marode

I think I may have found the solution ten years after! The driveshafts have different ends! I just came across this question: https://www.facebook.com/groups/18682611768/permalink/10159999234381769/ For those without a Facebook account, see pictures. Tim mentioned the driveshafts differ from "early" ones with differences each side to "late" ones which have equal ends. Also the yokes seem to be different, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JELroOpenkY (around minute 8). So the "knock knock" may be a result of mixing these up and then under certain angles the parts touch each other?

Hi Vladimir! I had pretty much the same fault on my NA engine. Found out that one of the screws, that should hold the choke in the barrel (venturi) is missing. When that part moves internally, the passage for the main jet gets blocked and your car will only run on the idle jet circuit. Easy to check. Touch from underneath at the carbs and feel, if all screws are present and fixed.

I had to take the gearbox out when I was ready with the engine rebuild, because of a leaking rear oil seal. Anyway, I totally forgot about that noise, but i's gone now. So all you'll need to do is a complete engine overhaul and after you`re finished with that, simply take the gearbox out and put it in again. Easy as that!

Thanks people! Andy gave the important hint. It must be the resistive wire when. It has the woven insulation (on top of its red plastic one) and inside it's sort of a steel core instead of a copper wire. I just dont´t quite get why this wire alone (just connected to the multimeter) is carrying 12.5V and connected to the coil it's 8.22V. But Anyway, the conclusion is: the 3Ohm coil is the wrong type for the car. I guess when it heats up it´spark is becoming even weaker so the car finally cuts out. Can anyone confirm this theory? Should I opt for a new flamethrower 1.5Ohm one?

ok, further investigation has been made. And I think I've understood the idea and difference of ballasted and non-blasted ignition coils now. Still there are a few things I don't quite get. My car has a Lumenition fitted, but according to SJ-Steve this must have been done afterwards on a 79 S2 Esprit. So I don't know if it has been done right by the previous owner. What I can tell is, I have a supective red wire coming from the bulkhead that connects to the + of the coil. That wire is not within the loom and seems to have been fitted afterwards. I couldn't find out yet where it connects to on the other side. Measuring what voltage that wire carries leaves some more questions now. When I connect the wire to my multimeter (black wire of the multimeter is connected to a good ground) it shows 12.5V with ignition switched on. But only while I leave it disconnected from the coil. As soon as I connect the red wire to the + of the coil, the voltage it carries drops down (immediately) to 8.22V. Disconnect it from the coil: 12.5V again. Then there is a second wire connected at the + of the coil. That yellow/white wire connects to the solenoid and is only carrying power when cranking. I think I understand what this is for (support cold starting in a ballasted system with a 1.5 Ohm coil) and it seems to be ok the way is is. But instead of 12V it carries 9V while cranking. I'm not so concerned about that, as it is anyway not essentially necessary to have and also the voltage dropping to 9V while cranking might be normal. What I find more susceptive is that red wire with the sudden voltage drop as soon as I connect it to the + of the coil. Can anyone explain what's going on? I did one further test. I drew a new cable from the plus of the battery to the coil (have fitted a kill switch years ago so I was able to disconnect power after a while). That new cable is without any doubt missing any ballast resistor or "resistive wires", I carries 12.5V from the battery. When I connect it to the + of the coil that voltage does not drop. It stays at 12.5V. So: is there a restive wire or ballast resistor hidden somewhere between the other red wire and the ignition switch? But then: why does it carry 12.5V as long as it is not connected to the coil and when it is the voltage drops to 8.22V?

Simon and other gents. I've had a interesting read with this thread. My S2 does have some intermittent failures that relate to heat since ages. When heated up on a summer day, the car suddenly misfires, runs just on a few cylinders, doesn´t reply to any throttle and finally dies before misfiring with a very loud bang. I had addressed these failures before to being fuel related, had found lots of crap in the fuel pump before, so replaced it for a "Mitsuba" one which is using an extra internal filter. Found lots of rusty crap again in the pumps fuel filter after a while, so this time I changes the tanks completely for new aluminium ones including all new vent hoses and stuff. But: the failure remained. So this time I thought it must be ignition related. Tested the Luminition modules as explained in the manual and changed the optical switch for a new one. No effort. So I diagnosed myself into a head gasket failure, because at the same time I there was water disappearing and I clearly couldn´t find any leaks. The test fluid to find out about CO2 in the expansion told me I have some exhaust fumes in the water, so I pulled the head. In the end I did a complete head and bottom engine overhaul together with all new cooling pipes and hoses. After that I thought the failure is cured as I managed to drive about 150miles without having to call any road assistance since years. Until the day before my holdiday-trip in the Esprit should have started, when I had the exact same symptoms as before including the end with the very loud misfire bangs. Coil was hot, directly after the failure, but not too hot to touch. I wanted to diagnose the coils condition and if it's the right type. The coil is being replaced before and is now a 3Ohm for unbalasted use. In case my car would still have a balast resistor, where would I find it?

My goodness, Lotusbits… wait 10 weeks, then get the wrong part. And nowadays: pick the stuff up at the customs office and pay another 20£ import tax. But thanks anyway!

The bolt. In my memory it´s been one part (?), but it´s 10 years ago since I`ve last seen it. Quite a simple T-piece with a bit washer welded on and a thread on the end. My question is basically the thread size and the length of the bolt.

could anyone give me the dimentions and thread size of the spare wheel hold down? I managed to lose mine.

Pete, now that you´ve had about 10 years to put your S2 sound insulation plan in action, how did you get along?

You might need a different alloy pipe at the bottom LH, the ones to take the heater bypass at the rear of the head have TWO stub take offs instead of one. See SJ parts no. A079K4017F or A079K4039F.

Air bubble? Have you drained your cooling sytem recently? I´ve had similar issues before with my S2 after I had refilled the cooling system. Lift the car at the rear or park it somewhere with it´s nose down and keep it running for a few minutes. Try to get rid of air bubbles in the cooling system. Water doesn´t get to 140° within 10 minutes I´d say.

No confusion at all. No doubt you can take the gearbox out from below an leave the engine in the car, i‘ve done that and that‘s now the reason why it could stay there because it‘s allready been overhault and there is no work to do on it. Also no doubt you can pull and fit the engine as a hole from above once the gearbox is out. And for sure there is no doubt you cannot fit the cast iron manifold once the head is in the car, impossible.

Thanks for your replies! So basically seems I'll have to ask myself if it'd be more work to pull the gearbox and fit it altogether from below or rebuild the engine in stages as I did while dismanteling.

Does anyone here have practical experience in fitting the engine as a hole back in the car with the gearbox still in place? I have dismanteled the stuff in stages, because this project somehow escalated. First the camhousings, then waterpump, tensioner, rear oil seal cover, aux-housing and finally the block, because I thought, well now, without all the stuff, there´s actually enough space to pull the block and leave the gearbox where it is. Reassembly of the engine would obviously be easier ouside of the car and then fit the thing as a hole unit, but I doubt there is enough space between bulkhead and bell housing. Has anyone done that on a S2 Esprit?