julians

The only other things that could be causing it ( ithink, correct me if I'm wrong are) faulty injectors (unlikely for all 4 to fail, if one failed the engine would still run??) Faulty fuel pressure regulator - need a pressure guage to check this. Faulty ECU (but it talks to the laptop OK, but I guess this doesent neceserily prove the entire thing is functioning correctly) Dodgy battery - its an oddysee battery, and I would have thought that if it can turn the car over, it should be healthy enough to fire the sparks and run the ecu - is this a valid assumtion or not?

But I've replaced the crank sensor with a new one, so it cant be the sensor itself. There could still be a problem with the wiring to the crank sensor though, this will be the focus of my attentions this weekend.

I guess its possible that it could be electrical noise on one of the wires, but nothing has changed to cause it. However I will pursue that line of questioning over the weekend, cheers.

A brief synopsis:- Car started witha very slight misfire a few weeks ago, that over the course of 200 or so miles developed into very rough running/popping banging flames etc, now the engine wont start. Heres a list of everything I've done:- -Compression test is fine on all 4 cylinders -Alternator is disconnected -coil pack replaced -crank sensor replaced -resistance across all 4 injectors is equal -fuel filter replaced -spark plugs replaced -Ht leads replaced -ECU talks to laptop OK, and reports various sensors ok. -timing belt has not slipped. -fuel pump is running. Its a zetec 2.0 on dta 3d managed injection. Anyone got any more suggestions? If anyone has a fuel pressure guage I could borrow it would be much appreciated.

I had a clonk when setting off on my dedion, it was caused by a worn inner tripod joint on the passenger side driveshaft. You can idetify it by grabbing the driveshaft and trying to waggle it about, a worn one will have a slight amount of play and will knock. Assuming only one side has worn, if you waggle each driveshaft it should become apparent which one has play. On mine the drivers side was firmly fixed, whilst the passenger side would knock slightly. Edited by - julians on 24 Jan 2005 20:07:17

Right, checked inlet manifold and exhaust for leaks/looseness, none found. Checked alternator and associated wiring, no probs there. Put a multimeter across the crank sensor and passed some ferrous metal past it, it showed a pulse, but I guess thats not 100% conclusive that its working correct, I also tested the resistance across it and it came out within the specifications in the haynes manual. Put a multimeter across the terminals on the coil pack to measure the resistance as per the haynes manual, I get .8ohm across both primary coils, the haynes manual says I should get .5ohms +/-.05ohm. So if the haynes manual is correct , there is something wrong with the coil, a difference of .3ohms doesent seem a lot to me, but they wouldnt state an allowable error of +/-.05ohm if it wasnt significant.. Anyway, I've ordered a coil pack and crank sensor, so will see if these fix it. If its still not fixed after this, then who knows whats wrong with it.

Somebody else has also suggested it might be an airleak, will tighten up all the throttle bodies/inlet manifold, exhaust manifold tomorrow, see if it makes any difference.

Bear with me on this one, its quite a long one... A few weeks ago on a track day at donny, my car developed a very slight flat spot (extremely slight)at around 3-4krpm , a week of so after that it wouldnt idle below 2000rpm, it would just stall. At this point, I figured it might be due a new set of plugs and leads, so these were replaced. Today I went out in it and it wont run at all smoothly, I have loads of pops and bangs, lots of flames, almost as if there is a fueling problem, so this afternoon I replaced the fuel filter (as it was about due for one), this has made no difference at all. The engine will run, but it bangs and spits flames and is virtually undriveable. Its a 2.0 zetec on a 3d dta ecu, on jenvey TB's and injection. I plugged the laptop in to check if maybe the throttle pot or another sensor had failed, but it would appear that the three sensors it uses (water temp, throttle pot, crank sensor) are all fine. Does anyone know what might be causing this, its as if its running either way too rich or way too lean. Does anyone know what I might be able to do to troubleshoot this problem? Cheers

Not sure why they cant do it anymore, he did say they'd done a couple for a guy on blatchat (must be you), he mentioned something about it being very difficult to get hold of spare joints etc

Steve, you did mention to me about Redline, however I rang them last week and they said they could no longer refurb driveshafts.

no, it was built from a starter kit in 1997. Its now got a zetec in it.

Angus and tessas site is pretty good, but I'm not sure my diff type is listed on there. Next time I'm at the car, I'll have a look down the diff and see if it looks the same as the list of diff types on his site.

certainly sounds that way. Well, hopefully reco-prop (www.reco-prop.com) can re build my existing shaft for me, and that will be the end of the problem. I'll update this thread when I've had mine fixed, so any others witha similar problem can find some answers using the search.

Graham, thats exactly the right description of my diff. The driveshaft does have a groove for a circlip, but that was not fitted on mine.

I think you're right Paul. SO to save any more buggering about, I'm having the old shafts rebuilt , now that I've managed to find somewhere that can do it.

Thats what I'm thinking Mike. That my diff used to be the other type of diff , but was converted to use push in shafts, hence my problem.

I dont think this caterhams fault. I'm starting to think I have some sort of non standard (for a caterham) diff, even though externally it looks the same as any sierra diff I've seen.. I definatly have the correct side driveshaft (i can tell from the thread on the hub nut). Rather than continue to track down why the caterham shaft is different to mine, I've managed to find somewhere that says they can rebuild mine, So I'll send mine off to them for rebuild, and send caterhams back to them, hopefully this wont be a problem

The plot thickens. Just been to have a look at a mates diff whilst its out of the car, his is a 3.62 sierra lsd. externally it looks the same as mine, but internally it only has one set of splines not too like mine. Does anyone know anywhere online that has schematics of the different sierra diffs, so I can identify what diff I have. Cheers

I did have to make the backplate myself. The bonnet did not need any alteration from the standard cutout for K&N's. Doubt I'llbe able to get any pictures in the near future (car is in a lockup a few miles away), however if my driveshaft issure persists I may be going over there this weekend.

I did have to make the backplate myself. The bonnet did not need any alteration from the standard cutout for K&N's. Doubt I'llbe able to get any pictures in the near future (car is in a lockup a few miles away), however if my driveshaft issure persists I may be going over there this weekend.

hmmm, just spoken to caterham, apparently they should be backward compatible with the old ones, slightly longer in fact. My new one is definatley half an inch shorter that the old one. Just waiting for caterham tech to call me back to discuss what could be happening.

I'm using one on my zetec, cant remeber exactly which one, but its a pipercross one. It does fill the cutout pretty much completely, and looks fine. i have 90mm trumpets, which means I probably use the 125mm filter

Yep, I've done that, the new one is definately about half an inch shorter. Will ring caterham tomorrow, see what the score is, just thought I'd ask on here in case someone else has been here before me. I bet I have some wierd diff that was produced in small numbers by the ford pixies for a run of 3 units as some sort of strange experiment with time travel (or something similar).

My passenger side driveshaft developed some play in the inner (diff end) tripod joint, I tried to find somewhere to refurb the old one, but everywhere told me it couldnt be done. So I ordered a new one from caterham. Just tried to fit it tonight, but it appears the splined end (at the diff end) is about half an inch too short, and doesent engage properly with the diff. If I shine a light down the hole in the diff I can see two sets of splines, it would appear my driveshaft is only engaging with the outer set and the shaft doesent reach the inner set because its too short. Can anyone shed any light on this? are there several types of driveshaft for the sierra diff? I didnt build the car, but I beleive it has a viscous 3.92 lsd from a sierra 4x4, does this use a different shaft to the rest of the sierra diff range. Compared to the old driveshaft the splined end is indeed half an inch shorter Or am I just doing something wrong? Edited by - julians on 16 Dec 2004 22:05:02 Edited by - julians on 16 Dec 2004 22:11:10

Like the rest of the answers above, I have no idea what the different things stand for, but I do use the 680 on a 2.0 zetec with no problems at all.