It’s only a small leak, honest

[Saltire]

Well . . . . Bollecks

The Elan's almost finished its spring overhaul, and - like other folks on the Forum - I was hoping to have it taxed and back on the road on 1st June. Last week, I got it all tuned up, emissions fine, running like a Swiss watch.

And then . . . I started the engine on Friday, and it ran like a dump truck

No problem, I thought: I've fitted a lot of new parts, so it must be related to one of those. I swapped things back: sensors, coil packs, plugs, leads, etc. No change, still horrible. Timing covers off, new cambelt was perfectly timed and hasn't jumped.

Scratch head over the weekend.

So this morning I went back to first principles and did a compression test.

1 and 4: absolutely fine
2 and 3: almost no compression at all

And so the answer is . . . head gasket

I've not done one on the Elan, so any useful pointers from those who have would be very welcome please. Especially helpful would be a list of parts I'm likely to need (and am I better to go to RockAuto or SJs). I'd also like to know whether it's faster to do it in situ, or to drop the engine (in which case I could clean up the sump and put a fresh clutch in at the same time). I have the use of a 2-post lift, so access isn't a problem, and I already have it partially dismantled to check the cambelt.

Oh, and if one of our Scottish friends could send down a bottle of Bunnahabhain post-haste for me to drown my sorrows, that would be great too

I WILL get this car back on the road, and it WILL be great again

[dapinky]

Jonathan,

It's been about 12 years since I did mine the first time (the second time it was needed I just swapped the engine/gearbox unit!).....

From what I remember, the WM is pretty comprehensive, but afew things worthy of note:-

Changing it in situ is okay, but space restricted (as anything).

Changing it with the clamshell off is a lot easier.

Leaving the manifolds on it is possible to do it - but the head with manifolds is heavy and unwealdy - likely to catch some bodywork and do damage. Ideally, a 2 man job to just lift it off and replace it later (even with an engine hoist).

Leaving the inlet manifold attached to the head, but removing the exhaust (with turbo attached) is a good compromise - but removal of the inlet (plennum) and leaving that in place is okay if you can reach all the bolts (saves disturbing fuel lines etc).

I seem to remember some of the vacuum lines to the secondry throttle being a bit of an issue, but can't remember what!

On balance, I think that whipping the power unit out the top is the easiest way (especially if you have work to do on the sump and/or clutch)........ but if you do that, it is worth fitting new oil seals on the output from the gearbox to driveshafts - even if they look okay, they may be hardened by age/temperature and possibly will not seal when you refit the driveshafts and fill with oil.

[Saltire]

Thanks, Dave; that’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for and really helpful. Can you remember if you changed your head bolts, or did you reuse the old ones?

[dapinky]

I've always re-used them (but checked that they aren't damaged!) - they are not a 'stretch' bolt on these engines, so if they are in good nick, there's ne need to change them.

I think i have done 4 or 5 elans now (but none recently!) and don't remember any great difficulties as long as you are careful with protecting the bodywork and checking that everything is detached before pulling the head upwards.

[cliff]

The head gasket is not an easy job. There is a video on you tube showing how to replace the cam belt, it is very useful, although I would go for the long bar and turning the engine over method of loosening the crank pulley bolt first.

I have a piper down pipe which makes getting the turbo off really easy, this saves quite a bit of weight when lifting the head off. I also drained and disconnected the power steering pump to get it out of the way as far as possible, the reservoir has to come out for access anyway. I am lucky enough to have AC fitted so the compressor bracket is perfect for supporting the engine rather than the sump. Possibly a bracket could be rigged to go in that position as the bolt holes should be there on the block.

Ratchet ring spanners, 10, 12, 13, 14 & 17 all come in useful and can save some swearing.

Once the engine mounting bolts are loosened, I used the short hex key from the kit taped to a 10mm ratchet ring spanner to get the 4 bolts out, still not easy but doable. To put them back, I used pointed mole grips and a screwdriver to get the harder ones in the holes then the ratchet ring trick again. Maybe I just need smaller hands!

The head and intake manifold are not too heavy but unwieldy, I used an engine hoist to put it back on the engine so the gasket would not get damaged.

As I read on here once, refitting is the same as removal but you swear in different places!

Useful Info:

http://lotuselancentral.com/repair/pdf/ ... Change.pdf

http://wikilec.com/view/Cambelt-change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBhwSw3VBk

I re-used the headbolts as well.

If I wanted to do any other work on the engine, I would pull it, then again there are other issues doing that.

Good luck

[Saltire]

Thanks, Cliff; really helpful. We’ve already done the cam belt (although of course it will have to be ‘done’ again)

Wet day today so I’ll begin to put a parts list together and go from there. Good job it’s not my daily driver!

[Rambo]

I think i have done 4 or 5 elans now ....

Jeezo Dave, 4 or 5 HGF's in 16 years That must be an LEC record ? How come you've had so many failures ?

PS In my 17 years ownership (3 M100's) I've had precisely zero. In fact, in over 40 years of car, bike and van driving I've never had any. Just good fortune or .......?????

[dapinky]

Mark,

Only 3 were mine!

The red car had a leaking HG when I bought it (I knew at the time it was on the way out) - so I changed it...... but I used an aftermarket HG (as we did back then, which later led to the "Only use a genuine Lotus item" mantra)....

...so #2 was changing that HG after another 8 months when it went again.

#3 was Paul Watkins' engine rebuild

#4 was on my blue Elan

#5 was on another mate who isn't on here a lot.

[Rambo]

Aaaah, I see. Didn't think they were all yours but just curious

Incidentally, what is the main reason for HGF failure Dave ? Is it engine overheating, no/lack of coolant etc... ????

[david924s]

I would think the main reason for HG failure with these cars if used as normal and not tracked etc. would be down to age and in many cases standing idle for months or years between usage, 30 years is going to age anything never mind the HG.

[dapinky]

Mark,

I'm not an expert, but from my observations I would say that (as long as good quality haskets are used), then any engine should be good for a lot of miles without any HG damage - but once it starts to degrade, then it is an exponential curve of damage, leading to a total failure.

This degradation can occur with wear on the 'high pressure' bits (those bits surrounding the combustion chamber) - so mileage may play a part, but more importantly, is how that mileage occurs. A car which is rarely driven above 3000rpm (so little turbo boost), and on a 'constant' run where the engine conditions are not changing a lot (ie, motorway constant 70mph) is going to have a lot of miles on it before the HG wears out - probably never will!

But if someone is constantly accelerating / decelerating, then the wear will occur quicker (Track use? maybe even fast road driving... which is the 'fun zone' for most of us).

Having said that - I think the bigger killer is the chemical reactions due to the dissimilar materials.... iron block, aluminium head, plus the gasket material..... all expand at different rates with heat.

So we fill it with water to regulate and disipate the heat....... but that causes corrosion.... which causes weak spots, and then it goes wrong.....and it only works if there is no air in the system.

Therefore my final thought is that the main reason for failure is the lack of carefull maintenance to the coolant in the system...... how many people swap it out every 2 years? (I now do!). It often still looks clean and blue, but it may well have lost its 'anti-corrosion' properties, so bits of the alloy head will start to corrode and cause the leakage of coolant at the HG....... thus, the most common failure is between water/cylinder, then between 2 cylinders, not many failures between oilways - but some!

[Rambo]

Thanks both Dave's for the explanations

Incidentally, I change my coolants every 2 years or less and have done for the last 10 years. And they are made up to about 35%, good enough for weather down to -20C. You can never be too sure in Sturgeonland The coldest I have ever been out in red Rambo was -16C. Top down of course. I got some very strange looks

[Saltire]

I’ve never had an HGF on a car I’ve owned before either. Until now

I suspect - though of course I can’t prove - that mine has failed because the previous owner a) left the car standing for many months, while b) it was full of OAT antifreeze. Although I changed it for proper blue stuff as soon as I noticed, it can’t have done any good.

On the plus side, if I take the engine out to do the HG, I can do a lot of other things at the same time, like clutch, alternator and starter overhaul using Simon_P’s excellent kits, sump and oil pick-up and so on. Should be good for another 65,000 miles at least after all this lot.

Always look on the bright side

[Rambo]

That OAT is the Devil's fluid for our engines

[Saltire]

I don’t know why everyone makes such a fuss about reaching the alternator

And before you get too worried, it’s still on the engine crane, so no weight in the gearbox or sump.

We had to take the engine out upwards in the end as we couldn’t get the rear engine mount off the chassis.

So, next job is to take the head off and send it away for checking and machining as necessary. All turbo heat shields and the cam cover to be powder coated at TPCS, and in the meantime, I’ll be fettling the starter and alternator with Simon’s repair kits - good job they were on the shelf.

Then there’s the new clutch to fit - it would be rude not to as the engine’s out - CV joint boots (are they obtainable, or do people use third party parts?) and sump off to clean the oil pickup.

Reassembly, as they say, will be the reverse of removal, but with different swear words . . .

[Rambo]

90130CA5-4631-4E22-B285-B3FD8DF61132.jpeg

Reassembly, as they say, will be the reverse of removal, but with different swear words . . .

Hell bloody, s**t f@cking, wanker a Smiths Geoff ....

[Saltire]

90130CA5-4631-4E22-B285-B3FD8DF61132.jpeg

Reassembly, as they say, will be the reverse of removal, but with different swear words . . .

Hell bloody, s**t f@cking, wanker a Smiths Geoff ....

In one of your more mellow moods tonight, Mark, I see. Was it a good malt?

[Rambo]

No malts tonight J. But I've just finished my 7th Boys Only Beer Bubble in a field with a neighbour. A few fine ales from the Scottish Borders and Northumberland . All legal, above board and compliant with the current laws in Sturgeonland

[cliff]

Enjoy a well deserved beer or 6.

That looks so clean compared to mine when I took it out. The gearbox mounting is nasty, I found that dropping the progeron gave so much more access to the bolts and the starter motor and alternator connectors. My flywheel was not in the best condition so worth having a good look at it. I found a place to have it skimmed, not everywhere can do it due to the shape.

As you can see from my project thread, I got well and truly carried away with project creep, but with the engine out there is so much access for other stuff. I replaced, powder coated or had refurbished as much as I could. It only took 4 years.

Hope you do better than that.

[Simon_P]

lack of carefull maintenance to the coolant in the system...... how many people swap it out every 2 years? (I now do!)

Exactly that Dave! It's the inhibitors!

Jonathan,
Do only what is absolutely necessary, if it isn't broken don't fix it, and if it isn't worn out don't replace it. Don't take it apart to inspect anything and for God's sake don't get the head skimmed, (this is for a different era... That of the Ark! There isn't a machining tolerance on the head ) .
At 65k it is just about run in as an S2 the valves will be clean and are unlikely to need lapping. Don't clean the tappets unless they are noisy. Unless you are lucky the exhaust manifold will be cracked so better not to disturb unless you have to.

I was going to say don't take the engine out, but it's a bit late for that!

Only replace cv joint boots if they have holes in, but do as pinky says and replace the gearbox drive shaft oil seals and the link shaft bearing which is about due (mind the dust shield and the lip seals don't need changing be careful with them as they are an odd size).
New clutch at 65k? It's half worn, if you must replace it you need the expensive one with 6 springs.

Keep in mind that new does not mean better, good is expensive, and original parts may not be available.

In this instance refitting is not the reverse of removal. There are more swear words required to refit the rear mount and you have to be quite resourceful. An extra pair of hands helps - two people swearing at it is that bit more persuasive!