Took delivery...First impressions...(A bit long..)
Discussion
Hi all,
If you saw my earlier post, I was waiting to take delivery of my car (1989 NON SE). Well, finally took it yesterday in Indiana, drive the 600 miles to Rockville MD. Here's my thoughts:
- The car is in good condition (remember, I hadn't seen it before, although I had a lotus mechanic go out and check it out). I wasn't expecting it to be a new car, so I guess it was inline with my expectations. Call me a fool..for buying a Lotus unseen...but yes I did.
- The car pulls strongly, yet, the engine feels a bit..umm..."constricted" might be the word. Once I have a full maintenance done on the car, hopefully it should be better. I do have service history for the car going back to 2000, not before that.
- BIG thing in the service history, apparently the Turbo was replaced with a USED unit. - Advice from experts?
- The engine has this sort of .. "knocking" sound..kinda like one of those 4 stroke motorcycle engines. It goes away at medium to high speeds, but it's there when the car is idling or slow speeds. Thoughts? I suspect the exhaust..but I could be wrong.
- The engine/exhaust seems awfully loud. But that could be because my other car is a Landcruiser. Dead quiet. Is it this loud usually?
- The speedometer is not working right. The owner said, that the cable needs to be oiled/lubed..Thoughts?
- The "switch" on the left, in the dash, that lights up the dash lights, seems to be "quirky", on a hard jolt on the highway, the dash lights went off a few times. "Massaging" this switch brought the dash back to life. Can this be fixed/replaced?
- The interior does show some wear, I guess in line with a 15 year old car. Any thoughts on redoing the interior?
- The car is "canary yellow" NOW, although it seems the car was red before. Carfax has no history of accidents and neither does the present owner (and he knows the owner before that as well). Should I be concerned?
- The last owner (that I bought from), replaced the pedals and gear shift with MOMO stuff. The gear knob is actually loose and has a tendency to come out. Should I replace these with stock items?
- The brakes seems to be almost gone. I guess time to replace them. Any suggestions on pads/rotors etc?
- As some of the other owners had suggested (fluids, incl. brake/clutch fluid, filters, plugs, wiper blades, ignition wires etc), I'll be replacing all of these to make sure there's a "new" cycle to all of these. Any suggestions on these? DIY/independent mechanis/dealer? (I'm not terribly handy with cars, but I'm willing to learn..
- Some bulbs need to be replaced.
- The owner did give me the entire service history (to the extent that he had), and the Owner manuals etc. That was nice of him (right?)
- Th right front wheel seems to be off balance and consequently there's a bad shake in the steering wheeel. Time for a full wheel balance and alignment I guess..
- The steering seems to be like a brick! (Maybe I'm used to the Landcruiser..but still, this is really HARD!) Should it be this hard, or is something wrong?
- According to the service history the timing belt did get replaced in 2002. Should I worry about this?
Overall, I love the car! I'm sure a lot of these problems are to be expected in a 15 year old car. Any advice from you folks is appreciated.
Thanks.
Kap.
>>> Edited by kapone on Sunday 18th July 00:59
If you saw my earlier post, I was waiting to take delivery of my car (1989 NON SE). Well, finally took it yesterday in Indiana, drive the 600 miles to Rockville MD. Here's my thoughts:
- The car is in good condition (remember, I hadn't seen it before, although I had a lotus mechanic go out and check it out). I wasn't expecting it to be a new car, so I guess it was inline with my expectations. Call me a fool..for buying a Lotus unseen...but yes I did.
- The car pulls strongly, yet, the engine feels a bit..umm..."constricted" might be the word. Once I have a full maintenance done on the car, hopefully it should be better. I do have service history for the car going back to 2000, not before that.
- BIG thing in the service history, apparently the Turbo was replaced with a USED unit. - Advice from experts?
- The engine has this sort of .. "knocking" sound..kinda like one of those 4 stroke motorcycle engines. It goes away at medium to high speeds, but it's there when the car is idling or slow speeds. Thoughts? I suspect the exhaust..but I could be wrong.
- The engine/exhaust seems awfully loud. But that could be because my other car is a Landcruiser. Dead quiet. Is it this loud usually?
- The speedometer is not working right. The owner said, that the cable needs to be oiled/lubed..Thoughts?
- The "switch" on the left, in the dash, that lights up the dash lights, seems to be "quirky", on a hard jolt on the highway, the dash lights went off a few times. "Massaging" this switch brought the dash back to life. Can this be fixed/replaced?
- The interior does show some wear, I guess in line with a 15 year old car. Any thoughts on redoing the interior?
- The car is "canary yellow" NOW, although it seems the car was red before. Carfax has no history of accidents and neither does the present owner (and he knows the owner before that as well). Should I be concerned?
- The last owner (that I bought from), replaced the pedals and gear shift with MOMO stuff. The gear knob is actually loose and has a tendency to come out. Should I replace these with stock items?
- The brakes seems to be almost gone. I guess time to replace them. Any suggestions on pads/rotors etc?
- As some of the other owners had suggested (fluids, incl. brake/clutch fluid, filters, plugs, wiper blades, ignition wires etc), I'll be replacing all of these to make sure there's a "new" cycle to all of these. Any suggestions on these? DIY/independent mechanis/dealer? (I'm not terribly handy with cars, but I'm willing to learn..
- Some bulbs need to be replaced.
- The owner did give me the entire service history (to the extent that he had), and the Owner manuals etc. That was nice of him (right?)
- Th right front wheel seems to be off balance and consequently there's a bad shake in the steering wheeel. Time for a full wheel balance and alignment I guess..
- The steering seems to be like a brick! (Maybe I'm used to the Landcruiser..but still, this is really HARD!) Should it be this hard, or is something wrong?
- According to the service history the timing belt did get replaced in 2002. Should I worry about this?
Overall, I love the car! I'm sure a lot of these problems are to be expected in a 15 year old car. Any advice from you folks is appreciated.
Thanks.
Kap.
>>> Edited by kapone on Sunday 18th July 00:59
Firstly congrats, welcome to many a hour spent on the road and empty wallet (Only jokeing). I also have an 89 T so almost the same as yours (Euro Spec).
I would change all your fluids first and then look at noise, brakes, clutch etc. For a lot of the other stuff take a look at my site. Setting the mixture and balancing the carbs smoothed out the idle on mine but oddly made the 2-2.5k stumble worse. I'm not sure if the US spec 89's had carbs but if so get you self a 14mm color tune (4 for an easy life) and a carb tune from www.carbtune.com
Colour could be that someone just didnt want a red one and like me had it resprayed.
I dont find the steering heavy once moving. Is this yuor first non power assited car?
Steve
89 Turbo
www.unity1.co.uk/Lotus
I would change all your fluids first and then look at noise, brakes, clutch etc. For a lot of the other stuff take a look at my site. Setting the mixture and balancing the carbs smoothed out the idle on mine but oddly made the 2-2.5k stumble worse. I'm not sure if the US spec 89's had carbs but if so get you self a 14mm color tune (4 for an easy life) and a carb tune from www.carbtune.com
Colour could be that someone just didnt want a red one and like me had it resprayed.
I dont find the steering heavy once moving. Is this yuor first non power assited car?
Steve
89 Turbo
www.unity1.co.uk/Lotus
The steering is what to be expected.
Yes the 17" wheels do not help matters as your car had 15" fronts. The ride will be a bit rougher with 17" also.
It should idle smooth around 1K or a little less on the tach.
The exhaust should sound louder than a Land Cruiser or regular car.
The Speedo in our cars do have problems both with the cable and lube inside of speedo itself. Sometimes when the lube inside dries out the needle will jump or the speedo will make a chipping sound. Mine grenaded on the hwy as my worm drive sheared off. It cost about $150 at the VDO shop to repair it.
The switches are easy to schange and just unclip from the pod. The only hassle on the 89 is the pos has to come out, once out you can flip it over and press the clips that hold the switch in place remove the connections and the switch is pushed out the front. You might be able to just clean the contacts.
The interior is pretty easy to do and any leather shop can do it. One will never recover the cost of inprovements so do it to enjoy the car and if you get a fraction back out it when time to sell it's a bonus. Don't expect to pull out what one puts in it just makes the car easier to sell for about the same amount maybe a little more but not much more.
There is also a chance the car had body work done it. Not a major issue unless it was done poorly. put your eye on the rear tail light and look down the body. Does it have ripples? Right and left look dimesnionally correct?
Glue the gear knob back on sometimes even the stock one comes loose.
Use a dial caliper or mic and gauge the rotor thickness. You can also use a deflection gauge to see if the rotors are warped. If they are okay just change pads and lert the new pads bed in. If there is runout cut the rotors if they are with in tolerances or they will surely heat up and warp. Everyone has their own opinions on pads and you will not get a consenus on them.
- The brakes seems to be almost gone. I guess time to replace them. Any suggestions on pads/rotors etc?
Do as much as you are comfortable doing, the more you do the better you will become like anything else.
- Th right front wheel seems to be off balance and consequently there's a bad shake in the steering wheeel. Time for a full wheel balance and alignment I guess.
The right front wheel vibration? The little plastic thing for the steering rack maybe worn. Lift the front end and check for play.
Check the timing belt tension and if it was replaced in 2002 it should be fine.
Yes the 17" wheels do not help matters as your car had 15" fronts. The ride will be a bit rougher with 17" also.
It should idle smooth around 1K or a little less on the tach.
The exhaust should sound louder than a Land Cruiser or regular car.
The Speedo in our cars do have problems both with the cable and lube inside of speedo itself. Sometimes when the lube inside dries out the needle will jump or the speedo will make a chipping sound. Mine grenaded on the hwy as my worm drive sheared off. It cost about $150 at the VDO shop to repair it.
The switches are easy to schange and just unclip from the pod. The only hassle on the 89 is the pos has to come out, once out you can flip it over and press the clips that hold the switch in place remove the connections and the switch is pushed out the front. You might be able to just clean the contacts.
The interior is pretty easy to do and any leather shop can do it. One will never recover the cost of inprovements so do it to enjoy the car and if you get a fraction back out it when time to sell it's a bonus. Don't expect to pull out what one puts in it just makes the car easier to sell for about the same amount maybe a little more but not much more.
There is also a chance the car had body work done it. Not a major issue unless it was done poorly. put your eye on the rear tail light and look down the body. Does it have ripples? Right and left look dimesnionally correct?
Glue the gear knob back on sometimes even the stock one comes loose.
Use a dial caliper or mic and gauge the rotor thickness. You can also use a deflection gauge to see if the rotors are warped. If they are okay just change pads and lert the new pads bed in. If there is runout cut the rotors if they are with in tolerances or they will surely heat up and warp. Everyone has their own opinions on pads and you will not get a consenus on them.
- The brakes seems to be almost gone. I guess time to replace them. Any suggestions on pads/rotors etc?
Do as much as you are comfortable doing, the more you do the better you will become like anything else.
- Th right front wheel seems to be off balance and consequently there's a bad shake in the steering wheeel. Time for a full wheel balance and alignment I guess.
The right front wheel vibration? The little plastic thing for the steering rack maybe worn. Lift the front end and check for play.
Check the timing belt tension and if it was replaced in 2002 it should be fine.
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