My First "Breakdown"
Symptoms - Ignition lights and dash lights were dim, and buzzing from engine bay when trying to
start. Refuses to even try to tick over.
This being the warmest day (03/04/2008) for months, and a fresh 6 months of tax on her, I drove over to my parents to
stretch her legs. Tried to leave, turn the key.. no fuel pump. Tried to start but got an electronic buzzing sound
from the engine bay. Turning on the lights killed all power. We jumped started her using a VW Polo which worked fine,
and left her running for a good ten minutes. Turned the lights on and engine stalled. I thought it was the starter
motor to begin with as I'd heard a lot of horror stories about them. Thankfully, upon reattaching the jump cables,
my dad noticed the positive cable on the battery was loose! A quick tighten, power back on,starts up straight away.
Now the funny thing is, I had stopped at the petrol station on the way, no problems. I think the bump up onto
the kerb for the driveway at home maybe finally loosened it enough.
Shrunken roof?
Symptoms - Standard roof refuses to fit, not matter how much you swear
at the bloody thing!
A while back I tried to fit the roof
only to find it was VERY difficult to make it fit. This is apparently with it sitting outside
and being cold, causing the material to be very hard to stretch. Bring it indoors, stick it in the
airing cupboard for a day or two. That's what I've learnt from the forums. I'm saving up for
a half hood!
Rear view mirror shananigans! - So my mirror keeps falling
off. At the moment I'm using a "British Army-esque" bodge job, but the mirror vibrates a lot
during driving. I may resort to removing the sticky back and using good old superglue! If
anyone has any suggestions, drop me a line.
Nearside front Tyre - I appear to have either picked up an
extremely slow puncture, or the valve is letting air out. Going to keep an eye on it. Don't want it
to wreck the tyre.
Battery Problems - The Caterham had been sitting for a while
in the garage over some cold months (October, November onwards) and was becoming increasingly difficult
to start.
Symptoms - Ignition light comes on, headlights work, fuel pump whirrs, but upon starting,
sounds very much like the battery is dying. Tries to turnover again but fails.
After some searching of the forums, it was either the
starter motor or the battery. Thankfully it wasn't the starter motor!
I took the battery off and checked inside, the thing was practically empty of fluid. A quick top up with
some distilled water and a day or two on charge and it's working fine (not a recommended fix).
Have to keep an eye on the battery though, if it empties again, it can damage the plates inside and it'll
cease to hold charge.
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