kehoeautomotive

Glad you got it fixed. I did two timing belts in one day and installed two belts. Both came from JAE and both worked perfectly. Sorry you had trouble!

My stevens has electronic fuel injection from a GM. Looks to be the same system as a chevy Corisica or perhaps a Cavalier. This has been very useful information. Thanks so much. There service manual has a different set up in it so I had to go in blind. But the car is running great. The fuel sending unit was stuck and I beat on the top of the tank with my favorite rock and it now works again. I'm checking the fuel filter for rust not it has a hundred miles on it. If I find any, I will pull the tanks.

Glad it had it. I may have saved the engine since we've never experienced over boost we could have destroyed it. Does your car have a fuel injection? Is it purely mechanical?

I used the original fittings for the oil return line. I can whip up the line in about an hour and it fit perfectly. Mail me an old one and I will fix it up. Just do it soon as I'm moving to Australia this summer. The car does has a fuel cut computer/module as well as a computer that controls the frequency valve and fuel enhancement items for the k jet system. We took the regulator out and fixed it. The valve inside of the boost regulator was rusted in place. I beat on it with my favorite rock, put anti seize on the shaft and installed a new diaphragm. It's nice to see the car back on the road and running like new. Even got the idle up for the Ac system adjusted just right. Now we have to fix the fuel gauge. I plan on taking the sending unit out of the tank and testing it. I suspect it is stuck too. I will to clean it and then beat on it with my favorite rock. A Chinese luck dragon once sat on my favorite rock and that's why it can fix so many things.

Thanks guys for chiming in! I will take that gizmo off, clean it up and put a new diaphragm into it and see what happens. I will also make sure to beat it with my favorite rock as well. I also made made up a new turbo return line too. Here is a picture of it. Can make more if anyone else needs one as I now own the correct Teflon tubing that the correct crimp shells and dye. Here is the picture.

That's what I was wondering. The manual I have shows a vacuum dash pot with an arm that goes to an internal valve. This set up does not have that. I have no idea without a manual on this set up if it's supposed to have a bolt in there.

So I took my buddy's car out for a spin today since he told me that the engine was "cutting out" under acceleration. I quickly determined that the boost was going to high and I'm guessing that the computer is shutting off the fuel. There is a valve under the turbo that I suspect controls the boost. The manual I have shows a completely different set up that this car has. Here is a picture of the valve. Is there supposed to be a bolt in the bottom of it? I also noticed that his turbo return line is leaking oil so I brazed in a new return line while I was poking around under the car. Does anyone know where I can get a manual on this turbo set up? Did a bolt just fall out of this? Or does it have some sort of vacuum seal or spring inside of it?

Thank you! The other one went much faster! Since I did the other I see there are some missing spacer washers on the Stevens. Someone must have left them off in the past. I repulled the triangular bracket and corrected the problem. Also the previous mechanic missed the stabbing on the distributor shaft by a tooth on the Guiario so i fixed that too. (Man made problems are the worst and I found two in one day.) I installed two different belts, one gates nitrile belt and one JAE blue belt. I replaced the tensioners too. So who has a counter lever burroughs gauge!?! I tried my best to use this crappy spring gauge one of the mechanics here loaned me. POS and did not fit well. I'm replacing all the vacuum lines and some emission tubing and putting the air cleaner/ covers etc back on and declaring this car done. Fixed the CIS, tuned up the car, changed all the fluids, rebuilt the brake MC and calipers, tires, suspension bushings, motor mounts, clutch, fixed ALL electrical (even got all the warning lights working), and replaced the belts. So stick a fork in the Guiraro, will be finished tomorrow. I have another Esprit being towed in. Has not run in twelve years and has a broken timing belt. I will pull the engine to see how many valves it bent. I like how I can test a lot of the CIS system with the engine not running or even in the car. It looks like the head has shim buckets to adjust the valves on these engines... I hate those.... my Rabbit has that.. sucks. I plan on getting the valves/engine parts/head gasket set from JAE unless there are any better suggestions. I like JAE because it's been a one stop shop for me. Very helpful crew. I will start a new thread and take more photos when I get my hands on the new Esprit! Thanks for all the help once again guys!

I just changed the timing belt on the Stevens lotus today. What a pain in the ass! It took me 4 damn hours. Now I have to do the other one. Gonna be at work several hours after closing. Hope I can do the other one faster. Grrrr....

Perhaps the two of them will start humping like Luck Dragons!

The scene outside my window today. Two Lotus today. Just had a guy call me who saw them and has another one that has not run in years with a broken timing belt. I told him to bring it by. Both of these cars are running like tops. I was able to graph the duty cycle on my freq valve with an old snap on meter. Made a bunch of adjustment using that and a gas analyzer. Lots of fun figuring it all out. I've learning A LOT in a very short amount of time. Tomorrow is timing belt day at the Lotus Spa.

Thanks for all the help once again guys! The WUR was not operating and therefore the "warm control pressure" was WAY off. It was stuck from sitting up and sending too much fuel and pressure back to the tank. I took the WUR out, sprayed some cleaners into it, blew it out with compressed air and beat on it with my favorite rock. It now runs great! I made some adjustments and and fixed a hard start problem when warm (broken connector). I now want to test the Frequency valve though. What do you all use for a duty cycle meter? Why do the cam belts have to be replaced every two years? Most of the cars the mechanics here tell customers every 5-7 years. Are Lotus belts inferior? When I got my Lotus I brought it to the British Car show (250 cars plus) here so I could meet other Esprit owners and learn about them. My Lotus was the ONLY ESPRIT in the entire show! This year there will be two (my buddy's and mine!) I'm now going to fix the headlights as they went crazy on the test drive. They started winking uncontroably! LOL!

All I am saying is that no shops that I can find around New Orleans is willing to work on it. New Orleans is a small town. That's why I have to fix it myself , not syaing that there are not experts on these cars.... like the guys on this site. That's why I had to ask questions. I hear your advice. Section LF in the service manual has become my life these days! I found "warm control pressure" is way too high (I am below sea level here). Not sure how to adjust or fix it but I am working on that. Making progress! Now that I am getting more confident that I can fix this, I will change the timing belt. I see that the current timing belt on the car is the updated Nitrile Belt. That's what JAE told me anyway so I am going to use another one of those. Anxious to fix the warm control pressure problem to see if it makes the car run any better. If I do not have any improvement for the fuel system pressures testing results then I will move on to the frequency valve testing. Thanks for all of the useful advice on the fuel system!

Because if I can't get it running right myself, no one else I know of can fix it so then the vehicle will be scrapped. It's not like I can pick up the phone and call the local antique Lotus garage mechanic and tell him to fix it up. I have to figure it out for myself. Also opening new can of worms up during diagnostics is never a good idea. "Cant find the fuel problem.... did I get the intake cam off a tooth? Sigh.... If I ruin the engine I promise I will let everyone tell me I told you so! :-) Thanks for the useful knowledge. Glad to know I can check it running.

I will find out what the frequency is. I have already started down the fuel pressure testing tunnel so i figure that I will finish that testing first. I will of course test the frequency valve as soon as I figure out how to do that (the manual will tell me I'm sure). I have all the fuel system fittings and think I have those tests figured out. Looks like there are 3 different tests I need to run there. Will do that this weekend.