Shortshift

Thank you James - curiosity now fully satisfied! James

Thanks John. And I also remembered that my old CSR 260s and a friend's CSR 200 are also on 992 ECUs, in addition to my R500 and your (all?) R400. So, actually, quite a few of Caterham's more powerful Duratec tunes seem to have been fitted with the 992 ECU and not the more modern 9A4, which offers faster processing capability apparantly. I'm curious now to understand what other differences exist between 992 and 9A4 MBEs. James

They are the standard (albeit uprated) green Bosch injectors, used on a fair few Caterhams in conjunction with the MBE ECU. I know that static resistance is quoted as 12-14 ohm and that they are also described as "high impedance/high-Z" so I wouldn't expect excessive current draws. Mind you, for some reason the R500 used the older 992 spec ECU during its build period (2008 - 2015 or thereabouts) whereas nearly all other Caterhams from this period, and to this day, are based on the later, superior 9A4 spec. I wonder if the older model is a bit less resilient than the newer (current) one? James

Update on my trials and tribulations that are interwoven here, alongside Shaun's own troubles. Wiring all checked out (substituting new wires back to the appropriate ECU pins for both injectors and coil pack circuits) so the ECU was looking more and more like the villain in the piece. But this prognosis was cast into doubt when I took the car out for a blat and found that all was good - very good, in fact. Then suddenly, after about 25 miles, there were a few sudden, sharp misfires/cut-outs on a light throttle at around 2000rpm, then in another mile it was missing at all engine speeds and loads and, then again, in yet another mile there was a complete cut-out and coast-down to the side of the road. Completely dead. I used the starter to motor the car to a safer parking spot some 20 yards down the road and, guess what, it then decides to start again... This has all the hallmarks of an earlier MBE failure that I experienced in the same car back in 2016 (leaving me stricken at the side of the road just outside Calais). On the basis of 'once bitten, twice shy', I swapped the ECU for my standby unit at the side of the road (doesn't everyone travel with a spare ECU?). It's not a great map - it's Caterham's standard R500 jobbie, but it got me home without further drama. Certainly no sudden cut-outs, misses or coast-down events. So it's looking as though I do, indeed, have a second b*ll*xed MBE 992 ECU in the space of around 5,000 miles and six and a bit years. It's being sent away for test, diagnosis and repair, if appropriate. But this isn't a cheap game to be playing. Next post in this series should be Shaun's! James

Replying to #21: Ah, no, actually it's my bad because I have kinda hijacked Shaun's topic... James

Apologies to Shaun for seemingly having hijacked his thread. And thanks for the three replies above. So... Thanks James. Always nice to have an excuse to buy more toys! Yes, Richard; I swapped injectors around but the problem stayed at cylinder #4. The injectors haven't been cleaned, Neil, but as the problem hasn't traveled with the injector when I put in a different cylinder, I don't think that's the issue. And this issue has come on suddenly, and the car was previously flying, so I doubt I've got a leakage problem. I might wire injector 4 directly from the ECU and see if that helps to eliminate or confirm the ECU (or the wiring and connectors) as the source of the problem. Seems that Pin 26 is the feed/supply to the injector (cylinder #4 being the third to fire, based on 1-3-4-2) but which ground pin should I connect to at the ECU (or doesn't it matter?). James Edited to say (with thanks to Richard P) that Pin 26 is not the feed/supply but is, of course, the switched return to earth connection for the third injector to fire, on cylinder #4.

Excuse my ignorance, James, but if I invested in a scope what would that allow me to see? I'm thinking it must be amplitude and timing of each signal, one channel at a time (put another way, the magnitude of signal over time). Is that right? James

I'm chasing a similar problem at the moment, Shaun, on my R500D. Cylinder #4 is not performing and the header temp is way down (circa 100 degrees) on the adjacent header temperatures. Was OK on the last trackday of 2022 but seems to have started 2023 by not working. Interested in Geoff's comment about over-fueling potentially being a cause of the cooler header temperature as the no # 4 plug is also very sooty. I have checked, replaced, swapped around most things in the circuit (plugs, COP and ignition sub-harnesses, TPS, injectors) and nothing makes a difference. Cylinder compressions are all fine (very impressive, in fact) and testing both ignition and injector outputs with a NOID light at the connector terminals seems to suggest everything is fine (though the illumination when testing #4 injector seems maybe to be less bright and perhaps 'different' from the others? Paranoia setting in??). I'm about to test the ECU by swapping with a fellow Club member who is local and also has a R500D so I should know by this afternoon whether this is the offending item - it wouldn't be the first MBE ECU to fail on this car, if that's the case. @Geoff - or anyone else! So, if the injector is fine (proven by swapping around with others) what else might cause the overfuelling to cylinder #4 only (apart from the ECU which is undergoing trial and sentencing as we speak)? Good luck Shaun! James

Thanks Tony. I should have thought of looking in the manual! Seeing as I have a 5l bottle of X30 (I'm sticking with pink; none of this flavour-of-the-month blue stuff for me...) then your answer appeals on a number of levels. James

Can anyone tell me the volume of coolant needed to refresh/refill a Duratec car with heater? Thanks James

You learn something new every day... James

"Durance? Bl**dy autofill stuff..." Really, Paul? You found a new Blatchat feature? James

...but then ignored your own commitment. This thread follows the pattern of previous ones, as aficionados will recognise. James

Geoff: "Challenge accepted" Well, it was more of a suggestion, rather than a challenge. "I will write on behalf of those not only here but the membership as a whole" It would be unwise to presume that you can write on behalf of anyone other than yourself, so I'd suggest you make no attempt to represent the views of others in your note. The thread, and the comments in it from various other people, stands on its own if you choose to provide a link to it in your note. But, it has to be your note, and your note alone. As the originator of this thread you're uniquely well placed to make the approach. James

Thanks Andrew. Oh the irony; the disappearance of all ten posts on page #54 was caused by a technical issue stemming from an earlier failed attempt to upload 'the letter' that, it was being alleged, had been removed without explanation by the secretive moderators' group. You've got to smile... @ Geoff Brown - I do think that Roger's suggestion above is worthy of follow-up. Given the (mostly) informative content of this thread, what about contacting Bob L with a copy of Graham M's letter and a link to this thread, so that he is informed about the extent of the problem, the costs that many of us are incurring, and has the opportunity to make his own response? James

My point, which I think nearly everyone has appreciated, is that 'the letter' has not been redacted. Except in your mind. I mean, why would it be??? Hence it stands without any modification in your repost. For what it's worth, I think (until the last few silly posts) that this has been a gem of a thread, drawing attention to a matter which has proven serious and expensive for many of us. I speak as someone who had a sintered plate Titan (BMW diff) where one Belleville and one thrust washer had failed and broken up. I was lucky not to have suffered further from the shrapnel that was then free to float around the final drive housing but once bitten, twice shy. I fitted a Tracsport. And I would probably have remained ignorant had it not been for this thread. So - there's lots of really useful information on here. Please don't devalue it by turning the discussion into some form of playground conspiracy theory. James

Clearly, there were ten posts on page #54 that so contravened the BC Code of Conduct that it proved necessary to remove the entire page, all ten posts, and replace them with a funny-fuzzy set of advertising images. Wow - moderating with a vengeance! Or it could just be a technical issue. Hard to beat a good conspiracy theory, though. Something to get excited about. James

Sold to the gentleman in France! James

Here's a pair of immaculate Caterham F1 soft bags (from the circa 2012-2014 era) which are ideal for packing and carrying items in the Seven. Unused, virtually (one even has some of the zip protectors still on it) and really high quality. Each bag has a main compartment, a zip compartment in the rear and two further compartments inside the front flap. Not only great mementos of the Caterham F1 era but really practical for Sevening too! Looking for £30 each or £50 for the pair (plus p&p at cost, but should be only a nominal amount). James (Apologies for the oddly rotated images)

SOLD James

Can't believe this has been posted for three hours and hasn't been snapped up yet! James

Yes, there are two considerations here: will it fit, and is it strong enough? Mic's earlier response confirms that the original CSR chassis had to be modified so that the Mazda box will fit (for the later European 485 versions), and he went on to say that it would be a bit of a stretch to stretch the original CSR frame to take the box. So possibly ruled out (unless chassis mods are carried out) on the "does it fit?" criterion. And then the strength issue. The CSR 260 has around 33% more torquey-things than the European 485 (272Nm vs 206Nm) so that question remains unanswered at this stage. A bit of a challenge, methinks... James

That's interesting, Hanns Per. Nothing to contribute, i"m afraid, but I'm curious about the torque capacity of the Mazda gearbox. Is it sufficient to handle CSR260 torques? James

Can't beat a genuine Ford Ka mirror sticky pad. Local Ford parts counter or ebay to sort. James