Anton Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 I bought an ex-demo, factory-built SV with a 1600 K Series engine last August. Caterham did a 6,000 mile service last year and I have now just had the 12,000 mile service completed by a recognised 7 garage. They have told me I have a Ford prop-shaft fitted, rather than the correct one, which is too short, resulting in only about two inches of the shaft being inside the sleeve rather than five to six inches. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, have Caterham done anything about it, and have any other parts of the transmission/gearbox suffered damage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 There are two different lengths of prop, so it's possible. Bizarre error to make though, especially on a factory built car. With just a 1600 engine I doubt there's any damage. If there were, it would be spline wear on the gearbox tail shaft. I think you've certainly got grounds for having a word with Caterham as it's definitely not an optimum situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Luke - thanks for the reply - I'm going to talk to Caterham anyway - I don't want to find I need major preventable repairs a couple of years down the line. Coincidence - I was in your neck of the woods on Sunday 30th May - visited Orford, but only saw one 7 in the whole 220 mile round trip - and that was in my home town! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 You're right, it needs rectifying even in the unfortunate event that Caterham don't play ball. They're only £120 or so and it's an easy job to change so hopefully you'll get some good customer service Regarding the 30th - my excuse is that I was watching the GP, being sad enough to still find it interesting 😬 Edited by - Luke Beaumont on 10 Jun 2004 15:08:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Anton I have just finished rebuilding my car and I noticed that the prop shaft looked too short. I contacted a "recognised 7 garage" and they told me there are two lengths of shaft used with De Dion cars. Measuring from the centres of the UJ's the Vauxhall/Rover one is 47cm and the Ford one should be 52cm. Mine turns out to be the wrong one but the "recognised 7 garage" said they have seen a few factory built cars with the wrong shafts fitted without any adverse effect, indeed mine has done 10K miles without any problems and no apparent wear to the splines. Can you let me know what CC say about your situation? Luke I may decide to change mine but I disagree that it's an easy job to change, as the diff has to come out, or is this not the case with the SV? Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Guy - you've got me puzzled - I was told mine was too short 'cos it's a Ford - your garage says the Ford is longer than the Rover *confused* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Anton I was only interested in the Ford one so I may have got it wrong, it may be the Vauxhall one is 47cm and the Ford/Rover one should be 52cm. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Anton YHM Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Hmm, you're right Guy, I appear to be guilty of bottom speak. I'd forgotten that you can't get the prop down through the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Lowe Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Don't worry Luke, it's only because I have just rebuilt my car that I know the shaft will not slide out from under the chassis. I think I will still go ahead and replace the prop shaft for the longer one, but I would be interested to hear what CC say to Anton! Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 😬 Looks like CC deserve a gold star (or five!) Finally managed to get a few minutes free to phone them - result, car is booked in at the showroom (much more convenient than Dartford) for a replacement propshaft on the 22nd June and I will have the use of one of their hire cars for that day. No arguments, no faffing around. However, they do seem to think they get generally bad press on BlatChat - not something I'd really noticed, so assuming this comes off OK, they'll get some good press............... *thumbup* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marty_10dollar Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Glad to hear Caterham are going to sort out your problem. In regards to bad press, I work in the service industry, and my company occasionally has bad things said about it on public forums, and in my opinion the comments are nearly always earned (although sometimes rather harsh). If Caterham are felling sorry for themselves that they get a bad press, they should sort out the root cause of the problems (for me in particular it was a rude sales person) and ride the storm until people forget the bad times. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Posted July 19, 2004 Author Share Posted July 19, 2004 Last note on the propshaft: Caterham examined my car and stated that there is no problem with the length - they have now standardised on one type for all, be they Ks, VXs or Fords with either standard or SV chassis. So looks like I just have to wait and see. Hope they aren't doing a Microsoft! *confused* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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