ENGINE SURGING

[FrancisW]

Hello to all, I am new here and representing a friend of mine who is on the Island of Menorca and does not speak good English and sadly does not understand much about car mechanics. So I am here to help him.

He is the proud owner of a Redd Lotus Elan M100 which was first owned by John Miles the ex F1 Lotus driver who tried to develop the 4WD Lotus 63 and then later was part of the team who designed the Lotus M100 and more specifically the front suspension which eliminated Torque Steer.

Car originally registered 1st May 1990 and registered G949 LVG

Anyway we have a problem with the car "surging" or or lurching during acceleration and not being able to reach high rpm. This could be due to a number of faults; even a defective camshaft position sensor, so It will be difficult to find out exactly.

Does anyone have any ideas about this or has anyone suffered from the same issue.

I have information that it is possible to download ElanScan for free from this site, a computer software for identifying M100 faults. However one needs to buy an ALDL interface cable to connect the Lotus Elan M100 to a Windows PC. I have no idea about IT.

Can anyone guide me for the faults and for the software and cable

Thanks

[chrism]

FrancisW, look in the ElanScan section and make sure you download the latest version of ElanScan (ElanScan_beta_usb) especially if you're running later versions of win10 and subsequent versions of win11.

Our pals Tuga and Geoff might be able to supply cables...

Imo EScan is a 'must-have' due to our early engine control units

[FrancisW]

Thank you for this information. I am not quite sure if I can download this to my Laptop, because this program needs to go to the Mechanic in Spain who is looking after this car. Is it possible to download and then send to the Mechanic. I am not an IT specialist I have Window 10. I am acting as intermediary because the owner is Spanish and I am English but live in Spain and despite have a great love for good cars has NO IDEA about car repairs.

I will have to find out more from the owner

How do we obtain the cables from your pals Tuga and Geoff

All this may take time

Thank you

[Tuga2112]

i wonder if asking a AI to scan all the posts in the forum for descriptions of similar symptoms (specifically the part of not being able to reach high rpm) could be usefull to then offer a list of different options and threads with stories of people who had the same probvlems and what was their resolution.

i am pretty sure this symptom has been resolved with hall effect sensor replacements in the past as well as diagnosed down to Trevor's instrument cluster traces being broken, causing the ECU to not get the "speed sensor" signal, there may be other different cases. one that comes to mind is a wastegate stuck open, where the turbo never spools up.

[dapinky]

How do we obtain the cables from your pals Tuga and Geoff

There is currently one for sale on ebay (UK site) which may be worth looking at..... I have no idea who the manufacturer was, or who the seller is, though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/940003455621 ... R5zKzdqmaA

[Tuga2112]

How do we obtain the cables from your pals Tuga and Geoff

There is currently one for sale on ebay (UK site) which may be worth looking at..... I have no idea who the manufacturer was, or who the seller is, though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/940003455621 ... R5zKzdqmaA

thats not one of mine. but i have seen and used that design before. I know the person who used to own it, I can ask about its origin.

I will say. that is less than what i ask for to make one, so its a better option than asking me to make one