more questions from a new owner
Discussion
hi all, i asked about brakes yesterday so have stored up these to ask in a lump (save bandwidth!)
1) The hood leaks at the passenger's side where the door glass doesn't quite meet the hood. is there a fix for this? will taking off the hood and trying to reposition it work?
2) is there a discernible difference in power in adding an induction kit/air filter? if so, what is the best choice?
3) the floor is very slippery - is supergluing a rubber mat the best solution? i find my heel slips about a lot when driving.
4) i find the dipped beam a bit poor. I have the driving lights, but they only come on on main beam. is it easy to wire driving lights on to a seperate switch? what are the best replacement bulbs for dipped beam performance?
many thanks in advance
yrs
t_t
1) The hood leaks at the passenger's side where the door glass doesn't quite meet the hood. is there a fix for this? will taking off the hood and trying to reposition it work?
2) is there a discernible difference in power in adding an induction kit/air filter? if so, what is the best choice?
3) the floor is very slippery - is supergluing a rubber mat the best solution? i find my heel slips about a lot when driving.
4) i find the dipped beam a bit poor. I have the driving lights, but they only come on on main beam. is it easy to wire driving lights on to a seperate switch? what are the best replacement bulbs for dipped beam performance?
many thanks in advance
yrs
t_t
tuscan_thunder said:
hi all, i asked about brakes yesterday so have stored up these to ask in a lump (save bandwidth!)
1) The hood leaks at the passenger's side where the door glass doesn't quite meet the hood. is there a fix for this? will taking off the hood and trying to reposition it work?
YOU WILL NEED TO FIDDLE AROUND WITH IT AND ADJUST THE WINDOWS. MINE ALWAYS LEAKS A BIT THOUGH ON THE DRIVERS SIDE
2) is there a discernible difference in power in adding an induction kit/air filter? if so, what is the best choice?
NOT REALLY. AN ITG WILL GIVE YOU A FEW NHP MORE BUT NOT THAT YOU WILL REALLY NOTICE. THEY CAN HELP IMPROVE THROTTLE RESPONSE AND THEY SOUND NICE. I JUST BOUGHT A K&N 57i FOR MINE WHICH WAS ABOUT £60. NO REAL PERFORMANCE INCREASE BUT THE IMPROVEMENT IN SOUND WAS WORTH THE CASH ALONE
3) the floor is very slippery - is supergluing a rubber mat the best solution? i find my heel slips about a lot when driving.
HAVE YOU GOT PLASTIC MATS GLUED TO THE FOOTWELLS? THERE IS A KNOWN FOOTWELL CORROSION PROBLEM CAUSED BY MOISTURE IN BETWEEN THE METAL AND THE PLASTIC MATS. DEALERS WILL FIX THIS FOR YOU FOR FREE BY REMOVING THE PLASTIC COVER AND FITTING REMOVEABLE MATS.
4) i find the dipped beam a bit poor. I have the driving lights, but they only come on on main beam. is it easy to wire driving lights on to a seperate switch? what are the best replacement bulbs for dipped beam performance?
NO IDEA. YOU CAN GET UPRATED LIGHTS FROM ELISEPARTS.COM
many thanks in advance
yrs
t_t
Is the hood definitely leaking past the glass?
On S1's (sorry, you didn't mention which model you own), the standard place for the leak is where the cant rail fits into the windscreen frame.
There should be a peice foam at the end of the cant rail which forms a seal. You have to be careful not to trap this as you wrap the hood around it (see the owners manual for details), but even then they often seem to suffer from slight leaks.
On S1's (sorry, you didn't mention which model you own), the standard place for the leak is where the cant rail fits into the windscreen frame.
There should be a peice foam at the end of the cant rail which forms a seal. You have to be careful not to trap this as you wrap the hood around it (see the owners manual for details), but even then they often seem to suffer from slight leaks.
Davey: there are hard black plastic mats which I presume are glued to the floor. very slippery. can i remove them myself? nearest dealer is edinburgh, i'm north of aberdeen.
Martin: yes it's an S1 and yes it does leak above window as i can see in the gap between the roof and the glass!!!!
Martin: yes it's an S1 and yes it does leak above window as i can see in the gap between the roof and the glass!!!!
Yes you can. If there is white residue on the footwells you can clean them up and just put any mats on top.
If it looks really bad then get it into a dealers. My dealers just cleaned mine and put the mats down. Some cars have had to have the footwekks cut out and replaced completely.
If it looks really bad then get it into a dealers. My dealers just cleaned mine and put the mats down. Some cars have had to have the footwekks cut out and replaced completely.
The Elise floor corrosion problem is a latent defect which the factory are fixing FOC - there are various fixes, as Davey says, depending on extent of corrosion - whatever you do don't try to fix it yourself before taking it to a Lotus dealership as I know some have been arsey in the past.....
>> Edited by clanger on Tuesday 1st February 15:50
>> Edited by clanger on Tuesday 1st February 15:50
See www.eliseparts.com/ and go to lighting for better light bulbs which may help with your problem.
You can get HID lamps to fit in the standard housing from www.elise-shop.com/ (under lighting)
282 notes delivered
282 notes delivered
tuscan_thunder said:
clanger, i'm not sure that it is corroded. my car is a 99 S, will a dealer still work on my car FOC?
Yes. The problem was only on the S1's IIRC.
It's not strictly a recall job but if you get in contact with your local dealer they will sort it out for you (mine wwas done automatically when the car was at the dealers having a geo).
Davey S1 said:
clanger, i'm not sure that it is corroded. my car is a 99 S, will a dealer still work on my car FOC?
Yes. The problem was only on the S1's IIRC.
It's not strictly a recall job but if you get in contact with your local dealer they will sort it out for you (mine wwas done automatically when the car was at the dealers having a geo).
Just for reference a few early S2's are also included in the recall (along with S1 Exige/340R's)
tuscan_thunder said:
Martin: yes it's an S1 and yes it does leak above window as i can see in the gap between the roof and the glass!!!!
In that case, might be worth checking whether the locating clips for the cant rails (at the back, where they locate onto the 'roll bar') are strained.
If the cant rails are a 'sloppy' fit and can be rotated to some extent by hand (before you've fitted the hood bows and the hood itself, obviously), then you have a problem.
If the locating clips are sprained in this way, the tension of the hood when fitted will tend to rotate them inwards, away from the window glass.
Careful use of a pair of pliers to bend the clips back into shape can work wonders!
...having said which, remember that the windows are just rolling up against a canvas hood. There are no sophisticated rubber seals to give a really watertight seal as on most cars, so you can expect a small gap and a less-than-perfect seal in exposed conditions.
Mine only suffered from the occasional drip from the aforementioned foam seal at the windscreen end of the cant rail, however, unless the rain was being driven in by wind.
>> Edited by Martin_S on Tuesday 1st February 23:42
tuscan_thunder said:
1) The hood leaks at the passenger's side where the door glass doesn't quite meet the hood. is there a fix for this? will taking off the hood and trying to reposition it work?
TADTS - fiddling is the only real solution. Every S1 I've ever seen has gaps here, you might be able to close it up a little by fiddling with the window height but it's a proper ballache. Adjust roof best you can and get a bar towel for wiping drips off the sill when you get in. Mine only leaks when standing still or in absolute torrential rain. Even then it's not worth worrying about as it drips onto the fibreglass sill and drains out the door.
tuscan_thunder said:
2) is there a discernible difference in power in adding an induction kit/air filter? if so, what is the best choice?
As noted, a few BHP maybe, better throttle response and a nicer induction note. I'm going to go for a Hurricane in a few months. Avoid the K&N idea unless you can get it enclosed and ducted for cold air feed. If you don't it'll sound louder but will suck in hot air from the engine bay and make performance worse.
tuscan_thunder said:
3) the floor is very slippery - is supergluing a rubber mat the best solution? i find my heel slips about a lot when driving.
Get some tailored Elise branded mats from Elise shop or Eliseparts. Cheap as chips and you can slot em right in.
tuscan_thunder said:
4) i find the dipped beam a bit poor. I have the driving lights, but they only come on on main beam. is it easy to wire driving lights on to a seperate switch? what are the best replacement bulbs for dipped beam performance?
many thanks in advance
yrs
t_t
Yep, the light from Florence Nightingales candle was better I suspect. I believe replacement bulbs offer some relief for lowest cost. Give Eliseparts a ring and see what they recommend. www.eliseparts.com
HTH, Tim
steff said:
You can get HID lamps to fit in the standard housing from www.elise-shop.com/ (under lighting)
282 notes delivered
I tried the "uprated" bulbs (Phillips Silver Stars) but they aren't really much good. I am expecting to have my HID kit delivered in the next few days. This kit comes highly recomended from a number of people!
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