finally bought one
Discussion
after years of looking and saving finally bought a seven.
its a 2007 roadsport with supersport upgrade and 6 speed box bought it from caterham south who transported it to midlands for me to pick up last Friday,
problem was my wipers packed in an hour from home in the pouring rain have checked fuses since I got home and they seem ok also second gear is a bit harder to engage than the rest is this normal in a 6 speed? theres also a noise from engine a bit like someone running a stick along railings when accelerating, does anyone know wheres best to take car to in north east area to have a look at it. im hoping to get down to the north east lotus seven club meet next Wednesday at the churchmouse chester le street but any advice appreciated have rang caterham south butstill waiting for them to get back to me.
its a 2007 roadsport with supersport upgrade and 6 speed box bought it from caterham south who transported it to midlands for me to pick up last Friday,
problem was my wipers packed in an hour from home in the pouring rain have checked fuses since I got home and they seem ok also second gear is a bit harder to engage than the rest is this normal in a 6 speed? theres also a noise from engine a bit like someone running a stick along railings when accelerating, does anyone know wheres best to take car to in north east area to have a look at it. im hoping to get down to the north east lotus seven club meet next Wednesday at the churchmouse chester le street but any advice appreciated have rang caterham south butstill waiting for them to get back to me.
Congrats on the purchase, looks lovely!
Wipers, possibly the motor that's packed up? If you have a voltmeter you could try looking at the voltage at the motor terminals. Stiff second gear, is this cold, but ok when hot, or all the time? If all the time it doesn't sound right to me, could be worn synchro? (how many miles on the car?). Difficult to tell what the noise could be when accelerating without more info, but have you whipped the bonnet and nosecone off and had a good look round? I'm thinking checking for debris caught in a belt or somesuch.
Saving grace with all this stuff is you have a 3 month CC warranty with used Sevens. When you get on the phone say you want them to come and pick it up and deliver it back to you all sorted, they did the same for mine with a covered trailer at the 3 month point. Admittedly most of my stuff was trivial but you get the idea. Hope you get it sorted quickly!
Wipers, possibly the motor that's packed up? If you have a voltmeter you could try looking at the voltage at the motor terminals. Stiff second gear, is this cold, but ok when hot, or all the time? If all the time it doesn't sound right to me, could be worn synchro? (how many miles on the car?). Difficult to tell what the noise could be when accelerating without more info, but have you whipped the bonnet and nosecone off and had a good look round? I'm thinking checking for debris caught in a belt or somesuch.
Saving grace with all this stuff is you have a 3 month CC warranty with used Sevens. When you get on the phone say you want them to come and pick it up and deliver it back to you all sorted, they did the same for mine with a covered trailer at the 3 month point. Admittedly most of my stuff was trivial but you get the idea. Hope you get it sorted quickly!
grenpayne said:
Congrats on the purchase, looks lovely!
Wipers, possibly the motor that's packed up? If you have a voltmeter you could try looking at the voltage at the motor terminals. Stiff second gear, is this cold, but ok when hot, or all the time? If all the time it doesn't sound right to me, could be worn synchro? (how many miles on the car?). Difficult to tell what the noise could be when accelerating without more info, but have you whipped the bonnet and nosecone off and had a good look round? I'm thinking checking for debris caught in a belt or somesuch.
Saving grace with all this stuff is you have a 3 month CC warranty with used Sevens. When you get on the phone say you want them to come and pick it up and deliver it back to you all sorted, they did the same for mine with a covered trailer at the 3 month point. Admittedly most of my stuff was trivial but you get the idea. Hope you get it sorted quickly!
thanks for advice yeah second gear is better when hot the car has ten thousand miles on clock drives really well apart from these little niggles will ring caterham again tomorrow and might get a run out tomorrow night haven't had much chance with dodgy weatherWipers, possibly the motor that's packed up? If you have a voltmeter you could try looking at the voltage at the motor terminals. Stiff second gear, is this cold, but ok when hot, or all the time? If all the time it doesn't sound right to me, could be worn synchro? (how many miles on the car?). Difficult to tell what the noise could be when accelerating without more info, but have you whipped the bonnet and nosecone off and had a good look round? I'm thinking checking for debris caught in a belt or somesuch.
Saving grace with all this stuff is you have a 3 month CC warranty with used Sevens. When you get on the phone say you want them to come and pick it up and deliver it back to you all sorted, they did the same for mine with a covered trailer at the 3 month point. Admittedly most of my stuff was trivial but you get the idea. Hope you get it sorted quickly!
Congratulations on the buy!
To answer one of your questions, the 6 speed should be smooth through all gears. I hear a few people mention they've noticed some gears are harder to get into than others, and on the demo car I drove at Caterham South, I had trouble getting the car into 6th.
That said, the other half manages to crunch into 3rd every other time while I find it absolutely fine and have no such problems, so it might just need some getting used to
. Make stern, positive movements and see how it goes. The more you grab the wheel and throw the car around, the better it responds. After a year of ownership it still doesn't cease to amaze me!
To answer one of your questions, the 6 speed should be smooth through all gears. I hear a few people mention they've noticed some gears are harder to get into than others, and on the demo car I drove at Caterham South, I had trouble getting the car into 6th.
That said, the other half manages to crunch into 3rd every other time while I find it absolutely fine and have no such problems, so it might just need some getting used to
. Make stern, positive movements and see how it goes. The more you grab the wheel and throw the car around, the better it responds. After a year of ownership it still doesn't cease to amaze me!Can't totally recall as haven't had wipers for some time, but are they operated via a relay? Relays come loose often in sevens. Used to be in the passenger footwell IIRC. Might be worth checking.
Also, if the switches in the dash are the old style rockers, they often develop faults (check connectors etc.
Do some searches on blatchat (if not here) and you should find plenty of hints...
Also, if the switches in the dash are the old style rockers, they often develop faults (check connectors etc.
Do some searches on blatchat (if not here) and you should find plenty of hints...
Thought for a split second you'd nicked my car then !! Great colour choice 
Mine is also a 6 speed 1600SS but I don't recognise the issues you've had so definitely keep the pressure on Caterham to resolve them within your warranty period.
Hope you get your niggles sorted quickly and get on the road.
Cheers,
Andy
Mine is also a 6 speed 1600SS but I don't recognise the issues you've had so definitely keep the pressure on Caterham to resolve them within your warranty period.
Hope you get your niggles sorted quickly and get on the road.
Cheers,
Andy
halstock said:
Thought for a split second you'd nicked my car then !! Great colour choice
Mine is also a 6 speed 1600SS but I don't recognise the issues you've had so definitely keep the pressure on Caterham to resolve them within your warranty period.
Hope you get your niggles sorted quickly and get on the road.
Cheers,
Andy
since that picture I had caterham make me a 4 into 1 exhaust so its almost identical to yours did you buy yours from caterham im almost sure it was one I had my eye on ages ago great colourscheme downside is nobody sees you straight away on the road, definitely hear you though Mine is also a 6 speed 1600SS but I don't recognise the issues you've had so definitely keep the pressure on Caterham to resolve them within your warranty period.
Hope you get your niggles sorted quickly and get on the road.
Cheers,
Andy
All gear boxes are a bit stiff when cold. My r300 is the same. Make sure you purchase a battery trickle charger ASAP to keep the battery in tip top condition the charger will last a life time and save you loads of hassle and many times the cost of a replacement battery. I have a motorbike 14 years old also still running on it original battery.
hawk 427 said:
since that picture I had caterham make me a 4 into 1 exhaust so its almost identical to yours did you buy yours from caterham im almost sure it was one I had my eye on ages ago great colourscheme downside is nobody sees you straight away on the road, definitely hear you though
Mine's got the R300 exhaust. I bought it from Millwood this February; before that it only had one owner since Caterham themselves, he bought it from them July 12.Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff