jradley

If any doubt, the part you are looking for is this one. Cheers, John

Hi, Need some advice..... Driving along, as I pushed the clutch pedal down I heard a bang (which sounded to me like a cable breaking, but then I've never heard one so don't know) and the gear change baulked. Pedal didn't go all floppy and it was still able to partially disengage the clutch, bit not fully. After more presses of the clutch it seems the amount by which it disengaged was getting less Got home and inspected clutch cable - the bit you can see at the pedal end looks fine. I removed my pedal stop and by pressing the pedal more than I would normally have to it is possible to disengage the clutch, but the pedal travel to do so is way more than normal. Can clutch cables fail in this way (maybe just some strands gone in the middle and now it's stretched ?) or is this likely to be something more sinister ? As best I can see peering in the the bell housing where the release arm is nothing looks broken in there, but I can't be 100% sure. Any thoughts ? Cheers, John Edited by - jradley on 7 Apr 2010 15:49:13

If all the devices were powered off the autocom then in theory they would all have the same power point, but sadly that doesn't mean it is guranteed to be interference free. The problem with ground loops is that audio devices can have 2 grounds - there is the power supply ground and the audio ground. Some devices will tie the audio ground to power ground, others will have the audio floating. Those with floating audio ground may or may not tolerate the audio being tied to any other ground. When you plug all the audio devices in together you are tying the grounds together, and that is why you can get interference on some devices. A common fix is to use an opto-isolator or transformer in the audio path to isolate the audio from any power grounds. Ready made devices should be cheap, since the components are very cheap. The cheapest I could find was this which you would have to change the connectors on but would probably do the trick. John

First time I spotted a 7 when out and about - heading eastbound on A30 just after the Ely towards Blackwater at approx 18:30 today. I gave a wave (blue Celica) but was a bit late so probably missed. John Edited by - jradley on 28 Mar 2010 20:00:33

But would 150ish BHP satisfy your quest for performance ? In the long run wouldn't it make more sense to sell the Sigma (get back what you paid for it no doubt) and, since you came from a BEC, maybe get something like this If you didn't want another BEC then maybe look at a DVA'd K series or Duratec, where circa 200BHP is more easily achieved. John

Given the extent of the damage I'm not convinced it's worth the opening bid price. It will be interesting to see if it sells though. John

Hi, I got spooked this afternoon by what I conclude must be erroneous water temp readings. On a fully warmed up engine, underway the gauge would read 50 or maybe even 40, but stationary would climb back to almost 80 but as soon as I got underway would fall back to 50 or less. I appreciate underway it will be cooler, but not like that in just seconds. I have examined the temp sender and notice the ceramic block that the contact is mounted in is loose. On my oil temp sender which I think is the same it is not loose. Does anyone know if that is a typical failure mode of the sender and would account for the the odd readings ? If I replace the sender, how much coolant will I will (ie a dribble or torrent) ? Also do I need to use PTFE tape on the threads of the new one or just screw it in untils it stops leaking ? Edited to add- having just seen how much Caterham want to charge, does anyone know an equivalent part I can pick up at a local motor factors ? Cheers, John Edited by - jradley on 21 Mar 2010 17:49:12

Some years ago I got a demonstrator vehicle (would prefer not to say what) from the dealer - it had 15 miles on the clock. I told the delivery bloke that I didn't want a brand new vehicle as I hoped to drive it in a spirited manner and didn't want to have to run it in. He chuckled and explained how modern cars didn't need running in, and I should feel free to give it a jolly good thrashing if I wanted to. After all, it's a sporty car, right ? (It wasn't, BTW). During my spirited test drive I noticed the engine beginning to sound a little rough. At first I just laughed it off, but then all of a sudden the temp gauge flew off the scale and a horrible burning smell. As I came off the throttle the engine was knocking and clattering badly and as soon as I declutched it stopped, all on its own. After I let it cool down for a while, it started just fine. It never did sound quite right afterwards though. When dealer bloke came to collect the car the next day he said to me that he hoped I had all the fun I wanted and not been afraid to "give it some revs". I just nodded. And then off he drove, with a just a little bit of clattering and knocking, with just 100 miles on the clock. I guess engines vary, and I'm sure they will run in fine using the techniques described above, but I wouldn't just thrash the nads off it for too long too soon, IMHO. John

Given the part number, according to Caterham the part you have is this Perhaps someone with a Duratec could answer if they have different fittings at the throttle pedal to a Sigma - I wouldn't have thought so but maybe they do. I couldn't find a throttle cable listed for Sigma so maybe it is the same as the above. Will be interesting to see what the answer is, but it certainly isn't obvious from the photo how that is meant to work. John

I fitted mine like this I think the idea of the foam is to diffuse any spray of oil from the breather - not sure how necessary it is though. It kind of worries me that it looks like the same material that the berated sump baffle is made from, but seemingly it''s ok to have it in the cam cover, just not the sump John

Thanks Martyn. Richard, I found this link - I guess it depends whether or not the 205/55R13 would fit on the rims 🤔 - they may be a bit wide. As well as the extra width they increase the sidewall height too. Cheers, John

Out of interest what size/profile are the standard 13" CR500 package ? Cheers, John

Not necessarily.... My car has 15" wheels with 195/45-15 CR500 tyres - diameter = 556mm 13" rims with 195/60-13 tyres (quite common I believe) - diameter = 564mm Therefore in that case 13" rims will give the opposite to what is commonly thought. So in reality, the answer is "it depends" Cheers, John

It depends what tyre you put on the rims....... I have both 15" and 13" wheels for my car - the 15" are fitted with 195/45-15 and the 13" are 185/60-13 - the difference in diameter is just 4mm. I believe 185/60 are fairly standard for 13" rims so you could compare the difference with your current tyre using one of the many online tyre size calculators, eg. here Edited to add - re the fitment, I think the important thing is to confirm if the offset is for live axle or de-dion, obviously getting the right one for your car. Cheers, John Edited by - jradley on 13 Mar 2010 23:22:39 Edited by - jradley on 13 Mar 2010 23:23:05

Just a tip if buying POR15 - you should consider buying it in the small tins, since there is less wastage if you manage to permanently bond the lid onto the tin, which is easier to do than you may imagine. POR15 does have a glossier appearance than original powder coat, but for me that doesn't matter. I think they do a top coat for it which protects from UV and also has a duller finish which looks more like the original powder coat if that is important to you. Cheers, John

Did you fit the bleed-t ? I've had to bleed the coolant on my k-series after a number of unrelated issues (leaky heater valve, leaky radiator) and have never had a problem with the bleeding (touch wood). All I've had to do is fill the expansion tank, then slowly fill the radiator through the plug hole in the top tank, then when full plug it and slowly fill the rest of the system via the bleed-t. Plenty of massaging the rad bottom hose and keep topping up via the bleed-t. All done with heater valve open. After all that run engine for a little while, more massaging and a little top up via the bleed-t and job done. Cheers, John

Thanks again to all for your advise so far. I got the alternator off tonight and can now get a better vierw of what's goin on. I got a photo here I reckon by rotating the sandwich plate I will be able to slacken and re-tighten the leaky hose or if not I'll take it out altogether and put it on the bench. I will definitely need to lose more metal though and I am interested to know what that rib does and how much can disappear before causing problems. Everyone elses I've seen photos of just has a few mm taken off on the corner but I think mine will need to be more drastic - maybe it's because it's an 1.8 If only they made the elbow about 1" longer vertically out the sandwich plate then it would clear that rib anyway, grrrrr. Cheers, John

Many thanks to all - silicone lube and plenty of pulling and the boots seem to seat ok now. Cheers, John

I know .... The problem is that on my car the gap between the alternator and block is very small. I already angled the elbows so that the pipes come together and run parallel immediately after the elbow fittings. Even so, I have about 1mm clearance on the alternator on the left and the right hand pipe is touching the block, even though I took about 2mm of it off. That's why I want to take more block off. Actually, I do wonder what that rib where the right pipe fouls is used for, and what the consequences would be of removing quite a lot of it - that whould help a lot, but without knowing I don't want to take too much off. Cheers, John

Thanks Oily - I see how they are assembled now. I have tried pulling the cable through and made some progress, but the cable is very tight in the cap. Is it ok to spray silicon lubricant up the tube and all around the cap to make the cable slip easier or will that just cause more problems with it shorting out the HT ? Cheers, John

Hi, Thanks for the hints folks - I've just come out from under the car and it isn't great news.... I can just about get pliers onto the nut but it seems pretty tight already. However, it seems I didn't take enough of the engine block off and the pipe is just touching the corner of the block that was partially removed. I think that may have put strain on the fitting and hence helped it leak. Either way I don't think it can stay like that so it's going to have to come off so I can remove more of the block and make some more room ☹️ So long as I'm careful to keep the oil clean will I be able to re-use the oil that comes out or should I throw it away and get fresh ? Same for the filter, will that be ok to re-use ? Cheers, John

Numpty question - where do I spray - surely if I spray it up the tube (for want of a better word) that fits over the plug it will casue it to track and short out the spark, or is silicon lube insulating ? Cheers, John

I didn't remove the plugs themselves, as I found out I don't have a plug spanner that fits, so I assume they are all tight and ok in that respect. I don't recall if the boots were proud of the cam cover before unplugging them, but I think I would have noticed if they looked like they do now. I have tried quite a lot of force, but stopped short of giving them a light tap with a hammer ! They were very stiff to pull off, but I am sure I have tried pushing them back on with more force than that used to pull them off. They feel like they are seating on the plug ok, its just the boot is a bit high off the seat. Very, very odd. John

Hi, I had the plug leads off to facilitate removal of the cam cover for fitting an apollo breather... I now can't get the spark plug boots (I think that's what they're called) to sit flush with the cam cover. I've got photos here and here. All 4 are the same - they all are making contact with the plugs and the engine starts and seems to run fine, but it just doesn't sem right to leave a gap that water and dirt can get down the plug well. I have used what I think is quite a lot of force to try and push the boot down further - am I doing something wrong or do I just use more force ? I'm baffled - any ideas ???? Cheers, John

Hi, It is definitely leaking from the elbow, bnot the adapater. I didn't use any thread sealant - didn't think I was meant to ? I haven't had chance to look at it yet, but will try and nip it up and see what happens. Cheers, John