Black Smoke & Soot on starting up

[dealmaster]

Hi
Looking at buying a 2.5 and it was very smokey on start-up (from cold) black smoke and lots of soot coming out of exhaust.....made a good sooty mark on the tarmac where it was parked.

The idle was lumpy and wanted to stall - took some gentle revs to keep going.

Once car was warmish (say after 5 minutes) the car ran fine - no smoke when running at all.

Took for a good 20 minute run - no signs of smoke at all.

The soot / smoke did smell quite petrol-like. Maybe running too rich and needs a remap or maybe lambda sensors.

What do you think?

Also car was a bit tricky to start i.e didnt seem to want to catch, took a good minute of key turning and a few blips of the throttle.

If it's any use. The car has had VERY little use. Last time used properly was early Feb and even then just down to local garage for service.

Thanks

Nick

[mgbond]

Has it had the ECU upgraded as thats what mine used to do before mine was changed. Also (not related to the smoke) but has it had the LSD fitted, fan upgrade?

Bondy

[dealmaster]

Hi,

It's totally standard in every way. No modifications or upgrades and the seller has had since brand new - never tracked and only done 25k miles. Always serviced on schedule.

Do you think it's ECU related?

Nick

[dealmaster]

Re: The Fans - it has 2 fans when the front clam is popped open so assume this has been upgraded?

[mgbond]

No, don't assume that. The 2.5 had the fans attached directly to the rad but the upgrade is a cowl fitted that holds the fans away from the rad so the air displaces better.

Don't worry about that though as its not an expensive fix.

If it has the std original ecu then it will need to be changed at a cost of over 2K if the box has the std diff then this will go and is an engine out job (can be done by cutting a bar to remove the box).

Doesn't matter about the milage. when I got mine it had never been tracked and had only done 13k 2 months in a blew the diff.

It needs to be a realy good price if these have not been done.

Bondy

[andygtt]

if its the original ECU then that will need replacing at some stage... they were unreliable and almost all have had to be changed by now.

The issue you mention sounds like the cold start isnt working correctly, Im guessing this is ECU controlled but Im not 100% sure but based on Bondy's comments it sounds very likely.

[R0162]

Omex is a good replacement ecu for £800.
lambda sensors are most probably knackered

[2.5bluenob]

R0162 said:

Omex is a good replacement ecu for £800.
lambda sensors are most probably knackered

ive got the omex fitted to mine the bill with fitting was over £3000

[mgbond]

the 2.5 only has one lamda sensor.

I along with two other nobles have a Haltech fitted and I think they were just over 2k to fit.

Bondy

[D_G]

Probably not a lambda sensor as they don't work on starting as they need to be hot before they work. It's overfuelling for some reason, as previously said the early ECUs are very prone to failures, I'd budget a couple of grand into the price just for the ECU.

Dave

[jdearden]

Any over fueling u want to get sorted asap. I didn't with mine and it burnt the valves out. Just had a nice bill to sort that out. And then 3 days after this my diff went.

[dealmaster]

Thanks for info. I should be collecting the car next week and get it booked into a garage - any recommendations for somewhere in Scotland?

[Ady_ftta]

I have the same issue with my 2.5 - leaving balck soot on the drive from the exhaust and generally running rich (approx. 150 miles per tank).

Its been to Bespoke a couple of times. Skip checked the injectors which arent delivering the correct flow / spray pattern (despite being cleaned) and they are no longer available to buy new ones. Next step was to get similar injectors (with the same spray / flow) and a spacer to ensure correct fit.

Is this likely to be ECU related. How can you tell which ECU is fitted?

Any help greatly appreciated.....

[2.5bluenob]

Ady_ftta said:

I have the same issue with my 2.5 - leaving balck soot on the drive from the exhaust and generally running rich (approx. 150 miles per tank).

Its been to Bespoke a couple of times. Skip checked the injectors which arent delivering the correct flow / spray pattern (despite being cleaned) and they are no longer available to buy new ones. Next step was to get similar injectors (with the same spray / flow) and a spacer to ensure correct fit.

Is this likely to be ECU related. How can you tell which ECU is fitted?

Any help greatly appreciated.....

open the rear clam remove the off side wheel for easy access then unscrew the black plastic pannel forward of where the wheel was. The ECU is in there so have a look at it to see if it has its make stamped on it.

[joust]

http://www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble/

In diary is the story of what can go wrong with 2.5s, including pictures of the fan upgrade.

The smoke on startup could be a simple fix (highly likely to be a turbo problem, next the ECU), or could be expensive as outlined above and in the diary (the start up smoke turned out to be a turbo failure that the engine injested on mine).

I'd recommend you either get it inspected by a Noble dealer before you buy it, or if you've already done the deed, then get it off to an approved dealer or one of the knowledgeable independents.

J

[Ady_ftta]

2.5bluenob said:

open the rear clam remove the off side wheel for easy access then unscrew the black plastic pannel forward of where the wheel was. The ECU is in there so have a look at it to see if it has its make stamped on it.

Had a look at the ecu but cant see anything stamped on it.

Its black with grey clamps securing the loom into the ecu if that helps?

[YellowShed]

Ady_ftta said:

Its black with grey clamps securing the loom into the ecu if that helps?

Definitely an MBE unit then. I think the MM ones were metal.

YellowShed