Q Catcher
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Everything posted by Q Catcher
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The 1.8 VVC is a great engine: 160bhp and very nearly 40mpg under road use. I don't know how true this is, but I read that a number of upgrades were made for the 2002 model year, including the better head gasket, stronger ladder brace in the sump, etc. Worth looking into. The VVC design is utterly ingenious, the best on the market (ahead of Honda, BMW, et al) IMHO.
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The Caterham one is a Ford part. You can get it from any Ford dealer parts counter. About one third of the price that CC charge.
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Having read so much about the Caterham Click over the years, it's probably time I bought a spare solenoid. Does anyone know the best place to get one? (If it makes any difference, my car's a 2002 1.8 VVC.) Thanks
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Oly I suggest you move the expansion tank connection to the other side of the thermostat while you're at it (as suggested on a thread here last year). This involves replacing the "submarine" metal pipe with a straight pipe and connecting a longer expansion tank hose to a tee in the heater/bypass hose. It makes filling easier and the expansion tank is then on the engine half of the circuit rather than the radiator half. Classic Silicone Hoses sent me all the bits I needed to do this.
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Fuel hoses. SM25T did a post on this recently. IIRC, there are four short sections of 8mm hose, and you need proper petrol hose clips, not Jubilee clips.
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Beware CC are likely to send you the wrong belt, 'cos they've got 'em listed wrongly. IIRC the VVC requires 143-tooth belt, others take the 145-tooth belt. Oilyhands, DVA, will send you the right stuff.
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Thanks for this. Next job on the list, then.
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Correction. The green colour was an illusion caused, probably, by air conditioning dye. The existing coolant is actually a yellowy-orange colour. I suspect this is a version of the modern 5-year OAT (organic acid technology) coolants which should be compatible with my 5-year red stuff. I've tried mixing a small quantity of both of them (the yellowy-orange and the red stuff) in a measuring jug and they appear to have mixed OK without any sign of chemical reaction or such. Does anyone know any better?
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The tin-top has green anti-freeze in it. Does anyone know what this is and whether I can mix it with the red stuff (the 5-yr OAT stuff)?
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The petty strut on my SV has an *overall* length of about 1210mm, or 47.5" in old money. Maybe someone can post the length of an S3 petty strut?
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My 1.8K runs on, sometimes quite enthusiastically. It's done it all the time I've owned it and I've always put it down to being one of Caterham idiosyncracies. It never goes on forever, but I've mused that if it does, I'll just stall it in gear. That'll show it who's boss. Maybe.
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Another vote for Classic Silicone Hoses. Very helpful.
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Mine's an Accumate. Works well.
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Thank you for the wheels, they're great. Good to meet you. Cheers
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Assuming they'd fit my SV, I'd be interested. I'll mail you.
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Fired it up: runs OK. Thanks for your help & comments.
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I've had a look online and found some illustrations of the VVC mechanism and how it works (see: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/news/news174.html). It looks to me like the mechanism has got 360 degree symmetry, i.e. if you accidentally rotate it 360 degrees, it makes no difference. If I'm right, then my earlier question of whether the shaft had rotated 90 degrees clockwise or 270 degrees anticlockwise should be irrelevant. So I've rotated it 90 degrees anticlockwise, picked up my tippex register marks and refitted the belt and pulley. I think the engine will be OK. If anyone knows differently, would they please shout now?!
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Thank you, SM25T, and Jonathan, for your help. Appreciated. (And no, I won't crank the engine until I'm sure it's safe!)
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Sinking feeling time. Locked the engine at the flywheel. Did the tippex dots. Even counted the teeth on the belt. Made a pulley holding tool. Undid the bolt on the inlet side pulley and removed it. Mistake. Wrong pulley. The shaft behind the pulley immediately "pinged" round - but which way did it go? Judging by the keyway, it probably went about 90 degrees clockwise (looking forwards from the back of the engine). Rotating it anti-clockwise, I can take up some slack until I encounter resistance at about the 45 degrees point, after which, I think I can rotate it against a fairly heavy spring tension. So I presume it rotated 90 degrees clockwise, not 270 degrees anti-clockwise, but what if I'm wrong? Will the engine self-destruct?
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OK, I'm going to have to confess I cannot figure out how to work blatmail. I've often wondered.
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Yes, when the authorities decided to allow the use of HID lights in the UK they took the opportunity to specify that they must have: purpose-designed lenses, headlamp cleaning and computer-controlled levelling. I am told this will soon be in the MoT test and any non-complying HID conversions will result in a fail certificate. BTW, my car has 7" headlamps with the Phillips Extreme bulbs and the result is excellent.
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Yep, the Varta terminals are the other way round from Banner. I swopped my Banner for a Varta last year and with a bit of fiddling around, got the cables re-routed and swapped round no probs. Wasn't an HPC, though, so the battery was more accessible. Good luck.