MonkeyBoy

Sorry for coming late to the party, but if there are any black ones with rubber left over then i would be very interested many thanks Alistair

Bit of a long shot, but my o/s BRG flared wing has started to crack quite badly where 2 star cracks have joined, and no i'm not converting to cycle wings I wondered if anyone had some BRG flared wings in very good condition they wanted to sell as i don't think you can get them new any more ? It's a '95 LA Xflow if that helps (i vaguely recall someone saying the wings changed design at some point...) Cheers Alistair

Hi all, I’ve finally got my rebuilt x-flow and running on the road, unfortunately it’s not running very smoothly at the moment. Under load on light throttle the car seems to splutter a lot, lose power and the carbs spit a lot, however if I put my foot down I can drive through it. Although this does happen at lower speeds it is most noticeable when cruising about 60-70mph and it’s almost impossible to keep a constant speed using light throttle as the car splutters so I have to use more throttle and accelerate for a bit then back off. I read that carb spitting is due to running lean so I gave the mixture screws quarter of a turn richer but made no difference. I’m wondering if I need to back off the advance a little bit, I can try that tonight. I’m also getting a lot of exhaust popping but since I have a minor leak where the primaries meet the main exhaust it’s not that surprising. Any ideas gratefully received Many thanks Alistair

Thanks for all the advice, good stuff, in the end i found out that the carb linkage had worn so sometimes it wouldn't seat properly between the two carbs meaning that one carb wasn't getting enough fuel at idle, so got a replacement from webcon and it now runs on all 4 cylinders Only problem is some carb coughing and spitting but that's a subject of another thread.... Many thanks Alistair

Not much to add, other than confirm that it's the same base fuel but it's the better quality additive package that costs more. Other benefits are that some additives will better lubricate the fuel pump and some types of fuel injectors, some additives prevent the fuel 'going off' for longer, and more expensive fuels have 'better' detergent additives. Not saying that it's worth paying more for or not. Cheers

Hi all, Having problems with my 1700 xflow, it died a couple of years ago (failed hose to oil cooler doing 80 on French motorway and seized up) and so I’ve been slowly rebuilding it, basically a complete rebuild, forged pistons, unleaded valve seats, refaced head and block, new gaskets etc. I had it all rebuilt and running for a couple of days end of last year to get through the MOT then it sat outside over winter, then when I went to use it the hall sensor in the dizzy had failed so I replaced with a new kit, then it was only running on 2 cylinders (1+2) and it seemed that there was no fuel from one of the carbs so I stripped it – it had loads of gunk in and the fuel had a layer of water floating on top so I cleaned it all out including jets etc and put it all together and one of the fuel hoses split so had to replace. Now it still only runs on cylinders 1+2. Cylinders 3+4 are getting a spark, and I double checked the leads were the right way around (and swapped them over to double check). I seem to be getting fuel in the carb – when you look down the carb you can see evidence of fuel. However, if I spray Easy Start into the trumpets it still doesn’t kick in. I checked compression at with throttle open I get 13.5-14.5 bar on all 4 cylinders (this is after running on 2 cylinders for a few minutes so ‘cold’). With the throttle closed I get around 11 bar on cylinders 1+2 but only about 4-6 bar on cylinders 3+4. So I checked the tappets and they were pretty much there (22 thou inlet, 24 thou exhaust) and just needed less than 1/8th turn, but I still get the same compression readings (throttle open and closed) and still only runs on 2 cylinders. I’m a bit stuck and don’t know what to do next – any ideas ?? Many thanks Alistair

Thanks Tony, appreciated, i'll give Aldon a call.... Cheers Alistair

Took the dizzy and sensor out this evening, few pics here Can't see the Lucas number on the dizzy but has a Aldon sticker on it and 103fxyuls scratched in the side which apparently the Aldon part number for the std dizzy for XFlow Caterhams. The Hall sensor has Lucas on the top and the number 9450 on the side. Cheers Alistair

Only just got around to looking at this again (now the weather has cleared up!)... You may be able to confirm rest of system is ok by 'splashing' an earth to the disconnected hall sensor signal terminal and seeing if the king lead will spark approx 5mm to earth. When turn the engine over normally there is no spark at the king lead, but splashing an earth to the signal wire (green) did indeed give a king lead spark, so it does look like the Hall sensor. I'm not sure if you can just get a replacement Hall sensor - anyone know ??? Cheers Alistair

Hi all, My crossflow won't start - checked at the plugs and no spark, there seems to be voltage across the coil, but i don't think the Hall sensor in the dizzy is sending the right signal to the amplifier thingy. I measured the voltage on the 3 wires coming from the Hall sensor as follows: Red: ignition on 8.5v, cranking 6.5v Black: 0v (earth) Green: ignition on 0.07v, cranking 0.12v I thought that there should be a higher signal voltage coming from the green wire - anyone know if this is the case ? Cheers Alistair

Thanks guys, Same thermostat as before, and same (std dizzy) ignition. Silly question but whats the easiest way to test the gauge ? Cheers Alistair

Hi all, My Xflow would always run at bang on 90 degrees, no matter if you were mooching around town or on a track day. I've just got it back on the road after a rebuild, no major changes but went from cast to forged pistons, bore from 1700 to 1720, and removed the external oil cooler. I went for a hard blat at the weeked to run the engine in but I found that when driving the temp was between 70-80, when I stopped at the lights for a bit it would creep up just over 80 but when I drove off the temp would fall back to nearer 70-75. I'm a bit worried that it's running too cool but also I'm at a loss as to why this is - any ideas ? Many thanks Alistair

Thanks for the help, got it sorted, it was a number of duff contacts - earths in particular. Thanks also for a good general methodology, just used the same to fix a problem with rear number plate lights not working on my Mk2 Golf GTi Cheers Alistair

Yep, headlights on dipped beam. Just checked with an earth running directly to the battery and get the same at the bulb (10.4v today!) as when using the bulb earth. Funnily enough, when i first turned the power on today and switched the fog lights on they actually came on for about 4 secs then went off, haven't been able to re-create yet, and still getting a low voltage. Very strange! I also tried with the engine running just in case but no difference Any help much appreciated Cheers Alistair

Hi all, My fog lights have stopped working on my '95 xflow. I've checked the switch and it's broken so i'll order a new one, but when i tried to manually 'switch' the lights on with a piece of wire across the switch terminal they still didn't come on, checked bulbs and they're fine. Checked voltage at the bulbs and it's only 9v. I used one of the other switches just to check but still only got 9v (which isn't enough to light the bulb). Any ideas ?? Many thanks Alistair