A Couple of easy questions, hopefully!

[Vipers]

Hi all,

As the weather is about to turn I'm looking forward to start using my M100 that I bought last October, just in time for Winter, I have a couple of questions though if you don't mind.

1, I have just bought a replacement Turbo boost gauge as the one in the car at the moment looks like a starry night with loads of small holes in the black background, are these easy to fit? I hope the dash doesn't need to come out.

2, I should know this one as I had an Elan SE in the early 90's but under heavy acceleration what should the Turbo Boost gauge go up to? I just want to make sure that the turbo is working as it should.

3, Finally, I was driving the car the other day and a few cables fell down from under the dash on the drivers sides and my foot caught them when breaking and pulled them a little, no harm seems to have ben done but when placing them back out of the way a red fuse fell into the drivers footwell, any ideas? everything seems to be working OK.

Thanks in advance,
Cheers,
Paul.

[maz_r]

Hi Paul,

My 2p....

1. Dash doesn't have to come out but they are a pig to get to - especially the boost gauge as it is the furthest from the access through the binnacle cover and you are almost bound to drop the nuts down into the void behind the dash...

2. If it is unmodified, 0.65 bar

3. Do you mean fuse, or maybe relay? There is a bank of relays just above the pedals.... If it is a relay then the red one is the headlight popup pod delay module. If it is a fuse, then my guess is someone dropped one when replacing one under the binnacle cover and it has only just decided to come back into the light! Interesting to know what wires are running around just above the pedals though; not sure that is 'normal' (but then again what is after 25 years of electrical bodging)

Hope that helps. Good luck and glad the garage didn't make more of a mess of your elan or more importantly you!

[Fredjohn]

Hi Paul
Re the boost gauge.

I have just removed and replaced mine to change the dial face as I had the same issue with light coming through the scratched back.

Tips on removal:

Remove cover from top of dashboard
Lower hood and stand on seats! Peer through screen whilst working with hands underneath!!!!
Across top of all 3 gauges is a black loom. Remove from the 2 plastic clips holding it in place and push forwards out of the way. These clips are "open" and don't need removing to do this.

Using a 7mm socket (on it's own) undo and remove the top nut/washer/loom clip holding the boost gauge. Then put fingers down to bottom nut and partially undo: you need dexterity to do this. Once slightly loose, turn the gauge so the bottom nut is at the top. Use 7mm socket to remove it and the washer.

Remove the "U" shaped clamp.

You can now pull the gauge out into the car. Note wire positions, remove, replace with new gauge and fit black bulb holder whilst out.

Reverse above procedure to put back. Wires on before doing the nuts. Tighten up bottom nut almost fully before turning the gauge to the correct position. If it's too tight you won't be able to turn the gauge. Then replace top nut etc and tighten with socket. Tighten bottom nut with fingers.

Job done.

Keep the old gauge as the dial face can be replaced and the gauge re-used or sold!

I used red on black dial faces, but only changed the 3 small gauges. Others have used black on white or silver to give a better contrast, changing all 6/7 faces.

Whilst you are in there check the small 2.3v panel bulbs are all working. Readily available from Halfords if needed. The black bulb holder is a pig to get out and back in whilst gauges are in situ: I used long-nosed pliers to twist them whilst holding in place with a strong finger. Easy to do with the gauge out though.

Good luck

[Vipers]

Thanks guys that is a great help, that does sound like a real sod to fit though, but will be worth it in the end as the car is in such good condition I hate the little annoying things like this, I will investigate where those cables go though if that isn't normal.

It as definitely a fuse that fell out so hopefully as you said maz-r it was just dropped previously and just decided to show itself.

Regarding the boost level, if you don't get 0.65 bar, but say around 0.5, what could the problem be there? I will test that on the way home tonight. That is one good thing about yesterdays garage disaster at least the car is outside now so much easier to just jump in and drive

Thanks,

[lotusflasherman]

Hi Paul,

Two 'Philips/ Pozidrive'' screws hold a big cover on top of instrument cluster that allows access to back of gauges, relays etc. It's not too tricky..
I find it easier with the hood off, stand on the seats and look through the top of the windscreen to see what I'm doing..

All of mine have gone porous giving the starry night effect, and I can't read them at night ... the voltmeter only looks OK in the photo because the bulb has failed.
Photo was taken with just ignition on, so Zero settings for Oil & Boost were all over the place too.

dial smalls.JPG

I'm in the process of replacing faces with silver and have swapped the Boost Gauge with the Voltmeter so it's next to the Revcounter so I can see revs and boost at a single glance. Volts I'm not so interested in at that moment..

silvers_1.JPG

Don't overtighten the nuts that hold the gauges in via the U bracket. I've found all my gauges have cracks around the front flange of the 'white plastic drum' that the black bezel is secured to. Think the factory tightened them too much but they do get hot when lights are always on so may have gone brittle. I've repaired them with plumbing plastic solvent cement and will refit the nuts just 'finger tight' with a second nut added as a locknut.

Boost is in theory 0.65bar according to the manual but first '91 SE I had seemed to go to about 0.8bar and had never been modified. Dealer offered to investigate it but we both agreed it went very well at that boost so left it doing that.

good luck,
Phil

[Fredjohn]

Lower than expected boost could be caused by several things. Two to look at: the earthing of the sensor and also check you don't have an inlet leak between the turbo and the inlet manifold.

Best of all connect Elanscan if you have it: this will tell you exactly how much boost you are getting rather than the slightly inaccurate gauge.

[tweetdriver63]

Another thing to keep in mind:

The maximum boost indicated on the gauge will vary with atmospheric pressure, because the ECM monitors boost pressure via the MAP sensor, and maximum boost pressures are controlled to absolute values, which are independent of atmospheric pressure. In other words, the 0.65 bar maximum is based on sea-level atmospheric pressure. As altitude increases, or if you prefer, as atmospheric pressure decreases, the maximum reading on the gauge will also increase. You can read more about it in the Engine Management Manual.

If you're driving in the midst of a low-pressure weather system, then you may see higher readings on the gauge, while driving during a high-pressure system, you may see lower readings.

Also, the gauge is crappy. So there's that.

[HJ2]

I've found all my gauges have cracks around the front flange of the 'white plastic drum' that the black bezel is secured to.

... Did you know the fact that this part is actually manufactured from baked toothpaste? ...

More info on the dials here:
forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=19819

[Vipers]

That's great, thanks guys, and I thought my dials were bad, they look mint compared to yours Phil, have to say that the white dials look great though.

I will attempt to swap over my Boost gauge over the next couple of weeks, need to limber up first by the sound of it

Cheers,

[lotusflasherman]

I've found all my gauges have cracks around the front flange of the 'white plastic drum' that the black bezel is secured to.

... Did you know the fact that this part is actually manufactured from baked toothpaste? ...

More info on the dials here:
forum.lotuselancentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=19819

Is that a fact? - seems like internal light on all the time bakes it some more so it becomes brittle.

Solvent Cement for plastic plumbing says it's "for uPVC, ABS, & muPVC(cPVC)" and it certainly is a solvent and glue that works on it... so I'd bet on it being a polyvinyl chloride polymer of some description, though it may be ABS but looks too flexible. (Lego bricks are ABS)

[lotusflasherman]

That's great, thanks guys, and I thought my dials were bad, they look mint compared to yours Phil, have to say that the white dials look great though.

I will attempt to swap over my Boost gauge over the next couple of weeks, need to limber up first by the sound of it

Cheers,

My dials are silver but seems a camera can't capture silver... just looks a bit grey.

If you plan to swap with the voltmeter too it's dead easy - all I had to do was remove a bit of external tape from the loom to give an extra inch or two for the 'voltage' wire to the voltmeter to reach to the new location and retape it. All lights are the same so the 'Boost light' stays where it is and goes into the Voltmeter and vice versa. I think it's a much better ergonomic arrangement .