Smithy111

Ok, so i'm now into doing the rear springs/shocks and bushes however, i cannot get the o/s lower link stud out of the hub carrier. It seems to have sized in Odd thing is that the n/s stud came strait out no problems (guess someone at the factory forgot to grease this one!) Any tips on removal? I've emptied a can of penetrating oil onto it and am going to try again tomorrow after its soaked for a while. Been following the guide on LEW - http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/EMaintenance/HubCarriers.html and appears i'm having this exact problem. I've been very careful as i don't want to damage anything and am going to try winding a nut on tomorrow using a torque wrench as suggested with a max limit of 120nm. if that don't work ill re bushe the rest and fit the new springs and shocks and leave that as is and take it to my local lotus engineer as if i bugger it ill be stuck with a non driving car!

Me three :)

Changed all the dash bulbs today to green led's, what a pain in the arse it is!

I haven’t done my rear yet just all the front. Are the alloy uprights on the rear particularly weak?? I would put a piece of wood across the top but they carry the weight of that corner normally?

Its easy to tighten at ride heigh, I just put axel stands under the ends of the arm and dropped the weight onto them as though it was sitting on its wheels. p.s. those are the superflex ones that sj do, i have fitted the same except i have the black ones

Update: I pushed the loose yellow/brown wire back onto that thread end on the alternator and thats fixed the charge issue (going to make up a better ring connector so it cant come off again) and also fixed the temp gauge issue which was a broken wire on the loom which i have cut out and run a new piece from where it was good and all sorted! Now as the clocks are loose (from testing the wire continuity to gauge) i want to replace all the clocks bulbs as they are hardly visible at night. Any led recommendations? Also found the compressor connector but left it unattached at the moment as theres a wide open hole somewhere on the system

Ahha! I’ll go and try that now and report back as the bottom screw is clearly cleaner than the rusty top one as though it had something over it. I don’t think there’s ever been a capacitor on the back but I see the broken tab. What’s it for?

Thanks guys, Any pics of this area of the engine bay appreciated!

I'm trying Barry, just keep finding things that dont work or have been bodged in the past and being a bit ocd I have a need to fix everything perfect and not the 'that will do' attitude that some people might have towards things! If its present it should work and function correctly so just have to preserver and stick with it i think!

There is an opposite screw at the bottom of the alternator as below, should it push on here? Ive simultaneously noticed the temp gauge stopped working could it be related? Ill have a look behind the ali coolant pipe tomorrow for the a/c harness (not that it can be gassed until leak source found)

Ive today found yet more problems with the car (a/c compressor not electrically connected and cant find any cabling for it!?+system leaks so badly it wont hold any vacuum for any amount of time ffs and im not sure the alternator is working), main one is the alternator of course - the yellow and brown wire that i believe should be attached to the alternator is just floating around loose in the engine bay. Should it connect directly to the alternator or should there be something connected between it and the alternator??

Think im going to just go with a glycol antifreeze too much hassle and im finding more problems each week with the car that im getting a bit pissed off with it now and ive only had it 2 months

The readings were showing as 300mb negative with the machines pump running flat out then 0mb at minimum which hanged to that instantly. Need some way to put air in at pressure and maybe listen for leaks.

So yet another fault I’ve found the air con which wasn’t charged when I bought the car will not hold a vacuume at all so big leak somewhere. What’s the best way to track it down?

Just done a front suspension rebuild (over on the suspension topic page) my trunnions both had play as someone had previously filled them with grease (should be ep80 or gearbox oil roughly)

Ive just seen the price of these on SJ - £185+postage WTAF!? No way im paying that ffs! Where else can i get one if mines duff or is there a modern alternative to do the same job? Or can they be repaired? (good with electronics)

<-- Another 84 TE here! Mines August number 1727

What about the Evans waterless coolant? I keep hearing about it?

Does that mean it wont limit engine rpm? Is there anyway to test the component? I thought engine rpm was controlled by the centrifugal magnets in the distributor? I dont really understand the purpose of this device or how exactly it works?

Thanks Andy I’ll try that

Noticed my coolant looks very oxidised and brown/red so going to flush it out and refill. Is there any preferable coolants to use in the esprit? Also is there any special procedure? I was going to pull the bottom hose on the rad and flush it through with a hose?

I figured it was wrong thatncouldnt have been done by accident. I’ll check the polarity and plug it in correctly. If it’s faulty (suspicion) will the car just not fire up? No way to test it will do it function as still running in rebuilt engine

Putting my car on charge yesterday I noticed this gadget by the battery and judging by the inscription I’m guessing it’s the rpm limiter!? It doesn’t look like it’s plugged in correctly??!!!

i always give a wave or flash of the lights if i see another loti no matter which model from any era, ive had an S1 elise, S3 elise and now an S3 Turbo Esprit :)

Thats odd, i thought these were still being produced somewhere? There a pair on ebay if you need - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1988-LOTUS-ESPRIT-DRIVER-O-S-PASSENGER-N-S-FRONT-DAMPERS-SHOCKS-A082C4095F/183302421287?hash=item2aadacfb27:g:VWMAAOSwYFpbOjif