Ian's first foray into Lotus ownership - AHJ

[Ian T]

OK, as part of an expensive experiment, I have ordered a complete inlet from Steve Strange and it will be here in a day or two. I want to have a longer and slower look at it, clean it up even more thoroughly and test all of its bits absolutely before fitting it to my car.

I can only hope that the idle jets in mine are somehow blocked and not transferring air uniformly to each inlet port. Looking down the ports and seeing them shiny and clean last time I had it to bits obviously wasn't good enough, so I'm in for a slower and much more deliberate go next.

Steve and James at SJS have today sourced the grommet that goes with the PCV valve, which should be available via their website tomorrow. That should allow me to seal my rocker cover better than previously, with a new PCV valve, so the order will be for valve, grommet and a second set of new gaskets for the injector housing, inlet plenum and throttle body.

The history that I have with this car suggests the issue has dogged it for a while now, so I'm even more keen to get to the bottom of it and then I can start on the cosmetic stuff.

[theelanman]

Have you changed the CTS I found that this was causing over fuelling......
I'll need to read the full topic as on my phone at mo.....
But it sorted mine out

[Ian T]

Sorry, missed your message!

No, CTS seems to be plausible all the way through the range. Geoff has also looked at the Elanscan dumps earlier in this thread and concluded that it looked OK.

Anyway, another day, another fiddle and a little more news.

Easy stuff first - cosmetics. I have been embarrassed since I bought the car about the state of the wheels. Maybe they were distinctive with their green primer with a hint of silver overspray, but I desperately wanted them to look like everyone else's... So I have been taking them off one by one and painting them. The first one has faulty poder coat and so the results aren't what I was wanting, but the second one has come out nicely enough and once the paint has completely gassed off and hardened, I'll polish it up. A couple of photos below show that the car shouldn't be as scruffy at this years Lotus Festival.

Masking tape about to come off...

Masking removed

Of course I have been trying to work out what is causing my poor start condition and slowly rule out some options but as often as not start asking more questions. See what you guys and girls think.

Firstly, I investigated the Crank Angle sensor and have created a separate thread about that asking whether it looks to be assembled correctly. While apart, I cleaned it all up a little and checked the alignment of the sensors inside. Only on having it to bits did I realise how it works - I had assumed that there was a crank sensor on the bottom half of the engine like every other fuel injected car I've worked on. Nope, this seems to do it all from the exhaust cam. the reluctor wheel provides pulses to the ECU telling it (twice per revolution of the cam) when cyl no1 gets to TDC and the hall effect sensor detects a steel flag passing through it that tells it which way up the cam is (i.e. whether to fire cyl 1 or 4). I can't convince myself that the CAS is assembled correctly, if you have photos, or time to look, have a look and tell me if yours is the same under the plastic cover.

With the crank rotated to bring Cyl no1 to TDC, the CAS reluctor ring is set like so...

CAS reluctor with Cyl1 at TDC

I can't quite satisfy myself that this is correct, but can I find any information online to know how to check? LOL.

I also had another go with the Gunson Gastester (the replacement after the first one melted internally). If Mr Gunson is to be believed, the CO is set at about 3% after some adjustment of the CO pot in service mode. I can't say for sure that the adjustment is right as I don't quite believe Mr Gunson and will take it to a friendly local garage to put on their MOT tester and see what the score is.

Obviously, it had to sit there idling for a while in service mode so having previously swapped the plugs round and driven the car, they were initially equally coloured and fouled. Not fouled so you'd think them to be unhealthy, just not shiny, brand new and white. as soon as I cut the engine, I pulled the plugs out to look at them and this time the result is different. Anyone care to comment? Cyl 1 and 2 are black, but the plug gap area is nice and brown, with a tiny bit of brown extending one side of the earth electrode. Plugs 3 and 4 both have white spots on the porcelain on one side only, the earth electrode has warmed up much more and cleared any sooty deposits, photo below...

Plugs laid out in order - 1 on left, 4 on right

Previously that lean looking plug effect was only on cylinder no3, no matter which plug was in there. What have I changed that has extended that effect to no4?

[Ian T]

A couple of updates...

I have been painting wheels. One side done.

One wheel - all I did was clean, sand, prime and paint it...

And, for the last few (5?) years, I've had this plate on retention. Sadly, I couldn't put G33REG back on to restore its originality, so this is the next best thing.

New plate (Previously G33REG, then AHJ920G)

And finally, I wanted to identify the ECU. I couldn't see any remaining identity markings, so I removed it (not for the first time) and then took it to bits to see what was inside.

Interestingly, the rigmarole of getting the ECU out while laid across the car from the drivers seat (I don't recommend that) was enough to persuade the engine to start properly every time since. Does it just like the good weather, or have I found the fault? If the later, I'll bet it will be the connections to the ECU for the injectors - they're quite high current and if not perfect I could see they'd starve the engine of fuel, possibly to the point where unburned fuel would go out of the exhaust during starting and create my fun.

Drove it to work today, one side looking tidy, the other side looking a bit second hand. Will have another drive in it tomorrow and see if it remains well behaved!

I still want to do the cambelt for peace of mind and will have to resort to Dave Pink's method for loosening the crank pulley bolt because my 300 ft lb impact wrench isn't touching it. Neither did jumping up and down on my breaker bar!

Ian.

[Ian T]

Oh, and as I approach my first anniversary of owning the car, my insurance renewal came through. I'd done some quote finding in advance and was pleasantly surprised when the renewal quote came in at £114.09 for the year, fully comp SD&P with commuting plus European cover, driving other vehicles and an (extra-cost) option of agreed value. Yes, I put in a 3k mileage limit, but that's fine for this car. As this is a classic policy, I didn't have to assign any no claims bonus to it (those are in use on my other cars!).

I rang them to get the plate changed over (they promised to do it when I took out the policy but I didn't do it straight away) and they did that straight away, then amended the renewal, which came out £5 cheaper.

Well done Flux Direct.

[Ian T]

Well today was a more satisfying day.

I had another go with Mr Gunson and before he died, got the CO pot into a better position, whilst varying the timing as suggested by Rip. I suspect I have advanced it by about 4 degrees (haven't measured it yet) and as a consequence, it starts well and seems to run well. So the issue (if there is one) could have been with the CAS, or the positioning of the sensors or reluctor wheel inside.

Took it to my friendly local MOT place and put it on their gastester - they seem to be happy with me going down there when I need to check something as I help them with Vauxhalls they get that need the dealer diagnostic tools. Anyway, long story short, CO was at just under 2%, HC around 300 and Lambda around 1.01.

With that, they had a free MOT slot this afternoon, so I ran it through and it passed - a clean bill of health and a couple of compliments on being a good example, which was nice.

After having a giggle at me trying to use a dead Mr Gunson on their forecourt, they said they could probably do me a deal on a proper gas tester for a nice price. I enquired what and how nice. Suffice to say I now have a Crypton emissions analyser, which they described as non-working and demonstrated it failing its internal self-calibration, but on getting it home, it eventually did calibrate and seems to measure quite plausibly. Essentially the kit they used to use for MOTs until the stricter tests came in. I can't measure Lambda, but CO and HC should be fine once I have changed the filters and calibrated it.

So I'll do the cambelt kit, water pump and service, paint the remaining two wheels and then think about whether I tackle the interior.

[lotusflasherman]

Well done. If you have just got an MOT I'd do the cambelt change, water pump & service a.s.a.p. (they are important), but put off "paint the remaining two wheels and then think about whether I tackle the interior" till autumn.
Just spend some time driving it !!! Must be hood down in this weather - they look so much better with the hood down. I think most 'problems' reported on this site are mainly due to lack of use, particularly issues with brakes.
Elans are like people, they need regular exercise and the harder they work the fitter they get!

[Ian T]

Well done. If you have just got an MOT I'd do the cambelt change, water pump & service a.s.a.p. (they are important), but put off "paint the remaining two wheels and then think about whether I tackle the interior" till autumn.
Just spend some time driving it !!! Must be hood down in this weather - they look so much better with the hood down. I think most 'problems' reported on this site are mainly due to lack of use, particularly issues with brakes.
Elans are like people, they need regular exercise and the harder they work the fitter they get!

Thanks Phil, yes, I agree.

I'll order the bits for the cambelt from SJS this week and then get it to bits. That's the job I want to do most as it gives me a firm datum point that says all the engine timing is correct and that nothing is a tooth out, the belt is properly tensioned etc. I'll have to dig through the history to see when the belt was last done, but I'd say it's due, as is any belt I've not changed myself when I bought the car.

I also have an oil and filter change to do, as while the oil isn't too dirty, it's been there for at least a year and due a change. I'd been putting this change off becase I wanted to diagnose the poor starting first and then change the oil to be sure that any fuel that ended up down below was properly removed before I started using the car much more. It's a novelty to be able to go out to it any time and just turn the key... Fantastic, transformed in fact!

The wheels can't wait though - the drivers side two are now silver and look presentable, the nearside are still greeny primery looking and I'd like to do those just to sharpen the looks of the car up. Eventually I might have them professionally refurbished, but for now my DIY paint will be acceptable while I work on other things.

The bit I neglected to list for attention is the seals - I still need to do those and while I have a kit of bits from Jamie, I've only so far fitted the drivers windscreen-to door glass seal, which is excellent. Needless to say though, there is unmanaged water around when this car goes out in the rain, so I'd like to fix that rather than having to avoid inclement weather altogether!

Oh, and this is the emissions analyser...

Crypton 267 Emissions Analyser

Anyone got a manual for one of these?

[Rambo]

Don't waste your money getting all the cambelt bits and pieces from SJS !! Get them from RockAuto in the States for a fraction of the price

I recently I ordered 3 sets from RockAuto and it came in less than 1 set from SJS And that includes postage, packaging and import taxes

[Ian T]

Ooops.

I keenly just went to their site after my last post and ordered the lot...

Cambelt parts order from SJS

I was signed up for the group buy from Rock Auto but t fell apart due to concerns about getting the wrong shape tooth on one or more of the components, didn't realise you'd sussed that or I'd have compared it.

Total was £203 inc delivery and VAT, I went for all the moving parts including water pump, plus both poly-vee belts as mine look original to the car and are pretty perished.

[Rambo]

I was signed up for the group buy from Rock Auto but t fell apart due to concerns about getting the wrong shape tooth on one or more of the components, didn't realise you'd sussed that or I'd have compared it.

You have to ensure that the water pump has the rounded teeth. Dave Pink went for the Airtex one which had the correct shaped teeth so I also ordered the Airtex W/P and confirm that it is correct and does the job for a fraction of the price of an SJS (which he no doubt sources from RockAuto anyway )

viewtopic.php?f=85&t=24095&hilit=cambelt

[dapinky]

Just to add a bit, I've attached a copy of my order which is for 2 sets of everything + 2 thermostats (which are the uprated spec ones and have the correct shape/wiggle pin):-

Total of £173.36 all in

rock auto order.pdf

(64.68 KiB) Downloaded 1039 times

[Rambo]

So, £203 via the SJS route but only £173 for 2 sets via the RockAuto route

[Ian T]

Yowch.

Suspect SJS buy their bits from Rock sometimes as well.

I'm hopeful that I will have it all here in the next couple of days and then can get cracking on fitting it. Of course this weekend is the big Vauxhall show at Billing Aquadrome, so I will be getting the V6 Astra out for that and having a gentle drive up there.

I know what you are thinking about the SJS route - a fool and his money... I guess they have given me good service so far and (yes, at a cost) some orders have been cheaper than Rock when postage was taken into account. Rock's multiple postage policy meant that my three gaskets were going to get 3 lots of postage applied that cost more than the gaskets themselves. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

That said, if I'd followed the end of the Group Buy thread I might have known to join in with you guys and saved half my bill.

[Rambo]

Rock's multiple postage policy

I've always found it cheaper to order more than less with RA and not had a multiple postage policy unless the parts were sourced from 2 or 3 separate locations in the States/Canada

Having said that, I can see why some parts ie gaskets etc... might be cheaper to source over here

PS I'm not knocking Steve at SJS by the way. I've had very good service from him over 12 years. It's just cheaper and more convenient to go the RA route for cambelt bits and pieces. I've done it twice before for various people and can thoroughly recommend RA for efficiency, value for money, keeping you informed and when, occasionally things go wrong, stepping up to the plate and contacting you, usually by phone from the States

[Danevansgolf]

Just to jump on your band wagon. I am in the process of ordering from rock auto for the cam belt change, water pump, belt etc. I'm quite happy to order a few sets for other people and then post on to them once I receive delivery. i have included a picture of what I am going to order ( probably next week) obviously the belt with quantity 1 next to it, is the wrong one and I won't be ordering that one.
I you want me to order you a set just pm me and I'll sort it out. I least we'll save on customs and delivery.

Rock auto order

[Ian T]

Shame... My stuff will be delivered tomorrow or I'd have joined you.

[dapinky]

You may wish to add a thermostat to your list - at £3.61 each they're cheap and shipping wasn't affected when i stuck them in my basket

[Danevansgolf]

Not to be thick or anything, but what thermostat?

[Ian T]

Me, or Dave? I replaced mine last year and have been enjoying a nice consistent 1/4 range coolant temperature gauge reading since.