New Owner Southern California ( Yucaipa)

[KO6SY]

I hope to learn a great deal as I surf around the forum. I have lots of questions but they may have been answered in the forum already so I have some reading ahead.
I am now the proud owner of a 1991 White Elan SE, it seems to run fine but have a few issues to investigate.

Are there many SoCal owners? I hope to get to the British car meet Nr San Diego in October.

Malcolm

[Songbird]

KO6SY ....Welcome to the LEC family ...
And good luck with your new Elan ...

[tigerdog]

Hi!

Welcome to the fold. There are a more than a few Elans in SoCal, a few of us active on the board. I'm in San Diego, as is Techlectic with his 1-of-6 black Fed Elans. If you're interested in meeting up, I head to Cars And Coffee in Irvine about once a month. I see you've found the "Events So Cal" section - hope to see you at the San Diego event in October. I think you'll find LEC to be the same helpful, thoughtful and friendly place as I have.

Happy Elaning!

Doug "Tigerdog" Shelton
San Diego

[KO6SY]

I have now read quite a bit and managed to fix my Boost guage problem by tightening the ground ( earth wire for those in the UK). But have some residual questions I cant find answers to:
1) The car does not say SE on the rear but it has the turbo so was SE only on UK cars? The pictures of stearing wheels and wheels don't look like those on this site in the UK. So what does a US SE car look like?
2) What are the suggested idle revs? Mine is sitting at 1000- 1500, more often at 1500

Thanks
Malcolm

[KO6SY]

Hi!

Welcome to the fold. There are a more than a few Elans in SoCal, a few of us active on the board. I'm in San Diego, as is Techlectic with his 1-of-6 black Fed Elans. If you're interested in meeting up, I head to Cars And Coffee in Irvine about once a month. I see you've found the "Events So Cal" section - hope to see you at the San Diego event in October. I think you'll find LEC to be the same helpful, thoughtful and friendly place as I have.

Happy Elaning!

Doug "Tigerdog" Shelton
San Diego

Hi Tigerdog,
Can you tell me more about Cars and Coffee in Irvine? I won't be able to make either of the San Diego meets later this month and in October, I was at Fallbrook a few years back with my MGB and sorry to miss it this year.

Malcolm

[tigerdog]

I have now read quite a bit and managed to fix my Boost guage problem by tightening the ground ( earth wire for those in the UK). But have some residual questions I cant find answers to:
1) The car does not say SE on the rear but it has the turbo so was SE only on UK cars? The pictures of stearing wheels and wheels don't look like those on this site in the UK. So what does a US SE car look like?
2) What are the suggested idle revs? Mine is sitting at 1000- 1500, more often at 1500

Hi Malcom!
US cars don't say "SE", just "Lotus" and "Elan". You are also correct in observing the US "Fed" cars have a different steering wheel; our cars have airbags, the rest of the world did not. They also lucked out with adjustable steering columns, while ours are fixed. There are many differences between the Fed Elan and others, including the structure of the rear wing/boot lid/rear fenders and much of the front end. Part of this had to do with US crash safety requirements, part with aesthetics. Suggested idle RPM is 950 +-25 RPM. 1500 is definitely too high. Could be your idle air control is stuck or one of the other sensors is not working just right. You don't mention whether you have the AC on at the time; when I turn on AC, my car's idle is definitely higher and less likely to stabilize at 950 than without.

If you haven't already done so, download the service and parts manuals, they'll help a lot, especially if you read them. I'd also suggest forking over the appropriate $ to GeoffSmith for an ElanScan interface and downloading Alan's excellent program. ElanScan takes the guesswork out of a myriad of issues with our cars. If we manage to meet up in Irvine, I'll bring my laptop and cable and we can see if your computer stores any codes related to the high idle. Alternately, use the paperclip method to see if any codes are stored that may help you diagnose the issue.

Can you tell me more about Cars and Coffee in Irvine? I won't be able to make either of the San Diego meets later this month and in October, I was at Fallbrook a few years back with my MGB and sorry to miss it this year.Malcolm

Cars and Coffee in Irvine is a weekly semi-orgnaized gathering of collector and exotic cars in the parking lot shared between Ford's Premier Auto Group and Mazda, just west of the 405 at Alton Parkway. On any given weekend, you're likely to see anything from a pristine TR2 to a Gulf-liveried Ford GT40 (the original 60s ones) along with multiple Ferraris (Ferrari? Meh...) and "Look at me" Lambos. My favorites from last weekend were a '70s Maserati Merak, a showroom-perfect BMW 3.0CS that had its 40th build-date birthday and showed over 412,000 miles, a pair of Iso Rivolta coupes and a pair of Porsche Carrera GTs. C&C happens every Saturday (though it's in an alternate location last weekend of Sept.) People start rolling in by around 0630. By 0730, exhibit space is pretty packed. By 0900, the parking lot is nearly empty again. PM if you're thinking of going and we can meet.

[tweetdriver63]

Can you be more specific about the idle behavior? For example, when cold it will idle higher, and you may notice it idling around 1500 or so while the car is moving, but when you come to a complete stop it returns to 950. This is normal behavior.

[KO6SY]

Tigerdog,
Thanks for all the info and especially C&C, I will send you an e mail when I can get over.

Tweetdriver63,
The idle is with no air and after driving for a while it does come down to around 1100 to 1200, although sometimes at a stop it seems to delay before it comes down from 1500 to the 1100 range. Does the gas being used make a difference? My first fill up was with the best gas I could find 91 Octane, but I read somewhere it needs 95. Could it have been set up to take a lower grade?

Malcolm

[tigerdog]

Does the gas being used make a difference? My first fill up was with the best gas I could find 91 Octane, but I read somewhere it needs 95. Could it have been set up to take a lower grade?

I suppose altered setup is possible but not likely and fuel octane won't make a difference to the idle speed. BTW, search the forum for octane discussions - there's octane, then there's octane. UK octane ratings are measured using a different system than US; UK 95 is approx equal to US 92-93. California-forumlated 91 octane Premium Unleaded is just fine for an unmodified Elan. I'm beginning to suspect either your base timing is off or perhaps the idle air control valve is not functioning properly. There are better minds than me on the forum but they may not be monitoring a "new member" thread. You might want to start a new thread about the idle issue in the "Problems - need help" section.

[KO6SY]

Thanks for the ideas and update on octane ratings.

I will check these out at the weekend to see what I find.