Elise S1 developed a stutter!

[Lotust]

First post and I ask for help! Had a wonderful day at Goodwood (glad I didn't go yesterday) in my S1 until I drove home.

The engine is not running smoothly - so much so that the whole car starts juddering and I have to depress the clutch. It seems to happen when the throttle is only slightly open. It's worse when I lift off but it fine when I accelerate hard. At idle, it seems to be at around 1000rpm, when driving - up to 3000 rpm.

Has anyone got an idea of what it might be?

Many thanks
Bill

[lamb jiblets]

Hi welcome!
I had a similar thing after a track day, it turned out to be the breather in the filler cap, not enough air geting in to replace the petrol then started spluttering as it could not suck in any more petrol , have a look at the cap and make sure its free. failing that it sound like a sensor issue. By the way nice colour!

Edited by lamb jiblets on Tuesday 11th November 19:08

[lee111s]

Best s1 colour! Same as mine

[Lotust]

Thanks for the advice. I'll take a look. I like the colour too. Iwas looking for a TVR Griffith when a friend of mine suggested I might want to buy his car as he was buying a S2. Glad I made the impulse purchase! The only mod I have made is the S2 suspension - what a difference. A lot of nice cars on track today but the S1 is still the drivers car. Have to say the GT3 RS is nice though.

[Gad-Westy]

Has it been left out in the rain or washed recently? Water can get into the spark plug wells and dizzy cap. To eliminate this, pull the dizzy cap off and dry inside it, maybe spray some WD40 in there as well to drive out any moisture then re-assemble. Take the plug leads out at the plug ends and roll some kitchen towel up and poke it down the plug wells to get any moisture out of there. Some WD40 down there wouldn't do any harm either and some in the end of the plug leads, or proper electrical contact cleaner if you have any.

Hopefully that should eliminate the problem. The way to stop it permanently is to seal the trailing edge of the spark plug cover and seal the dizzy cap.

If that doesn't do it, there are a few more simple possibilities so report back.

[Chris49]

Mine developed exactly the same problem over the weekend due to the heavy rain, did everything said above and it's as good as new.

Edited by Chris49 on Wednesday 12th November 09:03

[piooly]

can be early signs that the Idle air control valve is on its last legs. Try cleaning it but it may need to be replaced. Took me weeks to find the problem on mine. I tried everything.

[Lotust]

Well I took it for a spin today and it was absolutely fine. Obviously objected to being caned! Thanks for your advice anyway.