New Member in Guernsey UK

[Wevster]

Hi All
I’m the new owner of a S2 Pacific Blue no 103 in Guernsey Channel Islands.
Low mileage of 30k and in lovely condition.
I’m planning a european trip soon and would appreciate any words of wisdom on what should be replaced/changed or updated. Things done so far.
Tyres, cam belt, water pump, thermostat, oil, filters, front brake upgrade, rear brake pads, front light upgrade, and general bits and pieces. I’ve had the vehicle checked over by SWLC and they found a split hose which has been changed, they also plugged it in to their computer and found no faults, subsequently during a 500 mile run back, a coolant hose blew, so a new set of coolant hoses are on order from SJSports.
I’m lucky enough to own gorgeous 1972 +2 130/5 for 10 years so not a newcomer to Lotus.
Many thanks for letting me join, and look forward any info suggested.

[MPx]

Welcome - lovely looking car. Looks like you've covered more of the obvious bases than most. They're a wonderful reliable car so should be no problem for a good road trip. The only problems with low milage cars is that they've sat for extended periods so no lubrication circulating and hoses/seals/rubber tend to go hard and stop working as they should.

I got my car from Jersey and had a great drive back to the UK from there having ferry'd to St Malo - but that was in 2003!

[Wevster]

Thanks for the reply, yes you’re absolutely right. i’ve found rubber and plastic parts, like clips and small pipes etc cracked/perished or fallen off! What about sensors? Are there some I should change?

[dapinky]

I'm a great believer in changing thinks 'known' to give a potential problem (tyres, hoses, oil, coolant, belts etc) and then seeing how it goes. I would ensure that you have a recovery service card, purely because the vehicle is unknown to you. I have been all over Europe (and UK, IOM, etc) and never had a breakdown or needed a lift home - but I still carry an RAC card with full Euro coverage.

You may have to think about your coolant hoses - although they may well be 'new', they may have been made when the cars were being built and kept in storage.... maybe take any of the ones you take off in the boot, just in case!

I wouldn't worry about any sensors, as long as it's running well before you go - their failure can rarely be predicted, and even if they do go wrong, the car will get you home in 'limp mode' at 3000 revs and no turbo boost.... still enough to get you where you need to be.

[Tuga2112]

as far as "common" issues that can be tricky to address far from home. i can think of 2
check if your heater matrix valve has been replacedwith the volvo one. the original one would be likely to be corroded on the inside
the second thing would be oil coolant hoses. one of them did pop on mine... which i was lucky to stop witithin a minute

[Wevster]

Thanks for the info, I’ll definitely have breakdown cover and check the other things, I wouldn’t have thought the matrix valve would have been changed,(is it easy to assess?) however the heater works fine hot and cold, only had to replace illumination bulbs. I’ll double check oil coolant pipe, not sure if that hose comes in the ordered hose kit.
Keep them coming cheers..

[Wevster]

A quick update, the heater valve definitely needs changing mine is original and working ok but the newness has definitely worn off! I’ve replaced all the coolant hoses which was an interesting job, the small hoses around the turbo were a bugger to remove. I started the car with it jacked up higher at the front, and bleed the rad from under the light pod, I ran it up to temperature until the fans came on, however the temperature didn’t drop. Heater control open but no heat so I have an airlock within. To make matters worse the brand new long hose that routes from engine to rad to auxiliary pump and expansion tank has developed a weep from one of the manufactured joints! So i’ll need to drain the system replace the hose, and remove the airlock, any recommendations on that? I did flush out the heater system both ways to clear the usual debris. Hopefully it’s just bad luck on the hose and the airlock is a common issue.

[Tuga2112]

when i changed the water pump i encontered the same issue with bleeding the coolant.

it all looked fine and when for a drive and suddenly all the coolant was gone.... there was a air pocket that seemed to not shifht unless the car was actually on the road.
in my case it was matter of driving about 1-2 miles about and top up again.

this happened the second belt change, which was done on a scisor lift, where my first belt change was part of a head gasket change and was done with the car on axle stands on the front only

afraid i dont have any solution for you, can only share experience...

[Wevster]

Hi All, so the new hose has arrived along with the heater valve and fitted up this morning, I decided to fill the coolant from the heater feed hose until it reached the header tank hose and back on its self to the heater valve. I then undone the rad air bleed bolt under the headlight to release air. I topped up the expansion tank. I started up and ran for 10 minutes and up to temperature, the fans came on at 3/4 mark but didn’t drop the temperature. I switched off and let cool down releasing the rad bleed valve. The temp switch within the cabin was on hot but still no hot air. I decided to run the car up the road for 2 minutes and return, unfortunately no difference still getting too hot. I have repeated this process again and no luck. I have noticed that the right side of the radiator is cool to touch and so is the bottom rad hose and also the heater return pipe, the rest are hot as expected. Obviously I have an airlock/circulation issue going on, any bright ideas? Possible water pump failure, anyway of testing?

[Fredjohn]

Try parking on a steep slope, pointing uphill. Run the engine with the bleed valve open, and the air should naturally go upwards. Ensure the heater valve is open too.
Another thought: is the thermostat stuck closed?
Do the cheap things before tackling the water pump.

[Wevster]

So the latest instalment is that I couldn’t unblock the airlock after numerous uphill downhill and around the corner business, so today I got my local garage to run a few tests and while they were at it sort the coolant. They managed to sort the airlock and the heater is once again firing out hot air, they did a sniff test this came back all good with no issues, then lastly a cylinder leak down test which also was fine, which is good news. I drove the car home and once again the temp gauge just rose up to 3/4 then higher up to the top with both fan on full blast, the temperature did not come down, until I shut down the engine. So could I have a dodgy temperature sender that’s sending false readings? Not sure what to do next. Any suggestions welcome.

[KenS]

I would second Fredjohn's thought that a stuck thermostat is high on the list.

[Tuga2112]

i would be looking at the thermostat given what you described. just like others also mentioned.

[Wevster]

Thanks for the suggestions, the thermostat was changed by SWLC about 3/4 weeks ago. The thermostat to radiator hose does get hot which suggests the thermostat is operating. I drove 250/300 miles since, with no issues until top rad hose let go. Then the next day I drove about an hour from Portsmouth to Poole no problem. Now it’s only showing hot since i’ve changed all the coolant hoses and coolant.

[Tuga2112]

you can "bench test" the thermostat to be 100% certain its woreking

however. this is a story from a very long time ago. but may apply to you. porche owner in portugal back in the mid 90s, had issues with overheating only during trafic and the engine didnt cool down, porche engineers checked "everything" and couldnt find the culprit.

guy sells car. and 3 weeks later the new owner figured out the radiator fans where blowing in the oposite direction to what they were meant to.

which is kinda funny as a asside because someone asked about the rans direction in the forum just a few days ago. but its something worth checking

water pump is also something that comes to mind.

and just to clarify. you definitly bleed the coolat with the heater on maximum temperature right ? people will say "heater on full blast" and when they say that its implied that your going to set it up in hottest temperature. you want the valve to open (have you checked its operation?) which requires the engine to be generating vacum.... (we assume you dont have vacum leaks)

this is pretty much everything that comes to mind at the moment. the issue with online help if that having someone familiar with the car right in front of it is very different to talking about it. and theres a certain level of knowledge being assumed when starting the discussion. which may lead to miss out on some of the potential reasons

[Wevster]

Hi, thanks for info.
The fans are definitely sucking air through, and the temperature dial was all the way round on hot, and the air coming through the vents is hot. (when warmed up).
The inline heater control valve vacuum is working ok. The radiator does seem strangely suspiciously cool,(is this normal, or should the rad get hot?) which does lends itself to air still being in there. It looks like a new all alloy rad. The garage did pump the coolant through using their machine, and I did explain about the bleed bolt under the light housing. I'll try again bleeding it as it's quite easy, however the coolant can shoot out when under pressure, I'll just crack the bolt to see if any air hisses out. The only thing I haven't checked is the water pump, which I believe was fitted last year. I'll keep plodding on.

[dapinky]

I know that you said in the top post that the cambelt and waterpump were replaced, but having read through the whole thread, the thing that concerns me is that there seems to be inadequate water flow through the whole system......

...... If it were me, I'd be suspecting a fault with the "new" waterpump - it isn't unknown for the impeller to become detached from the shaft and as the belt turns the pulley, there is no water flow through the engine (other than thermo-syphon effect).

[Tuga2112]

I Agree with dave.
the simptoms suggest the water pump isnt forcing enough flow.

its quite a shame considering how much effort it takes to get to it to replace it.

[Wevster]

Yes I think you’re right, I’ll order a new pump tomorrow, probably from PNM unless you recommend otherwise. Is there a method on here regarding correct fitting of the water pump?

[KenS]

If the heater matrix is working well, would that not indicate that there is flow in the system, so might still be worth double checking the thermostat and for kinks in the hoses before commiting to change the water pump.