canary Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hi there, I'm new to the club and new to Caterhams so after a bit of advice please if you don't mind. I've just acquired an 02 K series Roadsport from a friend who has decided he needs something easier to clamber into! Three days of ownership have been great fun and the lack of heating is just like my Landy! Can anyone recommend a good specialist near Henley-on-Thames who can help me with the tricky jobs I can't do? Not least because when I turned the car over this evening there was a loud pop like a backfire and some electrical smoke from under the bonnet - I now have no brake lights, reversing light, or indicators... I don't mix well with electrics but need to get it fixed! I also wondered if there is a good book/manual I should buy to get me started. The Owners Manual on the Caterham website looks useful, but it would be handy to get one which covers the K-series engined car for basic stuff like engine oil details and so on. I also tried to download the build manual but for some reason it won't open so I will contact Caterham to see if they can send me one. Next job aside from the electrics is to fit the windscreen, its too cold without it! Hopefully an easy job once I've bought the fixings and frilled the holes. Any advice appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Oh dear - sounds like a fairly large short circuit ! You need to buy some fresh smoke to replace what has escaped ! Welcome to the joys of Sevening .... and to BlatChat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 3, 2012 Member Share Posted February 3, 2012 Welcome Hmmm, electrics. 1 Buy a multimeter. If you haven't got one already I suggest you buy one with an audible connectivity function. 2 Write down what is working and what isn't. 3 Test the fuses for the bits that aren't working. 4 Report back Circuit diagrams and assembly guides are all online somewhere... tell us if you can't find them. Start here. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 3, 2012 Member Share Posted February 3, 2012 And have you found the FAQs? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Thanks both for your replies. I'll brave the cold tomorrow and have a look at the fuses (not got lights in the garage yet, something else to do!). I have a tester so will give it a try. Thanks for the pointer to the FAQ page too, I hadn't seen that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Once you have located problem you will need, as Ian said one of these 😬 well someone had to post it Tim Edited by - tbird on 4 Feb 2012 00:05:11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Whitley Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Specialists: James Whiting in Ashford, Middx ; 7 Workshop in Hoddesdon] Whempstead Nr. Ware. Local members : Steve_B is nearby. Edited by - Tony Whitley on 4 Feb 2012 06:55:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 As mentioned that's Caterhams for you. Don't be intimidated by the task. Caterhams are dead easy to work as everything is accessible compared to a modern family hatch. If there was smoke, there was a lot of heat. Locate the charred wires/loom/components. All those items are ignition switch activated so this narrows down the fault. You'll probably find you have no windscreen wipers or heated windscreen or anything else that comes off the switch. Did it happen when you pressed the starter button or when you turned the ignition switch to power up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Many thanks for the further replies, thats much appreciated. Had a good look today but could not see any damaged or charred wiring. This does seem odd as there was a good puff of smoke when it happened though and I am able to be quite specific about the location of the smoke as it was isolated to a few of the bonnet louvres above the ECU/behind the fuse box/battery area. The pop and smoke happened after a few seconds of pushing the starter button so it wasn't on the ignition that I had the issue. Everything else seems to be working bar the indicators (hazards are ok), brake lights and reversing light. The latter two are on the same fuse which had blown (interestingly it should have been a 15 amp fuse apparently, but a 20 amp was fitted... I've got an auto electrician coming out at the end of the week to have a look, he's been recommended so hopefully he can get to the bottom of the problem. I've decided not to mess further! Thanks for the pointers on local specialists, very helpful. Replacement smoke on order too! I'll report back when the sparky has been and let you know how we get on. He's happy to give me a few pointers too so should be useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 4, 2012 Member Share Posted February 4, 2012 If you're playing with the electrics think about fitting a cigar lighter socket in front of the passenger. That can be used for devices such as 'phones and satnavs and for a battery charger. Lots of threads on this, including this one. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks Jonathan, I had the very same thought. I had to use a map to bring the car home!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul abrahams Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 If your brake lights and reverse lights have blown you may want to try the reverse light switch on the side of the gearbox, it may be touching the transmission tunnel causing a short. This happened on my 1.6 vx, good luck and welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks for that, I'll check. I always leave my cars in gear so worth looking at as I reversed it into the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 The other one is the legs of the split pin on top of the clutch pedal. They can touch the terminals of the brake light switch. Turn switch and bend legs further to avoid contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elie boone Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 If the smoke came trough the bonnet it must be engine bay related, if you don't see any damage to wiring can you sniff arround to locate a burnt smell. It might be the MFR ( multifuntion relay's ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 If the smoke originated in the tunnel it might still come out from the bonnet. Also of course, just because a wire burns under the bonnet it doesn't necessarily mean that the short is under the bonnet. A short in the tunnel could cause a wire to melt anywhere in the loom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 14, 2012 Member Share Posted February 14, 2012 And the answer was... ? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hello, Firstly thank you all again very much for all your replies, much appreciated. I have just spent an enjoyable lunch hour (well three actually) with a friendly auto electrician looking at the various things on my list and here is how we got on. Brake lights had been knocked out by the split pin (it was more like a paper-clip) on the top of the clutch pedal and you could actually see where contact had been made. We turned the brake terminals round and put a proper split pin in too. Reversing light still not working. The reason is it wasn't connected! We have discovered it had been purposefully disconnected due to a faulty electrical unit on the gearbox meaning the lamp was staying on permanently so I need to get a new unit (does this need me to drain the gearbox or as it sits quite high will I get away without?). Indicator problem seems to have been caused by a dodgy hazard light switch which I gather feeds the indicator switch too - when we opened it up there was some green corrosion inside which we cleaned up and it is now working. Also fitted a new indicator relay with a buzzer - slightly annoying but better than leaving the indicators on. Finally we fitted the new 12v cigar lighter so I can condition the battery (that went flat fast with the lights on!) and run my sat nav if needed. Wired it up off the isolator switch so it remains live even if everything else is isolated. Just need to attach the bracket now and I'm away. Kindly been sent manuals and the link to the wiring look was a big help so thanks for that. Hopefully me sorted until the next thing! Thank you all again for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Forgot to answer the main question - the smoke! We checked the rest of the wiring extremly thoroughly and it all appears to be fine. We concluded, I hope correctly that the loss of the lights and the loud pop were coincidental. The brake light problem we were sure about because you could see fresh scratch marks from the clutch pin on the copper of the brake electrics, and the hazards came back (no blown fuse) as soon as we played about with the hazards switch. The loud pop (which SHMBO heards in the house) he thought was unburnt fuel igniting in the exhaust and the smoke came from the joint on the exhaust. If anyone has any thoughts on that theory I'd be grateful. The starter was the other thought but seems to be behaving fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 15, 2012 Member Share Posted February 15, 2012 Great diagnosis by BC, and I'm impressed with the speed you get things fixed! There's a suggestion somewhere in the archive of a magic fluid that's good for the inside of switches. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 15, 2012 Member Share Posted February 15, 2012 BC thread on reversing light switches Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted February 15, 2012 Member Share Posted February 15, 2012 ACF-50 was the magic stuff to prevent corrosion in switches: never used it myself. Jonathan Edited by - Jonathan Kay on 15 Feb 2012 16:34:43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canary Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Thanks Jonathan, thats very useful. The chap who came out to help me was very impressed by all the responses I'd had and it certainly helped cut down some of the hunting about! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now