2slo

Quoting diggerman: Mines booked in the Catmids next Wednesday. They reckon it will take a couple of hours. I'm waiting for it! Peter I'd be interested to hear how you got on and how long they actually take please?

Due to being really busy this year, my car (2011 R400) has hardly turned a wheel over the past 12 months. It has the BMW diff and I had the original letter from CC telling me it needed a recall. I had a follow up letter yesterday saying that they should be able to do the work now. For those who know about this, is it feasible to drive down to CC Midlands and get the recall work plus annual service done in 1 day whilst I wait or are they expecting the car to be left with them for longer?

Damn, missed that!

Got nowhere with the local motor factors for the headlamp lens so ordered from Caterham. That plus bulb and postage approx £35 so not too bad. The parts guy reckons my corroded reflector means a new headlamp unit. Hmm? Not happy about that on a car under 2 years old so I'll be taking that up with Caterham Midlands when they service it next month. Asked about tyres whilst I was on and apparently 13'' CR500s are back in stock.

Quoting Whoosh: Not sure what you are after but George Polly is worth a call. Very reasonably priced and a speedy delivery Thanks. I'll need some tyres soon. George Polley are on my list to try and I've another option to try as well. I'll put some info up when I start enquiries.

I'd probably get some of those but looking at the link they are the larger size headlamp fitment and there's no listing for the smaller units.

Thanks SM25T. I'll try that option. Caterham aren't always the cheapest and I see they're out of 13'' tyres again just as mine are coming up for replacement.

Thanks fella, just wanted this as a heads up before I ring Caterham parts tomorrow.

Just about to take my 7 out for an hour today when I noticed the o/s headlamp glass is shattered. Bugger! Question (and I'm not technically minded) can the glass be replaced independent of the entire headlamp or does the whole assembly need to be replaced? Whilst looking at this I noticed that the n/s reflector is quite badly rusted on the lower part of the bowl. Impressive on a car less than 2 years old with only 2k miles on it! Same question for this if anyone knows please, can the reflector be replaced or is it another entire new headlamp unit? The car is a 2011 R400 with the newer style black headlamps. Thanks.

Northbound around 3.30pm this afternoon, red Q reg 7. Anyone on here?

Thanks for that link. That suggests an issue with the air temp sensor which is located in the air box getting false readings due to heat soak when the car is parked up hot. Sounds very plausible. TBH I was more concerned it was something serious. I'll live with that until I get someone more practical than me to take a look

I know there are a few owners of duratec R400s on here who've had the throttle body conversion done and I'm wondering if any of you reading have similar issues to mine, i.e. is this normal or is something wrong with my set up. Mine has always started first time and ticks over ok, albiet a bit unevenly. Once the oil is up to temp it will pull fairly cleanly (a lot better since the TBs were balanced by CC Mids at it's last service). Problems start when it's warmed up, I stop and switch off and then start up again before it's cooled down. It'll start and run but as soon as I try to accelerate cue embarrasing missfires, kangarooing, inability to rev etc. I have to usually nurse it along in 1st gear for a minute or so before it clears and runs well enough to accelerate. Any thoughts on this, especially from those with similar spec?

Update on this as the cause wasn't what I thought. The tiny piece of metal I thought had caused this tyre to deflate wasn't the problem. The tyre fitter tracked it down to a faulty valve (oe fitted new by CC) the seat of which had cracked causing the problem. A new valve fitted and all is now well. Worth bearing in mind if anyone gets a flat tyre and they can't see any obvious reason.

North of Ripon today as I was heading North from Lightwater valley.

Quoting Eugene: I've been amazed by the repair power of the spray in tyre-weld... I picked up a large screw through the tread of one of my tyres, which when removed left a 3 to 4 mm hole through the tyre. One can of tyre-weld, and a 30 mile drive later, the tyre sealed. Needed topping up with air on the 30 mile run, but the tyre was fine for a couple of years after - only replace just before this year's Classic Le Mans! 😬 Well I carry a can of that as a last resort but decided that I'd try reinflating the tyre and then drive 5 miles home slowly and carefully. Haven't managed to get out today and measure the tyre with the guage Jonathon found for me (thanks again) it's near the top of my 'to do' list