red hose replacement
Discussion
suggest you log into the Lotus BBS over on british-cars.co.uk and search the archives. I've done dozens and have posted my recommendations on there a few times.
Make sure you read a good guide first. Pull through from BACK to FRONT and DO NOT let the old pipe come apart from the new one whilst in the sill whatever you do. You will also have to remove the dash LHS panel, the undertrays and the fuel tank shear panel.
Basically - my no. 1 recommendation would be that unles you have good skills, a very good ramp / lift / pit and some good tools, just pay a man who can.
cheers
Make sure you read a good guide first. Pull through from BACK to FRONT and DO NOT let the old pipe come apart from the new one whilst in the sill whatever you do. You will also have to remove the dash LHS panel, the undertrays and the fuel tank shear panel.
Basically - my no. 1 recommendation would be that unles you have good skills, a very good ramp / lift / pit and some good tools, just pay a man who can.
cheers
Disclaimer: None of this is my own work, I merely did some searching and cut n pasted the best bets. Also I have never actually done this work, the research was for a friend. HTH :-)
“The clutch pipe is a bit of a pain to do but here are a few guidelines.
1. Jack up the rear of car and secure safely
2. Remove engine tray and the fuel tank panel...the one with holes in it.
3. Remove the left hand side of dash board, this gives access to the pipe where it comes through from the front compartment and goes down into the sill.
Dash removal is easy. The plastic face panel can be unclipped from the bottom first this gives access to the upper and lower fixing screws of the aluminium parts.
Remove the screws and pull of the top of the dash 1st (the bit with the Elise name on) watch for the anti rattle clips as they will fall out at this point otherwise you will end up having to remove the coin tray to get them out..
Pull the front dash aluminium part to give better access and remove the radio if fitted you will be able to see the clutch hose where it comes into the passenger compartment and disappears down the A pillar into the sill section
4. In the bonnet remove the guard covering the windscreen wiper mechanism. Loosen the master cylinder cap and then cut the red hose at the point it meets the slave cylinder in the engine bay and drain the fluid into a container. Once the fluid has drained, cut the red hose an inch or so from the clutch master cylinder.
5. Disconnect the hose at the engine end.
6. Blow from the front end to get all the fluid out. You'll be there all day if you try it from the engine end. ;o)
7. To easily remove the old pipe, push a length of garden wire through the pipe front to back and tie it at the front end.
8. Remove any tie clips / insulation at the engine end of the red hose (There are 3 tie wraps (Lotus use) on the red clutch hose. These need to be removed. You can get to them just by putting your arm down sill areas accessed by the above panels you have removed).
9. In the dash board remove any tie clips / insulation on the old hose. I had just the one tie clip if memory serves correct.
10 Gently pull the red hose or garden wire and new hose from the dash board through into the cockpit. There is a rubber grommet in the bulk head which you need to ensure doesn't disappear into the sill.
11 Pull all the new hose into the cockpit. (It might sound daft...but bear with me.)
12 Sort out the grommet so it is repositioned roughly 4 feet from the front end of the new hose.
13 From under the car gently pull the red hose from the sill. The taped joint of the two cables might be a bugger to get through the small square whole in the sill....jiggle it....be patient and it will come.
14. Pull it all the way through until the front end of the new hose is up to the dash board. (I taped a hammer to the end to make sure it wasn't going to disappear down into the sill)
15. Now disconnect the garden wire (red hose) from the new one and ceremoniously ditch it/burn it.
16. I then wrapped copper pipe insulation around the length of the new hose sticking out of the sill. (1/2" insulation cut down the middle and loads of tie clips)
17. From under the car gently push the insulated hose back into the sill until the insulation as passed through the square hole.
18. Connect up the new hose to the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure you use the double copper washers supplied in the kit.
19. In the cockpit pull back up from the sill the new hose. If you have got everything right the insulated part should just come up into the dashboard cavity and stop. (The insulation will stop the SS hose from rattling against the coolant pipes in the sill.)
20 Pass the front end of your new hose through the hole in the bulk head through into the bonnet area.
21 Refit the grommet in the bulkhead wall.
22. In the bonnet area feed the new hose around the back of the centre plastic bit under the windscreen (can't remember what it is called). Tie wrap hose as necessary against the cable duct and not against the water pipes
23 Attach the new hose front end to the clutch master cylinder.
24. Replace the guard over the windscreen wiper mechanism, the fuel tank panel, the engine tray and dash board
24 Bleed the clutch. Really need two people, one to pump the clutch and one to do the open and closing of the bleed nipple by the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure that the clutch slave cylinder is fully retracted ie I used an appropriately sized screw driver and wedged it between the engine casing and the clutch slave cylinder.
use a pressure bleeder. Pressurize the system to about 15 PSI, then go to the rear of the car. Put an 11mm spanner and a drain tube on the clutch slave cylinder bleed valve. Pull the slave cylinder arm ALL THE WAY IN. this is quite difficult. Hold, or jam it in and open the bleed nipple. You should see bubbles and fluid coming out. Keep the arm pilled in a keep opening and closing until you see good, clear fluid.
25. Lower the car. Start the engine; check you can engage all the gears and gently give it a road test.
Other things worth doing if you've removed the dash panel...
1 secure anti-rattle clips better so they don't fall off again.
2 tape up the ends of the dash inside into the sill so that anything falling off in there doesn’t make it into your sills.
3 fit a lights on alarm and sort your stereo wiring so it sits better (its usually a mess when "done" from the front (!)
4. Before fitting shear panel waxoyle(rustproof) the fuel tank as it is on poorly painted mild steel
“The clutch pipe is a bit of a pain to do but here are a few guidelines.
1. Jack up the rear of car and secure safely
2. Remove engine tray and the fuel tank panel...the one with holes in it.
3. Remove the left hand side of dash board, this gives access to the pipe where it comes through from the front compartment and goes down into the sill.
Dash removal is easy. The plastic face panel can be unclipped from the bottom first this gives access to the upper and lower fixing screws of the aluminium parts.
Remove the screws and pull of the top of the dash 1st (the bit with the Elise name on) watch for the anti rattle clips as they will fall out at this point otherwise you will end up having to remove the coin tray to get them out..
Pull the front dash aluminium part to give better access and remove the radio if fitted you will be able to see the clutch hose where it comes into the passenger compartment and disappears down the A pillar into the sill section
4. In the bonnet remove the guard covering the windscreen wiper mechanism. Loosen the master cylinder cap and then cut the red hose at the point it meets the slave cylinder in the engine bay and drain the fluid into a container. Once the fluid has drained, cut the red hose an inch or so from the clutch master cylinder.
5. Disconnect the hose at the engine end.
6. Blow from the front end to get all the fluid out. You'll be there all day if you try it from the engine end. ;o)
7. To easily remove the old pipe, push a length of garden wire through the pipe front to back and tie it at the front end.
8. Remove any tie clips / insulation at the engine end of the red hose (There are 3 tie wraps (Lotus use) on the red clutch hose. These need to be removed. You can get to them just by putting your arm down sill areas accessed by the above panels you have removed).
9. In the dash board remove any tie clips / insulation on the old hose. I had just the one tie clip if memory serves correct.
10 Gently pull the red hose or garden wire and new hose from the dash board through into the cockpit. There is a rubber grommet in the bulk head which you need to ensure doesn't disappear into the sill.
11 Pull all the new hose into the cockpit. (It might sound daft...but bear with me.)
12 Sort out the grommet so it is repositioned roughly 4 feet from the front end of the new hose.
13 From under the car gently pull the red hose from the sill. The taped joint of the two cables might be a bugger to get through the small square whole in the sill....jiggle it....be patient and it will come.
14. Pull it all the way through until the front end of the new hose is up to the dash board. (I taped a hammer to the end to make sure it wasn't going to disappear down into the sill)
15. Now disconnect the garden wire (red hose) from the new one and ceremoniously ditch it/burn it.
16. I then wrapped copper pipe insulation around the length of the new hose sticking out of the sill. (1/2" insulation cut down the middle and loads of tie clips)
17. From under the car gently push the insulated hose back into the sill until the insulation as passed through the square hole.
18. Connect up the new hose to the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure you use the double copper washers supplied in the kit.
19. In the cockpit pull back up from the sill the new hose. If you have got everything right the insulated part should just come up into the dashboard cavity and stop. (The insulation will stop the SS hose from rattling against the coolant pipes in the sill.)
20 Pass the front end of your new hose through the hole in the bulk head through into the bonnet area.
21 Refit the grommet in the bulkhead wall.
22. In the bonnet area feed the new hose around the back of the centre plastic bit under the windscreen (can't remember what it is called). Tie wrap hose as necessary against the cable duct and not against the water pipes
23 Attach the new hose front end to the clutch master cylinder.
24. Replace the guard over the windscreen wiper mechanism, the fuel tank panel, the engine tray and dash board
24 Bleed the clutch. Really need two people, one to pump the clutch and one to do the open and closing of the bleed nipple by the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure that the clutch slave cylinder is fully retracted ie I used an appropriately sized screw driver and wedged it between the engine casing and the clutch slave cylinder.
use a pressure bleeder. Pressurize the system to about 15 PSI, then go to the rear of the car. Put an 11mm spanner and a drain tube on the clutch slave cylinder bleed valve. Pull the slave cylinder arm ALL THE WAY IN. this is quite difficult. Hold, or jam it in and open the bleed nipple. You should see bubbles and fluid coming out. Keep the arm pilled in a keep opening and closing until you see good, clear fluid.
25. Lower the car. Start the engine; check you can engage all the gears and gently give it a road test.
Other things worth doing if you've removed the dash panel...
1 secure anti-rattle clips better so they don't fall off again.
2 tape up the ends of the dash inside into the sill so that anything falling off in there doesn’t make it into your sills.
3 fit a lights on alarm and sort your stereo wiring so it sits better (its usually a mess when "done" from the front (!)
4. Before fitting shear panel waxoyle(rustproof) the fuel tank as it is on poorly painted mild steel
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