Steve4012

I've been having some running temperature issues with my dry sump the last couple of months. Under normal driving it was fine but as soon as I gave it some boost the temperature would climb to somewhere between 90 and the next line on the gauge and not come back down for the rest of the journey whether flowing traffic or not. I changed the thermostat and found a small leak also but it still persisted. This morning upon start up I noticed the oil pressure was low. You can't just look at the dipstick on a dry sump to check, it needs to be run then checked and not wanting to do this I topped the oil up a little and started the car. Oil pressure was still low and looking into the oil tank the level was high but the oil was also very frothy and of a thin consistency. I believe I'm losing coolant into the oil. I've drained the oil and it seems very thin. I've boiled the oil in a pan and it sizzles and crackles more than new oil so I presume that confirms coolant is present so I think it's looking like head gasket failure. Ps a combustion check with the blue liquid does not indicate this but it's probably possible to get coolant into oil, without gasses into coolant(?) Anyway if anyone has any words of wisdom I'm all ears, is it a case of taking the head off and inspecting the head gasket and if so leave the engine in or remove from car? Thanks in advance, Steve.

I have Falken Ziex ZE310 front and rear, 195/60/15 & 225/60/15. Seem fine and reasonably priced.

Well done Fabian! Ps nice parking😆

If the gearbox end of the input shaft is that worn, is it also likely there's damage inside the gearbox as well?

Thanks!

Enjoying the ray's today.

That diagram states my87 onwards. Isn't this an '86 turbo?

Is there a vacuum pump on an 86 turbo? From your first post, yes the fuel pump is close to the n/s fuel tank under the car and this buzzes constantly when ignition is on. This is normally drowned out by engine noise when idling but easy to jack car up and have a listen.

I thought I'd round this problem off now I'm confident I have it solved after quite a few hundred miles. It turned out to be three issues. Firstly the pressure plate and bearing weren't correctly sized, as most of the replies suggested. Steve at SJ finally acknowledged this, not verbally, simply by exchanging the clutch pressure plate and bearing for the newer versions and refunding the 2nd bearing I'd bought after the first one was broken when the clutch seized. Mistakes happen and it ended being resolved ok so I have no problem with Steve. The second issue was the clutch slave cylinder. Although only a couple of years old there was a weep inside the rubber cap which was impossible to see. This released a small amount of pressure and allowed the clutch fork to just hang there. Sometimes when the clutch was pressed the fork would realign itself and centre the bearing, sometimes it wouldn't resulting in an off centre contact to the pressure plate and clutch judder. Match this issue with the wrong size bearing outer and spline inner and disaster! The third issue, a small one, was the squeak. Because there was so much lateral play on the fork and bearing, the last time I re-installed the gearbox I was paranoid about having put too much grease and causing sliding of fork to bearing so I skimped on the grease. Obviously too much and the lack of lube caused a squeak between clutch fork and release bearing collar. Thankfully this was resolved by managing to get a few drops of thick oil down a tube inserted into the clutch fork hole into the right area and the squeak was gone. Thanks to all that gave input on this thread, it's much appreciated and with these strange times the car is currently my daily driver!

I've had this on my '85 turbo as well. It was a squeaking at idle and with a tiny bit of pressure on the clutch pedal it stopped, release the pressure and it returned. It was a squeak between the clutch fork and release bearing collar. I managed to get a few drops of thick oil though a tube inserted through the clutch fork hole into the right area and it was gone. I could make it happen simply by moving the clutch fork with my hand and the squeak was there with the engine off.

Thank you @PhilW 👍

Here's my 81 turbo for reference, the engine cover sits around the raised inner lip. As @910Esprit says it looks like a standard engine cover will not fit anyway as the surround is a completely different shape. It does look like it's a different design for that particular market so you may have to try and make (or have made) an engine cover to that particular shape.

Good info Fabian thanks. I take it the flow directions/ orientation of 'stat are the same as original?

Thanks Fabian 👍

Hi Fabian, does the 'stat open or close when coolant temp has been reached? I may be in the market for a new one as well as my dry sump is not getting up to temperature when driving normally.

Yes that's right Jay. Here's the pump on it's own.

Hi Jay, I'm not sure what issue you are having and maybe I got lucky but the belt I ordered from SJ fitted perfectly and after removing the dry sump oil pump to re-gasket, all went back together and functioned perfectly. Anyway, you wanted some pics of the oil pump, hope these help. Cheers, Steve.

Thanks Lex.

Would love to see some pics of this as I have a silver '81 dry sump with full red cloth interior. Steve.

I got mine from SJ sportscars and it fitted perfectly

I've had misfire problems and found a timing light to be invaluable. I put it on all four leads one after the other and rev through the range. I found intermittent and momentary spark loss on plugs 3 and 4. I replaced the new cap and rotor arm back to the original pair which I swapped out to simply refresh when the engine was out and it's now running fine. At least you can confirm consistent spark that way.

Great to hear yours seems sorted Gis. I've just measured the pushrod and I have the shorter one already. I'll try and finish up by tomorrow and see what happens.

I'm not sure the bearing is on the friction plate hub Gis, I think that image just makes it look like it. The original problem (or one of them) was the bearing and splines on the pressure plate had a tiny tolerance. Things have moved on though, the problem is no longer the bearing slipping through now I have a different pressure plate and bearing, just I have an unpleasant judder through the clutch pedal when depressed. The clutch is back on with a newly skimmed flywheel, now I'll get the gearbox back on hopefully it'll be OK.

What a pain Fabian. I ended up getting one from Steve at SJ which seems ok at the moment but has had very little use so far.

You're right to ask and I've thought this also. The engine was rebuilt just prior to me buying it by Pat Thomas, a well known Lotus Specialist, now retired and I trust the job was done correctly. I've had the sump off to reseal and the pistons do indeed look brand new. Also I've tried to move the crankshaft now I have the flywheel back off and can't feel any movement at all. I didn't want to pry too hard but I'll see if I can get the required tolerance play before I put the flywheel back on.