Expat

Thanks to energetic protests from the motorcycle community intercoms are now tolerated in France, but they must be fixed. A self tapper should suffice! Note there is nothing to stop you feeding music or other distractions into the system either.

More words of praise for both the products and the service of Just Add Lightness. I recently purchased a pair of rear light clusters for my 7. All I can say is that the result is "Brilliant" in every sense of the word. I almost feel sorry for anyone driving behind me, but at least "I didn't see you" is unlikely to be heard. If only dealing with other companies were as pleasant. I'm just waiting now for some front indicators and DRLs.

Glimpsed in Draguignan (Var, South of France) at about 12:30 today.. Highly polished Series 1, I think, All alu including nosecone. British Reg. Couldn't stop to chat, nowhere to park and in a one way street about 2 feet, (Sorry, I mean 60 cm), wider than the car. Would love confirmation of type. Have a good trip back to Blighty!

I built (assembled, it was much simpler in those days) my second Lotus 7 S2 in 1966. The back axle certainly didn't have a reinforcing plate. The dome shaped diff. cover developed the expected crack and the subsequent oil leak entailed changing the A frame to axle bushes every few months. So I sold it and bought something with "doors and a heater" to quote SWMBO (and we weren't even married then!). Who made the axle? Standard AFAIK. For a definitive answer ask John Watson.

A bit of a waste of time cos it ain't just the mirror. Everything in a Seven seems to reflect light! I try to avoid going out at night!

As a rule of thumb don't let the tank get less than 1/4 full. This is mainly to ensure that the fuel pump, which is usually cooled by fuel, does not overheat. Running out of fuel is NOT recommended! Fuel can be found on any motorway in France 24/24 seven days a week but it tends to be very expensive (but cheaper than in the UK!). The cheapest fuel is usually found in supermarkets (not actually 'in') but you know what I mean. There is a variation of about 15% so stick to supermarkets if you can. Most supermarkets have at least one pump which will take credit cards (including UK ones) at any time.

Do a search for - Duratec won't start - .and read all about it. I never found a definite cause of the problem, which sounds just like yours, but I suspect that cleaning the earth points, especially near the ECU, cured (?) it. In any case it seems to have gone away, but one can never tell with an intermittent non starter! Good luck.

Slowly beginning to understand castor and camber. Hopefully have found a garage to measure the existing setup and will take it from there depending on the results. Measurement of the chassis shows no evident twist or other deformation so the LH side maybe just habit on the part of whoever put it together. Did a search on "castor AND washers" and am now slightly less confused. One post suggested that a million different answers would be given to a request for the best possible setup , so I wont ask. However, another did say that different washer positions left and right could be found to make up for tolerances in the chassis build. We shall see.

Wow! I'm overwelmed by the quality and quantity of the response and the first thing I'll do tomorrow is call the vendor (Caterham Competition France). Second thing will be to get the geometry checked. One small point (probably caused by my stupidity), the Caterham drawing as shown below gives the setup for standard, narrow, track. This I have on the Left Hand side and would call 2-2-2 On the Right I have (reading number of washers Left to Right) 0-4-0 Is this correct? or have I totally misunderstood?

I have been the proud owner of a 2012 Superlight R300 for about six months. The front suspension is, of course, wide track. However I have just noticed that the lower LH wishbone is mounted (probably the original got bent) like a narrow track one. i.e. the washers are positioned as shown on page 65; fig 32 of the current (versiion 02/2015) assembly guide. Thje bolts holding the wishbone on look new too. My dilemma is should I: a) Leave well alone and do nothing ? b) Try to put the washers where CC say they should go and re-do the tracking etc.? The uprights seem to have been put together correctly although it's difficult to be sure until I can get underneath it. Very grateful for any advice.

Yes, Get them balanced, at least ar the front, the rears matter less slightly less. Don't forget to get the tyres inflated to about 30 lbs/sq. in. before balancing. If you leave them at 18 or so there is a very real possibility that the tyre will deform when rotated at high speed and probably make balancing impossible. And don't forget to let some air out afterwards!

Nillbymouth's idea is probably, the best bet. I've got rubber floor mats and they don't fit .

Found out how to remove immobilizer, so I did! And replaced it with a dummy which hard wires the feeds to the ECU and/or fuel pump and starter motor (Which never gave any trouble anyway). Just to note also that there has been no trouble starting since I cleaned up a few earths. Only time will tell if I've cracked it or not!

Many thanks to all for the info. I think that the comments on the Haynes manual are only too true but since the photos. in the CC online manual differ from what I've got I was hoping for some basic information. Now I have 20Mb of .pdf to wade through. Well, it should keep me occupied and out of the bars through the winter. Tried Le sevener but found nothing specific to my engine.

I have recently procured a 2012 superlight r300, but very little information. To partially fill this gap could someone tell me which Haynes manual should be procured please so that I have, at least, something on the engine? Browsing the net shows about four versions of this engine none of which corresponds to the one in the car! This is the one I have: Model number DHE420; serial number E4057/003 - KM Help!

Just talked to the people who sold me the R300 (Caterham Competition France), who are now back from holiday, and the head mechanic (Benoit) says that he knows this problem and the cure is most likely (99%) to bypass the immobiliser. He knows how to do this and can even give instructions over the phone to a competent (French speaking) mechanic. Hope this helps

CA Sevener: There are two thick (8 or 10mm) leads coming from the battery negative terminal one goes to the chassis and can be seen in bottom right of my photo. the other goes to the engine using one of the bell housing bolts. One of the things I have tried to train myself to do is listen out for the fuel pump, but I often forget! Sorry, but I can't give a definite answer to your question yet. I'll keep on training cos I like the sound of your starting technique! If nothing else it should hammer the battery a little less. Nigel: Everything lights up on the dash on the first push of the START button so I don't think it's the button. It could well be an intermittent supply (or earth) for the ECU. Not having a pinout makes it difficult to know where to look. I have cleaned one ECU earth connection as mentioned above (post 43) and, so far, have had no trouble. Having said that I can almost guarantee that it won't start tomorrow!

CA Sevener: Interesting photo. Here's mine for comparison. As you can see the bolt holding the ECU in place is not used as an earth; one holding the battery carrier is used instead. And I can only find one earth! I have now done nine starts in succession with no problems and, above all, no refusals to start. Maybe we've cracked it ; I doubt it ,but will keep cleaning earth points as and when I find them! /sites/default/files/images/users/6502/DSCN0034-01.jpg

No new email since Lotus7 club advised me of yours of 18h35. Not in the junk file either.

Well, it gets worse really. Lots of things to check, but it looks like the fuel pump or the electrical feed to it is the probable culprit. Marc: Nice to know I'm not alone with this problem. Makes one feel less isolated! Looks as though you have done all the hard work I just have to follow in your footsteps. Had the same problem with the heater as you had (it was 38 degrees in the shade when I picked the car up!). Haven't fixed it yet but there is enough slack in the system to shut valve from under the bonnet. JK: Checking voltage at pump is a good idea. Much more reliable than listening. Looking forward to build instructions. Many thanks in advance

Curiouser and curiouser. As someone once said. With much maneuvering got the two cars into position (side by side but head to tail) for jump start. Commenced operations by trying to start the Seven with no external assistance. Started first go! Did another four starts using the Banner battery only and gave up as, obviously, this was not going to prove anything except that the battery is OK. I have cleaned two or three earths and taken a few connectors apart and sprayed them with contact cleaner. ECU has Lotus badge stamped on it but no other apparent markings. Can't get the battery tray off to reveal more ECU as one fixing screw covered by hose. Nothing is impossible but I would rather avoid a major dismantling if possible. Said ECU appears to have three multiway connectors which doesn't tie up with the information I now have (Thank you JK). Guess I'll just have to continue cleaning earths and connectors and keep my fingers crossed I would still like to know a bit more about the immobiliser. Does anybody have any info. Like where is it? And how is it wired in? .

Abbot is somewhere near Paris I think. Paris is nearly 900 km away. It's like London to Manchester back to London and then back to Manchester again! Car is 2012 Superlight R300, simon-h (post #27) tells me all that I know. If VIN is any help it's SDKLDF3D612670948. Let me know if engine numbers are any use and I'll post a photo of the plate that tells all tomorrow.

Maybe I'll invest in power pack. Sounds a much neater solution than a great big battery. I see that Amazon USA wont ship outside the states, but Amazon France do it for 129.90 Euros. To answer a question: Non starting happens with engine both hot and cold. Haven't tried disengaging the clutch, but will try this next time I have a problem. Any ideas as to where I can get hold of a wiring diagram? Also photo showing where each component is installed. All the ones I have (from Internet and elsewhere) are similar but not quite right! Also pinout of ECU connector. A separate power supply could be the answer. Oh, and just where is the immobiliser? And how is it wired into the loom? etc. etc....

Sorry if picture legend is unreadable. Picture shows dashboard of Seven 485/ Superlight R400. If you remove the SPORT switch then you have got mine. Engine cranks every time and fuel pump comes on with the ignition (First push of START button). The problem is that sometimes it wont start even though cranked for three or four seconds. Last time I had the problem the engine started, in about half a second, on the fourth attempt and then ran perfectly. There has never been a problem once the engine is running. This would suggest battery, although I cannot see why it fires after several attempts when the battery voltage must be low, but what is the solution? There doesn't seem to be room for a bigger one!

1/. "No start" is random, but has occured on each trip (only 4 so far). 2/. Battery is new. Banner 12 V, 30 Ah, 300 A. What sort of voltages should be expected from this battery? 3/. Will try jump start from tintop (85 Ah battery, but has only seen 3000 rpm a couple of times as is a diesel) when weather cools down a bit. It was 41 degrees at lunchtime and is still nearly 30 as I write. I can only manage about ten minutes tinkering in these conditions. 4/ simon_h: I think you have hit the nail on the head. Car is certainly French and EU5 sounds about right. Do you have any ideas as to why it sometimes refuses to start? Dashboard looks like this except switch 6 "Sport" mode is missing: /sites/default/files/images/users/6502/medium_Capture.PNG