exige-rattles and creaks
Discussion
Picked up new exige on saturday, love the car but the experiance is being spoiled by loads of rattling and creaking from behind my head.
It's that bad that I am making excuses not to take people in it.
Going back to Nick Whale on friday.
Has anyone had any problems like this?
Seems to me like some poor finishing to the rear bulkhead plastic shroud doesnt help, a neoprene gasket between this and the rear window would be good.Im not saying this is the problem, but could be part of it.
I can also see daylight between rear hatch and bodywork,viewing from inside.
It's that bad that I am making excuses not to take people in it.
Going back to Nick Whale on friday.
Has anyone had any problems like this?
Seems to me like some poor finishing to the rear bulkhead plastic shroud doesnt help, a neoprene gasket between this and the rear window would be good.Im not saying this is the problem, but could be part of it.
I can also see daylight between rear hatch and bodywork,viewing from inside.
Hi Beano, welcome to Exige ownership ! 
If your going back to Nick Whales, Ian their Service Manager should sort you out - they fitted the "Lotus Approved Fix" to my Exige (some pads that stop the roof squeaking against the rear section of the car's body work I believe) and it worked. Had them on for at least 3 or 4 months now without even a squeak - use the car everyday.
Only problem I have at the mo is steering vibration at around 80 that even Ian can't fix.....
If your going back to Nick Whales, Ian their Service Manager should sort you out - they fitted the "Lotus Approved Fix" to my Exige (some pads that stop the roof squeaking against the rear section of the car's body work I believe) and it worked. Had them on for at least 3 or 4 months now without even a squeak - use the car everyday.
Only problem I have at the mo is steering vibration at around 80 that even Ian can't fix.....
Hi Beano, make a list of everything you want fixing and they'll do it at the 1,000 miler. My roof is fine now.
You will always be able to see that daylight as the boot/engine cover sits on two little rods, it doesn't have a watertight seal all the way round because it doesn't need to. The boot is sealed though, you just can't see it... Welcome to the club!
You will always be able to see that daylight as the boot/engine cover sits on two little rods, it doesn't have a watertight seal all the way round because it doesn't need to. The boot is sealed though, you just can't see it... Welcome to the club!
Ditto on all the noises. Roof creak from new was fixed at first service and has not re-occurred. Squeaking noise from the bulkhead area has appeared over the last few hundred miles and needs looking at. All of these get drowned out by a really loud roar that appears over 6000 revs though!
halfpenny43 said:
Only problem I have at the mo is steering vibration at around 80 that even Ian can't fix.....
Hi, i had a handling problem which turned out to be a simple fix. it was the tyre pressures, thses had to be spot on. I know you would have probably checked this but thought i would throw in my 2p.
Oh as for the roof, since taking it off and refitting it i have really cut out the creaking.
Hope these ideas help.
TC
If its a vibration at a specific speed, its almost certainly wheel balance. Elise wheels are a pita to balance, but boy does the car feel good when its just right.
I probably had a 30% success rate on getting my old Elises wheels balanced perfectly. Most of the machines don't work in small enough increments and the wheel doesn't sit on the machine in perfect alignment. Its also quite a skilled job to get right. In the end I generally give up once its mostly ok
The other thing it could be is a slightly buckled wheel if you've hit any potholes etc. A flat spot on the tyre can also cause vibrations, but I'm not sure of how that would vary with speed.
There was an advert a tyre place that said they can balance porsche wheels perfectly since they mount them on the machine very carefully. If you want I can try to dig out who it was as it might be worth a punt. Got a feeling it might be the Elite Tyres chain, but not 100%.
Dan. Sounds just like symptoms I used to have on my Mini Cooper S Works and happened at about 80mph as well.
I've got exactly the same symptoms, 75 / 80 and my car is all over the place, thinking of putting a claim in for vibration white finger!
Got it booked in at nick whale this Saturday to sort it out.
The final straw was when I was racing a Hairdresser driving a z4, and he past me at 80, I lost my bottle due to the fact my car felt like it was losing grip.
This is not good, can't let Niki Clark and his mates think there better than us!
Got it booked in at nick whale this Saturday to sort it out.
The final straw was when I was racing a Hairdresser driving a z4, and he past me at 80, I lost my bottle due to the fact my car felt like it was losing grip.
This is not good, can't let Niki Clark and his mates think there better than us!
cfoster said:
I've got exactly the same symptoms, 75 / 80 and my car is all over the place, thinking of putting a claim in for vibration white finger!
Got it booked in at nick whale this Saturday to sort it out.
The final straw was when I was racing a Hairdresser driving a z4, and he past me at 80, I lost my bottle due to the fact my car felt like it was losing grip.
This is not good, can't let Niki Clark and his mates think there better than us!
When I bought my Elise (second hand) it was exactly like that. I nearly got RSI driving it back from oop North.
It had NEVER had the wheels balanced. No weights graced its rims, and I have no idea how the previous owner put up with it. Clearly the dealer had dropped the ball on the PDI.
Once I had got it sorted just before lemans 03, it was so sweet. No vibrations at 100+ on the lovely french tarmac.
If anyone is having this problem on a new car, check for stick on weights behind the wheel spokes. If there is no evidence of any, force your dealer to do it free of charge as it should be done before delivery. If theres glue where they've fallen off, then thats a different matter and you will have to pay.
Took the car back to nick whales, they carried out the roof mod (the roof was'nt the problem for me) and did some packing out of the rear bulkhead plastic cover.
The main issue was found at the very end - the undertray was loose and no gasket interface between front and back was fitted.
Also was told by the guy in service that the extreme rattles were noted when he did the PDI ! But no one thought that I might have prefered to wait another week while they sorted it.
Anyway the net result of all this is that I am totally pissed off with the car and Nick Whale and the bloody roof rattles more than ever now.
The main issue was found at the very end - the undertray was loose and no gasket interface between front and back was fitted.
Also was told by the guy in service that the extreme rattles were noted when he did the PDI ! But no one thought that I might have prefered to wait another week while they sorted it.
Anyway the net result of all this is that I am totally pissed off with the car and Nick Whale and the bloody roof rattles more than ever now.
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