davestevenson

Thanks. I'll give it a go. I'm just hoping it's not that I managed to cross thread it and have a damaged thread in there. But I guess if I squeeze it tight again then I can always drill the head off to get it out if that is the case.

Hi All. I've just switched from the Caterham road harnesses to proper 4 point ones, so seats out. Murphy's law being what it is, on putting the last allen headed bolt securing the seat to the runner back in, it starts spinning - NOOOO! Double whammy of it being the one right in the middle of the runner, so very little access to do anything. So I've pulled the seat back out and managed to release it again, but what's the perceived wisdom on how to re-fix or replace the rivnut? At present I haven't even managed to confirm whether the thread inside is still good or not :-/ I do have a bag of the rubber rivnuts, but I suspect they're going to expand too much and foul the runner movement. Thanks.

Thanks folks. My current harnesses are pull down to tighten and you end up with the buckle nearly under the seat squab :-/ Pull up should at least solve that problem.

Thanks John. Caterham do list the black version with both LH and RH variants, but not the blue ones (two guesses what colour my car is!). In typical Caterham fashion both the black ones are out of stock too. If they will fully undo to remount then that is great. Although doesn't it need a change to the buckle to retain the opposite waist strap, otherwise the release levers will be pointing in the opposite directions? The pictures of the black version don't help as they are identical! It looks like the 6 point release lever points sideways, which would be one (expensive) option. I guess the simplest thing is to drop Caterham a line and ask the question. I know from old threads that Titon were very accomodating in changing sides and pull up/down to tighten, but that's not much use now they don't make them :-(

I'll add that I'm not racing (although keep intending to do a track day and never doing it), so FIA approval isn't a requirement.

I currently have the Caterham "push button" 4 point harnesses - probably the 2007 equiavalent of https://caterhamparts.co.uk/seatbelts-harnesses/1388-seatbelt-4-point-harness-black.html They sit very wide on my wife and kids' shoulders, so I'm looking to swap out for the racing twist release 4 point harness in the hope that having the shoulder straps come to the middle rather than 6" apart will bring it in slightly on the shoulders too. I had previously been looking at the Titon harnesses, but they no longer make them. Caterham do https://caterhamparts.co.uk/seatbelts-harnesses/1193-seatbelt-4-point-quick-release-blue.html, but only appear to have the buckle strap one way round. So who should one go to to get a left and right handed pair of 4 point harnesses (preferably in blue)? And what is the current recommendation between pulling up vs pulling down to adjust? It's with cloth seats if it makes a difference.

My 2007 had the same small beeper taped into the loom up by the steering column. Drove me potty! I replaced it with an Audicator (http://audicator.com/product.html) so that the beep is disabled whilst you have your foot on the brake, and then waits 10 flashes before nagging you. There's a member's discount with them too.

If it is an MOT failure then I need to have a word with my test station. MOT passed in July. Noticed a couple of weeks ago that I had no reversing light and found the econoplug disconnected up beside the fuel tank. I suspect I disconnected it when fixing the reversing light after it had got hit by something falling in the garage a couple of years ago and not reconnected it! It probably passed 3 MOTs in that state

Yup, I had that a couple of years back with the original Banner battery (2007 1.6l EU3 K-series, same as yours). Immobiliser would disengage as normal via the fob. Hit the starter button and the engine would turn over happily, but the voltage drop was such that the immobilser would come back on solid red and stop the fuel pump. New battery time. (A PowerVamp 25 and battery conditioner have held off the issue since).

In one of our office visitor spaces! Curious now as to whether one of the other employees here enjoys low flying, or was it a visitor

11:20 Black/dark blue. (Sorry I held you up - a load of glass in the boot!)

Another for Audicator. I had the standard buzzer fitted when I bought the car but got annoyed at it when sitting indicating at a junction. Audicator is silenced whenever you have the brake pedal depressed, and also delays for N flashes after the brakes released.

I had a similar conversation with the tester when I took my 1.6 k-series to the local place back in August. He was going to totally skip the emissions test as if it "failed" they reckoned they wouldn't find a match in the database for the car, so it'd be classified as a pass anyway As HeMan suggests, it sounds like there are different limits for different cars based on what they're registered as - I guess it makes sense when the VED is based on emissions that exceeding those limits makes the reduction in VED a nonsense if it doesn't remain within those limits. Makes no difference for us where it is the 1.4l that determines how much they sting us for.

Count me in for 3 too.

I guess you're all probably right. It's just so tempting to try to encourage her to be a petrolhead early I already have permission to build a new Seven when she's old enough to help 😬 (even if that is 15 years away ), so need to make sure she's interested.

I've got the standard leather seats, not Tillets, but I can confirm that these fit in terms of width (standard S3, not an SV) and work very well in general. Hi Adam. Do you have inertia reel belts or harnesses? Just wondering how you secured them in as I'm just trying to convince the wife to let me take my 17month old daughter out in the 7 I've got the normal cloth seats, so equivalent to the leather ones in size and positioning.

2nd dibs please in case Ed changes his mind (guess I'm just being hopeful!)

Thanks Schnitzel. Price is not unreasonable, but I can't get it passed SWMBO Phil G - guess second dibs passes to you.

Potentially interested - what sort of money are you looking for? And any guess on shipping cost to the UK? (Just seen your location!) Edited by - davestevenson on 12 Jun 2013 20:35:04

Klunk: Your simple terms sound about right to me. - Reduces the size of switch required as the current through the switch is smaller. - Reduces the size of the cabling to/from the switch, and inherent voltage drop along that extra length of cabling. - Can provide isolation between the control circuit and the controlled circuit (eg 5V relay coil switching 240V load, although that's unlikely in a car). - And allows switching of more sets of contacts at once than a switch typically allows. Can always use more than one relay for yet more contacts. Edited by - davestevenson on 8 Jun 2013 08:10:48

I control my fan using the MBE ECU which has built in protective diodes for the MOSFET outputs. Always nice when people design circuits with protection in mind. There are lots of places in cars that deliberately produce nice big voltage spikes, and digital logic really doesn't like them. If you want the relay to switch off quickly, you can put a resistor in series with the diode, the resistor value being the same as the series resistance of the relay coil. 40 years ago I could have given you the proof, not sure I can remember it now. Only 20-ishyears ago for me, but it's still long gone Resistor in series with the diode is a new one on me, but I can see the vague logic there. I've always just had the diode.

I was typing a minor physics essay as a reply, but got beaten to the post! Agree with Paul, the LED glow is most likely the fan motor acting as a generator as it spins down. To Diode or not to diode. The diode is normally there for when the relay coil is switched by a transistor, as the generated voltage is big enough to blow the transistor every time. (See Wiki for a more eloquent description than I can give on why) In your circuit we have no transistor directly controlling the relay. However the energy has to go somewhere, and there isn't an easy route to dissipate it. I'd therefore expect to get very minor arcing across the switch contacts of SW2, and that would be likely to shorten its life. Could the voltage spike get beyond the switch into something more sensitive? I'm not sure (can't think through the details of what happens whilst things are arcing), but for me I would play safe and have the diode.

Paul: good summary! Glasgow: Summary of the summary - if it has a diode within the relay module (your old relay), then it matters which way round 85 and 86 are. If no diode (your new relay), then it doesn't matter. Summary of the summary of the summary: electrics can be confusing 😬

elie: If I'm reading you right, then I'm not sure I agree with you. If you wired from green wire common point, through the switch to 85, and then 86 to negative, you've still got a forward biased diode -> big current flow and popped fuse. If you have that relay, then 86 must be connected to positive via whatever switches and fuses, and 85 must be connected to negative (again via whatever else). That way the diode is reverse biased in normal operation, and only conducts as the relay deenergises and creates a back EMF.

If I'm reading the circuit diagram and pinout of the relay correctly, the diode anode is on 85, cathode on 86, so it would be forward biased (ie conducting) if wired as per you diagram. The diode needs to be reverse biased normally (it suppresses the reverse voltage when the relay disengages), so swap pins 85 & 86.