charlie_pank

Viz top tip - a little whiteboard next to the gearstick with a horizontal line across the middle of it, you can keep a marker pen in your left hand. Don't write down the number you've changed to, cos that will take too long, just put a mark in the top half for "up" and a mark in the bottom half for down, do this each time you change gear. If you forget what gear your're in, just take a quick look at the board and tot up the number of marks in each area to work it out. 😬

Do you drive a bike-engined car? No, but I do ride a bike. If you don't like the car, I'll do you a swap for my K, cos I'd love a bec What you say is very much a case of easier said than done. Yes, I can get by by not having my gear displayed and, for the road, it's just fine. However, on the track it's very very easy to lose track of which gear you're in and a grab for 7th (which happens occasionally) or knocking down the wrong number of gears for a corner, lose time. -IMHO - it's normally about knocking down a number of gears relative to where you started ie - rather than saying "right now I need 2nd" I would say, "right, I need to be 3 gears lower than I am now". I do this both on track and on the road, in both car and on bike. Perhaps it is because my driving style of choice has me letting the clutch up between each gearchange.... Top speed is already 130mph and is just about limited by power (i.e. the rpm's are close to redline but not quite) so it's already geared perfectly. The issue is that there's still so much acceleration in 6th gear (11mph/1000rpm) that grabbing another gear feels right under certain circumstances (i.e. often on the road and sometimes on track). -Is this not about learning and throttle control rather than anything else? If it is ultimately limited by power, then you need a shift light instead. Having said all that, the challenge of getting this thing to work is all part of the appeal. Surely the various mini-projects associated with Seven ownership all add to the overall ownership experience? -Yup, can't fault you there. Each to his own etc... I hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction. Also ... a squillion bikers also fit gear indicators -500 of the 3500 KSIs on the road are bikers too ☹️, I wonder if that's cos they weren't good enough to know which gear they were in! 😬, were they too busy looking at the display of the gear indicator 😬! Seriously though, I don't consider myself to be a particularly good rider, but I think there's probably a better than random correllation between knowledge of current gear and riding ability. Edited by - charlie_pank on 2 Jun 2004 15:18:38

Surely t's much easier to just learn to remember which gear you're in than fit a sensor - especially given the trouble you're having! A squillion bikers manage, and presumably you would only reach for 7th when you reached the rev-limiter in 6th, which (depending on your gearing) is unlikely isn't it? If I was reaching the rev-limiter in 6th, I'd be changing my diff to improve top speed. Edited by - charlie_pank on 2 Jun 2004 13:40:51 Edited by - charlie_pank on 2 Jun 2004 13:41:43

I think I must be being very ignorant here, but am curious to know what the difference is in this conversation between a "nut" and a "stud". Is a "stud" just a nut, that's closed at one end. BTW. A combination of my (not very) ham-fistedness, and, I suspect the pneumatic wrench the last time I got the tyres changed, I have 1 completedly stripped "stud". To avoid a repeat of the panic that I had at 7:15 last Friday evening, before setting out for Knockhill on Saturday morning, what is the recommended torque for these puppies?

No need to rock - just tap solenoid with something while pressing the big red button.

Thinfourth, I think the real issue here is - do you want to run tyres with different levels of wear? I assume it's the passenger side rear that's expired - that's always the first to go on mine. I would always replace at least in pairs myself. I have a very good friend who had a HUGE smash on the M25 in his XJ12 (ok super-luxobarge, but the principle's the same) because he floored it and the 2 rear wheels had differnt wear and treads. - Spun through the armoco on the central reservation, continued to spin across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic, spun back through a different part of the central reservation, across 3 lanes of traffic on his original side and ended on the hard-shoulder - talk about 9 lives!

The fastest 7s I have seen on track days are Blackbirds... if this is just a willy waving contest 😳 why not get one of these 😬 Edited by - charlie_pank on 25 May 2004 13:54:46

I'd be quite interested to know what they charged for each of those too, any chance of dropping an email my way? Thanks C

I agree with Chris on this. I took out my solenoid and cleaned it up. Was shocked to find some corrosion on the plunger - cleaned up with lots effort and wire wool. It started much much more reliably after that, it has only started failing very occasionally recently, I suspect it wants another clean, but for the moment I just carry a medium sized adjustable spanner in the boot, a light tap with that at the right moment is easily enough to kick it into life and it only happens very rarely.

Capacity of my K with apollo is 7.5 litres. I always undo drain plug at bottom of apollo and drain through there as well as sump and oil filter. It's not exactly difficult. Edited by - charlie_pank on 19 May 2004 09:25:53

Rich Watson, the cheapest 21s you can get are 185/70/13s so, assuming you have the same Avons as I used to, you shouldn't see any drop in ride height. IMHO those avons are downright dangerous on a 7, they're so hard there's absolutely no warning that they're going to let go. You will be overjoyed at the difference you get switching to the AO21Rs - nice progressive, controllable slide. As usual, George Polley Motorsport are the place to go for Yokos...

Tony, sounds like you're not sure if the solenoid is getting power or not - surprising considering the RAC man has been to visit. Why have you ruled out the usual starter motor problem, is it because you've already got the relay in there? - I have had this problem a couple of times even though I have second relay fitted, and if the musings on here are correct about the fuel pump, then I reckon you have the same ole problem. Perhaps you should get a voltage tester & ammeter and use it to find out how much voltage and current you have across the starter motor. If all looks ok here then give it a sharp tap while trying to start it.

WTF is a "yump"?

Idling problems that I had were down to faulty ECU - damaged during the usual starter problem in extremely hot conditions. It was obvious this was the problem as soon as an emerald was plugged in. - I thought it was the MAP sensor for a while, and it still may have been, but there have been a number of other people with the same problem with the rover MEMs, all after blowing the ECU fuse during the starter motor problem.

Sounds like a dodgy IACV to me. Maybe try dismantling and cleaning - you can always unbolt it and see if it moves properly when you turn the ignition on (ie NOT starting up). Failing that I'd take a hacksaw, some silicone, an emerald and a watchmaker's mallet: 1. Using hacksaw cut off IACV and MEMs 2. Replace IACV with blanking plate, sealing with silicone 3. Fill gap left by MEMs with emerald 4. Gently tap IACV and MEMs with watchmakers mallet, you know when you've done it just hard enough, because you can't tell the difference between them. 5. Cover both items in paraffin, ignite and retire to a safe distance 6. Cackle maniacally and then realise you don't have the right map for the emerald and you've got an EU3 engine so you need to build youself a new loom from pipecleaners and bits of string. Ummm think I may have had too much coffee this afternoon...

If you haven't got one by 6 drop me a blatmail and I'll send them to you when I get home - probably can be with you by 7ish... C

Stressy, I've got a "Nasty" one that's been lying around for ages - just assumed no-one would want it. It's just the manifold BTW - if you are interested let me know. I wouldn't wrap the exhaust as I could never be sure the wrapping was even all over... why do you need to protect the starter motor? Okok I know lots of people have starter motor problems, but there are well documented solutions and fixes, I wouldn't worry too much about not running with either method of protection until you've made up your mind which one to go for. Is there any difference between expensive heat shielding that one might have to part with cash for, and, say some aluminium foil from the kitchen? C

Ermmm, presumably you mean quicker around the SAME track? You should be quicker than all of those things on a dry track. Maybe you should drive a bit faster... don't know it's available where you are, but all the track days I've been on have had the option of some tuition - which is well worth taking, so that you are more comfortable to explore the limits of your car. BTW - it's not something I recommend regularly, but something which was really good for my learning process was to spin it on a track, through trying too hard. Then you know you've found the limit and can work on how it feels so you know you're reaching the limit and how to be smoother etc... If you were really going for it and still slower than all the cars you mentioned, I'd give up and take up stamp collecting instead 😬

If it keeps going "pop" surely there's something else amiss here, especially when there are many others who don't have the problem...

F355 GTS gave me some really good instructions for cleaning up the soleniod. Do a search in the last year ofr solenoid and you'll find it. Stopped problem happening so regularly (I already have 2nd relay), but have still had it on occasion since - the solution then is to tap the solenoid with a small hammer/adjustable spanner, while pressing the big red button. Perhaps someone will design a solenoid to strap to the solenoid to do this at the push of a button for you!! C

rgrigsby: if you are that amazed, why don't you read the topic before commenting on it? (sorry, tone came out harsher than I intended).

Have a look here here. What I took away from this discussion was that different people have different interpretations of the word "best" in the subject of this thread. Having ridden a bike for a little while, I don't see what the fuss is about the gearbox & earplugs (I wear them in my K anyway). I'm now very keen to get my hands on a BEC and even willing to do the dirty to get one... Edited by - charlie_pank on 29 Apr 2004 12:40:47

Cold start map then innit.

Please could someone tell me what car the headlight glass is from, and where I can get some more. I've got MOT coming up and need to fix the crack. (2001 K series). Thanks C

So the answer is stainless injectors and a method (chemical or mechanical) for emulsifying the solution? - probably mechanical as I suspect some of the advantages of water injection are precisely because of the surface tension etc... Edited by - charlie_pank on 23 Apr 2004 15:47:19