Graham King

I can't vouch for this yet but have been looking at getting one of these, seems to offer best of both worlds, low entry and higher lift than Clarke jack. Graham.

or a big little brother Fortunately that's him 😬

Caterham sell them here, mine fit in without any problem. A couple of small holes for one set of pegs and a slot for the other set allows them to be fitted in.

David, I always make sure mine is right up to the top, half way down the dipstick is enough to produce the symptoms, you describe, in my car. I have also fitted the Hellier Sump baffle and that did help but certainly doesn't eliminate the issue. I think the only real answer is a dry sump but I haven't been able to justify the cost yet. Graham.

David, I'm pretty sure you will find this is due to being low on oil, just 1/2 litre low is enough to give the symptoms you describe. The pickup is at the front of the sump so heavy acceleration will force the oil to the back and away from the pick up. I find that I can get different level readings at different times (I do remember reading a post on here about level readings when the system is pressurised and when it isn't giving different readings). The pickup is bolted to the block so it would require a big impact to move it.

Like M72, I certainly keep my mesh in place, behind the 7 grille. Don't like the idea of a stray stone embedding itself in my radiator. Graham.

Steve, apologies for the delay, spam filter at work stops me from opening Flickr photos, I'll pass thanks it's not what I am looking for. Regards. Graham.

I've always just used standard clear silicone sealant, it's always been fine. That's all the guys at Powerspeed used when they originally fitted it. As Tom says thinks like firegum set brittle and simply crack and fall away. Whatever you use just use a bit as you don't want silicone on the cat (assuming you have one). Graham.

Steve, is this a cradle that would allow work on an engine, if so I am interested? Can you point me to an image of one? Thanks. Graham.

Steve, yhm. Graham.

BS, just a thought before you potentially spend a fair bit of money on maps etc. Last year at this time the external temp was approx 20 degrees warmer than it currently is, so the engine and cat would have been a lot warmer I would guess, was the cat up to operating temp when the test was done. Are they a helpful garage, would they let you take it out for a good thrash first then immediately do the idle test? Graham.

I plumbed my bypass into the 16mm pipe that runs between the expansion tank and the bottom hose submarine. I didn't change anything else so I guess there are in theory 2 bypass circuits but the original one one doesn't have a stat in the flow anymore.

Jeremy, assuming you mean it turns over slowly when the car is hot, I used to have a similar issue, fix was the same as for the "k-series click", change the wiring to include a relay, never had a problem since. Graham.

Skydragon, you are right about the Remote Stat in it's behaviour. In reality you do get some heat "radiating" back along the bottom hose towards the rad prior to the stat opening, but when it does open you do get a bit of temperature cycling visible on the gauge, so it reaches temp, the stat opens allowing the cold water in the rad to enter the engine which (I am fairly certain) allows the stat to start closing again, in my experience it cycles a couple of times before settling dow and is then very steady. Graham.

Skydragon, I run a QED housing with an 82C stat and see a steady 80C (on caterham gauge) at all times when running, I haven't checked on the emerald. However in your original post you say "So in the case of a 82 deg thermostat, or a 82 deg PRRT unit, the coolant entering the engine should be at 82 deg C", this statement isn't true, the coolant will be at least 82C but could be higher. The temp of the coolant entering the engine will be governed by the efficiency of the rad not the thermostat (once it is open). I changed to a radtec for this very reason as my original rad wasn't controlling temps well enough for my liking. I would suggest that your actual water temp is higher than 82C as it enters the engine. Graham.

Adam, not sure what setup you currently have but you will need a programmable ECU and a suitable map before they will run on your car. You can't just fit these to a car equipped with a MEMS ECU. Graham.

Adam, it won't be the immobiliser, that cuts the fuel supply, so will turn over fine. I would doubt it is the "click", this is normally with the engine hot and trying to restart not on a cold engine. I suspect that your battery is goosed but to double check try jump starting the car from another. That will give you your answer. It sounds like battery has enough power to throw the solenoid but not to turn over the engine. Graham.

Pretty sure they are not Caterham Tillets, they may be tillet like and I am sure will fit but not the real thing. Graham.

SL91, try Seven Speed here, they do a purpose made kit for the 7, I purchased panels for the rear wings from them. They come with fitting instructions and kit. Graham.

Kenny, I'm sure you've tried this already, but I had a similar problem on my son's car (1.6 Fiesta) when I replaced (see my thread) the HCV. At one point the heater was blowing cold air out only even when set to hot. I came to the conclusion I probably had an airlock. I eventually got round it by removing the outlet pipe and back filling from the inlet pipe until the coolant ran out of the outlet pipe connection, and then back filled the outlet pipe from the other end. I actually did this with almost every hose and the rad. Was a right royal PITA, worse than doing the Caterham K, but got there in the end. Graham.

Giles, excellent thanks, I had seen the first link but not the one on pistonheads, sounds almost identical. I don't have any fault codes (I assume I need something special to do that), I do have a multimeter so can check the resistance as it warms up, can't check the coolant temp unfortunately as the gauge doesn't have any markings other then a red zone. It may take a day or so to check it but I will post back when I get the resistance readings. Thanks again, really appreciate all your help. Graham.

Giles, it is a 1.6 Zetec (think you're right about the SE), 2001 in a Fiesta. It has aircon which I think is relevant. I have a Haynes manual for the car but it doesn't reference the resistor at all. I have found a website that appears to infer that the fan will be on continuously when the aircon is turned on. Ours is on all the time regardless of aircon operation. If you can get any further info that would be excellent. Thanks. Graham.

Ian, that makes much more sense, I couldn't see how it could take the temp of the rad Klunk, do you know if the fan switch is separate from the engine temp sensor or if the ECU switches the fan based on the reading from the engine temp sensor, the engine sensor was renewed as well and is in between cyl 2 & 3 on top of the head. There is a housing on the side of the head that the top hose connects to, I'll have another look around that to see if I can see a separate sensor. Thanks both, excellent info as usual. Graham.

Folks, a bit of a long shot on this one but wonder if anyone can help. My son has a Ford Fiesta Zetec S 2001. We have had problems with this overheating which now appear to be sorted, it has a new water pump (replaced as part of cam belt change), new thermostat, new rad and new heater control valve (which are problematic on these). The car now runs fine with no overheating, however the rad fan is on permanently, it comes on shortly after the car reaches operating temp. Unlike any other car that I have worked on where the fan sensor has been in the actual rad itself, the Fiesta has one of these sited in the fan cowling, it doesn't actually touch the rad at all. I have also replaced this with a new one as the old one was badly cracked but it has made no difference. Firstly can anyone tell me what it is, I assume it is a thermo switch of some sort but is it sensing the temperature of the air around the rad or something else. Secondly, I found out to my cost that the green surface of it gets very hot (way hotter than the rad or air around it), I assume that this is the current flowing through it but again can anyone explain? I am beginning to wonder if the fan is meant to be on all the time, the car has an aircon rad directly in front (so in the direct airflow through the grill) of the coolant rad. Any advice would be appreciated as this is now driving me mad and it's getting expensive. ☹️ Thanks. Graham.

Charlie/Mic, many thanks for the advice, now sorted. Mixture of both, we were compresing the springs, but doing it further revealed a little wire circlip, removed it and the top collar slid off nicely. New shock now on. Thanks again. Graham.