Keith Vernon Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Hi I am just contemplating whether to undertake my own 6K service on my superlight before going to Le Mans, or to relieve myself of £300 if I take it to Caterham Midlands What is the general opinion of servicing it yourself v letting Caterham do it (apart for the cost savings ). The car was meticulously serviced by its previous owner, which I would like to continue if possible. Has anyone had any bad experiences with letting Caterham undertake their servicing? What items should I check/change as part of this service on a K-Series . I have heard that you need to change the foam sump baffle? Is this the case and is it a simple job to undertake? What is the procedure for draining the oil from the Apollo tank and how much oil does it take to refill the engine and Apollo? I also have a query with the temp. at which the fan kicks in (even on a cold day at approx. 75oC on the temp. gauge). I can evisage that this could be a problem on a hot summers day, since the fan may be constantly running . Is this a fault with the thermostat or the sender unit for the fan? Sorry for so many questions, but any help, advise or guidance would be greatfully received Many thanks Keith Superlight 1800 #185 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drB Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 no experiencing of servicing a se7en myself yet, but if you do a search on the forum's you'll definitely find the answers to replacing the foam baffle and how to do an oil change - there's probably even some details in the 7FAQ off the home page? ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted April 1, 2004 Support Team Share Posted April 1, 2004 Do a search for servicing and you should find a link to an Excel spreadsheet of the Caterham service schedule - I think it is on Mav's website. I can mail it to you if you email me through my profile. 6 months after I firt got my car (1997 Superlight) I had Caterham do a 24,000 mile service on it to be sure everything was OK. This year I have done the oil change myself and many of the things checked in the 6000 mile service are either checked in the MOT or could be done by yourself in a couple of hours - mostly checking and re-torquing stuff, very little replacement of things. The sump baffle is recommended to be changed every 2 years but given it's rumoured propensity to break up, you might want to do it every year. The fan triggering at too low a temperature is unusual in that they normally fail by not coming on soon enough. The problem is most likley the fan switch (brass plug with 2 wires in the top passenger side of the radiator) which can be bought from Caterham for about £10 - I'd replace this as a first course of action. Hope that helps, Shaun Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Vernon Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 Guys Many thanks for your replies . I will try some searches for the Exel Spreadsheet. Are the torque settings you referred to, listed anywhere? Shaun, I will replace the fan switch first to see if this is the problem. Do you normally use axle stands to service your car or just run it up long ramps to make access easier Thanks again Keith Superlight 1800 #185 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Keith, Something I discovered recently that might be of use to you is that there are just two fan switches in the whole Caterham range, one of which is for the R500 and the other for all the rest. IIRC the R500 switch triggers the fan at 75C and the other at 85C. You may well have the wrong switch in there. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Vernon Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 Paul Thanks for your reply. I will contact Caterham to try and order a 85oC fan switch to see if this solves the problem Cheers Keith Superlight 1800 #185 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted April 1, 2004 Support Team Share Posted April 1, 2004 You'll need to put the car on axle stands for checking wheel bearing's, etc. Torque settings will be in the build manual. This can be downloaded from here if you have a recent K-series. If not you'll have to see if someone else can find them in the right manual. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Vernon Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 Shaun Many thanks Keith Superlight 1800 #185 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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