that. I'm not knocking your belief in this mod, just want to understand what mechanism you believe is at work here. rgds Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

My guess (intelligent one I hope) of what's happening here is that the Omex is presenting too low a resistance across the tacho input and thereby not allowing enough signal drive to the tacho. ie: it is diverting current away from the tacho in simple terms. The idea of using a resistor to "pull up the signal" will not work IMHO. Best advice is definitely Chelspeed's one - Talk to Stack or Omex. However, failing any joy there, I suggest you connect (or have someone connect) an approx 20K Ohm resistor in series with the input to the Omex and connect the open end of this new resistor to the tacho input. This will prevent the Omex from loading the tacho. This may of course reduce the signal too much for the Omex and you may find you have the opposite situation, viz: tacho works, Omex doesn't. I'm confident however that you will find a value of resistor that will allow both to work. Basically, too low a resistor value will make no difference to your current situation (excuse the pun) and too high a value will allow the tacho to work but prevent the Omex from working. You may need to try a couple of values to get it right but I feel 20K would be a good start. The final value is likely to be in the range 10K to 30K in my view. You won't find exactly 20K (it's not a "preferred value") but 18K or 22K are and either would do. An alternative thought occurs as well..... if you open up the Omex, I bet you will find a resistor wired across the input terminals (no idea what value but my guess would be in the range of 1K to 10K Ohms. Remove this and you may find everything works without adding the additional resistor I suggested above. Hope this helps Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 11 Mar 2003 10:02:11

Disconnect the wire to the oil pressure sender and touch it to an earth with the ignition switched on. The meter needle should go right over to the high pressure side. If it does the meter is probably OK. It's more likely to be the sender playing up. My water temperature gauge was doing the same thing as your oil gauge a couple of weeks ago, so I changed the sender and hey presto - all is calm again. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I agree with the threads that it really does sound like the immobiliser is not being disarmed. The immobiliser will allow the car to start and run for about 2 secs then switches it off. God knows why it does this - there is an option on the CC ECU to disallow any starting when immobilised but CC don't use it for some reason. If you try and start it again immediately - it won't start - just turns over. If you leave it for some moments - haven't timed how long - it will allow the 2 second start up again - ad infinitum. Have you been through the immobiliser synchronisation routine? viz: push the ARM button 4 times and you should hear clicks from the immobiliser system. Then push the DISARM button and the immobilser should switch off - the car will now start normally (if, of course, this was the source of the problem). The immobiliser will not switch off via the plipper if the plipper has not been through this synch routine. Usually needs to be done after every time you disconnect the battery when you're working on the electrics. Even if the immobiliser is armed, you will still hear the fuel pump running for a few secs everytime you switch on the ignition (providing you give it a couple of mins between switch-ons). 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Agree.... they give fast service too. Could also try Maplins - lightning overnight service 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 6 Mar 2003 10:27:38

Colin Look at engine13.jpg on my pictures. It shows the ECU connections clearly. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 2 Mar 2003 10:26:04

If the red wire on the side of the switch touches the bare metal of the dash it would blow the panel light fuse but not the siidelight fuse. The black wire on the side of the switch is an earth anyway and so won't cause a problem in this respect. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Well, if the fan is causing electrical noise on the supply lines it could happen that the voltage on the line to the electronic ignition unit falls below the minimum acceptable value for a fraction of a second, but long enough for the unit to drop out and therefore kill the ignition. Putting a capacitor across the supply lines acts analogously to using a water tank to smooth out a water supply. So for example if you had a supply of water from a hose that was jerky and intermittent, you could smooth out the water supply by using the hose to fill a tank and take the water supply from the tank, which would be a smooth flow. Anything downstream of the tank wouldn't know about the hosepipe. The capacitor similarly stores an electrical charge and delivers it when the "hosepipe" gets intermittent. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

There's a great satellite "techtalk" site at http://www.satcure.co.uk from which you can get a monthly newsletter for free by email. It has TONS of technical stuff and you can ask any questions you may have. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Have you checked the sidelight switch is actually functioning correctly as dash lights and sidelights operate off the same switch? Do the headlights come on if you switch the switch to that position? Check the switch with a meter if you have one or wire up a torch bulb and battery through the switch if you don't have a meter. I don't know how technical you are but you could bypass the switch as a test by shorting the CORRECT wires together. I presume you have double checked the fuse (with a meter preferably). It's unlikely all the earths are bad so I don't think this will be the problem. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

I doubt if it's magnetic induction causing the problem.... the electronic ignition would be well shielded and anyway 5" is a good length (or so I keep telling my wife). More likely the fan is creating a ton of electrical sh*t on the power supply lines thus causing the electronic unit to malfunction. If you have no access to a scope you could try fitting the capacitor from the old points unit across the fan terminals and seeing if that cures it. Failing that, get a 470uF or 1000uF (microfarad) electrolytic capacitor from Maplins et al (pence) with a max working voltage of say 25v and fit it across the electronic ignition supply lines. Watch the polarity as these capacitors are polarity sensitive. One way they will work and the other way they will cause a nice sharp bang as the capacitor goes west (and east all at the same time). Fit it as close to the electronic unit as you can. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 1 Mar 2003 14:18:13 Edited by - Chris W on 1 Mar 2003 14:19:14

The gearchange light in the tacho on my 1.8K 140hp is redundant as it is not connected into the ECU (or so I understand) on this engine. There is a limiter at a nadges under 7,000 rpm with max hp at 6750 rpm according to the handbook. I have designed, made and tested a gearchange light circuit for this engine. It costs only a few squiddly diddlys and works bang on. However I would like to utilise the actual gearchange LED in the tacho as the indicator for the system, but don't know which wires are connected to it at the back of the tacho. I can't get inside the tacho to find out and it's not clear from the ECU3 wiring diagram. I think the blue/black is possibly one of them. Before I blow anything up, does anyone happen to know? I am picking up the engine revs (double revs actually due to wasted spark) on the black/white wire. If anyone wants the circuit I would be happy to post it. One could stack a number of these (they are really inexpensive) to provide a series of progressive lights. I have incorporated adjustment to enable setting the light to any rpm value more or less. For the electronically minded it is based around the LM2917 chip. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Spoke to CC today and asked the same questions Their answers were 1. Is it safe? yes 2. Is it legal? yes 3. Would I notice any difference in handling? possibly in the wet due to reduced ability to disperse water 4. What is the max safe distance that would be OK (if any)? no issue 5. What is the max safe speed that would be OK (if any)? be sensible 6. Will it damage the spare tyre (assuming I don't drive like I normally do!)? no 7. Given a choice, should I fit it on the front or rear or it makes no difference? (Actually thinking about, this might require two jacks - so forget it) rear if possible - because of steering 8. Anything else relevant that I missed? no Many thanks for Granteuk's response - you got it on the nail! Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Being as sharp as a tennis ball, it has only just occurred to me that the tyres (Avon ZZ1 205/45/R16) on my new SV are directional. Ergo, if I should have a puncture, the spare would only be correctly aligned directionally if fitted on the passenger side. If a puncture should occur therefore on the driver's side, is it OK to run the spare on that side temporarily to get me home even though it would be rotating in the opposite direction to that intended? Questions: 1. Is it safe? 2. Is it legal? 3. Would I notice any difference in handling? 4. What is the max safe distance that would be OK (if any)? 5. What is the max safe speed that would be OK (if any)? 6. Will it damage the spare tyre (assuming I don't drive like I normally do!)? 7. Given a choice, should I fit it on the front or rear or it makes no difference? (Actually thinking about, this might require two jacks - so forget it) 8. Anything else relevant that I missed? thks Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 26 Feb 2003 23:36:05

I asked the same question, about which oil, yesterday when my SV 1.8K 140hp had its 500 mile service (BTW - yippee, they told me I can now open it up throttle-wise). Simon Lambert told me to use Comma Syner-Z Synthetic 0w-40 for road use, which is actually the same oil specified in my handbook. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 25 Feb 2003 20:18:02

Stuart If the battery was left for only 10 days, and that was sufficient time for its being incapable of starting the car, my guess would be that it's time for a requiem mass for said battery. What do you have running when the car is garaged? Immobiliser? Clock? These devices will draw no more than about 100 milliamps total and will be more than compensated for by the trickle charger. It would appear from the posted evidence that the battery is incapable of holding a charge. The real test of this of course would be to substitute a known good battery. Also you don't know the history of the battery - whether it was previously abused by the previous owner. Only about 20% of batteries make it past 48 months. I would say that if it starts with a substitute "proper" battery, your own battery is a gonna. If it still won't start, and you get the same effect, the evidence points to the starter motor. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

The whirring noise is probably the starter motor turning, but not fast enough to engage and turn the flywheel. Causes of this could be...... 1. Battery playing up (most probable cause). How old is the battery? Has it been left discharged for any length of time previously? If so, a trickle charge may not be enough to restore it (although it obviously had enough oomph to start it the first time). Is your charger OK? If you leave a battery discharged for a month, it may not recover so when you say it's been on trickle charge for a week, the implication is that prior to that it had been charged normally... is that a correct assumption. Try a jump start from another battery. If that's OK your battery does not have enough charge - most likely cause kn*ckered battery. Second cause - bad (external) charger or bad charging circuit on the car. Do you have an accurate digital voltmeter (+/-0.5%)? If so (humour me Tony C!!) switch on the headlights for 3 minutes, switch them off, leave the battery for 10 minutes and then measure the open circuit voltage with no charger attached and let me know exactly what it reads (do not measure this with an analogue (needle-type) meter - it's not accurate enough). 2. Alternator playing up- It sounds like whatever the first start took out of the battery, the alternator didn't put back within 10 miles. Possibly the charging circuit on the car is faulty - if you've checked the connections, hopefully that eliminates those. Did you check the battery earth connection? Was the ignition light off when running? 3. Immobiliser playing up- although if you hear a whirring sound and that sound IS the starter motor turning, it's not going to be the immobiliser preventing a start. Can you get someone to try to start the car while you check it really is the starter motor you can hear. 4. Starter motor playing up. If it's turning, then one can assume that the solenoid itself (essentially the "switch" for the starter motor) is most likely OK. But the starter motor itself may have a problem - eliminate the other things first before you remove the starter motor. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 23 Feb 2003 18:49:26

Fred No offence... I meant, do you have "B&Q" as opposed to other retailers, not do you have DIY supermarkets!! 😳 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Could you possibly use "draught excluder"? I used dark brown from B&Q DIY warehouse (do you have them in Scotland)? It's not as wide as the proper stuff but you could lay a double width. It sticks well, is cheap and comes in long reels. I used some to fill around the regular stuff on my bonnet. Just a thought Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

The handbook of my factory-built 1.8K 140hp SV states it's 1/2 litre between min and max. 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Tony At last we agree on something.................. you're right................ your comments weren't worthy of the discussion! 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 19 Feb 2003 11:03:21 Edited by - Chris W on 19 Feb 2003 11:04:05

Steve Be delighted to... I'll email you the diagram. You can get a great little case with 240v normal plug pins already incorporated from Maplin (see www.maplin.co.uk). I'm sure RS and others do them too. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Jeez Tony - talk about dogma. I could direct you to many, many web sites from battery manufacturers to truck manufacturers who all use and advocate off-load voltage as an indication of the state of battery charge. You say that SG is the only method to test the charge in a battery - so how would you propose to test the SG of a gell-filled sealed lead acid battery? On-load testing will certainly tell you that the battery is man enough (or not) at any particular moment, but it won't tell you how much charge is in the battery. The "fact" you keep promulgating that the off-load voltage of a discharged or charged battery is always 2.2v/cell is WRONG Tony. A fully charged battery will show 2.2v/cell (13.2v total)straight off a charger. A fully charged battery that has settled and had the surface charge removed (headlights on for a couple of minutes then off) will show 2.1v/cell (12.6v total). Don't take my word for it, go do some measurements. A battery is considered fully discharged when its o/c cell voltage drops to about 1.95v/cell (11.7v total). These measuremnts MUST be done with a digital voltmeter - an analogue (ie: needle type) meter is just not accurate enough to indicate such small millivolt changes. This is not my opinion, I wasn't born with this information, I read, studied and experimented over the years to get to either acceptance or rejection of the available information. I have a boat and boat batteries are subjected to far more torture than those in cars so most boat owners soon become very familiar with how to test and nurture batteries. I've also been a graduate electronics engineer for nearly 30 years - that doesn't make me correct - but at least I'm connected with the technology. Hey - I don't want anyone to take this as gospel cos I say it. Go read the web and find me an article that contradicts me. I can find dozens of professional articles that support what I have written. At the end of the day it's down to everyone to make their own judgement before deciding to use or reject any info on this forum. As a starter (pun intended) try http://www1.mn.man.de/manted/aufbaurichtlinien/gb_f5.html#Anchor-23240 which is the huge MAN truck manufacturer website in Germany. You can check it yourself but one extract from their site under "Handling Batteries" reads: • Regularly measure the off-load voltage at each battery (at least once a month). Guidelines 12.6 V = fully charged; 12.3 V = 50% charge. • Recharge immediately if off-load voltage is 12.25 V or less (no fast charging). Tony - let's agree to differ - subject closed - I gotta get a life. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Edited by - Chris W on 19 Feb 2003 00:40:27

Gareth You can check the oil pressure sender with a meter. Pull the connection off the sender and connect an ohm meter between the terminal on the sender and earth. It should read somewhere between about 3Kohms and 4 Kohms. If it's open or short circuit, you have a duff sender, but I don't think this is the cause of your problems. But worth checking while you're at it. The oil pressure gauge itself will have 3 connections (apart from the panel lamp). If you can take the gauge out (it has two handtight knurled nuts at the back) disconnect the plug that goes to it and measure the resistance between the 3 terminals (ie: if we call them A,B & C, measure A to B, B to C and A to C. The two smaller resistances you measure should add up to the larger one. I don't know exactly what the values should be, but knowing the oil pressure sender is around 3.5 Kohms, I would estimate that the resistances you measure at the gauge will be of the order of 450 ohms, 800 ohms and their total (1250 ohms). The actual values may be different but shouldn't be something weird like hugely high or zero. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here

Gareth Can you check whether the dash lights for the indicators and mainbeam share a common earth connection with the oil pressure gauge.... if so, can you check the integrity of this connection and the integrity of the other connections to the oil pressure gauge. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here