Clarko

Also glad to say that I have verified Through the CPS hole that there is a tooth missing at 90 degrees below top dead center.... now back to the gaps.

Hi Andy and John, Thankyou. I am currently working on the gap right now. I screwed it up yesterday and took a chunk out of the end of one of my sensors currently working on my spare sensor ;-) I like the idea of the piece of paper or in my case tape on the end of the sensor I’ll let you know how I get on Clark

Hi John, set correctly for VR stock Ford sensor

Yes John that is exactly what I THINK I have. I am going to get my wife to slowly spin the engine while I shoot a video through the CPS housing to verify missing tooth...but I think that will be OK.. I can see that their ARE teeth similar to your photo so that’s probably OK.

Thanks John and Rzempel. Yes the CPS housing is the correct manual one... the difference between the two is about 20 mm so I am happy that I do not have the Auto one installed You have put a slight seed of doubt in my mind about how well the sensor fits into the housing as it’s a bit of a sloppy fit.. when I tighten the screw which holds it in, it always ends up in the same spot but there is a gap down the side of it as if the sensor hole is too big which is curious, almost as if the person who fitted it has tried to move the position slightly.. I shall do some more digging tomorrow.. and will post photos so that you know what I mean.... interesting... Electrical interference from coil pack is NOT yet a factor as I have to get stat sync to switch on before it will even fire the coil pack.... the main danger of interference at moment is from the starter I believe... but right now that “CPS” hole in the fitting is bothering me!!!! Thank you.

That’s impressive! Ill get some quotes done:) Thanks to all for photos.

John and Andy, Thankyou for the responses . To the best of my knowledge: 2000 Focus engine with 1600 miles on it... I don’t know what the set up on it was before... but it seems now... 17 years after it was all fitted together to have the correct. CPS boss (manual Zetec) to give the stock crank trigger which I can see through the boss, onto the Fidanza flywheel which I have the receipt for.. ... I can only assume that in 2003 Dick Brink who sold the kit and the clutch and flywheel and gearbox helped with the decision process.. all the correct bits seem to have been picked? The Ecu has been programmed for the Zetec using a stock configuration of 36-1 for the crank trigger ... so the Ecu IS looking for the correct stuff..... I think... but doesn’t like what it sees.... I should say I don’t really know what ring gear is? I believe the non start decision tree for Stat sync not switching on is: 1) wiring... which I believe I have now proved 2) CPS it self... either fault in sensor or air gap is wrong or electrical interference from starter motor or other wiring... I believe the sensor is OK..... Tomorrow I am going to start stick pieces of tape onto the end of the sensor and spinning the motor til it clips the layers of tape... then I should know exactly what the air gap is... if it’s still too big... modify the sensor flange until it’s down at Next Tuesday I should have my cheap Chinese oscilloscope here to plug onto the CPS to capture a wave file while cranking to be able to perhaps diagnose what the issue is? It should show how clean the signal is ... if that doesn’t show a shitty signal then I suppose the ecubis on a plane back to old blighty for diagnosis... then if that doesn’t fixit .. I already have it in my mind there will be a new crank trigger going onto the front of the crank pulley unless someone has a better suggestion .... I don’t really fancy pulling the motor as I didn’t put it in their.... and I might have stretched my brain enough for one car:)

It’s a new installation, so no previous working history to help;-)

....So I was wondering if anyone in the collective could share if they have any suggestions or have had a problem like this that they have overcome: My OMEX 600 Ecu will not switch “Stat Sync’d” from OFF to ON when cranking and will therefore not fire the injectors nor coil pack.... because the signal it is getting from the Crank Position Sensor does not confirm that it knows where TDC is....or at least that is my understanding of the problem. I wake every day for my 6.30 am call to OMEX in the UK to discuss where I am at.... The CPS is sending SOME sort of a signal as the Ecu sees the cranking revs150 to 400 depending on whether spark plugs are in or not. The newly obvious stuff has been checked... correct polarity on the stock CPS (I have bought a new one anyway) Its in a stock alloy housing ( for manual Zetec, looks like stock crank trigger on Fidanza flywheel....air gap I have measured as something ~1mm..... OMEX would like to see that at 0.5mm so I am working on shaving down one of my CPS sensors to narrow the gap.... Any thoughts or suggestion would be appreciated? Current thought is perhaps electrical interference from the starter motor or something similar ? I have an oscilloscope coming next week so that I can capture a scope wave file to send to OMEX to diagnose... pffft... driving me crazy.... talk about getting stopped in your tracks by something you didn’t know existed... Need to get Stat sync ON to even get fuel and spark!!!!! Shoot me and get it over and done with ?

Thanks for suggestions Dave and Andy:) I have... put the starter challenge on hold for right now, as I simply use jumper cables from a running car which provides lots of juice to the Birkin and allows me to turn the starter no probs....The reason I am ignoring THIS challenge currently....is that I have disappeared down another rabbit hole with. No start issue related to the crank position sensor.. Ill start another thread and expand on the Challenge .

Thanks for that Mike:) Ill bring it up next time I chat to him. Clark

I used to auto cross a Caterham back in Ontario in a previous lifetime... I found the biggest difference I made was switching to 13” wheels and Hoosier Street legal auto cross tires.. super soft and sticky but still theoretically street legal.... even on a Caterham they only lasted for o e season of auto cross, but certainly helped to make up for my lack of driving ability ;-)

Awesome!!

Looks like loads of good clean fun! Jealous!

Hi Dave, showing approx 0.2 v. On both sides when cranking... with no spark plugs in which I think is normal and shows that the cables are not the issue?....Does that sound legit? I bet it will turn out to be something simple but ... what? Is it at all possible that it’s stuck exhaust valves .... so that when I stick the spark plugs in... the starter motor cannotbover On my way! The compression?

Couldn’t be anything to do with timing? With a new battery and starter motor, if you pull the fuel pump relay, your cars would still turn over like crazy right up until the time you ran your battery completely flat or melted your starter motor etc?..... So what gives...

Thankful for the response Kitcat....hmmm I would do that but I’m still going for the first start... so don’t Really know whether the base Map etc is any good, and that’s without getting into issues of Living on a busy road...the car not being registered or insured etc.. so must find other alternatives to that for right now? what else do you think?

Yikes! So I fitted a brand new starter motor as the place I took my Old one said yes indeed it was not operating at optimum... so he sold me a new one.... Guess what... same problem... turns over fine with no spark plugs in but the moment I add some resistance to the engine in the form of spark plugs it seems to over whelm the power of the starter motor.... What am I missing... the engine is obviously not seized or it wouldn’t turn over at all.. I believe there are super duper powerful starter motors out of the UK.... should I be looking for one of those? Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks Clark

Steve. Thankyou:) Please do mention it to him. He is aware of my challenge with it, and he may also be aware of where to source a replacement easily , although of course his tenure is I think with the Duratec motors. Very jealous of you guys being there.. have an awesome time:)

That’s awesome... that looks like exactly the one that seems to be faulty! Magic thankyou:)

The one I am having a problem with is a South African made Leece Neville ..66925335... I am trying to track down a replacement for it. Thanks muchly. Clark

I have an Atom 3-310 hp in Scotland, used to own a Caterham and am currently finishing off a build on an Older Birkin. .. having read the thread here is my 2 cents... Atom actually feels roomier inside... luggage lives in passenger footwell... we spent two weeks touring France last year and my wife still loves me (so she says:) I think ride quality goes to the Caterham.... even on full soft the ride in the Atom can be jarring. The weather gear that the Caterham has is only applicable to those with lithe bodies....you have to be part contortionist to get in and out with the roof up .... and without knowing you, I might suggest you are never going to own a Caterham and put the roof up.... so that removes the Caterham/Birkin advantage over the Atom. My very best guess is that you will buy whichever one you can get in and out of the best and they will both present some challenges and require some upper body strength to give yourself an initial “push up” I would love to hear your conclusion after you get a chance at them both... ps after having both the old simple bench seat AND the S seats in the Caterham.... I think the bench might offer the largest amount of backside room.... all from memory and usual disclaimer about it being my 2c.

Wow! Fantastic!

Well.... I cleaned and checked all engine and battery related grounds ... it’s not that.... I did speak to Tom who said it’s possible that the “new” 17 year old starter might be sucking too much juice... So for want of any other idea I may do that and get it checked at a shop... I just looked and thought it would be easy to pull... but it looks like one of the bolts might be tough to get at as the footwell gets in the way... any thoughts on that from someone who might have a Zetec installed in a Birkin?