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IanJ

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Posts posted by IanJ

    It's Hang up Helmet Time

    in Speed

    Posted

    Hi Roger,

     

    You will be sorely missed on the track, but we hope to catch up with you regularly in the paddock!

    Thank you for being so welcoming and generous with your advice to Debbie and I.

    Ian & Debbie.

    K-Series high coolant temperature gauge reading - earth issue

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Hi Jonathan,

    No, I haven't posted about this before. I just wanted to share my findings in the hope it would save somebody else a lot of time and frustration!

    Yes, I concluded it was only a problem with the temperature readings and not the actual temperature. I compared IR readings from the water rail next to the temperature sender between my car and a friend's. On my car the fan switched on at 103C and switched off at 93C. On his car the fan switched on at 107C and switched off at 97C. Then I ran a test with the sender in a mug of boiling water alongside a thermometer. The sender was surprisingly accurate with the engine stopped, but reading way to high with the engine running. Reconnecting the missing earth strap immediately dropped the reading when the engine was running to match the reading when it was stopped.

    Given the battery -ve is connected to the gearbox bellhousing, the poor ground connection must have been to the gauge, rather than the sender. Still not sure why that would cause the gauge to read high.

    K-Series high coolant temperature gauge reading - earth issue

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Following a gearbox change on my 1.6 K-Series, I was seeing much higher readings than usual on the coolant temperature gauge.

    From starting the engine the temperature gauge would climb to around 90C, stay there for a while and then head on up to around 115-120C at which point the fan would cut in and bring the temperature down to about 100C. Even with a constant flow of air at motorway speeds the temperature wouldn't drop much below 95C.

    I reviewed lots of useful threads which boiled down to it likely being an airlock, thermostat, sender or gauge issue. This in particular was a very useful thread: https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/coolant-temperature-question and I can confirm that gauge 71229 is indeed a suitable replacement for 71164.

    However, the one very interesting "feature" I noted (which nobody else seems to have reported) is that the gauge would read around 10-20C higher with the engine running than with the engine stopped. I still don't have a good explanation as to how that might happen so answers on a postcard please!

    Anyway, to cut a long story short (and after some very astute advice from Rob Clay) the issue was traced to a missing earth connection between the engine mount and chassis on the right hand side of the engine. I'm kind of surprised that was the only symptom, but once the earth strap was reconnected readings returned to normal throughout the temperature cycle, so big sigh of relief!

    Other useful things I found out:

    • It's quite normal for my IR thermometer to read 103-107C on the water rail of a K-Series next to the temperature sender when the fan comes on, and 93-97C when the fan switches off.
    • IR thermometers tend to read low on shiny surfaces, so stick some masking tape on them before take a reading.

     

     

    Airflow Airchamber For Sale

    in For Sale

    Posted

    Airflow Airchamber. This has a frame so is dead easy to unzip and drive straight in or out without having to drag the top over the car and then inflate.

    https://airflow-uk.com/product/car-airchamber

    "Small" size so an S3 or SV should fit comfortably. Up until recently it was storing an MX-5 plus hardtop on a stand.

    Good used condition. A few scuffs, but no rips or tears. Complete with instructions and storage bag. It's very heavy so collection only from Marlow, Bucks.

    Bought for £564 including delivery in August 2021, but now surplus to requirements. Asking £295.

    PXL_20230806_141520862.jpg.249e459398488ccff10274ad5e3c9724.jpg

    PXL_20230806_141538948.jpg.9c3c97cf30dacc873c334f1eac6c67f4.jpg

    PXL_20230806_141804696.jpg.94029b378ad78570899e2e0eb961dec1.jpg

    PXL_20230806_143824320.jpg.453b895ed809c77e6975cba8cebbb229.jpg

    PXL_20230907_065524505.jpg.54820a4bb8f8b60d783f1819ab54a1a0.jpg

    PXL_20230806_143824320.jpg.261039d42fb646701404ddb938ddd2ff.jpg

    Goodwood Entries

    in Speed

    Posted

    I used our Championship Numbers (same as last year) rather than our Competition Numbers.

    For Double Drives the process is a little confusing because it allows you to select a £320 Double Drive payment option with the first Entry and then forces you to select either a £160 or £320 payment option for the second entry.

    On the second entry I selected the £320 payment option, clicked next to get to the payment screen and then canceled out of the payment. The Entries Secretary has confirmed that both our entries were received using this approach. Just in case anybody else finds themselves with a similar dilemma...

    Down on power in Class 2 Sprinting

    in Speed

    Posted

    Having spent several seasons in Class 2 (and even notching up a win or two) with a standard 1997 Superlight, I would echo all of the comments above. You'll be absolutely fine with 138 BHP in Class 2. Of course, our Superlight is a little less standard now and we'll be moving up to Class 3 this year...

    Pembrey Entries - Documents!!!

    in Speed

    Posted

    For anybody like us that missed/forgot the document upload requirements for Pembrey, the deadline is today (Monday 16th May) and these documents are required:

    Personal Documents

    Scanned copy or photograph of Competition Licence, Club Membership Card & Championship Card (if applicable), FRONT ONLY.  3 separate files or all documents in one file.  Information to be uploaded by 16th May please.

    Vehicle Documents

    Scanned copy or photograph of your Vehicle Passport (Log Book) for any vehicle which is NOT road registered, for checking by the Scrutineers. Information to be uploaded by 16th May please.

     

    The upload location is via the "Access Your Entry Home Page" link in the "Entry Received From" email.

    Curborough Video

    in Speed

    Posted

    Here's my significantly slower and significantly wilder second fastest run which (surprisingly) came in below 63s.

    I failed to record my fastest run of the day, but I do recall it involving a slightly more orthodox route round Fradley!

    Proposed 2022 Regulation Changes

    in Speed

    Posted

    Some good suggestions and ideas here! Debbie and I have the following comments:

    Dual Drives

    We would prefer the faster driver to go first. I have always been uneasy about sending Debbie out to test my setup changes. If a change is detrimental then I would prefer to make that discovery and give her a heads up before she goes out. RobJ's suggestion to mitigate any weather advantage seems like an excellent one if organisers can facilitate it.

    Ladies

    Scoring against the class record, rather than the winning time on the day effectively means that rather than doing 5 events, ladies need to do 5 dry events to be competitive in the championship. It's not representative of performance on the day if the weather happens to be unkind. Not sure why this was changed in the first place, but Debbie would prefer points to always be calculated in relation to the winning time on the day.

    Curborough

    We'd prefer just one practice run.

    Ian & Debbie

    Anglesey Garages

    in Speed

    Posted

    We're going to be optimistic and say we'd like a garage spot too!

    Last year I thnk there were 8 Caterhams per garage and several people managed to book additional garages over and above our initial (meagre) allocation. We were so successful that one garage was released back to the organisers to reallocate.

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