HELP! 1987 Esprit HC leaking coolant!
Discussion
First of all I'd like to thank everybody here on the forums for all the great info I've gotten over the years, and for helping persuade me to go ahead and get a 1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo HC. Unfortunately, the last time I took it out for an "Italian Tune-Up", it decided that it would leak coolant all over my garage. The dripping was coming from the front of the car, so after a lot of wrenching and getting dirty I got the two plastic panels off, jacked up the front end of the car to get a better view, but still no obvious sign as to where the dripping was coming from, other than from somewhere around the radiator. After filling the coolant reservoir with water, I immediately saw a stream of water flowing out from the far right radiator fan. But... there was no way to see where it was coming from exactly. The hose going into the radiator was sealed properly, but before going any further (these cars take a bit of work and patience to get apart!), I thought I'd post a note here on the forums to see if anyone else has had similar experiences. From what other people have written in other posts I'm thinking it could be that the radiator (it's original) may have given up the ghost and need to be recored, or ...hopefully... it's a much more simple (read: inexpensive) solution like a busted hose or clamp. I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions that anyone has, thanks a bunch!
keep on driving,
-Dr. J
1987 Turbo Esprit HC
keep on driving,
-Dr. J
1987 Turbo Esprit HC
Hi,
Given it's age, I suspect that the core is leaking, especially since you feel all the hoses are intact. There really aren't many other possibilities.
It is a stock 2-core radiator, but I had mine rebuilt with 3 cores for about $200.
That's the good news. The bad news is that this is one of the more challenging repairs to make. Not that it takes any extraordinary knowledge, experience or tools, but rather that it is simply a lot of grunt work.
It is also pretty much a two person job as everything (oil cooler, A/C condenser, fans and shroud etc. need to either come off, or be loosened so they can be moved out of the way in order to extract/replace the radiator. Figure about 3-4 hours to extract and slightly less to replace. Consider replacing the hoses up there as well as it will never be easier what with everything exposed, the coolant drained etc. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
>> Edited by lotusguy on Monday 28th June 07:15
Given it's age, I suspect that the core is leaking, especially since you feel all the hoses are intact. There really aren't many other possibilities.
It is a stock 2-core radiator, but I had mine rebuilt with 3 cores for about $200.
That's the good news. The bad news is that this is one of the more challenging repairs to make. Not that it takes any extraordinary knowledge, experience or tools, but rather that it is simply a lot of grunt work.
It is also pretty much a two person job as everything (oil cooler, A/C condenser, fans and shroud etc. need to either come off, or be loosened so they can be moved out of the way in order to extract/replace the radiator. Figure about 3-4 hours to extract and slightly less to replace. Consider replacing the hoses up there as well as it will never be easier what with everything exposed, the coolant drained etc. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
>> Edited by lotusguy on Monday 28th June 07:15
Wow, thanks so much for the fast response! 
I think you're right on this one... I was hoping for some sort of heat-related expansion that might explain the leaking, but the car hadn't been started for a week when I put in the water, which pretty much rules out my theory. If all I'm out is two benjamins and an afternoon, I'll just consider myself lucky that it wasn't worse, hopefully I won't find anything else that's gone south while I'm in there!
thanks a bunch,
-Dr. J
I think you're right on this one... I was hoping for some sort of heat-related expansion that might explain the leaking, but the car hadn't been started for a week when I put in the water, which pretty much rules out my theory. If all I'm out is two benjamins and an afternoon, I'll just consider myself lucky that it wasn't worse, hopefully I won't find anything else that's gone south while I'm in there! thanks a bunch,
-Dr. J
lotusguy said:I did this job last year on my '87 HC Turbo.
It is also pretty much a two person job. Figure about 3-4 hours to extract and slightly less to replace.
I managed without an assistant, but it was a messy bitch of a job and it took me a long time. I spent a long time lying on my back in a pool of coolant rehearsing long Anglo Saxon soliloquies.
Expect all the fasteners to be seized. I removed most of them with a grinding disc...
I also replaced everything from the undershield screws to the big radiator duct bolts with stainless fasteners.
A useful tip is to get the car up as high as possible and, if you're using axle stands, to position them as far back as you can. One of my biggest problems was getting enough clearance to remove the knackered radiator.
I removed all of the mounting bolts for the radiator duct, which allowed it to drop down enough to get the radiator out without having to remove the oil cooler and the air con radiator, which are mounted to the top of the duct.
This leaves the duct hanging from the car by the various hoses and pipes for the oil cooler and air con. It is not ideal, but just about gives you the clearance you need to get the radiator out.
The oil cooler is a very fragile and expensive object and does not like to be removed. I have it on good authority that you will probably cause irreparable damage to it if you try to get it off, especially if it has been there for 17 years...
Get the original radiator recored.
Don't even think about buying a new one from Lotus. It seems they can only supply a "current" radiator. It would cost a fortune and allegedly requires "fettling" of the radiator duct. In other words, it doesn't fit....
Cheers
Pat.
I’ve recently removed all the front end of my car during a re-build (89SE).
I wanted to get the condenser out for testing but ended up replacing both the oil coolers at just over £300 just because they are too fragile to get out. They are made with alloy fittings but are mated to steel hose fittings so there is just about no chance of getting them apart once they have been together for over 10 years.
Also replaced the main radiator as it was looking a little sad, but after all that the condenser proved to be fine!
I wanted to get the condenser out for testing but ended up replacing both the oil coolers at just over £300 just because they are too fragile to get out. They are made with alloy fittings but are mated to steel hose fittings so there is just about no chance of getting them apart once they have been together for over 10 years.
Also replaced the main radiator as it was looking a little sad, but after all that the condenser proved to be fine!
Wow, thanks again for all the great info! To answer some of your questions, no, the car wasn't running hot prior to the garage-puddling (seemed to happen all at once, since there was no trail of coolant leading up my driveway), and from my somewhat limited vantage point and groping around, none of the hoses I saw were damaged. As I'm not quite ready to tackle any disassembly by myself at this point, the next thing I'm gonna try is having the car towed to my mechanic's shop to get it on a proper lift and have a good look at what's going on underneath. It's probably a good idea to do a LOF as well, since the previous owner didn't drive this car a whole lot (still only has 21,800 original miles!), and I like to start everything fresh when I get a car, just so I have my own records of servicing.
many thanks, and hopefully in the next week or two I'll have an update!
-Dr. J
many thanks, and hopefully in the next week or two I'll have an update!
-Dr. J
Dr Julio said:
still only has 21,800 original miles
Snap!
My '87 HC Turbo had 21,688 miles whan I bought her 2 years ago.
She has now reached a stratospheric 24,000.....
If mine is anything to go by, then your next jobs will be a set of tyres, a new silencer and then a wrestle with the gear linkage bushes, a new crossgate cable and rod modification to sort out the hopelessly vague gearshift.
You can also expect the steering rack to be a bit slack, which is my next job.
When did you last have a cambelt? This is also on my Jobs To Do list come August.
Don't be dismayed by a few jobs that are needed to get the old horse running again. Lack of use tends to breed it's own peculiar problems. A knackered radiator is a well known consequence of lack of use.
Just a thought.... Check your windscreen washer bottle hasn't got a leak. Mine had split across the back, where it mounts onto the bracket on the tub. It leaked until it was half empty, causing blue fluid to leak onto the floor under the front of the car. I was sure it was the radiator, but it wasn't. I fixed it in ten minutes by melting over the split with a soldering iron.
The radiator started leaking four weeks later....
Cheers
Pat.
PS, when my radiator started leaking, it only let out fluid when hot. When cold the bloody thing was watertight, which made diagnosis difficult. The giveaway was the rust coloured stain on the bottom right hand side of the radiator, which showed where it was leaking from...
>> Edited by PatHeald on Tuesday 29th June 20:59
Time for a brief update! I had the Esprit towed to the mechanics shop this morning, and after getting it up on the lift and poking around for a while, my mechanic suggested getting a recore/new radiator. Turns out the original one was cracked and rusted, so a simple patch was out of the question. Anyways, my question to you guys is this: Does anyone know what other cars this style of radiator was used in, or what brand/type/model number would make for an easy swap? I'm in agreement with not going with an original (read: expensive) Lotus part, so I just want to make sure I've checked out all the options before plunking down my hard-earned cash. Thanks again for all the help, I'll try to get some pictures of the car online soon!
keep on driving,
Dr. J
Thanks again for all the help, I'll try to get some pictures of the car online soon! keep on driving,
Dr. J
dr julio said:
Time for a brief update! I had the Esprit towed to the mechanics shop this morning, and after getting it up on the lift and poking around for a while, my mechanic suggested getting a recore/new radiator. Turns out the original one was cracked and rusted, so a simple patch was out of the question. Anyways, my question to you guys is this: Does anyone know what other cars this style of radiator was used in, or what brand/type/model number would make for an easy swap? I'm in agreement with not going with an original (read: expensive) Lotus part, so I just want to make sure I've checked out all the options before plunking down my hard-earned cash.
keep on driving,
Dr. J
Hi,
The radiator is Lotus specific and not cross-referencable. That having been said, any competant radiator shop can either rebuild/recore yours or can fab one. Will likely cost less than an OEM part, you can add a third core over the stock two. But the savings won't be dramatic. Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE
Sorry for the delay, but up until yesterday the car was still in pieces! Anyways, here's the update: I picked up the radiator monday, and as it turns out the place that did the recoring installed the radiator frame UPSIDE DOWN. So after a couple of trips back and forth between my mechanic's shop and the radiator place, (and a much lighter pocketbook!), the car is functioning again. But now it seems that the injectors are bad, so methinks it's best to start a new thread on this forum, since this one has been resolved.
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