Dick Whittington

Thanks Ian, That would be greatly appreciated, I'll check.

Top man! :-) PM me and we'll arrange monnies and collection (collection probably next week)

Yes please Mark. Any discount for collection?

Just as a follow up, the issue did turn out to be the battery. Once replaced the car started perfectly. It appears that the old Banner could not supply both the starter motor and the ECU with enough juice so the ECU thought that the ignition had been turned off and so reset to first position.

Doug, That is very interesting. The leads were also extended on Ross's to handle the change in connector location. I will check that out.

Lazerbrian and revilla thanks for you info. Nice to know this is not isolated.

Simon, Thanks very much. I'll discount the voltage drop first and may very well take you up on your offer as IACVs are too expensive to buy on to test.

Thanks JV, I suspect you don't have the K-click relay which could be a differentiator. I'm probably not going to be at the Wednesday meeting as I'm supporting my daughter while she does her GCSEs. I'll bring a volt meter along on the weekend for a bit of a probe though. ;-)

I've been trying to help Ross Maclagan (sponsor him here) to fix his starting issue which developed over the winter after the service. The Symptoms ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. With no accelerator input, engines starts and then immediately dies for both hot and cold running. Further attempts are worse - seems like it's flooding 2. Engines starts and returns to idle with 3-4 seconds of accelerator input 3. Engines starts, almost dies and then revs build to idle correctly with ~2 seconds of accelerator input 4. Engine has previous idled at ~2000rpm from ferry to home this year coming back from WightBlat 5. When running cold, revs gradually decrease as the engine gets hotter (as expected) The Car ~~~~~~~ - 1.8 K-Series Supersport running on MEMS ECU. - Banner battery - Previously fitted with a relay to overcome the K-click starter issue - Full service over winter by Carbon & Balls Limited (local outfit) replacing the timing belt. - New Brise starter fitted (old starter had damaged terminals, possibly the real reason for the K-click). - K-click relay left in place. Suspected ~~~~~~~~~ a. Air Filter too tight on plastic plenum b. TPS faulty/uncalibrated (does not hunt) c. IACV sticking d. ECU Water Temperature Sender faulty (but revs do drop with temp increase) e. Timing Belt one tooth out (but runs OK after starting) f. Brise Starter faulty Done so far ~~~~~~~~~~~ # TPS/MEMs reset (on, 5 full throttle cycles in 30 seconds, 15 seconds wait, off) # Air Filter a little tight. Loosed and rotated 90 degrees. Butterfly is/was fully closed. # IACV cleaned and observed operation out of casing. Appears to be moving freely in both directions # Lots of BlatChat searching. There seems to be others who have had the same issue (poor starting after fitting a Brise starter) with no definitive explanation why but related to voltage drops. What I think is happening? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While testing the IACV I noticed when the car is turned off, the IACV fully extends to find the fully closed position and then retracts half way (I'll call this "first position") ready to be restarted. When the ignition is turned on the IACV retracts by the tiniest amount (almost unnoticeable) as it initialises, again ready to start. I think this is the correct behaviour for the IACV. What I think is happening is that the Brise is creating a large voltage drop across the Banner battery. The Brise is a more powerful starter than the original and requires more ampage to turn over, more ampage than the Banner is able to supply. When I try to start the engine, the voltage across the battery drops (it was late so have not done a measurement) and the ECU or MFRU loses consciousness for a bit. This causes the IACV to think the ignition has been turned off and so tries to return to "first position" which involves fully closing and reopening ready to start. This starves the engine of oxygen and it dies. Using the throttle is compensating for the lack of air as the IACV closes until it reopens when you release the starter. ISTR that when testing the IACV out of the casing, while plugged in, that it extended when the starter was activated (but it was late in the evening, so can't be sure) The ~2000rpm idle issue could have been the MEMS stuck in a funny state after voltage drop or perhaps a sticky IACV. Possible Solution ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So the solution is possibly either or both: - Get a gell battery (Powervamp?) which can supply a high current without a voltage drop. The Banner is quite old. - Removing the unnecessary K-click relay which may be over-supplying to the starter solenoid Further Testing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Measure voltage drop across battery on starting - Try starting engine with jump cables attached to supplement the Banner - Try starting engine with the gell battery from my 7 - ? What do you think? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What do you think, does my analysis seem sound? Anything else worth looking at before trying the battery/Brise angle? Edited by - Dick Whittington on 13 May 2014 12:44:30

Yes Please Andy :-)

Thanks very much weeman. Just spoke to Dave and he is well aware of Millwood wraparound protectors and has a cut template to fit which although does not cover 100% of the shoulder, it does cover the lower gravel rash area as well as the flat parts. He is going to email me details.

I bought some wraparound carbon protectors for the winter fettle season. Is it worthwhile wrapping the wraparound carbon protectors? In which case, has anyone had any good results or would recommend particular method? Thanks :-)

Thanks Oily

Does the oil housing gasket between the oil housing and the block (black on one side and orangey on the other) need any special preparation or does it go in dry?

Thanks Tony, of course. Actually I think there is a guy in Ascot breaking up a Caterham 7. I might give him a try. Dick And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by Racing is Life! Anything that happens before or after is just waiting