S2 #378 (Steve) - hopefully only light fixes

[TorqueHorse]

Awesome to see Steve having fun, and looking good doing it!

BTW, I totally used the gearbox dipstick trick after seeing your post (esp. helpful since I think one of the reference sources quotes the wrong full capacity), thx!

And, I forgot to ask how do you start the siphon for your patented coolant slurper upper?

[378S2]

I’m glad the dipstick was useful! But I can’t claim ownership of that one, DaPinky recommended it and I took his excellent advice.

Coolant slurper upper... The fiddly part is getting the hose all the way down to the bottom of the radiator. I had a large syringe that I used for making a vacuum brake bleeder lying around so I used that.

[378S2]

I’ve put a few miles on the clock since fixing the secondary throttle, and in case this is relevant for anyone else - the problem I had with soot on the rear bumper appears to be completely resolved (not wishing to anger the Lotus Gods there by declaring a victory - please don’t strike me down with great vengeance and a furious HGF).

Apart from the soot being gone, no noticeable performance benefits that I can comment on. They may be there but I haven’t noticed them.

Everything else… appears to be… fine. Which is quite an odd feeling. So to keep me busy I’ll rebuild the proportioning valves with the o-rings Matt kindly sent and swap over the MBC for the updated one. That’s sure to result in some scope creep.

[378S2]

Back to the major repairs:

[TorqueHorse]

Mustang?! Are you trying to make an assemblage of all the great historical convertibles in one go? I thought if you were going for the ball knob, you'd have gone with like an esprit S2(?) wood one

[378S2]

Yea... I am not sure they fit the look of the car. I am not sure my Mustang one does either, but in my defence I was being forced to watch something terrible on Netflix one night (some sort of cooking themed 'celebrity' singing on ice death match) and eBay made me do it.

[TorqueHorse]

Oh man don't get me started. I do the rounds from ebay, to BAT, to Cars and Bids, seemingly everyday and it is a miracle that I don't have 5 esprits, 3 elans, an SLK, an MR2, a TR6, and a Z4 sitting in my lawn too. Call yourself lucky with a simple splurge

[378S2]

I had a very enjoyable and pretty long (400km) run out with the Lotus Club today. I’m quite a bit slower than the pack, but it’s my driving rather than the car!

My boost now hits the 0.65bar max, but it is odd because I can only get it there when I am accelerating between 100kmh and 120kmh in 5th gear. That’s ~2800rpm to ~4000rpm. I can't get it to work in any other gear and it doesn’t work in 5th every time. It routinely gets to 0.5bar in all gears no problems. So it is a bit odd...

Is it normal to be speed dependent or do I have a loose wire to find? Any likely culprits? Sadly no Elan scan to offer as I am a Mac user and haven’t got around to borrowing a PC yet. My throttle cable is at max adjustment, could it be that it is not quite hitting 100%?

Any tips very welcome.

What I lack in speed I make up for in pop up headlights, which everyone knows are cool.

Side angle - the paps were out in force today.

Nice place for a drive.

It rained a little, but as long as you don't stop you don't get wet.

The car is running beautifully. I did need a push start today, but only because of some dodgy wiring on the immobiliser that I’ll fix when I get a moment.

A wee bit embarrassing. My immobiliser only immobilises the starter, and it refused to mobilise it after a short stop. The problem turned out to be more twisted together wires wrapped up in tape. If wiring isn’t your thing, please don’t do it. Sadly this immobiliser was professionally installed at the cost of a previous owner, and that is pretty unforgivable if you do this stuff for a living.

[Simon_P]

It routinely gets to 0.5bar in all gears no problems. So it is a bit odd...

That's normal you only get the extra bit under certain conditions. Also the secondary throttle doesn't open until 4700 rpm so if you're driving around at 2-4000 rpm about the only thing opening is the thermostat.

[378S2]

The car continues to be boringly reliable! Another 300-400km run with the Lotus WA club this weekend. The turbo hits 0.65 bar when it is supposed to now, the sooty exhaust is completely gone and the steering rack no longer drips oil. I think it just needs to be driven regularly.

I did manage to make the clutch slip - I think I revved it too much in 1st and wasn’t quick enough on the pedal. It slipped in 1st, 2nd and briefly in 3rd (obviously got it too hot). But then it was fine again. Is there a way to check how much clutch plate I have left? A hidden inspection hole somewhere?

I also cooked the brakes on a long down hill. They are spectacularly shite when overheated but absolutely fine for me the rest of the time. I put that one down to driver error as well. Once they cooled down they were back to normal.

[378S2]

I decided to change the control stalks, not because there’s anything wrong with them but just because they’ve faded over the years. It’s a little frustrating though because the new indicator stalk doesn’t auto-cancel when turning right, it does when you turn left. I’ve tried a couple of different options (one genuine GM and the other a copy) and no dice.

I think the problem is with my aftermarket steering-wheel and boss. I’ll give it a go with the OEM steering-wheel.

Don’t suppose anyone else has had this problem and knows where to find a stalk with a slightly longer tab?

[Rambo]

Have you tried swapping out the tabs?

[378S2]

Hi Rambo - well I tried to take one of them apart, I was going to swap the new lever on to the old switch but I couldn’t get them apart without forcing it and so I decided to stop

[dapinky]

It may be a bit of a botch, but may work.... can you extend the tab a bit with a dab of epoxy resin? Maybe drill a 1mm hole down it, add some wire which protrudes a bit, then some 2-part epoxy. Allow to set and fettle to the right shape?

[Rambo]

Worth a try anyway

[378S2]

Nice idea - I have two spares now so I will try it out on the non-GM one. Thanks for the suggestion.

While you're on... do you know if it is possible to inspect the thickness of my clutch plate? [Without first removing the clutch from the car!]

[dapinky]

While you're on... do you know if it is possible to inspect the thickness of my clutch plate?

Hmmmm - I've never looked! (I don't know if there is any sort of access hole where you can insert a boroscope, but even if there is, then the actual clutch plate will be sandwiched between the flywheel and the clutch cover), so the only way to look is to take it all apart.....

[378S2]

mmm... I am not that curious!

[Saltire]

Having (fairly) recently replaced the clutch on my S2 - and throughly cleaned the bell-housing in the process - it’s a definite ‘no’ from me. I’d leave it alone unless you have definite and ongoing symptoms.

[378S2]

Right well mystery solved - with the proper steering wheel back on the replacement stalks work just fine. It is the Momo boss that isn’t right.

I promise to do something more interesting soon. I’ve got plans to rebuild the suspension in the winter!