kayentaut

I spoke with 1turbofocus today and he made some suggestions I will follow up. I appreciate Off Road SHO's suggestion and will check that also.

The car has been running OK with no sign of the stalling until last week. I had driven the car from Sonoma to Santa Clara (80 miles) with no issues; I parked the car for 3 hours, it then started up fine and then after driving for 15 minutes it just died. It really feels like a fuel problem. After sitting for two hours the engine fired right up. While the car was in Sonoma Rich Kamp, the local Caterham dealer, troubleshot the Pectel ECU to make sure it was operating correctly... no issues found. Two days later I drove the car from Santa Clara to Monterey (80 miles); the car made the trip successfully, but there were numerous occasions when there were slight hiccups in what feels like the fuel delivery. In half the cases, it felt like the engine missed a single beat, in the other cases it missed 2-3 beats. We are in the process of troubleshooting the fuel pump now; it is mounted in the tank from the passenger side. Unfortunately if it is a bad fuel pump, Rich says Caterham no longer stocks this pump. Now my question …. Has anyone installed an exterior fuel pump in a 7 with a Zetec engine? If so where was it installed and what brand/model? Thanks, Jim

Rick, I live near St George, so about 120 miles from you. My car is currently in CA at Rich Kamp's facility for some suspension work. I plan to drive my car (Caterham S'light) home, so thru Vegas. You are welcome to stay in touch regarding my schedule in case it works for you. Jim

thanks for the very quick response!

I need to replace my Caterham branded harnesses because they are well past the expiration date. I was watching a Sparco video in which the sales rep mentioned there “… was recent data to show that 2” lap belts are safer than 3” …” Can anyone comment on this? Sparco still recommended the 3” shoulder belts. Thanks in adance, Jim

Guys, Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, this forum is such a great resource. Jim

Just ran it around the neighborhood with a multimeter on the battery. Rock solid 13.6V but I never got it to quit so I'd call the test inconclusive. One interesting thing I did notice is that right after starting the motor the electrical system is at 12.5V and it takes a good rev to get it to kick it up to 13.6. Once it's there it stays there. I've never seen that on another car before. Does that say anything about the alternator or is there something trick about this electrical system I don't know? @Davemk1: It dies suddenly. No sputtering.

Coffee Break, You might be onto something. since my original post I have been digging through old emails with the last owner from just before I purchased the car. He had his mechanic replace the fuel pump relay just before I bought it. I didn't think much about it because the car has been sitting a long time (build completed in 2007, but car has 1800 miles. If it is the fuel pump relay, what might be causing frequent failures? I have only put 200 miles on the car since I bought it. Thanks, Jim

I went to take the Caterham out the other day and about a mile down the road it lost power without warning. The last time the car had been driven was about three weeks ago and has since sat on a battery tender, but when I started it up the night before it seemed like the battery was pretty low. Looks like the kids left a light on when they were playing in the car at Christmas. I turned the lights off and left it overnight on the tender. The next day it started up right away so I assumed all was good. Then 10 minutes into driving it died even though it seemed to be running perfectly. I couldn't get it restarted on it's own but it did get going after a jump. Then it lost power only after a minute or so. Today I replaced the battery hoping the one that had been run down just couldn't hold a charge. It started up great, idled for 10 minutes without issue but died just as I got it out of the driveway. I'd read about someone having a similar problem because their ground strap was loose so I checked those. One of the grounds was going to a powder coated part of the chassis so I took the paint off and reattached it. It started right up but died again right out of the driveway. The last two times it died it wouldn't restart immediately but if I let it sit for a few minutes it would get going again and I could move it back into the garage. What's the next thing I should check? 2004 Caterham Superlight R Engine is a 2.0L Zetec 202hp setup with the TWM manifold, Pectel engine management, and Kent Focus 12 cams.

Thanks guys, I will check out your suggestions over the weekend. Jim

I recently bought a 2007 Superlight R, it includes a removable steering wheel. It seems the steering wheel is slightly off center when the wheels are pointed straight. My guess is the original builder drilled the Momo wheel incorrectly, by perhaps 10 degrees (just guessing). I don’t see a solution short of ordering a new wheel and re drilling. Is there another option I am missing? Thanks, Jim

Are there any 7 owners in the St.George area?

CASwede, I have had several requests to buy the seats. I am only replacing the driver's seat with the FIP seat, the passenger seat will remain as it is. I will keep the drivers seat in case a) someone else wants to drive my car or b) I ever sell the car. Thanks, Jim

Mystery solved, Jon Nelson confirmed the stamp means the engine was built by Caterham USA. Jon is going to try to provide me more details on the specifications. Jon still has parts and a couple of kits for sale, but currently does not have much time to devote to Caterham because of business travel. He can still be reached at jon@caterhamusa.com

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am trying to find out who built the 2.0 Zetec engine in my Superlight R. The engine has a hand stamp on the engine block: 1 CUSA 012. The obvious guess is CUSA might stand for Caterham USA, which might imply Jon Nelson built the engine. Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks, Jim