Mick Day

GL4 for the gearbox & diff......well it is on a 6 speed. These items on a Ford are fit & forget, there is no recomendation for changing oil during the service life. There is no contamination from combustion products, as in the engine, either. Also both will have magnetic filler plugs to pick-up any metal bits worn off the teeth. And finally the diff doesn't have a drain plug (not too sure about the 5 speed). So on my car the oil gets changed only when the items are refurbished. About every 4 years for the gearbox & so far 10 years for the diff.

Check the votage at the battery with the engine running. It should be between 13.5v & 14.2v. You may need to rev the engine to get 14.2v. If not then the alternator needs a good seeing to. If the voltage is as above then it is possible the the warning light circuit is earthing out in the engine bay. Saw this on another car a while ago...................after we'd swapped the alternator.

Position of crank sensor wiring? Have a look here: http://www.mycaterham.com/66828/66590.html, might help.

Maybe you should have a chat with CC's marketing department. I'm sure they'll be able to tell you the benefits.

Have a look here: http://www.afcoracing.com/tech_pages/fluid.shtml

Just to rub salt in the wounds a pump does not provide pressure, it just provides flow. In simple terms Pressure = Flow x peripheral resistance. The flow is the output from the pump & the peripheral resistance is provided by your bearings. However in a more pedantic equation it would be Pressure = Force/Area

http://www.spchorsham.co.uk/ Your other option is to take it to Steve Greenald. http://www.tracknroad.com/ as i know he has good experience with Webers. However I've heard reasonable things about SPC who are about 10 minutes from where I live. Edited by - Mick Day on 29 Apr 2008 16:59:23

Peter: are you saying the cap failed & would not hold any pressure in the system or the cap did it's job & allowed pressure release at 1 bar?

Of course it was worth it. It's a bit like driving the car: It's not getting to your destination it's the journey that's most important.

Measure the ride heights at all 4 corners before removing the old suspension. Fit the new suspension to the measurements. If you do it carefully it won't be far out from the previous measurements. This at least gives you a good place to start. Corner weighting can be done with 8 bathroom scales with a car as light as a Caterham.............or try PC's plank of wood arrangement.

A little bird tells me that the car passed! Well done. So would you like to tell us how it went?

I've used EBC green stuff on the front: Alcon 4 pot calipers. Initially quite good but after a while efficiency goes down. I've always thrown them away 1/2 used & when they're removed it's as if the surface is starting to break down. To be honest I wouldn't go back to them. I'm now using Pagid 15's on the front & 14's on the rears. Much much better & longer lasting. Expensive to start with though. Have a chat with these people: www.performance-braking.co.uk/for really good advice on brake pads.

www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu Used both, however VWP always my 1st port of call. v helpful.

Have a wonder round a scrap yard. However most will be missing but you may be lucky. Alternatively pop into any Ford dealership - should be available for a few pence.

Dave Andrews blocked mine off, probably used someting like JB Weld to fill the hole. However my manifold is a Southern Carburettors special to take 4 single throttle bodies. I haven't a clue what the existing thread in a VHPD manifold is.

M10 x 1.25

I was told by Steve Greenald that the manifold was not the best place for it & the filter backplate is 2nd best. Best place is in the inlet airstream but somewhere unaffected by engine heat soak (that's why the manifold is not the best place). If you have an airbox fit it near the intake. For a long time mine used to sit alongside the filter but suffered from heat soak if the engine was left idling for a while (in traffic). This caused the ecu to assume the inlet air was very hot causing stalling. It's now in the filter backplate which has improved things somewhat.

Unfortunately Bruce has a factory built car & any factory car of that vintage has to pass emission regs as per 1993 specs. However there are a lot of MOT testers who get a little confused over this & assume all "old" 7's are amateur built. So if anyone knows of any "confused" MOT testers in Bruce's area please let him know.

I think the answer here is that the only way amber bulbs will fit in the front indicator pods of a Caterham is if the pins are at 180 deg as the bulb holder is an old design, pre-amber bulbs & clear lenses. The bulbs may be e marked but probably manufactured clear, e marked & then amber coated. So they're sort of pukka. I'm not getting at anyone as most of our 7's have little "design" eccentricities, but when fitting amber bulbs to cars with clear lenses, from say Ford & others, the pins are offset otherwise you'll have the same problem I had.

I've been following this thread with a little interest. On my other car I decided to check all the bulbs & found the front indicator bulbs just fell out when I removed the lens. These are amber bulbs behind clear lenses. I thought the bulb holders were faulty but checked with some spare bulbs & noticed that these had offset pins & fitted perfectly. ABC Design gives the required information :".........Only one coloured bulb is legal for use in Europe. This is the amber indicator bulb with offset pins, so designed so that it can't be fitted to a normal 180 degree pin bulb socket by mistake. This bulb is designed for use in front and rear indicators where the outer lens is clear rather than amber in colour." So don't buy amber bulbs with pins at 180 deg as they won't fit the bulb holders for regular everyday cars like Ford. For old cars like Caterhams, with Land Rover front indicator pods, you'll need the aftermarket type amber bulbs with opposing pins if you must have clear lenses. Personally I prefer red & amber lenses, & no doubt in a few years time this will be the "New Look" fashion accessory we'll all have to buy! 😬 Edited to make things a little clearer............................. Edited by - Mick Day on 16 Apr 2008 23:26:18

That is correct. Have a look here for pics & sizes. Edited by - Mick Day on 13 Apr 2008 11:13:48

This may be your clue.............What's the petrol like in the tank? Could be dirty petrol?

I assume by "tower" you have a dry sump with the oil tank in the bell housing. By definition dry sump systems need to have the oil hot & the engine running to check oil level. However CC may have issued different instructions for the CSR owing to the difficulty of checking oil levels with clean oil on a dipstick . So I would have thought you must check within 5 seconds of turning off to get an accurate level. And yes the symptoms you describe are probably through over filling. Dry sump systems have a nice habit of finding their own levels & ejecting excess oil. However give CC a ring in the morning to confirm.

Bad earth almost certainly.