Lotus Elan Central

by **Sy V** » Thu 23.02.2006, 09:49

Rodrigo

The seller of the showercapes, is WillB - the seller of the AB Cables.

by **valimar** » Thu 23.02.2006, 22:12

Sy V wrote:Rodrigo

The seller of the showercapes, is WillB - the seller of the AB Cables.

Thanks Sy! It didn't cross my mind :oops:

Shame of me!
Regards Rodrigo

by **WillB** » Fri 24.02.2006, 23:29

Cheers guys!

by **Dico** » Sun 30.04.2006, 22:21

Spent a pleasant couple of hours adjusting cables today. Think i'd sooner slit my wrists than attempt it again! Come to think of it, i did

Was'nt that bad actually, once you placed your hands in the right place and got the rythm right.

by **nitroman** » Mon 01.05.2006, 05:27

Ja, that's why I left my adjusting nuts in place when I removed the ABs from the wrecked car. It took forever to get one of the bracket-bolts beneath the cables out with them in place (switching to 8mm Allen-head bolts so that won't be a problem in future) but I figure that now they're "pre-adjusted" for the next install!

by **Jeff** » Fri 16.06.2006, 07:20

Are the AB cables still available? I hope to have my M100 back on the road very soon....Jeff.

by **WillB** » Sat 17.06.2006, 22:53

Hi Jeff,

Yep, still shipping the AB cables, in fact sent 2 sets last week to the USA and Germany.

Drop me an IM or email if you want a set

Will

by **donsladek** » Fri 23.06.2006, 01:53

Installed my AB cables last night. Around 5 hours solo, with 45 mins for a tool run. Toughest part was getting the cables through into the engine bay. Used a cord on each, but still had probems.

With the RedLine gear oil and AB cables, the shifting seems a lot better. I added washers at the transaxle end to take up side play on the cable ends , but I might remove one, as the shifting seems a bit tight.

By the way, a P.O. had installed over 3 quarts of gear oil! :censored:

Don Sladek

by **foreleft** » Tue 25.07.2006, 04:08

I just installed the AB cables tonight. I was surprised to find that in spite of moving the adjusting and locking nuts totally off the threaded sleeve (to facilitate install) and not "calibrating" the new cables to the old ones, the car shifts fine (short 2 mile run). In other words, the cables seem to need no adjustment. Is this typical, or did I just get lucky? Am I likely to have to adjust the cables shortly?

Jim

BTW, the cables are very nice. It's nice to feel like I've upgraded something instead of just replacing/repairing it.

by **valimar** » Tue 25.07.2006, 09:03

Must be a lucky coincidence! I also installed de AB cables (and MTL red line), some time ago and I'm still adjusting! The installation was without any problems and I could shift directly good but when I started to drive, after 40/50 km, I couldn't change gears and had to adjust again! Now is everything much better but I'm not yet satisfied! Sometimes it goes perfect and smoth but after driving for a while a can only change gears using a lot o strengh! When the engine is really hot, the problems seem to disappear! I wonder if it has sonething to do with the MTL oil! Very odd, but I'm working on it!
Cheers, Rodrigo

by **Monty** » Tue 25.07.2006, 11:44

valimar wrote:Must be a lucky coincidence! I also installed de AB cables (and MTL red line), some time ago and I'm still adjusting! The installation was without any problems and I could shift directly good but when I started to drive, after 40/50 km, I couldn't change gears and had to adjust again! Now is everything much better but I'm not yet satisfied! Sometimes it goes perfect and smoth but after driving for a while a can only change gears using a lot o strengh! When the engine is really hot, the problems seem to disappear! I wonder if it has sonething to do with the MTL oil! Very odd, but I'm working on it!
Cheers, Rodrigo

that doesn`t sound right, maybe the cables crossed each other when u installed them.

When i fitted mine i only had to adjust them once and to start with the gears are stiff but they work lose with a bit off use.

by **valimar** » Tue 25.07.2006, 11:56

Well generaly I am very accurate and I have a lot of experience with cars!
If the cables were not correctly fitted the shifting would be always bad! Most of the time shifting is perfect, much better then with the original cables! that's what makes it so stange!

by **Monty** » Tue 25.07.2006, 12:05

valimar wrote:Well generaly I am very accurate and I have a lot of experience with cars!
If the cables were not correctly fitted the shifting would be always bad! Most of the time shifting is perfect, much better then with the original cables! that's what makes it so stange!

Is a strange one!
Doesn`t matter how experience u are if they twisted inside the tunnel u can`t see them + they might off gone on the wrong side of the gearbox mount on the inside of the tunnel

might be worth a refit

by **valimar** » Tue 25.07.2006, 15:20

Thanks Monty, but isn't it logic that if the cables were twisted inside shifting would always be bad? And why when the MTL oil in the transaxle is hot shifting is much better? Mostly after going from five to neutral I cannot engage and shift smoothly, only forcing it a bit is possible! After a while the problem desappears again!!! Very nasty problem! I also check the clearance of the clutch.

by **Monty** » Tue 25.07.2006, 16:15

Yeah u would think it would be bad all the time

I also have used MTL in my gearbox but there`s no difference from cold to hot

Just hope it`s not a gearbox problem :shock:

selector?

Think i`d still check the cables.
adjust the clutch
Then maybe a case of looking at the gearbox :roll:

Let us all know if u manange to solve the issue

by **Enright** » Tue 25.07.2006, 16:24

Monty, where did you manage to find MTL?
Locally or through mail order?
Is it expensive?
My AB cables should arrive any day now, and so it makes sense to do the gearbox oil at the same time.

by **valimar** » Tue 25.07.2006, 18:13

Keith in Great Bretain is the dealer of MTL for Europe. You can reach him through this e-mail: sales@redlineoil-europe.com

by **Monty** » Tue 25.07.2006, 20:22

Enright13 wrote:Monty, where did you manage to find MTL?
Locally or through mail order?
Is it expensive?
My AB cables should arrive any day now, and so it makes sense to do the gearbox oil at the same time.

Neil,

got it from demon tweeks and u`ll need 2 bottles

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/search.asp?keyword=mtl&classCode=all&brandCode=all

by **Enright** » Tue 25.07.2006, 21:09

Thanks guys!

I emailed RedLine and it's good to know the price from Demon Tweeks, but then I stumbled across a couple of pages about Castrol TAF-X.

Most concerning was this quote from this page:

"Lotus strongly recommends that for optimum protection under the most arduous conditions, combined with good cold shift performance, only CASTROL TAF-X (Lotus Part #A082F6552S)is used in the transmission. If the car is operated in continuously very low ambient temperatures, Mobil SHC 75W/90 may be used."

FWIW, I very recently personally asked Dave Simkin of Lotus if there were any products other than CASTROL TAF-X that were approved by Lotus for the gearbox and he replied an emphatic NO! He said they had done extensive testing with several of the fluids that have been mentioned on the boards and CASTROL is the only one approved for the US. This also includes any Mobil products.

I will be changing to the CASTROL TAF-X in the near future.....

Then I found this on this page:

Ever had trouble getting the only recommended gearbox oil for the Renault box (Castrol TAF-X)?
I went to Halfords and asked them to order me some. Minimum order is 3 litres - perfect. Ask for Item 990218 Speciality Oils at £6.49 per 0.5l bottle (incl VAT), pay in advance and wait a couple of days for it to arrive. Job done.

Point is I just happened to strike lucky in that I found the one employee who knew how to do this - even the manager denied it was possible!

PS Sorry for dragging the thread off topic a bit, but as MTL was being mentioned a lot anyway I felt it was relevent.

by **valimar** » Thu 27.07.2006, 18:42

Monty wrote:Yeah u would think it would be bad all the time I also have used MTL in my gearbox but there's no difference from cold to hot Just hope it's not a gearbox problem selector?

Think i'd still check the cables.
adjust the clutch
Then maybe a case of looking at the gearbox

Let us all know if u manange to solve the issue

Ok, Monty wen I'll sort it out I let you know! It will take some time cause I'm rather busy at the moment

Lotus Elan Central

AB Shift Cables

Who is online