My new to me fed Elan

[FunElan]

Hey all,

This forum has been a great help to me while I research the common M100 issues. I posted about a BRG one a while back that I was looking at. Well...the seller wanted more than I could really swing, especially for how much work it needed. But through some networking and asking around, I found an M100 that has been owned by at least 2 members of this forum. I'm the 4th owner now (I think).

The trouble is...the car was in NY state. And I live in CA. And I'm sure you've noticed that fuel prices are high right now. So shipping was going to be prohibitively expensive. Luckily, my friend in Louisville, KY, has a barn and can hold onto the car for a bit. Eventually, I'd like to fly out to KY and drive it back to CA.

BUT the car has some issues I'd like to work out first. I'm waiting to hear back from a shop in Louisville that has some Lotus experience. Needs:

- small coolant leak from the middle of the car near the front after shutoff - I'm guessing this could be that aluminum bypass pipe. This happened after my friend drove the car for about 25 miles, more mileage than in the past couple years I'd guess
- Misfire - the seller included an upgraded hall effect sensor.
- The roof (hood for you brits) is pretty dirty, had a little mold, and a clouded rear window. Since the car is silver, I'm thinking of replacing with a blue roof
- Shifter is very hard to get into 1st and 2nd, as well as 5th and reverse. 3rd and 4th are apparently not that bad. I believe the car has aftermarket shift cables in it.
- Needs new tires. I have some sticky Continentals on my e36 BMW that may be good on this car
- Headlight motors have been rebuilt, but still are finicky. One headlight will go up before the other, etc
- Boost gauge is pegged. I'm guessing ground issue

That's what we've found for now

On the plus side....it's got PNM big brakes. And according to Brit Car Nut's registry, a chip!

Since almost no photos are 512 kb anymore....here's a link to photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

[Simon_P]

Looks great!

- small coolant leak from the middle of the car near the front after shutoff - I'm guessing this could be that aluminum bypass pipe. This happened after my friend drove the car for about 25 miles, more mileage than in the past couple years I'd guess - Yes likley to be the pipe, but what else has corroded ?
- Misfire - the seller included an upgraded hall effect sensor. HES will set a CEL code rather than misfire. Misfire likely to be stuck injector or if load related HT
- The roof (hood for you brits) is pretty dirty, had a little mold, and a clouded rear window. Since the car is silver, I'm thinking of replacing with a blue roof Doesn't look too bad give it a clean and buff the window with polish/compound
- Shifter is very hard to get into 1st and 2nd, as well as 5th and reverse. 3rd and 4th are apparently not that bad. I believe the car has aftermarket shift cables in it.
- Boost gauge is pegged. I'm guessing ground issue Yes, the sender is on the passenger side fender US!

[tigerdog]

I've had great luck cleaning the roof/hood using the hand-tool from my Bissell carpet cleaner. (Same tool used to spot-clean after geriatric doggies )
thoroughly wash the top, leave it soaking, then use the hand tool to vacuum out all the water - takes a good bunch of mung, mold and mildew with it. I guess any good wet-vac/shop-vac would do just as well.

[ecb056]

FunElan
The OEM cables were poorly designed and I have replaced them with an aftermarket set, although not all aftermarket sets are better than the OEM believe it or not. That said, please share a pic of the cables at the gearbox shifting mechanism just in front of the coolant header tank and slightly inboard. You may need to slightly encourage the position of a few items to gain a clear shot of the cable attachment. With the pic, I can determine better the type of cables you have. BTW, mine have performed excellently for years and thousands of miles and countless shift-changes.

[FunElan]

Thanks for the replies - I'm looking forward to eventually seeing the car up close (as it is still in KY). In the interim, I'll pay a good detailer to see if they can help with the roof. I also ordered some injectors just to have - hoping they're correct and I don't have to use the warranty: https://www.ebay.com/itm/191637275013

[esprit888]

The small coolant leak at the front could also be the auxiliary coolant pump (electrical, runs only when the engine is shut down and the ECM sees high temperature) these seldom run so the seal tends to umup, then on the rare occasion it does run it will start to leak a small amount when shut down.

[FunElan]

The small coolant leak at the front could also be the auxiliary coolant pump (electrical, runs only when the engine is shut down and the ECM sees high temperature) these seldom run so the seal tends to umup, then on the rare occasion it does run it will start to leak a small amount when shut down.

That would be ideal, frankly. Seems much easier to change than the bypass pipe. I added a photo of the leak on the ground at the above google drive link

[TorqueHorse]

Welcome! Looks like a great example. Good luck on isolating your coolant leak and the misfire. Hopefully you are able to cross-country it soon, otherwise your friend may decide it looks too good in his barn

[FunElan]

Well, the Elan is on its way to me. And BOY does it need some love. I added some photos of it on the truck in the google drive folder. It almost didn't make it up!

Last night it overheated on my friend who was helping with the transport. He said it was running a quarter of the way up while cruising at 55 mph for 30 miles (70F outside) and then let it idle for few minutes - it ended up a couple of clicks from the H on the scale. He did not hear any fans come on, nor did he hear the coolant pump do it's thing.

I'm thinking I'll change the thermo, coolant temp sensor, and test the fans. It also needs a coolant flush and probably an expansion tank.

Will be doing a blue roof and redoing the seats with blue stripes I think. Tires are 20 years old, so I might make the wheels gunmetal instead of black when changing those.

[Fredjohn]

Gauge sounds normal from your description. Before you start spending on items that might be OK, check the fans work. Very often there is a bad earth preventing operation, or even seized motors.
The recirculating pump only comes on after you turn off the engine and the water temp is very high. Again do not replace until you've thoroughly checked everything.

[FunElan]

Thanks Fredjohn, the plan is definitely look everything over before doing anything, but since this car has very little maintenance history, I was planning on doing some preventative maintenance anyway. Is this a bad idea?

[Fredjohn]

Preventive maintenance is always good, but I follow 3 rules

1) if it ain't broke don't fix it.
2) always assume the simplest problem, not the most complex.
3) on fibreglass cars, an electrical problem is very often a bad earth.

Everything else then follows.

Good luck!

[steve matthews]

[FunElan]

The car is now in my possession!! It needs a LOT of work. Already found that we're getting no spark on cylinder #3. Plugs are new, wires look new.

The driver window motor spins but does not move the window at all either. It's halfway down now. Stay tuned

[FunElan]

Ok here's my list so far today:

Tires are 20 years old - to be changed this week.

The car has a misfire - we've diagnosed no spark on cyl 3, the issue being a plug wire. Trying some O'Reilly wires tomorrow

Boost gauge works intermittently, and pegs at idle. I tried to remove the screw to clean the ground and it just turns - does this mean the nut behind has to be accessed from the wheel liner?

Shifter is SUPER tight. The gears are very close together

The car overheated on my friend last week after idling. I tested the fans and they work. Coolant temp sender? It does look new. Says 110 on it

Driver window stopped halfway down. The motor spins, but window won't move. Butterfly clip?

Roof is gross and moldy

Lots of corrosion in the engine bay - I plan on dipping a toothbrush in some vinegar and scrubbing

[FunElan]

Changing the wire didn't help the misfire. Trying new coils this weekend. I also bought an ignition control module just in case - should be here next week.

Going to do a coolant flush and maybe check the condition of the thermostat while I'm there.

The left side window is stuck halfway down. The motor spins but the window seems trapped - pulling or pushing does nothing. I'm not going to touch it anymore so I can avoid it shattering. I have an acquaintance 3d printing some butterfly clips for me just in case.

This will be fun!

[FunElan]

Never updated here, but I've put almost 2000 miles on the car since I got it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZiP8dE ... sp=sharing

Still need to address:
- RHS window, sweeper trim, and sticky door latch
- wheels
- Timing belt sometime this year (it sounds like it's a little too tight)
- Maybe exhaust, although the straight pipe does sound pretty good

[dapinky]

I'd put a couple of dollars on a bet that says the butterfly has detached itself from the hole in the window.....

... hence the motor will work, but the glass doesn't move.

I know it sounds "unimportant" at the moment, but it needs looking at quite quickly really. The reason being that the glass is only now held in place because the butterfly is pushing against the glass and flexing it - so if you drive over a bump, it could cause the window to shatter (and that is a jigsaw puzzle no-one wants to do). Alternately, at some point the glass could just drop down the channel and break.

Even if you don't have the new parts at hand, if you get in there, re-position the glass and then hold it in place with duct tape it will prevent any new drama....

.... and don't touch the window switch until you've done it - that can cause the window to break as well.

[FunElan]

Hi Dapinky - this has been an ongoing thread....I did finish the LHS window/door fix a while ago. The butterfly was indeed detached but the regulator's motor case had also been split in half. A good used one from SimonP was installed and all is well on that side of the car

The RHS window goes up and down but not smoothly, so I'll pull it to tighten the slider blocks and lubricate everything.