V8 FOU

No, not chipped yet! Boost does spike a bit at 4100rpm, but you have to remember that the graphs are under accelleration, so AFR and boost curves and readings can be misleading. I think that, as always, carefull prep and setting up always pays dividends. Most of the performance cars I have owned make good power for their spec.

Polybushes do not really affect the ride. Also they are cheaper and much much easier to fit. They aren't affected by oil either. (Lotus, leaking oil?)!! I will have a good second hand set of shox coming up soon.....

315 at the wheels.

Took the Esprit to a PH dyno day at Veysport today. Slotted it in amongst all the Evo ix/x/xii etc and low and behold 378bhp! And 390 ftlb torque. Not bad for an almost stock car? Just Lotus Sport exhaust, sport cats and K&N filters. I expect the 120 mile thrash down there helped too...

I had to do some of those jobs on my Esprit when I first got it. As mentioned, it is worth replacing all the suspension bushes with polybushes, also to fit new bolts as many will probably have to be cut out. The rear carrier is a pig - I used a press to dismantle mine. It is worth painting / powdercoating the arms at the same time too. I suspect too, that it has been stood, so you will need to consider things like cam belts, fuel tanks, turbo lines etc. If you get stuck, pm me as I seem to be doing a few in my workshop now!! Also have 4 wheel alignment gear for setting up after changing bushes etc. Highly reccomend the Lotus shox. Like all these things it depends upon your budget!

That's your choice! Either proper idle / better gearchange etc or crap idle but increased for a/c etc. My car has never stalled over the last 1000 miles of using this system. Gunter, the aux/second valve is closed when warm, therefore reverting to base setting of around 850rpm. Prices/pics of this and the gearchange ends etc will follow as soon as I get a bit of time!

First thing to do is to clear the codes and try again. When i had a fault in the wiring from the battery, it threw up 32 codes!!

You are absolutely right. You would need to clean/replace the original valve. All this set up does is prevent the slow decay due to the signal from the ecu. To get an idea of how well this works, disconnect the valve when the car is warm and try it. You will have to reset the mil light as it will throw up a fault code...

Ahh, I had that problem with the "nut". Made up a spacer for my balancer and job done! To the nearest gramme too.....

Well, Mr Bibs says there is and that sets it in stone - having said that if you cut his arm off it would have Lotus all the way thought it like seaside rock..... As I said in a previous post, Lotus probably varied their supply or fitment, like most small manufacturers. So I expect you are right - but there will be others to try and prove otherwise..... But what the hell anyway? Fit a filter and there it is fixed!!

Yes because the aux valve is fitted outside of the plenum. I guess it would be sensible to remove the plug and free up the idle adjust screw before fitting it. I haven't had any problems with it on the stock setting.

If you were to have stalling problems, assuming everything else was ok, the answer is to adjust the base idle on the aux IAC valve. Easy to do once you removed the blanking bung.

You mean that Lotus were consistant in how they assembled the cars and sourced the parts?

Not found it a problem. But it could be wired to cut out the aux valve when the a/c cuts in or even in conjunction with the brake lights. So a/c + brake lights= Main control valve Cold up to 45deg = Main control valve Warm + no a/c = aux control valve Or any other combination you want! Bit like the old refridgerated Transits that cut out the 'fridge unit on full throttle so the smokey old York engine could actually get up a hill. Only trouble was that you could always tell who thrashed the vans by the number of complaints of melted frozen food!

No. The two valves are in series. When cold the aux one is open and the original operates as per stock. When warm the aux one closes to its default closed position to give a 900/1000 rpm tickover - regardless of what the original one is doing. Will put together a price for a kit to do this for those who are interested.

Aaw Kaay Graphhopper, today we rearn abaout Effprit Idle contwol. Ermm. Right listen up. Very easy. It's is a case of fitting a second thermostaticaly controlled idle valve. That is open from cold, so the original works as usual, then at around 40deg the second valve closes to the default idle position. Hey presto, proper idle. Also, fitting proper rod ends to the gearchange cables. That also helps to sort the gearchange. Drove an Exige S yesterday and the gearchange is little different to mine. The Exige was very good, very refined. But no Drama! That is what you get with an Esprit. James from Lotus agrees! I can assemble a kit to supply or even supply and fit in my workshop. There, fully declassified! The Exige was very good, very refined. But no Drama! That is what you get with an Esprit. James from Lotus agrees! Drama - the sound, the feel, the look........

The high / slow decay idle drove me nuts on my V8. So I now have modified it so I get a perfect idle straight away, which also improves the gearchange as the revs drop very quickly. The geezer from Lotus I spoke with today while testing an Exige S reckoned it was a "very intelligent" modification. Praise indeed!

I bought one with a bag for £120 and it was the wrong colour. So I painted it matt black and it looks good. Plus if it gets scratched it is easy to repair!

Correct capacity on R134 is 1.2kg Too much will sieze the compressor. The receiver/drier should be changed every 2 years (only £40 from Lotus). Kwikfit???? EEEk. Spent many times correcting their f-ups..... To answer the post about when it stops working. The fans and compressor will still cut in if there is a bit of gas left - usually around 5/600gm any less and the pressure switch won't operate and the fans etc don't cut in. Most important bit is to vacuum out the system for at least 1/2hr before re-gassing to get out any moisture.

OK. I could make a "bag". Anyone want to lend a deflector so I can make one? Or some detailed pics would do!

Sorry I didn't spot this earlier. If you are still having trouble, spray carb cleaner around the throttle body and the pipework for the iac.

Anyone got any idea of where I can get a bag/deflector? Or perhaps a part no for the deflector at least. Want to try this out soon!!

Very sensible move as it loses the distributor and you can programme 2 or 3 different boost curves either by switching or by gears. Plus when it is mapped on a rolling road you will get the best power and economy - especially if you use closed loop.

Convert it to injection using a stand alone ECU (that will dispense with the distributor too) add a chargecooler, poss recon/gasflow head and away you go. Better the devil you know etc...

More of those I'll just fit that, etc... On my V8 the horns weren't much good. So I bought a set of compact air horns. Once I located the old ones, I set about removing the plastic panels under the rad etc. Why use spire nuts with machine screws? All rusted up, eughh. So after much cutting and swearing remove the panels. Now try and remove the horns.... In the end the one nearest the n/s I cut its bracket with an air hacksaw and managed to remove the other one. Just about got the new unit to fit. The wiring terminals were rubbish, so fitted new waterproof ones, then "potted" them to the horn compressor with silicon. Waht a job! Best part of day to fit new horns??? Then it was time to change the gearchange joints on the end of the cables at the gearbox end. How hard can it be to fit these? Only 2 nuts each. First one the 8mm nut was seized and had to be cut. Otherwise plain sailing. The other 8mm nut the same, went to unscrew the joint and snapped the end off the cable! Help. Made up a repair piece and after cutting extra thread on the cable end, put it all together. About 5 hours work. I managed to buy the new joints from the people who made the original ones. They told me that Lotus didn't want to pay for the good joints (£33 ea) and would only buy the crap ones at £8 each. Anyway, massive improvement in gearchange quality and no chance of the joint popping off at the most inconvenient time. Idle now perfect. As per factory settings until 40deg then no delay in returning to idle, no stalling, just a steady 950/1000 tickover. Again much improved gearchange. Finally got 25mpg on the way back from Bristol, ragging it up the A4 and A31. Now I'll "just" fit those new shox...... Best laid plans etc