Mick Day

There is of course the other theory in how to get the rings aquainted with the bores. That is to drive the car ASAP after 1st starting using the whole rev range; just don't let the engine labour. It's said that the opportunity is lost if one treats the engine too gently in the 1st few miles. Also use the cheapest mineral oil possible (correct grade/ACEA/API classification) & change after a few hundred miles. My new engine was run in on the RR.

So if one has no heater one has to blank off the back of the water rail & the heater return to the Rover plastic housing on the engine block. Am I correct? Where have you fitted your ecu & temp gauge sensors?

My car too started out as a 1.4SS, 1994 vintage. Using 2 (brown?) wires in parallel is a good way of preventing voltage drop. However it's possible that you could be mistaking these wires (brown/Purple?) for the alternator to battery +ve connection, which on my car used to pass around the engine.

Looks like Beelzebub has struck again. here

Yes, now using a 4:2:1. Try connecting a fly lead from the starter solenoid connection to the battery +ve. If this starts the car then there is a voltage drop in the OEM starter circuit. This is exactly where I started & many others have verified this. Your starter has 2 wires connected to it: a big fat red lead which supplies 12v+ve to the motor & a white/red thinner wire which goes to the solenoid. It's the white/red lead which suffers from the voltage drop preventing the solenoid from operating properly.

Dave I think you're right on the wrapping issue. I did this 3 or 4 years ago & it's just kind of stayed that way, as with all my mods, I only get the occasional click. It's never failed to start on the 2nd go.............yet. Wrapping the headers IMHO only invokes other problems. Yes a dedicated radiant heatshield would be best & so would some dedicated airflow. Maybe loosely wrapping the starter protects it from radiant header heat when the car stops? The "click" is probably caused by a myriad of factors all influencing each other. Mick Edited by - Mick Day on 24 Jun 2007 13:45:59

Bricol Basically we don't know but there are several theories, ranging from dry joints in the starter itself (caused by heat), to carbon dust falling into the solenoid from the motor brushes, to voltage drop in the long wiring from battery to the starter solenoid. Try connecting a fly lead from the starter solenoid connection to the battery +ve. If this starts the car then there is a voltage drop in the OEM starter circuit. Ensure your starter is in good condition. So what can you do? Well do a search & see how some have solved (partially?) the problem. I have done the following: 1. Wrapped my Magneton starter to try & insulate it from the heat. 2. By-passed the starter relay in the MFU & shortened the wiring path. Incidentally the theory behind this is that the MFU starter relay gets carbon build up resulting in a voltage drop. This along with the long wiring exacerbates the problem, with the result that the solenoid cannot actuate the starter resulting in the click. The click is the solenoid travelling part way down its bore but not reaching the end. So now my starter button only initiates the new starter relay, which in turn switches 12v (from the battery) to the starter solenoid by the shortest path. 3. All starter & alternator wiring is enclosed in a heatproof sleeve & replaced every few years. 4. Starter relay is replaced every year. Mick

Chris YHM Mick Sold to Chris! Edited by - Mick Day on 23 Jun 2007 16:22:44

I have a brand new 185 x 70 x 13 21R in my garage, which has 5.5mm of tread. Anyone want to buy it for £10.00? Buyer collect.

So Peter did you eat alone?.......................at home?

I have an unused (still in it's wrapper) black exhaust guard for a 4:2:1 SLR exhaust can. £10. Buyer collect only from W Sx before Friday lunchtime.

Nifty I should have said that I got blowback with the old filler & yes I had to do the same & withdraw the nozzle a little to stop the cut-off. I did think having a straight shot into the tank would cure the blowback but now it just bounces off the bottom of the tank if I squeeze the trigger too much. However it doesn't cut-off at Euro pumps & that can be a bonus. At least with the in-boot filler I'm not tempted to fit an aero-cap & it does free up a little boot space. There is a whole science in developing fuel tanks that can be filled with a full squeeze of the trigger, don't blowback & cut-off precisely when they are truly full. Mick

*idea*There is when the 2 ali skins are welded.

Take off one of the horns (saves weight 😬) & fix the union to the redundant fixture. Or do as I did & purchase a longer extension hose & fix it to the header tank bracket. The later gives easy access to the sender if using an electrical gauge.

My car is of 1994 vintage with a standard cap. It always irritated me how fuel would spit back no matter how carefully I tried to fill. Worse still in Europe as the cut off seems to activate much earlier. So when I rebuilt the car I had the tank modified with an internal filler in the boot. 1st time I filled it I inserted the nozzle, sqeezed hard........................& got a face full of petrol! After a few beers I deduced that the problem of blowback is more to do with the end compartment around the fuel pump (aka swrl pot effect). Because the tank isn't deep the fuel goes straight in & bounces off the residual fuel & back up the filler neck.

TADTS. Earplugs often help. I remember about 9 years ago someone was complaining about the 6 speed. I went out as a passenger in his car & his box was quieter! Get underneath though & check everything is done up as it should be. Make sure the box is centred in the tunnel & not knocking/touching the tunnel on one side. Make sure there's some oil in the box as well. Redline MTL is often favoured.

TSK are the only paintshop in SE doing 7's on a regular basis & getting a 100% rating on this forum. I wouldn't take my car anywhere else.

Have a look here. It could be that getting rid of the standard Caterham expansion tank & fitting a swirl pot with a proper rad cap will help. Brown coolant? Get it changed as it may be just old. Do you have any history?

I would be inclined to have the big end & main bearings checked before firing it up again. As this was accidental damage following a "collision" on a public road I would have thought your insurance would pay.

Adam How old is your car? Early 1.4's (mine is a 1994) certainly had a different alternator to the later 1.6's & 1.8's. Engine change in 2000 but initially kept the old alternator. Changed it for the later model in 2002/3 as the older one fouled the Apollo fittings. Early alternators also used a narrower belt & front pulley. Model now fitted is a Magnetti Marelli part no 63341238 type A1151-65 Hope this helps Mick

In my car I have to take the seats out to get at the mountings.

Remember to check oil level with the engine running or within a few seconds of turning off.

Maybe not. In 1996 I was there in my standard 1.4 K SS with the same pattern exhaust/silencer & I was pulled in for failing the driveby. Edited by - Mick Day on 18 May 2007 17:13:34

I'm sure this can be fixed by any local rad place. When I noticed the rubbing I took the rad off & elongated the fixing holes so it could go back at a slight angle.

*thumbup*Alcon 4 pots, standard rears with Pagid pads all round.