Broken CAS Mounting Bracket

[andyhaworth]

Andy asked me to move this continuation into the engine ancilliaries section, it follows on from his track day preparation thread Here

OK, another development today. I can see why there's an oil leak now. O Ring isnt too bad, will be changed anyway, but.....:







I'm guessing this isnt common? Thats the one and only bolt holding the housing to the head, and there's been an attempt to patch the crack by using a piece of fab'd metal behind the crack. It didnt work, and now the cracks wont line up. Not that I'm thinking of driving it anywhere or putting it back together for a while

Douglas Valley have one, but I've missed their 1pm shut time. Ad posted in the Wanted section and PM to Nige for this to be moved

[Nige]

I'd say that O ring has had it as it's retained an almost square cross section which means it has hardened with age which is why oil is getting past it. I bet the CAS was easy to get out? It will be more difficult to get it back in with a new O ring on.

No, not common at all and it's a minor miracle the engine ran as I don't see how it could maintain accurate timing as there must have been some degree of movement of the whole CAS assembly. You are going to need a new CAS housing as that is not easily repairable, although an aluminium welder could probably do it.

[Enright]

Thread locked as problem solved here:
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=

[Nige]

Has it?

[GeoffSmith]

It should be possible to repair it but it may be better to put a plate behind and fix that to the body and bracket. All it has to do is to hold the CAS in and stops it rotating.

[andyhaworth]

Has it?

I think so Nige

Geoff - thanks for unlocking so I could answer Nige! I'm going to replace it, I think however or whoever repaired it previously stuck a plaster on it for long enough. With just the one bolt holding it through a plate I think it's not done many favours to the timing, I'd rather get it right

[Enright]

We're open for business again after a special request to request assistance!
I wait with baited breath...

[andyhaworth]

It's really not that interesting, but I'd welcome any help!

Taking my old CAS to bits and swapping to one I got from lotuska. I need the centre wheel which is connected through to the spindle itself but for the life of me cant knock the middle pin out. I think it's bent, so before I apply some heat to it or ask the local F1 to weld something onto it, anyone done this before and found an amazing way to wiggle it free?

I have drilled it as well incase that pops up

[Enright]

Hmm, funny you should ask - check this out!
Oh and if it doesn't help, give me a ring.

[andyhaworth]

It does help, thanks

But, when you say

There is a little spring that secures a 4mm dia x about 20mm long peg. This peg holds the wheel with the drive dogs on it to the spindle

I'd love to know how you got to that spring! Thats what I think is stoppng me doing anything more, as it's the pin I need to get out. I've tried pushing the spring down from the top and tilting the 2 spacers to see if I can unmount it. Nothing

[andyhaworth]

OK, incase this comes up in anyone else's search, I ended up forcing the pin out of the hole using a hammer, something pointy and a vice to keep it steady. With the pin out the top end is spring loaded, so will pop off. Inside is a small two legged spacer on top of the spring which holds everything together, then 2 metal washers

Wheel and spindle off, onto the new one, insert the pin as far as it'd go then push it through using a clamp. I reused my old Hall as it was pre mod and I didnt want to get too far into messing around with it. I knew the old one worked, so reused it. I'd worked out the gap using feeler gauges and set the gap the same on the new one

Put it on the car without the dust cover as I couldnt get the teeth to sit into the jaws with the cover on, and connect the sensors. I brought out the Universal Applicator again with a thick piece of cardboard to knock the whole thing into the jaws a bit more, then put the dust cover on. The lower and furthest away bolt just skips under the thermostat housing hose and a small socket can tighten it up.

Timed it roughly by ear for now using a paperclip to put the ECU into safe mode, as I need to work out why I'm getting drips of coolant on the gearbox, so no doubt the whole lot'll come off again soon

[John_W]

Andy,
Nice wrap-up to the story to help others in future.

As to the coolant drips, one suspect is the heater valve located behind the engine near the gear cables (remove the water header tank & go in from that side).

John

[andyhaworth]

Hi John

The location of the drips makes me think thermostat housing area. I cleaned up the oil from where it'd dripped out of the failed O ring, directly underneath the CAS, ran it up to temp to see if there was still any oil leaking and thats when I saw a small coolant drip. Poked some rags through and sure enough, couple of blue spots on the end. Not a large leak but still a leak that under pressure could get much worse.

Was doing some reading last night and noticed the amount of threads about the heater valve, but seems to be a little further back from where the leak on mine is?? I'm hoping it's just a split in the hose from the header tank

[Enright]

Andy,
Nice wrap-up to the story to help others in future.

Could the thermostat gasket be perished/leaking?

[andyhaworth]

Good call Neil, certainly in the right area

I'm going to get a block tester tomorrow, which should answer about 5 questions in one go I think. It's pointless spending time and money on coolant and thermostats if there's another problem lurking I'm not aware of

I found a seller locally via ebay: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Tool-Academy Based in Sutton in Ashfield, so I'll wander round there tomorrow and pick a tester up

[andyhaworth]

Well, a block test didnt prove much either!

I dont know if anyone else has used one of these (I did search, honest) and got a result from one, but I filled the tube with the fluid to about a quarter way - whatever the mark was, warmed the car up, stuck the tester in the top of the header tank and pumped it for a bit. It couldnt reach down into the water as the neck was too narrow, but I presume after RTFM'ing that this isnt necessary, as it's testing for fumes.

So, no change in colour of the block test fluid, except for maybe going a little darker, but not yellow. Put the cap back on the tank, let it run for a bit. Header tank was whistling though when I turned the car off, not much but enough that if I stuck my ear right next to it I could hear it wheezing, and it was as tight as it'd go

Still got a small drip just below the CAS, only it's a much brighter blue than the coolant now, which would point towards what Neil said, and gasket sealer is coming apart

CAS back off again later or tomorrow maybe, and see if the thermostat housing is sealing properly

[lotuska]

I know this isn't a problem anymore but I've just used this:

alum welding

to fix another aluminium casting.

Seems to work quite well and might help someone in the future.