MarkTheGoose

Mine was the nearside clevis, front and I'm pretty sure that was the bolt head end...

Good news update! DVSA dialogue with Caterham has led to the following request to me from DVSA: ------------------------------------ The manufacturer has asked if you still have the failed components and if they can have them for further analysis. If you do have the failed components and are prepared to allow this, it will be more beneficial to use direct contact through the manufacturer. To do this I will need your permission to forward your contact details, usually email and phone number so they can arrange it directly with you. Please advise by return. Please note, further analysis is likely to lead to destruction and it may not be possible to return the components. If you want the components returned, you should discuss this with the manufacturer beforehand. ------------------------------------ I'm 90% sure that I don't have my clevises anymore. Does anyone else still have failed parts that they would be prepared to share with Caterham for analysis? I've made the observation that to remove the wishbone pin, that the parts will have been heat-cycled to break the Loctite seal between the pin and the clevis - not sure how this affects the metallurgy? I've shared the three threads on here with DVSA too, so I assume/hope that Caterham will now be reading these too.

#91 - thanks John, I reported yesterday and received this by email today (John has clearly now seen enough people saying something to raise the issue with Caterham): --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mark Further to your submission. We have opened an investigstion with the manufacturer and will advise you in due course. Thank you, Regards John Corcoran | Vehicle Safety & Market Surveillance Engineer Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency | Berkeley House, Croydon Street, Bristol, BS5 0DA --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In terms of an outcome, I sort of don't need Caterham to magically replace all of the CSR damper clevis (what's the plural) out there, but do expect them to at least let as many people as possible know that there might be an issue and that they should get it checked and then make sure that they actually have some spares in stock. My journey down this path (my failure happened in mid 2020) was that I contacted Caterham for a replacement damper clevis and they said that they didn't have any and wouldn't get any, unless I could order at least 10 (in which case they would get Titan to make some more). They said that I could buy a complete rear hub off the race CSR (which includes the clevis) - for £1,800/side - but I wasn't about to spend £3,600 on the problem. I then embarked on trying to find an alternative and after much help from this forum - including offers to machine them for me, discovered Luke @ Leos and his remanufactured parts. Luke even sent me an image of one fitted to a race CSR, that had been involved in a 'minor racing incident', showing how strong his part was ...

Thanks David - my CSR200 is the same 2.3l block as yours, so should be the same height. New engine mounts arrived and were exactly the same height as the originals! Paul - I have you to thank for what I did next! I made up some spacers from some off-cuts from a piece of 6mm thick sheet metal, to go under the engine mounts and sourced some longer bolts. Simple job to fit - literally 15 mins. I then popped a couple of 1.5mm thick penny washers on top of each of the engine mounts, so total lift was now 9mm. Clearance between rocker and bonnet was now down to around 2mm and it was easy to deflect bonnet to touch rocker. I didn't want any scratching or banging at the top, so took one washer out on each side. Engine is now sitting 7.5mm higher than it was and I still have 3-4mm clearance between rocker and bonnet. I've been out for a couple of blats in various different road conditions and there are no funny noises from the driveline. Looking underneath, the engine looks much more like other CSR's I've looked under in terms of it's angle - it's still nose down, but not as much. The engine angle also looks much closer to the diff nose down attitude. In terms of measurements, I now have just over 80mm under the sump, compared to 73mm before and I am much happier with this arrangement. Suspension setting ride height is bang on the factory recommended. It's also now similar (sump) ground clearance to other CSRs. So, on balance, I'm glad I've taken this approach and all I can surmise is that every Caterham is indeed made different!

Back to basics - as now suggested by three different people (and Caterham), a new pair of engine mounts have been ordered. Mine are no doubt 16 years old. I will fit those and see if magic happens!

Thanks all for comments. 7-Wonders, I have plenty of space around where the exhausts exit the body and by the chassis bars there and whilst a Raceline sump looks amazing, I'd rather spend that sort of money elsewhere! My thinking here is that clearly CSRs are limited in numbers and they do all appear to be slightly different. Mine is number 28 and one of the early CSR200s. The reason that I'm now considering this is not to get the car miles away from 'standard' (which is less of a thing on a CSR), but actually to get it more like other CSRs. Bottom line - the sump hits the ground occasionally on local roads at 'normal' speeds, well below the speed limit. Both David B and James B have/had CSRs with 80mm under the sump (& little/no experience of grounding the sump), with standard ride height and springs. Mine has 73mm (well 71mm with me in it!). It also has what seems like a larger than usual gap above the engine, all of which suggests that the engine is just a bit low. My instinct is to follow David L's route and just tweak the height of the engine up a bit at the front.

David - I have and I could, but the car is already at the very limit of the Caterham specification for ride height and whilst raising the engine would raise the centre of gravity slightly, raising the whole car would have a much bigger impact on all things handling. This is all me being too fussy probably, after all the car has done 20,000 miles with the engine at it's current height, including going all the way to Greece on some very bumpy roads!

I'm considering raising my engine slightly to try to avoid quite so much grounding of the sump (I've done less than 2,000 miles and 'touched' the ground 3 times!) and I'd be interested in other's experiences and observations. Clearly raising the centre of gravity is never a good thing, but the engine really does seem too low right now. Car is a CSR 200, used mostly for touring. It's a 2.3l Duratec dry sump engine. My plan is to fit James B's cunning "sump guard ramp" to the car, but on starting this project, I've discovered that my sump is around 10mm lower in the chassis than James's was. James's device looks like this: What I've done so far is check the ride height, tyre pressures, suspension settings, etc. The car is currently 147mm ride height at the front, without me in it and the CSR factory spec calls for 140mm-145mm. The car drops ~2mm at the front with me in it. Also without me in it, the lowest point of the sump is 73mm off the ground: I've checked the clearance between the bonnet and the cam cover and it seems at the closest point that I have around 12mm of space: I've checked the engine mounts and they both seem to be OK, the rubber hasn't collapsed or anything allowing the engine to drop. I've also experimented with the implications of changing the angle of the flywheel relative to the diff with this Heath Robinson device: and satisfied myself that changing the angle of the engine very slightly isn't going to put silly loads on the propshaft. I also checked the path of the steering column through the engine compartment and I won't run into issues with exhaust headers, etc. My current thinking is to raise the engine around 6mm at the front, by putting washers above the rubber supports in the front engine mounts, which will bring the sump to around 80mm off the ground, but still leave 6mm of clearance under the bonnet at the closest point. Am I missing anything, or about to do something really stupid?

Funny I just logged in to post a question about raising the engine in the chassis of my CSR, to stop the sump hitting the ground quite so often, which I'll do in a new post. A couple of weeks ago, I went down the route of getting all my suspension aligned correctly on a Hunter. My ride height is right at the top end of the settings that James provided above 147mm front, 166mm rear, however, it drops to 145 & 163 when I lower my 80kg into the driver's seat. I decided not to go any lower as I wanted to keep the 18mm rake and the lowest point of the sump is only 75mm off the ground at this ride height. Got most of the other settings right now, mine was running 2 degrees of camber at the front and only 4 degrees of caster, now set to zero & 5.5 - couldn't get the caster any further, I now have all the washers behind the lower wishbones. I also had toe out at the rear, and it's more stable now that's gone...

David, I love it how blasé you've become about removing the diff from a CSR! I was under an S3 R500 today and there is basically no chassis compared to a CSR. Downplay it as much as you like, but Rubic cubes are trivial by comparison

When I went to grease the propshaft, it was all a bit unsatisfactory and I wasn't sure when it had last been done and what condition the UJ's were in, so I decided to remove it for stripping & inspection. The main driver for this was because David Brown's propshaft had failed on a similar age/mileage CSR. When I got it out, there was a bit of play in the front UJ, so it's been off to Dave Mac in Coventry for a full refurbish & balance. Only way to get propshaft out is the whole rear suspension, brakes, driveshafts, diff off process. Mine is a ZF LSD, so it's having new oil from R&R Transmissions, but not going off for a service. It's one of the quietest Caterham LSD's I've come across

Went in just fine this morning - phew. Diff is now back in too, haven't done the bolts up yet. It's a real wiggle on a CSR to get the diff through the chassis, both when it's going in and coming out ... Hopefully mine won't now be coming out again for a bit.

Igor, thanks. Caterham sent me nylocs and proper washers with the new top stud... Propshaft is back with new bearings and balance and the hope is that it will all be going back in the car today. I did a test fit of the propshaft last night and it refused to slide onto the gearbox splines - is there a knack to this? David, I feel your pain

It's out! Gosh it takes some wiggling & I have no idea how you did it on your own! Propshaft also now off the car. Let the checking commence.

Thanks @David - breather pipe fitting off next then. Thanks also for tips about fuel hose. I'll buy some O' Clips. I already have the crimper from doing the gaiters on the driveshafts