elise_s1

is there a spacer available for the Caterham sump? I'm thinking about Tor project of raising the engine... you raise the engine by 8 mm and fit a 8 mm spacer between sump and block. Lowering the pickup by 8mm you end up with 8mm worth of extra oil (1 litre?) in ALL conditions. Or am I missing something? Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 4 May 2005 15:46:13

I think a really clever mod could be to grind off the bottom ali shield (the one integrated with the oil pump cover) and make a removable steel one (firmly bolted at the bottom) to allow an easy change without undoing the pulley bolt. A similar shield could also end a bit closer to the V-belt pulley, giving better protection in case this belt jumps toward the cambelt.

Peter, thanks for the explaination. Personally, I think the right approach to a good cooling setup should be on 2 steps: - first you decide the correct running temperature, considering the criteria of critical maximum temperature you describe along with some other relevant temperature criteria (like the expansion coefficient of the liners and block or the thermodynamic efficiency) - then you "build" the system to work at the given temperature, not just replacing the thermostat but also choosing the right radiator, air ducts and fan, etc. taking into account the engine needs in terms of heat rejection. Only this way you could have a relatively constant temperature both in different operating situations and in different engine areas. Cheers Carlo

Hi Myles, quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The higher the pressure, the higher the temp the coolant should be during normal running conditions - you don't want the fan cutting in too soon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I find it hard to understand what is behind this.... unless you are running close to the coolant boiling point (in which case the higher pressure will allow a higher temp without boiling) I cannot see the link between pressure and normal running temp... could anybody enlighten me? thanks Carlo

EU2 Elises had often this problem (engine not switching off with lights on) and the usual cause was inverted polarity on the cig lighter. Sharing the same ECU, I think you should look for a bulb (or another electrical device) which is ON when you have the problem (cooling fan, brake lights, etc.), then check the polarity of this device. edited to clarify the last sentence:it is the earth of the operating device (must be an 'unswitched' device) which feeds the ECU via another (swithched) device... bugger it is difficult without a drawing! Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 12 Apr 2005 10:06:26

Well done Steve! *thumbup* *thumbup* Must be because of the new thermostat! cheers Carlo

Paul, with your setup the old bypass is flowing a bit more than standard (the small hose is much shorter) and this could "rob" some coolant flow from the radiator. The amount of flow is limited, but noticeable at low revs (when the pump isn't shifting a lot), while at higher revs (with full pump flow) the effect is minimal. with the thermocouples you could check if blocking the small bypass does change things... Problem is, if you restrict the old bypass flow to improve low revs cooling, you will also reduce the flow through the Laminova at high temperatures. Cheers Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 11 Apr 2005 16:57:57

ahem... when jump starting the high load is not towards the faulty battery, but towards the starter motor. Melting the insulation off a set of leads is a very good example of high resistance through the leads. edited to add: I think the "good earth instead of negative of battery" subject is related to the car that receive the jump start, not the donor. In fact, the donor should connect both leads to the battery (no risk of spark there?) Edited by - elise_s1 on 7 Apr 2005 08:43:52

not 100% convinced about it. if the main reason is to prevent sparks, the same should apply when trickle charging (maybe smaller sparks, but just as good for igniting gases...) or am I missing something? Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 7 Apr 2005 08:17:39

195/50 15 are cheaper because it is a common size for a lot of tintops, not because of the tyre quality or specs. On all brands, if you look for the price of 185/55 15 (Elise std front tyres), they are more expensive than 195/50 15! Not necessarily related (as the weight is different), but on the Elise community the BF Goodrich G-force Profiler in 195/50 15 are highly rated (and 1A) Cheers Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 5 Apr 2005 15:59:33

If you do need the coil, it's much cheaper here

I think it's because of the high load (Ampere) running through those connections when cranking. Connecting to a good earth (ideally the engine block) helps to keep the lowest resistence in the circuit: it bypasses any possible resistance from the original battery negative to the engine, giving the highest crank power. BTW, if the battery is properly earthed, the resistance difference is minimal. cheers Carlo

first of all I think there is a lot of missing infomations on this thread. All this talk about how many litres a pump is flowing is just misleading. ALL pumps have a typical pressure/flow curve (which means you cannot claim for a particular flow without giving also the pressure) and this is just at a given RPM. Centrifugal pumps (as used on cooling circuits) in particular, are known for a marked pressure/flow trade-off. Assumed an electric driven pump could actually flow 110 l/min on an ideal circuit (no pressure), the flow with some pressure difference will be much less than that. To get some pressure (which is a form of energy) you indeed need another form of energy (unlike flow which just needs energy to balance its losses) and this regardless of pump design. Now let's get K specific: as Bob correctly pointed out, the engine driven pump requires up to 1.7 Kw. Even with a much better design giving more efficiency, to have similar pressure/flow specs you are looking for a pump needing at least 1 Kw (which is 74 A at 13.5V). The electric motor required should be bigger than the starter motor. To be honest it’s not clear to me why someone would look for an electric pump instead of the original mechanical one: If it’s for the power drained, a better design impeller (the one on the K is just pathetic) will provide. If it’s for the flow when engine off, a small additional pump (as on the A/C Elise/Exige) will do. If it’s for the worries about HGF, you need the maximum flow inside the engine regardless of engine temp (to kill the gradients) and this is something you can achieve with a PR thermostat Cheers Carlo Edited by - elise_s1 on 4 Apr 2005 08:02:03

Hi Dave (Oily), I was just curious, as it seems lots of people are quite happy with them. IIRC some of those conversions (Mike Bees?) used the Laguna diesel liners. cheers Carlo P.S. as I haven't had any news from you, should I take it as good news?

Out of interest, is there a link to some pics of the Scholar EVO2 block? Cheers Carlo