Ferrino

Whilst cleaning the 7 today, I noticed that the front wheels differ in their camber settings. The nearside seems to have zero/neutral camber, whereas the offside seems to have negative camber - is this OK? I read somewhere about using asymmetrical camber to compensate for the crown of the road or something....... Is it possible to take the 7 to a 'regular' garage to have the wheel alignment checked over? If so, are there any settings I should specify, with regards to toe, camber and castor? Thanks! An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Cheers for the info. I have now installed the replacement battery and the engine has started first time (albeit with a few pops and bangs from all that fuel I must have stuffed into the engine when trying to start her the other day?). Anyway, I couldn't find a decent voltmeter, so I kopped out and bought a battery/alternator tester which has 3 lights to indicate the voltage of the battery with the engine off and another 3 lights to show the voltage with the engine idling and the alternator charging. 1) What kind of RPM should I be testing the battery voltage at? It says that 2,000 RPM is the average to test it at, but some engines may need a higher RPM??? 2) Can anyone recommend an affordable voltage meter with which I can get some actual readings rather than a yellow/amber/green light?!? It was cheap, I must admit 😬 3) Are there any visual clues as to an undercharging/overcharging alternator? I guess a slack belt would undercharge my battery? Cheers guys! An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thanks for that - what would I need to check the alternator when I get my new battery - a voltmeter? Any recommendations on an affordable one online? Thanks. An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower

I had a peek into the cells of the dead battery and noticed that there did not seem to be a single drop of acid in there. All I could see was the dried lead plates. Weird. Anyway, the Varta battery in there is one used in BMW motorbikes and the best price I could get for a replacement was £62 + VAT!!! The dimensions seem to be very similar to the Banner battery, so I think I might go for one of them instead - I just wish I could find someone local that stocked it. Looks like I may have to go mail order and grab a couple of bottles of acid as well...... Cheers. An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower

OK, I removed the battery and had it tested at Halfrauds - they said it needed replacement. The guy who built the car advises that I get a replacement from Redline, as he used them for all his parts and recommends them. Cheers. An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower Edited by - Ferrino on 24 Jun 2003 12:53:54

No mate - it's my signature! Bit of an unfortunate choice of quote for when people are trying to help me - looking for a replacement! Have taken a look at my battery and there are 6 removable lids, so I presume I can check each cell with a hydrometer. Will also try to get hold of a digital voltmeter. If I do need to replace the battery, are there any particular brands I should be looking for? Probably a Halfrauds effort. An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower Edited by - Ferrino on 24 Jun 2003 09:22:20

Thankyou very much for that Chris - very interesting! I will take a look at your FAQ...... I wanted to make sure that it was safe to recharge the battery overnight while it is still in the engine bay and wired up...... An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D. Eisenhower

After having a few starting problems recently, I would like to test the strength of the Varta battery in my 7. Can anyone recommend a good device to test it with? Can I test the strength without removing the leads from the terminals? Also, can you recharge a battery without removing the leads? I was going to remove the leads and give it a recharge with an old recharger this evening, but I was unsure if I was going to whipe the ECU memory or something equally catastrophic. Be gentle on me - newbie alert! Thanks 😬 "An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows." Dwight D. Eisenhower

Just wondering if anyone has a spare set of XL-1 goggles which they would like to sell? Looks like I missed out on the latest batch order and I'm keen to get hold of a pair. Please e-mail me if you can help out. Cheers. Edited by - Ferrino on 22 Jun 2003 19:32:41