Broken V8 gearbox
Discussion
Managed to break my V8 gearbox - garage is stripping it down at the moment but so far it sounds pretty terminal.
Anyone have any ideas on alternative sources for a replacement gearbox / parts - the £5k that Lotus wish to charge me seems a bit steep!
Im working my way through the list of non-main dealers and mechanics, and Marcus at PUK has been most helpful - but I wondered if anyone else has any ideas.
Its MY2000.
Cheers,
Kev
aka Tekk
Anyone have any ideas on alternative sources for a replacement gearbox / parts - the £5k that Lotus wish to charge me seems a bit steep!
Im working my way through the list of non-main dealers and mechanics, and Marcus at PUK has been most helpful - but I wondered if anyone else has any ideas.
Its MY2000.
Cheers,
Kev
aka Tekk
Sorry to hear about your gearbox... but I can relate. Also have a MY2000 and it ate the first gearbox within 14K miles. Lotus replaced it with a rebuilt unit under warranty marked as "good will". Now with 26K miles (and out of warranty) the rebuilt box is about the same.
It turns out there is some intermittant drag in the clutch itself which has been churning up the synchros. Once they are ground down, the more expensive bits start to grind and chip. The dealer diagnosed a bad gearbox but never properly determined the cause hence I'm back to a beat box and Lotus has gone cold and quiet on me. One tell-tale of this problem is that the gearbox lube is loaded with synchro dust... even in as little as 3000 miles.
I would strongly suggest that you have the clutch checked very carefully as well as the pilot bearing (rear of crankshaft) and during reassembly check alignment of the gearbox to engine. I also found that Lotus issued a service bulletin mid-2000 for something related to the clutch release bearing, so I plan on trying to find out what the details are.
I also sent email to AP Racing's tech support and have not heard "boo" from them in a week now, so I suspect getting any info from AP Racing is useless. I recently decided to check the clutch pedal adjustments per the service notes as they clearly state that too much pedal travel, which translates to too much clutch release bearing travel, will damage the clutch cover housing. The service notes state a rest position of 170-175mm from the pedal box wall with a travel of 90-95mm. Mine had a rest position of 180mm and a travel of 130mm (from the factory... car purchased new). The clutch pedal stop was fully screwed into the pedal... bottom line, the bozos never adjusted the clutch during manufacture.
Not sure if any of this will be of much help, but you could also try contacting Derek Bell (he races the UN-1 gearbox and has done some nice mods to it) and/or one of the Renault forums as the gearbox is readily used in many applications. Best of luck and please post any updates.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
It turns out there is some intermittant drag in the clutch itself which has been churning up the synchros. Once they are ground down, the more expensive bits start to grind and chip. The dealer diagnosed a bad gearbox but never properly determined the cause hence I'm back to a beat box and Lotus has gone cold and quiet on me. One tell-tale of this problem is that the gearbox lube is loaded with synchro dust... even in as little as 3000 miles.
I would strongly suggest that you have the clutch checked very carefully as well as the pilot bearing (rear of crankshaft) and during reassembly check alignment of the gearbox to engine. I also found that Lotus issued a service bulletin mid-2000 for something related to the clutch release bearing, so I plan on trying to find out what the details are.
I also sent email to AP Racing's tech support and have not heard "boo" from them in a week now, so I suspect getting any info from AP Racing is useless. I recently decided to check the clutch pedal adjustments per the service notes as they clearly state that too much pedal travel, which translates to too much clutch release bearing travel, will damage the clutch cover housing. The service notes state a rest position of 170-175mm from the pedal box wall with a travel of 90-95mm. Mine had a rest position of 180mm and a travel of 130mm (from the factory... car purchased new). The clutch pedal stop was fully screwed into the pedal... bottom line, the bozos never adjusted the clutch during manufacture.
Not sure if any of this will be of much help, but you could also try contacting Derek Bell (he races the UN-1 gearbox and has done some nice mods to it) and/or one of the Renault forums as the gearbox is readily used in many applications. Best of luck and please post any updates.
Regards, KM
2000 V8
Im no expert, but for 5 grand why not check this alternative out.
www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm
And its 6 speeds!
www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm
And its 6 speeds!
sesat said:
<a href="http://www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm">www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm</a>
No synchros?!
Yeah, a dog box doesn't use syncro's, but engangement finger thingies (dogs) on the end of the gears. That is the way to go. For seven thousand dollars, I think you can get one of those dog boxes with a limited slip. Disadvantage of a dog box is you have to rev match a lot better than with a syncro box. I am pretty sure all the race boxes are dog boxes. Harley transmissions use dogs, and have forever.
Dr.Hess
Dr.Hess said:
Lotusacbc said:
<a href="http://www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm"><a href="http://www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm">www.michaelsmotorsports.com/6speedconversion.htm</a></a>
No synchros?!
Yeah, a dog box doesn't use syncro's, but engangement finger thingies (dogs) on the end of the gears. That is the way to go. For seven thousand dollars, I think you can get one of those dog boxes with a limited slip. Disadvantage of a dog box is you have to rev match a lot better than with a syncro box. I am pretty sure all the race boxes are dog boxes. Harley transmissions use dogs, and have forever.
Dr.Hess
Theres nothing wrong with having to rev-match anyway is there? I mean how bad could it be, you should be rev-matching anyways. Or am I wrong? In other words, if this is the only other alternative to the gearbox issue, is it worth it?
Tekk - why do you say its 'terminal'? The usual failure on the renault trans is second gear/syncro. Parts are available from lotus (£££) or direct from renault. If the box IS completely beyond repair then several guys have fitted a renault 21 turbo box instead. These are very cheap second hand - google renault 21 turbo and you'll find some stuff.
Suggest you post up on www.espritforum.co.uk and see what response you get.
cheers
Rob
Suggest you post up on www.espritforum.co.uk and see what response you get.
cheers
Rob
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