Sick of my car ....

[V8TT]

Well Im now 100% pissed off at my car ... Ive had it a little over 2 months now and today it embarases me in front of thousands of people at the beach. The alternator failed on me, and I had to get a few people to push it to a gas station so I could tow it. Bottom line is Im really thinking twice about my decision to have purchased this car ...

Problems so far:

1.Miss-Fire (Spark plug wires & Spark plugs)
2.A/C Leak
3.Alternator

Thanks Lotus !! Man I need some luck. Just a little bit.

AL

P.S- Any idea what the Alternator is going to run me ???

[benfell100]

I've read in a few classic car mags here in the UK that there are places that recondition alternators and they look as good as new, almost to the point where you couldn't tell its second hand. Surely theres a place 'cross the pond that will do the same, may save a few bob on a new one as well.
Best of luck getting her back up and running.

[superdave]

Reconning is the best option. Uk prices from PNM are about £65+VAT. New ones run into hundreds of pounds. Multiply that by about $1.87USD to a £1.00GBP at that should be about right.
THere must be someone over your neck of the woods who does this service.

Cheers,


Dave walters

[paul c]

V8TT said:

Problems so far: 1.Miss-Fire (Spark plug wires & Spark plugs) 2.A/C Leak 3.Alternator

Not too bad really,stick with it!
If when shopping i find an Esprit needing only these items doing, or if only these things went wrong early on, I'd be quite pleased

[madmike]

Perhaps instead of doing these things piecemeal, and incurring multiple towing charges to boot, you should just take it to a reliable Lotus mech, and have him do a top to bottom inspection and full blown service?

Just a thought.

Mike

[jayinatlanta]

madmike said:

...you should just take it to a reliable Lotus mech, and have him do a top to bottom inspection and full blown service?

Yeah, how is your car's service history with official Lotus dealer inspections? That really can make a lot of difference. Not familiar with the Lotus dealers near you, but hopefully there's a good one that deals exclusively with these cars. I personally would feel safer going this route when beginning with a new car.

~Jay in Atlanta
1993.5 Silver Frost Esprit SE

[cnh1990]

Remove the alternator and take it to a auto electric shop that does foregin car alternators. If it is removed from the car and sent in it should be in between 40 and 90 USD depending on if needs a rebuild or just cleaning. It will be a few hundred if a shop does it all.

Other than that the car is quite reliable.

Or you can sell it to one of us at a tremendous loss as many of us are looking for a deal. But don't do that for such a minor problems.

Calvin



>> Edited by cnh1990 on Monday 12th April 14:49

[ErnestM]

Take it in -

The accessory belt needs to be adjusted "just so". While it is in, have them give your car the once over. It will make your experience much more pleasurable in the long run...

ErnestM

PS: Alternator isn't too bad. I'll have a look through my invoices and see what mine ran

[kmaier]

V8TT said:

Well Im now 100% pissed off at my car ... Ive had it a little over 2 months now and today it embarases me in front of thousands of people at the beach. The alternator failed on me, and I had to get a few people to push it to a gas station so I could tow it. Bottom line is Im really thinking twice about my decision to have purchased this car ... Problems so far: 1.Miss-Fire (Spark plug wires & Spark plugs) 2.A/C Leak 3.Alternator Thanks Lotus !! Man I need some luck. Just a little bit. AL P.S- Any idea what the Alternator is going to run me ???

Al,

I made some suggestions to you earlier on getting things sorted... have you had a cambelt service done yet? If not, consider this a high priority! I suggest you spend less time showing off at the beach and more time getting your car in order... if you slip a cambelt, getting a few folks to push you to a gas station will the be the least of your worries.

I also offered to take a look at the car and give you a rundown on what should be done but you never followed up on it, so you are looking to be your own worst enemy on some of the issues.

The problem areas on the V8 are mostly well-known... all you need to do is address them and get on top of the maintenance issues first... then go out and have some fun with it.

The V8 is really quite reliable but neglect and/or lack of use by the previous owner will bite you soon enough if you're not attentive to getting things properly sorted before you start running it on a frequent basis.

Sorry to come on strong here, but your problems are nothing unusual and are not difficult or expensive in most cases to resolve. This forum and the TE list on yahoo is a great resource for these cars and you should use the combined experience to make your experience better.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[adrianmugridge]

Yep, those problems seems like b*gger all to me, especially when you consider the two most well known issues : Pourous liners and 2nd gear syncro !! The liners were done on mine : £6.5k, that's $12,000 on your side of the pond !!!

Adrian
99 Sport350

[kmaier]

ErnestM said:

Take it in - The accessory belt needs to be adjusted "just so". While it is in, have them give your car the once over. It will make your experience much more pleasurable in the long run... ErnestM PS: Alternator isn't too bad. I'll have a look through my invoices and see what mine ran

Don't you mean the cambelts? The belt for accessories has a spring-loaded tensioner and requires nothing beyond getting the belt on properly.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[britten_mark]

The problems mentioned seem negligable, probably what you would axpect on any used car. Most owners only think of selling when there is a list of things ready to let go.

I think what you're pi$$ed about is being embarassed; look on the bright side, people helped ou instead of laughing, which by what some people have told me is a lot more common if you break down in anything flash.

[lotusguy]

Hi,

I don't mean to be insensitive or curt, but these things are minor. Stop whining, stop posting your woes here and spend the time correcting the issues.

These cars are not Hondas, they are designed for max performace and so inherently require more looking after.

If you really are not happy with the car, and it's not for everyone, sell it and get something you really like. Let someone else, who's not gonna get their undies in a bunch over routine maintenance, buy the car and enjoy it.

It's all about enjoyment. If you're not getting any, move on. Life is too short, and someone has to buy the Porsches, 'vettes etc. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[ErnestM]

kmaier said:

ErnestM said: Take it in - The accessory belt needs to be adjusted "just so". While it is in, have them give your car the once over. It will make your experience much more pleasurable in the long run... ErnestM PS: Alternator isn't too bad. I'll have a look through my invoices and see what mine ran Don't you mean the cambelts? The belt for accessories has a spring-loaded tensioner and requires nothing beyond getting the belt on properly. Regards, KM 2000 V8

Whoops, sorry - I stand corrected...

(actually I was thinking CAM but my mind was telling me which belt the alternator was running on )

ErnestM

[karlfranz]

My first Esprit was IMO quite unreliable. It had an unknown service history and many things that went wrong. I wasn't very car savvy at the time and there wasn't an Internet bulletin board where I could get answers like you can on this and other forums. This, by the way, was the reason I started the Esprit Fact File in the first place. I didn't want others to go through what I went through.

One day my car left me stranded in front of my health club. I remember feeling embarrassed of having others see my beautiful car being towed away on a flat bed. My car sat in a shop for about 3-4 months until I figured out what was wrong with it (bad ECM - everyone had told me these things don't go bad). I used to go visit my car at the shop every few days to remind me that I actually owned an Esprit and I remember feeling upset that it had left me stranded and that it still wasn't running.

Then one day I saw the light. I came to realize that if the worst problem in my life is that my exotic supercar wasn't running, then I really do have it pretty good. It helps to put things into perspective. There are many people out there that have real problems: health issues, divorces, deaths in the family, bankruptcies, etc. The sooner you realize that having your Esprit not running isn't the end of the world, the happier you will be in life.

p.s. Remember that in the EFF I recommend that the Esprit is never your only car. This is why. Things happen sometimes. You want to make sure you have another means of transportation for when they do.

Keep your chin and shiny side up.

Cheers,

KFM
www.espritfactfile.com

[kylie]

karlfranz said:

Then one day I saw the light. I came to realize that if the worst problem in my life is that my exotic supercar wasn't running, then I really do have it pretty good. It helps to put things into perspective. There are many people out there that have real problems: health issues, divorces, deaths in the family, bankruptcies, etc. The sooner you realize that having your Esprit not running isn't the end of the world, the happier you will be in life.

Well said Karl, its so true, I remind myself constantly about people being worse off.

Just a question though to also help out V8TT, running the car more frequently, would that help keeping the alternator charged and less likely to fail? I often wonder about that.

Cheers
Kylie

[kmaier]

kylie said:

Just a question though to also help out V8TT, running the car more frequently, would that help keeping the alternator charged and less likely to fail? I often wonder about that. Cheers Kylie

From what I've read on the forums, seems many 1997 V8 owners have had their alternators go out with relatively low mileage. So it would appear that this is an isolated problem. I have over 33K miles on mine and zero electrical problems to date, except for a couple radiator fan motors going dead.

Running it more frequently will keep the battery in a higher state of charge but it's not of any significance to alternator life. As V8TT is also in South Florida, I would recommend he check the battery. In many cases, they are forgotten and run low on water. As a result, they are in constant need of charging and eventually causes damage to the battery and the alternator. Batteries are fairly inexpensive, I'd would replace it with new and get the alternator rebuilt by a reputable shop.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[ErnestM]

Ditto what Kevin just said...

Also, don't skimp on the battery. Get a good one. I recommend the Optimas....

ErnestM

[CAM79]

I know the feeling V8TT, my alternator went out in a big way in first week of ownership, smoke, squeeling etc...more than a bit embarrassing but I was warned about buying a L.O.T.U.S (Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious). I had my alternator reconditioned here in the UK for £42 and I fitted it in half an hour. Other than other stupid things I've had no other problems as yet. Overall buying a Lotus was one of the best things I've ever done Stick with it. Bring on the summer...

[kmaier]

ErnestM said:

Ditto what Kevin just said... Also, don't skimp on the battery. Get a good one. I recommend the Optimas.... ErnestM

Yes, the Optimas are excellent, here's one source:

www.1st-optima-batteries.com/

Regards, KM
2000 V8