MOT test

[adster]

I've booked my elan in for a mot test on wednesday morning!
I have taken a good look around it and hopefully it should be ok??? although there could be a few problems as its been unused for about 4 years ...
Hopefully it passes and I can start getting out and about in it.
To be honest I cant wait! It sounds so good with the stainless exhaust!
Finger crossed and hopefully i'll have some good news on wednesday!

[Rice crispy]

Good luck with the MOT, if you need an excuse to give it a run when it passes I'm in Bentwood and up for a run out in mine

[Rob P]

Best wishes for a successful test and then many happy miles of motoring thereafter

[rip]

Fingers crossed.

4 years off the road & you've just found LEC
I like my Elan but the best thing about it is the friends I have met on here.
The Essex crowd are a friendly bunch & often meet up near Chelmsford. I'm sure you would enjoy meeting up & chatting about Elans for the evening (or listening if Paul is there ).

[Rice crispy]

we have gaffer tape ready now if Paul comes (only joking Paul) we were getting together twice sometimes 3 times a month but its dwindled to once a month in Dunmow now. Last month it was only me, Mini me and lotusnut that turned up maybe because England were on the box although we watched it in the pub anyway.

[adster]

rip- I've only recently bought the car, about a month ago...the previous owner left it off the road for all those years!

[adster]

Well it passed first time! which made my day!
Just one advisory, which is that the steering rack has a very slight leak..? is this an easy job to change a rack? or can the seals be replaced?

The other thing that i noticed was that while driving the temp gauge sits at the 1/4 position but once its stationary the temp creeps up, it got up to 3/4 in the mot station before i switched it off!, Also the heater doesn't really blow hot air out?

Its not losing any coolant that i can tell, so im thinking that the thermostat could be at fault? so ive ordered one and will see if it makes any difference.

Any other ideas?

[dapinky]

Congratulations on the MOT - now you can drive it!

As far as the cooling goes, what you saw is normal....

...it should run at a tad under the 1/4 mark in normal use, but the fans don't cut in until 3/4, so don't panic at the moment.

If you didn't quite get to the point of the fans cutting in, it is worth doing it on your drivway to just reasure yourself that they work at the right time (if not, there is usually an easy fix, but probably unnecessary).

The seals for the rack are availlable, but I haven't got a clue how easy/quick it is to do as I haven't done the job myself.

If the rack has to come out anyway, then any good power steering recon place should be able to do it all for you with readily availlable parts.

[Rob P]

Well it passed first time! which made my day!

Excellent news, now enjoy being out on the road and hit the gas

On mine the temp guage sits half way between 0 and the 1/4 mark during normal running, if in stationary traffic for any length of time it will creep up to 3/4 and then the fans kick in so nothing to worry about there, although the heater on mine is warm after just a few minutes of driving so not sure what is going on there, maybe take it for a longer drive and see if it does eventually warm up

[nicowalker1]

Rob I'd maybe replace the thermostat, it may not be closing fully, Mine use to sit in the same position. New stat, now sits at the 1/4 mark

[GeoffSmith]

Do an ElanScan run from cold to confirm it.

[Rice crispy]

Great news could be the heater valve or matrix. Meant to be meeting Tuesday night in Dunmow with lotusnut for a pint if you want to joins us maybe more there would be good to see you

[adster]

I'm now convinced that the cooling system is ok, i've changed the thermostat and then I left it running in the garage until it reached 3/4 temp and magically the cooling fans kicked in and the temp dropped back down to just above 1/4. I let it do this 3 or 4 times to convince myself its not going to overheat!

The only other issues i have now are the lack of heating? the pipe going into the heater gets warm but the one coming out stays cold, would this be the matrix? could it be blocked?

The only other issue i have is the cam belt..from the limited history that i have, i can work out that the last time it was changed was in year 2000 at 58000 miles, its now only on 71000 miles...i really want to get out and drive it but am slightly worried about the cam belt situation, would it be advisable to get it done? also how easy is it to do? tempted to do it myself?

I'm definately up for meeting up in Dunmow, but maybe not this tuesday...unless someone can convince me that its ok to get out and drive it!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

The cam belt is always a hot topic. Most manufacturers advise frequent replacement, so I won't suggest otherwise. In the US, I have seen (and had) cars with 100,000 miles on the original belts but as a precaution, I changed the belt on my 20,000 car when I bought it. Remember to replace the idler, adjuster and water pump while you are in there. There was a recent discussion on the water pump pulley used on the less expensive pumps, so look for that so you can decide what to get.

The heater control valve is vacuum operated. Maybe it isn't opening? I believe the vacuum keeps it CLOSED (figuring a failsafe to hot rather than cold), so you might burrow down to it and remove (and plug) the vacuum pipe going to it and see if heat prevails. It could also be rusted beyond function and you might want to replace it to be safe. The original valve was metal and rusts badly. A replacement plastic valve from a Volvo has been suggested as a good replacement. There is a good write-up in the WikiLEC here: http://wikilec.9600.org/index.php/Heater_valve

[TrevorB]

MOT and 'A' service completed. Needed new front CV gaiter and corroded rear brake lines replaced.
Completed 3395 miles in that year and clock now shows 99134 mileage so 100,000 will be reached
this year. We hope to meet old and new faces at the various shows and meetings this year.

TrevorB and 'Merlot'

[daveiow]

MOT passed yesterday with no advisories
Booked into Sportomotive next week for a service then a little cosmetic attention at Wiltons and all should be OK for Ypres at the end of May
daveiow