Garth

Hi Simon - thanks for your mail - The mail address you mailed me from keeps on being rejected - could you send me an address I can use to get in touch? thanks Garth

Getting a set of spark plugs as spares and local guy suggested Iridium. Done a little research on the web, but still not convinced - spoken to a few people who say the Denso Iridium are better than the NGK version and then others who say do not go near Denso. I am confused!

I only checked it when I got it back from the upgrade works and level was fine - had not used any oil before then so was not in the habit of checking it regularly!

have standard wet sump with baffle plate. No blue smoke from exhaust noticed, but will look more closely now! plugs are a healthy colour! I have a catch tank, but no oil in it - have had a few puffs of smoke out of the tank though? now revs to 7800 so quite a bit more than before! Hope no damage done - pressure did not drop completely - needle just started wavering between 40 to 50 psi rather than sitting at a steady 65 ish so very much hope no damage done?

Surprised to notice my oil pressure gauge wondering about on the way home from Caterham F1 visit today. Stopped and discovered that there was no oil registering on the dip stick! Topped up and pressure good again! How much oil should I be expecting to use? Did not use any oil before my upgrade! Oil temp been running to low (am in process of addressing this) could that be a reason for it burning off?

Thanks SKC - I was planning to try and use the existing sump plug hole/ thread (without modifying it) to fit the sender into, so assume the wall thickness around the existing thread will be robust enough?

I want to replace my wet sump plug with an adapter to take a sender unit, but have no idea what size the thread is - can anyone help? - otherwise I will have to take it out! Thanks Garth

The connection from the expansion tank to the original radiator was to facilitate 'bleeding' I believe - just leave it out and connect the pipe straight to the expansion tank and work the air out another way!? - this is how my Sigma was done.

Also had a leaking plastic topped radiator - fully welded ali one the way to go - while you are about it replace any plastic T's with brass ones - these tend to go to!

Will try pumping - thanks

Picked up my 7 from CC Dartford today after having new uprated master cylinder, 4 pot calipers on the front and new pads on the back fitted. All looks good but the brakes feel no different to how they felt with the standard brakes! Will they take time to bed in or is it possible they have not been bled properly? Everything I have read on blatchat suggests that there is far less pedal travel with the uprated master cylinder!?

That looks good - will look into it thanks - also just discovered that Racetech do a similar one which will match the coolant temp gauge! Edited by - Garth on 2 Jul 2013 15:22:33

Hi elie - the link does not appear to be working! could you try again please. Cheers. Garth

Having a dual gauge would be good, but I have just installed a mechanical temp gauge for reliability(having had senders fail!) so do not think I can go dual on mechanical gauges?

Thanks elie- I am slightly confused by the Demo Tweeks catalogue as it shows the mechanical gauges and the pipelines as separate items - so I guess there may be some way of connecting them to the back of the gauge? I need to investigate the sump plug idea - check size etc. as there are 'adaptors' in the catalogue and I think the sump plug hole is relatively big - trying to avoid putting in another hole! also need to check that the 'sender' will fit into the adaptor!

Am looking to install an oil temperature gauge to my Sigma as I think the temp on my recent upgrade is running to low and I want to monitor it. I have a mechanical oil pressure and water temperature gauge. Been reading through various treads but still a few questions. 1. Is a mechanical gauge still best? 2. would it be sensible to fit the sensor in the sump plug - there are adaptors available? 3. is the pipe for mechanical oil temp similar to that for oil pressure - cannot seem to find pipes for oil temp mechanical gauges? 4. How stiff is the pipe? Thanks. Garth Edited by - Garth on 29 Jun 2013 21:09:53

Hi Phil Steve who will do the mapping has said he prefers to work with the narrow ban unit! I will give Andy a call to order the Lambda.

Hi Phil Got around to looking at the loom today - it is standard Omex with a connection labelled ‘OXY SENSOR’, so it looks like I should be able to just buy the Lambda and plug it in!? I see that the Omex website says that there is a wideband lambda for the 600(with external adaptor – whatever that is?) available? Thanks for your help again. Garth

Hi Luegonigel - sorry to hear about the radiator - there are a few threads about replacing them I used the CC R400 all aluminium version when mine blew up year one! Needed a bigger fan (there may also have been some bracket extensions required?) , but easy quick job to swap over and if CC have it all in stock then you should have time? I had my sigma 125 re-mappped on a rolling road and it improved the running of my engine noticeably (on its first service CC put in their latest standard map and the difference was huge - did not run nearly as well!) no experience with the 150 version, but it may be worth exploring a rolling road session? Where are you going in the Picos - I am there in Aug/Sept and a still planning my last few days coming through the Picos from Portugal to Bilbao! Garth

Phil - thanks for your helpful comments - can I assume from your comments that cheaper ECU's will generally run a narrow band lambda? I guess my old MBE would have run a narrow band then? I will look more closely at my bundle of wires as soon as possible (and 'un-bundle' it if necessary!), but if my memory serves me correctly then it did look as though the wires were shrink wrapped. I will be in touch about your Omex manual if necessary thanks. Garth

Thanks Phil - I have spoken to the two Steve's and they have recommended having the Lambda re-instated for a R-R session (for emissions particularly) saying the Omex manages the narrow band Lambda very well! (Not sure what the difference between a wide and narrow band are?) I am not sure what loom was used with my Omex - the work was done by HWR on my Sigma and they took out my MBE ECU and wired in the Omex - I will ask them if they used a standard 'extension' from Omex. I had asked them to keep the Lambda but it got lost somewhere in the process and they are in Newcastle, so I am not going to be dropping by! My old ECU had a lambda connected so I have the boss in the Cat and bypass! The other thing I would like to get sorted out is the big clump of wires (suggesting a standard exrtension?) bunched up next to the ECU - it does not look good, so would like to get that sorted if possible? Edited by - Garth on 21 Jun 2013 16:14:59

Need to wire in a Lambda probe to my new Omex 600 ECU before a rolling road session. Can anybody recommend a good person in the SW London/Surrey area?? Thanks. Garth

I knew someone would offer a loan!! - I would if I had the appropriate wheels!!

Why not try and borrow a couple of rear wheels you want to try out and see how they feel before investing in new wheels - I am sure there will be someone out there with a spare set!?

Take lots of spare bits of trim, ties etc with you - when I did mine they let me add bits of trim and tie up one or two wires to comply! Make sure you bed the brakes in well - suggest a 'long way around' drive to the test centre to give you the chance to brake a lot - there are some threads about how best to do this - cannot remember what was recommended, but they failed mine on the brakes and they had simply not bedded in properly - spent hours stripping, swapping, re-bleeding etc and all I needed to do was use them a bit!! Good luck