Back in a Lotus - 2006 Exige S
Discussion
Couple of small updates, first up I picked up some new front ZZRs. This is to sort the excessively worn and punctured NSF tyre. My OSF is still really healthy so I'll put that to one side to act as another puncture spare.
I also grabbed some new brake pads. I've talked about this on and off in this thread but I've always used Pagid RS4-2's across both of my Lotus'. I was generally happy with these pads on my Elise as they were quite, not particularly dusty and could last as long as I did on track. People claim they become a bit wooden <50% thickness which on reflection I think I agree with. I've had quite consistent brake pad wear issues on my Exige so far, I went through 2 full sets of RS4-2s pretty much last year, the car started with "half a set" which I destroyed in one trackday, but I put that down to the corroded discs I had at that time. The next set were brand new and I got them down to around 25% by mid summer, so they're in the emergency "get me home" box now. Then the set I have in the car now are already down to 40ish % so they've got one more trackday in them at a push.
I'd put off trying RS14s and similar pads purely because I can not tolerate squeel, it eats me from the inside and is one of those minor things which completely sucks the enjoyment out of a car for me. When I first got my Elise somebody told me that RS14s squeel a bit, but since then I've had a bunch of people tell me that they don't so that's what I've ordered this time around to see if they last a little longer. Even if that's at the detriment to disc wear I don't care too much, just want to balance it out a tad.
If I get to the end of this year and I'm still eating pads, then I'll look at more drastic options such as 4pots or the like.
I'll keep the 40% RS4-2s to hand, if the 14's do make too much noise on the road I'll simply use the 4-2s as road pads and the 14s as track pads.
Onto tonight, as has been mentioned in threads by a couple of users on Exiges.com I've become a bit nervous about the lift bolts that I changed over winter. Two different members had theirs come loose after being worked on(by Lotus...), despite the service manual not specifying loctite this seemed to be the resolution after the bolts could be fished out of the engine...
As I changed my bolts over the winter and did NOT loctite them, I decided to get a move on and get them refitted with the blue stuff. Slight complication since my original swap since the charge cooler was now in the way, and is full of water... luckily I've had a plan up my sleeve for that which I executed with minimal mess tonight:
Using some excess hose from the proalloy kit and some rubber corks, I could bung it off fairly quickly and prevent a full system drain from being required. Once it was off it was rinse/repeat of the original job.
Whipped them out and after a quick clean stuck some loctite on them:
Re-torqued them in so fingers crossed that's it now. I cleaned both the bolts and the receiving thread the best I could, but still a bit nervous that surrounding oil will compromise the effectiveness of the loctite but I'll just have to life with that! I still really do think that the bolts must need to be severely mishandled to come out in the first place...
All in all the charge cooler added about 15mins to the cam cover job, so not the end of the world really.
I also grabbed some new brake pads. I've talked about this on and off in this thread but I've always used Pagid RS4-2's across both of my Lotus'. I was generally happy with these pads on my Elise as they were quite, not particularly dusty and could last as long as I did on track. People claim they become a bit wooden <50% thickness which on reflection I think I agree with. I've had quite consistent brake pad wear issues on my Exige so far, I went through 2 full sets of RS4-2s pretty much last year, the car started with "half a set" which I destroyed in one trackday, but I put that down to the corroded discs I had at that time. The next set were brand new and I got them down to around 25% by mid summer, so they're in the emergency "get me home" box now. Then the set I have in the car now are already down to 40ish % so they've got one more trackday in them at a push.
I'd put off trying RS14s and similar pads purely because I can not tolerate squeel, it eats me from the inside and is one of those minor things which completely sucks the enjoyment out of a car for me. When I first got my Elise somebody told me that RS14s squeel a bit, but since then I've had a bunch of people tell me that they don't so that's what I've ordered this time around to see if they last a little longer. Even if that's at the detriment to disc wear I don't care too much, just want to balance it out a tad.
If I get to the end of this year and I'm still eating pads, then I'll look at more drastic options such as 4pots or the like.
I'll keep the 40% RS4-2s to hand, if the 14's do make too much noise on the road I'll simply use the 4-2s as road pads and the 14s as track pads.
Onto tonight, as has been mentioned in threads by a couple of users on Exiges.com I've become a bit nervous about the lift bolts that I changed over winter. Two different members had theirs come loose after being worked on(by Lotus...), despite the service manual not specifying loctite this seemed to be the resolution after the bolts could be fished out of the engine...
As I changed my bolts over the winter and did NOT loctite them, I decided to get a move on and get them refitted with the blue stuff. Slight complication since my original swap since the charge cooler was now in the way, and is full of water... luckily I've had a plan up my sleeve for that which I executed with minimal mess tonight:
Using some excess hose from the proalloy kit and some rubber corks, I could bung it off fairly quickly and prevent a full system drain from being required. Once it was off it was rinse/repeat of the original job.
Whipped them out and after a quick clean stuck some loctite on them:
Re-torqued them in so fingers crossed that's it now. I cleaned both the bolts and the receiving thread the best I could, but still a bit nervous that surrounding oil will compromise the effectiveness of the loctite but I'll just have to life with that! I still really do think that the bolts must need to be severely mishandled to come out in the first place...
All in all the charge cooler added about 15mins to the cam cover job, so not the end of the world really.
BenLowden said:
I'm in love 
Thank you for the level of detail on this thread, really enjoying it! Hoping I'll be able to buy one someday.
Cheers, the way prices are going - keep your eyes peeled! Last recession we had I'd just bought a house and lost out, this time round it looks like I'll be doing the same with the Exige Thank you for the level of detail on this thread, really enjoying it! Hoping I'll be able to buy one someday.
Quick update, bit of a disappointing one all round!
First up my exhaust system, it turns out that trying to get something done within lockdown circumstances at such a long distance was too ambitious - so all parties made the decision to just bail out for now and return the stock exhaust to me so I could be sure the car was road-ready for when lockdown is lifted. No hard feelings, but may re-evaluate options closer to home once we're free, I'm still keen to progress with a full system replacement that I can have some input on with regards to requirements and spec.
Once I got the exhaust back, I had to get back to work putting it on the car which I took on last weekend - nothing exciting to report here except my donut gasket between the manifold and cat is getting a little second hand now and has a bit of a split in it. It doesn't seem to blow yet, but I wouldn't risk a trackday or any big mileage on it so I've got another one on order. After I fitted the system, I left it 24hours just for the assembly paste on the slip joint to go off (these can leak if not gunked up and clamped right, not helped by the poor fitting 2bular backbox...) and the following lunchtime (yesterday) I fired it up to check for leaks whilst still on stands. All sounded well, happy days.
Last night I lowered the car to its wheels and intended to reverse it out of the garage to re-arrange a bit, and the car wouldn't start. It was cranking fine but wasn't firing. For some reason I'd grabbed the spare key fob for it so I assumed it was an immobiliser issue... went rooting around for the other key and felt myself feeling dizzier and dizzier. Opened up the other garage door for a bit of air then caught a reflection under the car - it had been pissing petrol out onto the garage floor!
I pushed the car out of the garage and got to work cleaning up, I was pretty sure I knew what the issue was which was really disappointing - as I guess deep down I knew that I'd not done something properly over winter. I wasn't expecting it to fail, but clearly I was subconsciously not happy with how the fuel pump replacement went.
I had an hour or so, so decided to crack on getting the interior out - something I now have down to a fine art. Sure enough, 40mins later and I had the culprit:
The high pressure fuel line (right of shot) was popped out of its recess, so petrol (when the car was cranked) was just pissing upwards at the hatch, then down the sides of the fuel tank onto the floor. I recall having difficulties with this clip when I replaced the fuel pump which is I guess why I knew deep down what the problem would be. The clip was still in its grooves but it had popped back slightly allowing the fuel pressure to push the hose out. Obviously I'm annoyed this happened, but I'm so fortunate that it happened in the comfort of my own garage rather than on the 350 or so miles I've driven, not to mention on the dyno at Dans!
I can't bear thinking about the implications of this popping off at speed on the road, airflow under the car washing the fuel towards the exhaust.... shudder.
Luckily I quite quickly figured out the error I made last time, it's hard to explain in text but the fuel line has a rubber lip around it - it was the perfect fit to sit flush with the top of the fuel pump assembly and so this is how I had it before. The clip then sort of forces its way over the top of it to (in theory) sandwich it all in place. Fitting the clip like this though is very forced, and this should have been a clue that I'd done it wrong before.
The correct process is to actually push the hose (quite hard) down into the pump so that the rubber lip squeezes in like an o'ring, and presumably sits inside an unsighted groove within the assembly itself. This allows the clip to go on so, so much easier - and the whole thing quite literally clicks together.
I cleaned up the best I could then gave the car a few hours to 'evaporate'. Cranked it up quickly before going to bed last night and it ran fine for a few minutes with no sign of leakage. Interior is still scattered all over the garage so I guess that's a job for tonight... but I am tempted to leave the fuel pump somewhat accessible for a few miles first just to stress test it out a bit.
Lesson learned, I'm not a mechanic and quite often I'm doing jobs for the first time - but I am disappointed to have cocked up something so critical to safety. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't!
Edited by Fonzey on Wednesday 13th May 15:30
Rick101 said:
Good save 
Console yourself knowing it's not the worst Lotus fuelling job we've seen.
Yes mercifully the bar is set pretty high (or is that low?) for that particular award!Console yourself knowing it's not the worst Lotus fuelling job we've seen.
Car is back together now with the exception of the undertray/diffuser. I may take it for my next essential journey just to make sure it's OK before buttoning back up properly.
Small update to make, the car is back together now after the vpower incident and it seems like I got away without any lasting damage or disruption. I idled the car on/around the driveway for ages to try and make sure there was no further leakage until (ironically) I ran out of petrol.
Once that drama was dealt with I got on with a bit of a treat... I bought myself my first ever private registration earlier in winter and finally got round to assigning it and getting the plates made up. I was never really a fan of private plates, still think they're a waste of money - but this is my plate on Forza Motorsport so when I realised it was 'only' £250 I went for it :lol:
Went for a full sized plate on the rear and the front one is the exact width of the number plate plinth. Nothing makes my teeth itch more than a number plate that's too small for its plinth.
With that done I also got my front tyres replaced for the new ZZRs I bought some weeks ago. The tread levels of my OSF was absolutely fine (almost new) so kept that as a space, but the NSF had some bad inside shoulder wear and a puncture - so that's int bin.
Today I put some tax back on the car and took it for a shakedown run for petrol and essentials. Only 7 miles or so, but the car felt really, really good - probably a result of sitting on the sofa for two months solid but it felt loads quicker than it did earlier in the year... had that zing to the power delivery where you keep expecting it to tail off, but it doesn't and keeps shoving you right till the gear change. Aside from that the brakes felt good too, I'm still on my old pads but I've all but eliminated the deadzone now in the top of the pedal travel so there's an instant response now and I think I've even got rid of some rattles with my express interior refit, the car almost felt refined Days like this really make me feel like I've got a car for life, and I was only nipping to the petrol station and back!
Once that drama was dealt with I got on with a bit of a treat... I bought myself my first ever private registration earlier in winter and finally got round to assigning it and getting the plates made up. I was never really a fan of private plates, still think they're a waste of money - but this is my plate on Forza Motorsport so when I realised it was 'only' £250 I went for it :lol:
Went for a full sized plate on the rear and the front one is the exact width of the number plate plinth. Nothing makes my teeth itch more than a number plate that's too small for its plinth.
With that done I also got my front tyres replaced for the new ZZRs I bought some weeks ago. The tread levels of my OSF was absolutely fine (almost new) so kept that as a space, but the NSF had some bad inside shoulder wear and a puncture - so that's int bin.
Today I put some tax back on the car and took it for a shakedown run for petrol and essentials. Only 7 miles or so, but the car felt really, really good - probably a result of sitting on the sofa for two months solid but it felt loads quicker than it did earlier in the year... had that zing to the power delivery where you keep expecting it to tail off, but it doesn't and keeps shoving you right till the gear change. Aside from that the brakes felt good too, I'm still on my old pads but I've all but eliminated the deadzone now in the top of the pedal travel so there's an instant response now and I think I've even got rid of some rattles with my express interior refit, the car almost felt refined
Days like this really make me feel like I've got a car for life, and I was only nipping to the petrol station and back!I thought I had a trackday coming up (it got cancelled 
) so I put some time aside to swap my brake pads over.
The novelty of working on the new floor hasn't worn off yet, can just plod around in the garage in socks (not advised for safety purposes) and roll around on the floor without needing to wash the clothes immediately afterwards.
I made an early start, turns out the upper balljoint makes a good cup holder - which makes four in the whole car, that must be Cayman rivalling.
Not much to say about a pad change other than they were tiiiiiight! I measured my discs and found that they've worn an amount "less than measurable" on my cheap caliper. So in a year of 5k miles and multiple trackdays I'd gone through two sets of RS42s (or at least, through 70% of two sets) which have made approximately bugger all of an impression on my discs.
Once the world awoke I needed to tend to a domestic issue and get some spare parts for a toilet, so decided it was as good a trip as any to bed in the new pads. First impressions were very good, even whilst bedding in which is usually a bit of a 'snatchy' experience. I have to be careful not to be too harsh on the RS42s as the set I had in were 'hanging' as the kids would say.
People often refer to the 42's as feeling 'wooden' which I can best describe as having an area of 'numbness' that you need to push through to get the sharper stopping power, this leaves you little room for modulating the brakes on track but ultimately they still have excellent performance on even longer sessions. The 14's seem to have a linear braking power from the very beginning and this gives the brakes less of a binary feel. Obviously the big test will be on track, hopefully they'll wear a bit better too - even if that's at the cost of a bit of disc wear.
One of my big concerns about racier pads is squeal, but so far so good on that front too. I had a bit of a chirp from the NSR for the first few stops but they seem to have vanished since getting some bedding in done. Fingers crossed that continues because my tolerance for it is quite low.
This is adding nicely to the positive vibe I have about the car at the moment, I'm sure it's just sofa time that has numbed my senses but the car is feeling properly on its toes and ready for action. Hopefully that comes soon!
Just to prove I wasn't joyriding...
) so I put some time aside to swap my brake pads over.The novelty of working on the new floor hasn't worn off yet, can just plod around in the garage in socks (not advised for safety purposes) and roll around on the floor without needing to wash the clothes immediately afterwards.
I made an early start, turns out the upper balljoint makes a good cup holder - which makes four in the whole car, that must be Cayman rivalling.
Not much to say about a pad change other than they were tiiiiiight! I measured my discs and found that they've worn an amount "less than measurable" on my cheap caliper. So in a year of 5k miles and multiple trackdays I'd gone through two sets of RS42s (or at least, through 70% of two sets) which have made approximately bugger all of an impression on my discs.
Once the world awoke I needed to tend to a domestic issue and get some spare parts for a toilet, so decided it was as good a trip as any to bed in the new pads. First impressions were very good, even whilst bedding in which is usually a bit of a 'snatchy' experience. I have to be careful not to be too harsh on the RS42s as the set I had in were 'hanging' as the kids would say.
People often refer to the 42's as feeling 'wooden' which I can best describe as having an area of 'numbness' that you need to push through to get the sharper stopping power, this leaves you little room for modulating the brakes on track but ultimately they still have excellent performance on even longer sessions. The 14's seem to have a linear braking power from the very beginning and this gives the brakes less of a binary feel. Obviously the big test will be on track, hopefully they'll wear a bit better too - even if that's at the cost of a bit of disc wear.
One of my big concerns about racier pads is squeal, but so far so good on that front too. I had a bit of a chirp from the NSR for the first few stops but they seem to have vanished since getting some bedding in done. Fingers crossed that continues because my tolerance for it is quite low.
This is adding nicely to the positive vibe I have about the car at the moment, I'm sure it's just sofa time that has numbed my senses but the car is feeling properly on its toes and ready for action. Hopefully that comes soon!
Just to prove I wasn't joyriding...
Nothing much to report on the hands-on front, other than I swapped my spoiler fixings over.
Looks like they had been molegripped last time the spoilers was removed/refitted and I had to follow in those footsteps to remove them once more. I removed the spoiler because it was full of water, yes it appears that's a thing.
Aside from that I've just been getting some driving done, no big distances yet just a few 'long way round' essential trips around the local area. I am starting to get a bit more familiar with the new setup of the car and I am starting to build up some feedback.
1. Brakes - I commented that the RS14s were squeal free but it doesn't seem to be that black and white. Anecdotally it seems that when I've been "on it" for a while, then later do some low intensity braking that they chirp up a bit. Nothing too bad yet, and it may just be part of the early lifecycle of the pads. I'll try not to judge them properly until they've done a trackday.
Aside from that the pedal feel and consistency (as far as it can be tested on road) is excellent, it's probably one of the more significant drive-ability changes I've made to the car so far.
2. Suspension - I think I'm getting excessive bump steer with the new rideheight/geo. I say 'think' because I'm not really what you would consider a "car whisperer" and although I (now) understand the concepts of it, I'm not sure that I know exactly what it feels like.
To give the best description I would say that the car feels a bit like it's hunting out undulations and bumps in the road. Typically I would attribute tram lining like this to a change of tyres (usually going wider/stiffer) but I've run the same brand/type of tyres across both my Elise/Exiges). I wouldn't say that it's severe, but the car certainly feels a bit more sensitive to it. Secondary to that, on a longer sweeping bend where the suspension can get 'loaded up' a bit, I feel the wheel is darting a little bit in my hands, again nothing severe - this is a very minor trait.
Ultimately this doesn't seem to be hurting the road holding or handling of the car, so I'm reluctant to make any further changes until I can explore it a bit more first. Get the (brand new) front tyres scrubbed in and see how it feels on a snooker table race track, but in the meantime I may evaluate my options which seem to be:
a) Steering rack riser plates, cheap change which will just raise the rack 10mm, so no adjustability as such but might get the bump steer curve back towards centre a bit.
b) New rack and/or steering arms. A few options exist on the market, the Spitfire ones being adjustable via shims. A bit more money, but ultimately would give the most control.
The other issue that I have is being able to measure changes, I've worked with loads of 'geo' people over the years and not once have I discussed the measurement or adjustment of bump steer... but maybe that's because I've simply not asked.
I do welcome the opinion of the forums though, I don't feel my ride height is too extreme but I do need to measure it again to see where I'm at.
Looks like they had been molegripped last time the spoilers was removed/refitted and I had to follow in those footsteps to remove them once more. I removed the spoiler because it was full of water, yes it appears that's a thing.
Aside from that I've just been getting some driving done, no big distances yet just a few 'long way round' essential trips around the local area. I am starting to get a bit more familiar with the new setup of the car and I am starting to build up some feedback.
1. Brakes - I commented that the RS14s were squeal free but it doesn't seem to be that black and white. Anecdotally it seems that when I've been "on it" for a while, then later do some low intensity braking that they chirp up a bit. Nothing too bad yet, and it may just be part of the early lifecycle of the pads. I'll try not to judge them properly until they've done a trackday.
Aside from that the pedal feel and consistency (as far as it can be tested on road) is excellent, it's probably one of the more significant drive-ability changes I've made to the car so far.
2. Suspension - I think I'm getting excessive bump steer with the new rideheight/geo. I say 'think' because I'm not really what you would consider a "car whisperer" and although I (now) understand the concepts of it, I'm not sure that I know exactly what it feels like.
To give the best description I would say that the car feels a bit like it's hunting out undulations and bumps in the road. Typically I would attribute tram lining like this to a change of tyres (usually going wider/stiffer) but I've run the same brand/type of tyres across both my Elise/Exiges). I wouldn't say that it's severe, but the car certainly feels a bit more sensitive to it. Secondary to that, on a longer sweeping bend where the suspension can get 'loaded up' a bit, I feel the wheel is darting a little bit in my hands, again nothing severe - this is a very minor trait.
Ultimately this doesn't seem to be hurting the road holding or handling of the car, so I'm reluctant to make any further changes until I can explore it a bit more first. Get the (brand new) front tyres scrubbed in and see how it feels on a snooker table race track, but in the meantime I may evaluate my options which seem to be:
a) Steering rack riser plates, cheap change which will just raise the rack 10mm, so no adjustability as such but might get the bump steer curve back towards centre a bit.
b) New rack and/or steering arms. A few options exist on the market, the Spitfire ones being adjustable via shims. A bit more money, but ultimately would give the most control.
The other issue that I have is being able to measure changes, I've worked with loads of 'geo' people over the years and not once have I discussed the measurement or adjustment of bump steer... but maybe that's because I've simply not asked.
I do welcome the opinion of the forums though, I don't feel my ride height is too extreme but I do need to measure it again to see where I'm at.
I remember the steering rack raiser plates making a big difference to my VX220 after it was lowered - but I seem to remember reading that later Lotus's like the Exige had the plates from factory - may need to verify the parts numbers, there were motorsport rack plates with a different number of notches I think?
james_gt3rs said:
I remember the steering rack raiser plates making a big difference to my VX220 after it was lowered - but I seem to remember reading that later Lotus's like the Exige had the plates from factory - may need to verify the parts numbers, there were motorsport rack plates with a different number of notches I think?
Thanks James, sounds positive already.I just had a look and the part number for the riser plate is listed under the following models which I then cross referenced with known ride heights. (I removed the V6 based cars because I believe their reference for rideheight is totally different)
340R (100/110mm)
Elise S1 with Motorsports suspension (100/110mm I think)
Exige S1 (112/122mm)
Elise S2 135R (120/120mm)
For reference my S2 Exige would have come at 130/130mm rideheight from the factory - all the cars listed are a fair bit lower. I just measured my current height and it's in the ballpark of 115/125 currently.
That may have answered my own question, I imagine fitting the riser plates will alter my front toe slightly?
Might have a minor problem (that could turn into a catastrophic one!)...
I was having a bit of a pre-trackday inspection of my front suspension settings/spanner check etc and noticed that the back side of the oil cooler had the slightest hint of oil residue on it. The union at the top/rear of the cooler was bone dry but after shining a torch through the front grill I could see that there was a trace of damp on the front/lower union. Bugger!
Bizarrely I checked the other side and found exactly the same there too... if a cooler/thread was damaged or just "not done up enough" I could accept that, but seems very odd for both to be like this. The front/lower unions are extremely difficult to access (especially with a 32mm spanner...) but I could just about get one on and nip them up - probably not even 1/16th of a turn so I'm fairly confident that they're done up correctly.
There's a chance this could be nothing to worry about, I tried to 'prime' the oil circuit when I refitted everything during the charge cooler install by funneling in some oil to the top of the coolers and it's fairly likely that I sloshed some around a bit, perhaps it's just worked it's way down and pooled on top of the union. There's also a very, very tiny amount - I've had no drips on the floor, no drips on the back of the wheel arch liners and no drips on the front undertray/inside the front clam. There's not even enough to break surface tension around the union and with the amount of airflow running through there I'd expect to see a bit of a mess up front if there was even just a small amount leaking.
With that in mind I've cleaned things up a bit and I'll just have to monitor it. Annoyingly there's no real way to 'test' this without getting the cooling circuit fully active which means giving the car a good kicking... not the sort of conditions I want to be in if I suddenly start spraying out high pressure oil.
Annoyingly I've got a spare set of coolers in my box of bits, but it would be clam off again to replace them. Although that's only probably 2-3 hours effort all in to remove/refit I'd rather not do it right now. In fact as a backup plan I'd be more inclined to take the front mounted coolers out of circulation completely and fit a rear mounted air/water laminova setup instead. I might even be able to retrieve all of the plumbing to save a good chunk of weight, and then I can just retrieve the dormant coolers at a later date if/when the clam comes off again.
Annoying
I was having a bit of a pre-trackday inspection of my front suspension settings/spanner check etc and noticed that the back side of the oil cooler had the slightest hint of oil residue on it. The union at the top/rear of the cooler was bone dry but after shining a torch through the front grill I could see that there was a trace of damp on the front/lower union. Bugger!
Bizarrely I checked the other side and found exactly the same there too... if a cooler/thread was damaged or just "not done up enough" I could accept that, but seems very odd for both to be like this. The front/lower unions are extremely difficult to access (especially with a 32mm spanner...) but I could just about get one on and nip them up - probably not even 1/16th of a turn so I'm fairly confident that they're done up correctly.
There's a chance this could be nothing to worry about, I tried to 'prime' the oil circuit when I refitted everything during the charge cooler install by funneling in some oil to the top of the coolers and it's fairly likely that I sloshed some around a bit, perhaps it's just worked it's way down and pooled on top of the union. There's also a very, very tiny amount - I've had no drips on the floor, no drips on the back of the wheel arch liners and no drips on the front undertray/inside the front clam. There's not even enough to break surface tension around the union and with the amount of airflow running through there I'd expect to see a bit of a mess up front if there was even just a small amount leaking.
With that in mind I've cleaned things up a bit and I'll just have to monitor it. Annoyingly there's no real way to 'test' this without getting the cooling circuit fully active which means giving the car a good kicking... not the sort of conditions I want to be in if I suddenly start spraying out high pressure oil.
Annoyingly I've got a spare set of coolers in my box of bits, but it would be clam off again to replace them. Although that's only probably 2-3 hours effort all in to remove/refit I'd rather not do it right now. In fact as a backup plan I'd be more inclined to take the front mounted coolers out of circulation completely and fit a rear mounted air/water laminova setup instead. I might even be able to retrieve all of the plumbing to save a good chunk of weight, and then I can just retrieve the dormant coolers at a later date if/when the clam comes off again.
Annoying
I spent a bit of time trying to clean up the coolers best I could with the clam still on, then gave the car a good run out this morning.
Enjoyed the drive (when I wasn't glaring at the oil pressure gauge) and had a quick peer through the grill half way round, I thought I could maybe see a trace of fresh oil but it was so hard to tell in the light. Once I got home I had a good look again and really couldn't decide whether it was leaking or not. I debated long and hard over breakfast about what to next...
65mins later...
I can now have a proper look at the issue, and it was definitely worth removing the clam even though I'm still not quite sure what the full extent of the problem is.
First off, the OS cooler seems the 'least leaky' as the only evidence I can see is an oily damp patch in the fins itself - it doesn't photograph well but you can just about make out a darker/blacker patch above the union.
So either:
a) The union has been weeping and airflow has flicked it up into the fins
b) There's damage to the core (unlikely as fins are unmarked in that area) and its dripping down towards the union
c) It's the union leaking on the other side and it's dripping through (unlikely as it seemed dry on the 'wheel side' of the cooler)
If I was desperate to save money, I'd gamble on keeping the OS cooler and just refitting the hoses maybe with a bit of RTV on the threads. I'm not sure I'm that desperate though, so may just swap it.
Onto the NS cooler and we have a bit more to look at. This has got evidence of a stone strike going into the bottom right corner, much more dampness in the core and there were fresh looking (golden coloured) drips on the under side of it. Amazingly no evidence of oil anywhere else, not in the clam, undertray, wheel arch liners, nowhere - so it's either very, very recent or it's dripping so slowly that it's barely noticeable and surface tension is keeping it all in check. Either way, not good.
Other observations are that the rubber o'ring in one of the barbed fittings (the new fittings that Lotus do as a recall) seems a little pinched - so I'll get that changed.
I've got a trackday in 6 days time so I need an option that's quick. I've been researching the arse out of a rear mounted laminova setup to get rid of all the plumbing and both coolers but I'm reading mixed things on them. With the time I have to get this sorted I don't really want to be experimenting with anything so I'm leaning towards retaining the OEM config and sticking some new coolers in.
Enjoyed the drive (when I wasn't glaring at the oil pressure gauge) and had a quick peer through the grill half way round, I thought I could maybe see a trace of fresh oil but it was so hard to tell in the light. Once I got home I had a good look again and really couldn't decide whether it was leaking or not. I debated long and hard over breakfast about what to next...
65mins later...
I can now have a proper look at the issue, and it was definitely worth removing the clam even though I'm still not quite sure what the full extent of the problem is.
First off, the OS cooler seems the 'least leaky' as the only evidence I can see is an oily damp patch in the fins itself - it doesn't photograph well but you can just about make out a darker/blacker patch above the union.
So either:
a) The union has been weeping and airflow has flicked it up into the fins
b) There's damage to the core (unlikely as fins are unmarked in that area) and its dripping down towards the union
c) It's the union leaking on the other side and it's dripping through (unlikely as it seemed dry on the 'wheel side' of the cooler)
If I was desperate to save money, I'd gamble on keeping the OS cooler and just refitting the hoses maybe with a bit of RTV on the threads. I'm not sure I'm that desperate though, so may just swap it.
Onto the NS cooler and we have a bit more to look at. This has got evidence of a stone strike going into the bottom right corner, much more dampness in the core and there were fresh looking (golden coloured) drips on the under side of it. Amazingly no evidence of oil anywhere else, not in the clam, undertray, wheel arch liners, nowhere - so it's either very, very recent or it's dripping so slowly that it's barely noticeable and surface tension is keeping it all in check. Either way, not good.
Other observations are that the rubber o'ring in one of the barbed fittings (the new fittings that Lotus do as a recall) seems a little pinched - so I'll get that changed.
I've got a trackday in 6 days time so I need an option that's quick. I've been researching the arse out of a rear mounted laminova setup to get rid of all the plumbing and both coolers but I'm reading mixed things on them. With the time I have to get this sorted I don't really want to be experimenting with anything so I'm leaning towards retaining the OEM config and sticking some new coolers in.
My week of fettling has come to a conclusion, hopefully.
I removed the oil coolers and gave everything a clean down, the cores themselves looked to be OK after initial concern of a stone strike and I so no obvious damage to the threads/seats etc.
The oil fittings have integrated o-rings, I did replace these over winter but I just used some (very old) seals I had lying around and to be honest have no idea if they were fit for purpose at all. After a bit of confusion on another forum in which I was told the lines should not have o-rings in at all (turns out Lotus seemed to use any one of a variety of different hose fittings, some with o-rings, some without) I popped out the o-rings to find one of them very brittle, and actually broke as I removed it.
Unfortunately Lotus don't list the o-ring sizes anywhere, they come included on the hose fitting kit which in fairness is only £12 to buy... but it wasn't something I could easily get hold of within the day or so I had before clam had to go back on so I bought as many o-rings fit for oil/temperature that I could find and eventually eye balled in the closest fit (13.9x1.78mm for the record). Seemed to go on with minimal stretch and was about 0.3mm thicker than the originals. (which could have shrunk/compressed over time anyway?!)
Coolers were looking a bit sorry so they got some love.
Once refitted I ran the car as much as I could get away with, idling in the garage, on the drive - even a cheeky clamless drive through the village and I couldn't get a drop of oil to show up, so fingers crossed.
Whilst rolling around checking for leaks I did spot some rust on the inside of the tow post that I bought new over Christmas. Sure enough the towing eye wouldn't even screw in without assistance from an M8 tap so I got on the phone to Type116 Motorsports who knocked me up a new stainless one same day for me.
Of course this needed painting up too, would normally powdercoat something like this - but no time!
With one or two more runs up to temp/pressure to check for leaks the clam got offered back up and as of last night it was fully bolted down.
I've done a short test drive, seems like we're good - but I'll be watching like a hawk for the next few miles I'm sure. Lucky for this to be a <£10 fix, but in some ways I'd feel better if a load of expensive parts got replaced as at least that way confidence is up!
I removed the oil coolers and gave everything a clean down, the cores themselves looked to be OK after initial concern of a stone strike and I so no obvious damage to the threads/seats etc.
The oil fittings have integrated o-rings, I did replace these over winter but I just used some (very old) seals I had lying around and to be honest have no idea if they were fit for purpose at all. After a bit of confusion on another forum in which I was told the lines should not have o-rings in at all (turns out Lotus seemed to use any one of a variety of different hose fittings, some with o-rings, some without) I popped out the o-rings to find one of them very brittle, and actually broke as I removed it.
Unfortunately Lotus don't list the o-ring sizes anywhere, they come included on the hose fitting kit which in fairness is only £12 to buy... but it wasn't something I could easily get hold of within the day or so I had before clam had to go back on so I bought as many o-rings fit for oil/temperature that I could find and eventually eye balled in the closest fit (13.9x1.78mm for the record). Seemed to go on with minimal stretch and was about 0.3mm thicker than the originals. (which could have shrunk/compressed over time anyway?!)
Coolers were looking a bit sorry so they got some love.
Once refitted I ran the car as much as I could get away with, idling in the garage, on the drive - even a cheeky clamless drive through the village and I couldn't get a drop of oil to show up, so fingers crossed.
Whilst rolling around checking for leaks I did spot some rust on the inside of the tow post that I bought new over Christmas. Sure enough the towing eye wouldn't even screw in without assistance from an M8 tap so I got on the phone to Type116 Motorsports who knocked me up a new stainless one same day for me.
Of course this needed painting up too, would normally powdercoat something like this - but no time!
With one or two more runs up to temp/pressure to check for leaks the clam got offered back up and as of last night it was fully bolted down.
I've done a short test drive, seems like we're good - but I'll be watching like a hawk for the next few miles I'm sure. Lucky for this to be a <£10 fix, but in some ways I'd feel better if a load of expensive parts got replaced as at least that way confidence is up!
AndrewGP said:
Good work and it looks great! I’m seriously considering getting one of these in the future so your thread is very interesting. Keep the updates coming
Thanks Andrew, I can't recommend one enough. On reflection it probably looks like I spend a lot of time working on/fixing this car - but pretty much all of it has been self inflicted due to my upgrade-itis. The car didn't need any upgrades really, it's just part of the hobby for me to keep tinkering. Really enjoyed this thread and some useful nuggets of information too.
I've only had my Exige S since December and only covered 1000 miles or so so far so not really had to delve into the maintenance side of things yet but I am thinking about some preventative stuff next winter with the front clam off. Apart from anything else, my tow post and mesh is all suffering from a bit of the old tin worm. I thought I'd do the rad and resistor pack while I'm in there.
How big an ordeal do you find front clam removal and storage?
I've only had my Exige S since December and only covered 1000 miles or so so far so not really had to delve into the maintenance side of things yet but I am thinking about some preventative stuff next winter with the front clam off. Apart from anything else, my tow post and mesh is all suffering from a bit of the old tin worm. I thought I'd do the rad and resistor pack while I'm in there.
How big an ordeal do you find front clam removal and storage?
Fonzey said:
Thanks Andrew, I can't recommend one enough. On reflection it probably looks like I spend a lot of time working on/fixing this car - but pretty much all of it has been self inflicted due to my upgrade-itis. The car didn't need any upgrades really, it's just part of the hobby for me to keep tinkering.
It's great to see you so hands on with it, i'd hope i'd be the same with a car like this so always find this thread a great read. Everything seems pretty well thought out on them and relatively straight forward to work with from your thread? I'm sure there's been the odd thing that has felt like a nightmare at the time of course!Whens the next jaunt out for a road test planned? Im out in the North Pennines a lot at the moment so will keep an eye out if you end up heading north!
Gad-Westy said:
Really enjoyed this thread and some useful nuggets of information too.
I've only had my Exige S since December and only covered 1000 miles or so so far so not really had to delve into the maintenance side of things yet but I am thinking about some preventative stuff next winter with the front clam off. Apart from anything else, my tow post and mesh is all suffering from a bit of the old tin worm. I thought I'd do the rad and resistor pack while I'm in there.
How big an ordeal do you find front clam removal and storage?
Congrats on the new car!I've only had my Exige S since December and only covered 1000 miles or so so far so not really had to delve into the maintenance side of things yet but I am thinking about some preventative stuff next winter with the front clam off. Apart from anything else, my tow post and mesh is all suffering from a bit of the old tin worm. I thought I'd do the rad and resistor pack while I'm in there.
How big an ordeal do you find front clam removal and storage?
Clam removal is a piece of cake to be honest, once you know where the fixings are of course! It took me about an hour this time around, but that was just dawdling on a night, had the door open from the garage to the kitchen to help cool the house down a bit so was poking my head in occasionally to entertain the baby with my head torch
Storage is a bit of a pain, it's a stiff old unit so I think you could stand it on its nose if needed, but luckily with the double garage I can just tuck it off to one side.
Refitting is a little more tricky, only because there's a fair bit of jiggling around to do to line everything back up, people always say "take note of the shims!" but in all honesty I change the shim allocation each time I refit one... just to get everything lined up again! Probably took me 2 hours in total to refit it.
I highly recommend the 'front end refresh', having the rad, tow post, heater resistor etc fail at the wrong time could really tarnish ownership - for example early on a trackday, or half way across Europe, etc. The presence of AC (if your car has it) does complicate most of those jobs a fair bit, so get friendly with a local mobile AC guy!
scottos said:
It's great to see you so hands on with it, i'd hope i'd be the same with a car like this so always find this thread a great read. Everything seems pretty well thought out on them and relatively straight forward to work with from your thread? I'm sure there's been the odd thing that has felt like a nightmare at the time of course!
Whens the next jaunt out for a road test planned? Im out in the North Pennines a lot at the moment so will keep an eye out if you end up heading north!
Glad you're enjoying the thread, the Lotus layout in the Elise/Exige platform is equal parts genius and equal parts infuriating. Some stuff is just really elegant and comes together well, other stuff is just a cobbled mess so you just need to take each job at a time and roll the dice!Whens the next jaunt out for a road test planned? Im out in the North Pennines a lot at the moment so will keep an eye out if you end up heading north!
Car is next due out tomorrow for a trackday at Blyton Park, have my next round of updates sat in a box but I didn't want to rush installation before the trackday so will update about that in due course. Once that's done, I hope/intend to get out on some trips out, I'm long overdue a meet up with friends for a North Wales venture (once Wales is open....) and the Pennines are never too far away.
Gad-Westy said:
Thanks Fonzey. I'll be referring back to your thread as an instruction manual when I get around to doing some jobs!
Engine mount packers are on my radar as well as 2-3rd upshift at high revs is sometimes hard to find.
Yes the mount inserts are pretty good, but I found the gear change on this particular car to be brilliant out of the box (Elise I had before was a little harder to find sometimes). You will introduce some new rattles at idle though, but meh!Engine mount packers are on my radar as well as 2-3rd upshift at high revs is sometimes hard to find.
I know some people have success tweaking the cables too, and aftermarket cables are available - but I've not found the need... yet.
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