Jonathan Kay

Click the link! :-) Jonathan

Is it necessary for there to be a charge light in order to get the alternator fired up? Most of ours seem to use the warning light circuit as the exciter circuit. But there are other designs. ... I'd rig a warning light circuit with an incandescant lamp as a test and see if it makes any difference. What sort of starter do you have and how many wires attached to which terminal, what colour and how thick? Jonathan PS: Would you like the light to be resurrected anyway?

Could you slip a strip of beer can inbetween whilst you procure a better clamp, to take up the slack. As In "Zen... :-) Jonathan

A lot of this is out of my league and it's repeating my post #6 and Ian's (and William of Occam's) logic in post #8 but having swapped all of those bits what's left includes the connections. And I imagine that many of the connectors were separated and reconnected in the work before the problem occurred. I'd go over all of those with wiggling and a good look at the pins. And then I'd wiggle them again when the problem recurs. Jonathan

Ultramax NPG22-12 Thanks I'm not sure what type that is: they describe it as both "AGM" and "gel", as do the manufacturers. The safety data sheet suggests it's AGM. The suggested uses don't include road* or competitive vehicles. I don't know if that's because we're a small market or for some technical reason, such as peak available current for starting. They give a maximum discharge current of 260 A, but that may be for safety rather than service. What's your engine and starter, and presumably it spins up fine? Jonathan * Unless we're driving "toy cars". :-)

Anything special about the engine? Not running in? Assembly Guide says: Comma Syner-Z synthetic 0W-40: Road usage Caterham Motorsport oil 5W-50: Performance/ Track driving. Handbook says: Ford Engine Oil Formula E-5W-30 Caterham Parts doesn't add anything. From the archives. A Member has some Millers 5W-50 for sale. Jonathan

I guess it is in parallel with the charge warning light which is probably an LED. So it will pass current when the engine is not running to excite the alternator and when the engine is running, any small current still being drawn by the alternator will not be enough to drop enough voltage across the resistor to produce the forward voltage required by the LED, stopping it from glowing dimly. Well done. Miraculously, and as usual, the diagram makes sense immediately and after the answer is known. Sort of. Tacho: The resistor has a wire labelled 177. There's a two-way something labelled G 171, NY 152. NY is the traditional colour for charge warning light. There's NY 177 on the tacho connector. There's NY 152 on the dash side of the main connector which comes out at NY 62 on the engine side. There's NY 62 and at the alternator. The alternator is of a type that doesn't have a separate exciter. Speedo: Similarly with YB 157, YB 178, YB 156, YB 54, and YB 155 on the vehicle speed sensor circuit of the chassis harness. But also pin 27 of the PCM. Does the resistor in this circuit then modulate the speed signal in some way? I've written those as statements rather than questions to make it easier to read. Please check. All corrections welcome. Jonathan

Steve: is it possible that you have either: An LED charge warning lamp and a duff resistor, or An LED charge warning lamp and no resistor where there used to be an incandescant? What does the light do when: You turn on the ignition? It's running poorly? It's running well?Do you have a multimeter? Jonathan

Back on the rollers and it was all going well for about 20 mins then when put under heavy load (load site 7, 1700 rpm, 6th gear and the rollers very tight) and it started misisng again with cylinders 2 and 3 fouling badly. How quickly and consistently does it recover after that? Jonathan

Can you add a photo of the whole exhaust system and a close-up of where it's rotating? Jonathan

What sort of alternator is it? What's the battery voltage while it's not working properly? Does it charge fine once it's going?Jooathan

Gel battery now holds its charge for ages. What sort, please? Jonathan

That was interesting (and would be very helpful on the site somewhere)... and there is another resistor on the speedo in the diagram. John: how is your speedo driven? Jonathan

What colour are the wires? Alternator exciter / warning feed? I can't see anything matching on the engine harness. If the alternator is the sort that doesn't have (or need) a separate exciter termnal then where else in the circuit would a resistor work? And why are there two of different sizes? (And does the solver win several prizes?) Jonathan

So FiFi has been in store for and without pointing fingers someone unplugged the battery conditioner for her seed propergators Red and blackcurrants? Long story short Gel battery is deader than a dead thing that has died a long time ago Is it really a gel type? There's a long standing tradition on BlatChat that most aren't... :-) Jonathan

1998 Assembly Guide: Jonathan

Can you add a photo of your current mirrors installation, but I think that Phil has already offered the solution. And a side-on photo showing the mirror and your eyeline? Does driving with a Tonneu cover decrease turbulence I'd suck it and see. (One of the textbook examples of Chapman's approach to regulations was the tonneau cover that wasn't on the Le Mans cars. Has anyone ever produced a replica inflatable cover?) Jonathan

That's a Petty strut. HANS device, from Wikipedia: Jonathan

See Page 19 of "In service exhaust emission standards for road vehicles"... but that isn't the flowchart that's come up in BlatChat a few times.. Jonathan

Have you spotted there's a similar one in the diagram for the speedometer? That made me wonder if they were something to do with LED instrument lights. But the two resistors have very different resistance... Does it get hot when the side lights are off? I haven't found 177 or 178 anywhere else in the chassis or engine harness schematics so far. Jonathan

:-( I knew there'd be a catch, just didn't know what it was. Jonathan

Thank you Jonathan

Is there an acceptable alternative front jacking point that leaves the cross members clear for axle stands (or an alternative place for the axle stands)? The towing eye, as noted by Ian. There are different opinions about using the cruciform member, with at least one report of damage. There's also a concern in the archives about jacking on the towing eye because it's off-centre, which I don't share. Jonathan

I think there may be slightly more consensus in this thread than you realise Jonathan - I think if you look closely at the Machine Mart, SGS and Arcan ones they look like basically the same jack, just rebranded! :-) I meant to include that if it might be worth looking at the special offers from Aldi and Lidl... has anyone identified those yet? For nonspecialist but decent tools I haven't been let down yet. Jonathan

Secondary question, is there anywhere in the UK that stocks them? I believe we need SB3824L. Demon Tweeks on eBay, 3/8" UNF. Jonathan