jradley

Having just been through this my vote goes with mechanical too. Until my sender finally gave up it used to read into the red at idle when hot, so perhaps 0.5 bar. Now with mechanical it reads almost 30psi, about 2 bar. The mech gauge and all the gubbins was cheaper than a new sender anyway. Easiest upgrade ever. John

Roger many thanks for that. Any idea what sort of shops stock the stuff - Halfords don't appear to and I have a feeling my local motor fators probably don't either ? I can buy it online but ideally want a quicker solution. Cheers, John

Bri, I think it is an ali or steel washer. It's not a dowty or anything fancy like that. One of the problems I think is that the thread doesn't go all the way to the nut, so there is a narrower diameter section after the thread before the nut if you see what I mean. Becasue of that the washer doesn't centre easily. It doesn't help either that the nut section is only marginally bigger than the inner diameter (M12) of the washer. Ideally I think I could do with a better shaped adapter. John

Hi, I've searches some past posts but can't see a definitive answer to this.... I've just fitted a mechanical oil pressure gauge but have a slight leak where the adapter is fitted into the filter housing. The adapter came with an M12 washer which I put some blue hylomar on both sides of and also a little on the outer ends of the threads. I am worried about caking it with hylomar in case it contaminates the oil system ? Is it really safe to do this or should I use ptfe instead ? Cheers, John

Many thanks to everyone for your advice. This is now sorted and I am very happy. Th eproblem with the first gauge was that it was indeed faulty. I tested the replacement with a foot pump beofre fitting and and it worked fine, and read the same pressure as the gauge on the foot pump. I am particularly happy because the old electrical gauge only ever read a max of about 3.5 bar at cold fast idle. The mech gauge reads 70psi, which is about 4.8 bar - much healthier I'll take it for a blat later and see what readings I get when hot idle, but I'm guessing it will be more than the 0.5 bar or less that the old electrical gauge would read ! BTW, if/when your elctrical sender fails I now too would highly recommend fitting an MOPG - I'm pretty much a mechanical numpty and had no problem doing it. Cheers, John

Is it possible that the unused spade at the sender end is the oil temp sender for when you have an apollo tank fitted ? I believe the loom has it but is obviously unused if you don't have an apollo tank. On my car I've never been able to find it though so I was thinking of using the oil pressure sender cable as temp sender now that I have gone mechanical. since it's in the right place you could easily use it for warning light. John

Thanks Ian, I think my old electrical gauge was probably ok and it was the sender that was faulty. I hope to get a replacement mechanical gauge in the next couple of days. Cheers, John

The only spec I asked for was "an mopg for a Caterham 7 like what you have supplied before" and I got what I got. I had noticed the fact that Caebont also make the electric sender. I was sort of hoping they'd made a better job of the mechanicals than they do of the electricals 😔 I had thought of using an air pump to test the gauge but wasn't sure if air pressure wouldn't work where oil pressure would, but since it seems to have worked in the past for testing I gave it a go just now. At over 10psi on the foot pump nothing on the gauge, so it must be knackered. It's ok Ian, I removed the devils spawn when I did my apollo a while back Cheers, John

It's a Caerbont (I think). No PTFE tape used, though I did seal the adapter to filter housing with some Blue Hylomar, but only on the outside (ie it couldn't block the pipe). I had the engine running for a few minutes and no reading at all. I'm guessing it must be a faulty gauge afterall - will contact supplier tomorrow. Cheers, John

Help !!! This job hasn't gone quite to plan...... Fitted the new mechanical gauge, easy enough job. However, running the engine the needle doesn't move - not a jot. The engine doesn't sound clattery and the old electric gauge was giving readings, just somewhat erratic indicative of a faulty sender. I took the gauge off the end of the hose and ran the engine at idle and oil was flowing out the pipe, but I would describe it as a moderate flow rather than gushing under pressure. Put gauge back on, still no reading. Is this likely a faulty gauge , is there any way of testing it or have I missed something somewhere ? Cheers, John

Parts now ordered, should be hopefully here tomorrow with a bit of luck will get it all done in my lunch hour. I did go for braided hose, seemed like a better option but will also probably protect it some more with plastic pipe and in front the sump some old hose pipe too. All in about £50, cheaper than a sender from CC which could well have failed again anyway. I'll leave the heater in - I've run cables through the grommet before without any problem - just need bendy arms :) Cheers, John

Hi, Usual story - K series oil pressure sender is failing erratically. Could replace but CC out of stock, so might as well go mechanical. Does anyone have a parts list ? Also I believe we get a clubg discount if we speak to the right person at ThinkAutomotive - who is that ? I understand the principal of the MOPG, but is there anything practical I should know about its fitting, eg. where not to run the pipe, like too close to the exhaust or anything like that ? Cheers, John Edited by - jradley on 20 Jun 2010 18:07:20 Edited by - jradley on 22 Jun 2010 15:13:58

Centre pin is +ve, the outer -ve. Cheers, John

GMB50735 Cheers, John

Is that stuff suitable for a Ford open diff too to quieten it down, or is is only for LSD's ? I would like to quieten down my 9yr old open diff. Cheers, John

Here is the photo. I'm 99% sure this is the wiper delay. See this thread which shows the pinout of the lucas module which looks the same. I'm guessing it was disconnected when it failed, like what they are renowned for doing. Of course, if anyone knows it it is something different please shout. Cheers, John

A photo if you have one would be really helpful otherwise it will be tonight when I get home before I can look ! you could just cuut+paste the URL into a post or click the "link" button above where you type into and it opens a window where you enter the URL to link directly to it in your post. I have a suspicion it is the ECU diagnostic port that may not have been utilised, but without seeing it I can't be sure. Cheers, John

Does it look like this ? If so it is the immobiliser and once upon a time would have been connected to the MEMS ECU. If it has no connections to it now then i assume you are on an Emerald or somehow the MEMS has been reprogrammed to not need an immobiliser signal to run the engine. Cheers, John Edited by - jradley on 10 Jun 2010 12:45:13

My biggest concern was the way the rubber appears to be perishing rather than the nail. Also where stone chips have been embedded into the tyre I've pulled them out with pliers, but can't be sure how deep they had gone in. I will ask how much a repair is and see what they say. Cheers, John

Hi, I don't know much about evaluating the condition of tyres, so thought I'd ask the POBC... The CR500's on the rear of my car were getting a bit low, so I thought I'd finish them off at the handling day at Dunsfold. They finished the day with more tread on them than I expected but looking a bit haggered. I have no intention of using them on the road again, but thought they may do another track day. However, I picked up a nail which will need repairing before use again and I'm not sure if it's worth the cost of repair given their overall condition. It's hard to see in photos I know, but here is the nail, which also shows some signs of it beginning to perish a bit. This shows how they look a bit rough around the edges and this shows the surface condition, which has got score lines across and along in places. If I got the nail removed and repaired would these be ok for some more track time or should I just bin them ? Cheers, John

That is a potential option. The problem is that I have the pedals in the rearmost position and adjusting the throttle pedal to rest just below the brake pedal means at full throttle the pedal stop would still need to be over 6" long, and the one CC supply is about 4" long. OIt seems on the newer cars the front face of the pedal box has a larger sloping panel than the older ones which reduces the distance, but mine is an older one. If I get any further problems with bending the pedal I will persevere with that approach. Cheers, John

Hi, I have a throttle pedal stop, fitted at the top (on the rear wall of the pedal box), since my pedal box shape and position of pedals won't allow it to be fitted at the bottom under the round bit where your foot goes. I found out at Dunsfold yesterday that repeated enthusisatic use of the right foot is sufficient to bend the top part of the pedal, from the pivot up to where the cable is attached. The result is that you can still get full throttle, but due to the bend the pedal ends up lower than it normally would be. Can anyone think of any simple ways to strengthen the pedal ? I was thinking of possibly injecting resin into the tube of the pedal and/or wrapping it in fibreglass tissue and resin. Is there any reson this is a bad idea that I haven't though of and will that add strength ? Cheers, John

Hi Peter, Many thanks for your detailed reply - I will give it a go. I eventually found the torque figure in the manual - 60lbft/82Nm. As it happens I'm ordering some bits from CC anyway in the next few days so I might pop a bush and bolt on the order since they're only a few quid anyway and like you say I can imagine it will have worn in ways it's not meant to. Is replacement a simple case of remove bolt, drift out bush, insert new bush and bolt up or is there a complication I don't know about ? Cheers, John

Hi, Sorry for this really numpty question, but better to ask and be safe than guess and end up in a tree..... I discovered my rear A-frame where it meets the DeDion is loose. The bolt itself is quite loose (as in I can turn it with my fingers) and I'm hoping when tightened it will fix the play in the A-frame (but to do that I need to borrow another thin walled socket, which I'm collecting off a mate later). Do I just tighten it up with the car on it's wheels or do I need to do anything special, like support the car on axle stands to take load off the suspension ? Any idea what torque this should be ? If tightening doesn't take out the play I guess I'll need new bushes - is there a numpty's guide to fitting them ? I have seen the assembly guide but of course this normally gets done early on in the build of the rear suspension so don't know what may be different if the thing is already assembled ? Cheers, John

Hi, Just thought I'd check/top up my diff oil (2001, 3.62 open). When I took the filler plug out, the recess in the plug around the magnetic spindle was full of what I can only describe as a grey coloured paste I think it may just be swarf that is embedded in conjealed oil, but I thought it rather strange. Is it normal to see that, or have I got a problem that I don't yet know or want to know about ? Cheers, John