Joey4420

I think I may have found the issue. I will double check when I get back from a work trip. The positive battery terminal although tight can become loose if twisted. Well some bad roads and a stop found be with zero power to even run the radio. Pushed to the side of the road to find if I turned the terminal even 1/4 turn it became very tight. So I got home and added a battery post shim. Hoping this is the fix, simple and easy.

@andyblackman777 Hoping for a bad earth at the dash.

@CarBuff I will check, but the dealership said it showed charging good at idle and at RPM, I will verify. The belts are all new an better be tight after the fun of the rebuild and turbo issues. I am hoping to pick the car up soon and I will update as soon as I get it in my garage.

So it has been a long road. Engine rebuild, multiple turbo rebuilds and I will get my car back next week if all goes well. Now I have been told I have a charging light that comes on after idle for a minute or so. Alternator was bench tested and test good. Battery has been fully charged. Car runs and drives wonderfully, but light comes on. I opted to fix the light myself as I am pretty sure I can figure it out, but thought I would ask in case someone has ideas before I grab the book and multimeter and start digging. Does anyone have thoughts on why it would show a charging light on idle when the alternator has been tested good and is basically brand new less than 2500 miles on it. (rebuilt original)

The charge light come on before I start the car, with the caddy alternator the only way I knew it wasn't charging is I have a Cigarette plug USB from my airplane that beeps if below 13.0 volts and it will flash the voltage. As soon as I would get to 4k rpm if I remember correctly it would start charging.

The charge light didn't come on while the engine was running. I currently have a new rebuilt unit and I hope it last for years and thousands of miles, just curious if anyone has used the one that Powerlite sells as a direct drop in for the V8.

As far as the Caddy alternator 2 of them with same results, doesn't start charging until 3-4k RPM. So I would rather not go that route again. Factory rebuilt by JAE (at least through them), but I have read conflicting results on the rebuild. Anywhere from 3 months to years but limited miles. I plan to drive my Esprit, and don't want to have to worry about fixing this, since it isn't like you can buy one off the shelf anywhere.

Has anyone used the Powerlite Alternator that PNM is reselling? I have a rebuilt factory alternator on my V8, but I keep reading that the failure rate is high. I have also tried the Cadillac alternator and it sadly had issues. I don't want to keep going down the rabbit hole of testing products. Anyone that has tried please provide thoughts and mileage/time on the alternator.

All the parts are in stock and hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks. The shop I use doesn't dedicate time to the engine building, so he does my engine when nothing major is in the main shop, it is a Lotus dealership though and he has built several Esprit V8's so I trust his work.

Well I have an update to my engine. Everything but the physical heads and block being replaced. Valves, cam, crank, rods, pistons/sleeves, and everything in between. The big news is one head has already been installed so soon I hope I should hear a running engine.

I had my Plenum and cam covers powder coated.

If this was for me, sadly I have no idea what they were before. Rebuild should be starting soon. In queue at the shop.

Here is the oil pick up that broke off.

The rebuild is due to the oil pickup breaking off causing oil starvation. Full Rebuild, Gator motorsports in Indianapolis Indiana is doing the work, they have rebuild many V8 engines including the owners (he races his a bit). They have done stock to not so stock rebuilds. He (Owen) plans to let me know more when he has it torn down, and I have asked about upgrades that may be needed. He said the only real upgrade is the pistons and that will be up to me since it is a stock rebuild. Of course if I ever did decide to add more having it done would be added value. Having owned an all out performance car prior to my Lotus, I had a Cobra Replica with an SVO 460 with 550 wheel horses and zero safety items in the car. I have no issues with how the lotus performs as a fun weekend car or even cross country trip vehicle. I have no intentions of dropping to 3rd gear at 70 MPH on the interstate to just spin tires, I had enough of that in the Cobra. I want to enjoy my dream car and just drive it.

So I am in the process of getting my V8 engine rebuilt, for normal driving. I don't plan racing or running it too hard. Are there any advantages of doing Piston upgrades, and are there any other recommended upgrades? Obviously I don't want to upgrade to the point of having to upgrade the transmission just to upgrade something else. I don't want to keep chasing the never ending upgrade path.

Like I mentioned on Facebook, same sound, my Timing belts were very loose, but sound didn't go away after changing them. Pulled the oil pan to find the pick up tube laying in the oil pan and some very scary looking scars on the crank.

Some internal oil pan pics.

The only indicator I had was just the engine running perfect, then next start up in made some knocking noises that I thought was the cam belts... well they were stupid loose, so they were changed and new tensioners, but then on start up it still made noise at RPM, then after a few minutes of troubleshooting the shop stated the low oil light came on. The pulled the pan and the damage was done.

Things are not looking great, but still ugly. The oil pickup tube broke off. So I am in for an engine rebuild.

I am hoping for the best, but I also know that it could be expensive. Either way I am going to get it fixed and enjoy it again soon.

Factory boost, had the cam belts and tensoners changed (8 years since previously done), I bought the car and drove around 5,000 miles and went to drive it one afternoon and it made noise, so I shut the car down and sent to the shop, they found the belts super loose and proceeded to change them. They are pretty sure it is bottom end noise so they are pulling the oil pan this next week.

Got an update after the cam belt and tensioner change. Sadly the update isn't good. sounds like I have rod bearing issues. At least when it is done it will be sorted and I can enjoy. IMG_2364.mp4

So I purchased my 2002 Esprit on July 15 and have put almost 5000 miles (8000 KM) since then and got a new radio installed with a backup camera. Well after driving the car home from the radio shop with zero issues or sounds. The next day I check the Blow Off Valves for hunting idle and they appeared to work correctly so must be something else. So I decided to go for a drive. I start the car and immediately heard the dreaded CAM tensioner knocking (yes I have heard before on other cars and I am 98% percent sure my issue is the tensioner. Even thought the sound was heart wrenching and almost made me sick to my stomach at least it didn't happen while I was driving home from across the country. And at least it is making noise and not just exploding the engine into expensive bits of metal. I already have a call into my local (2 hour tow away) Lotus shop, waiting for a time slot and to spend the $1600 to get it changed. I plan to have them change the radiator hoses as well since I am sure they are original.

Not sure if available there or not, but I have Nitto NT05's all the way around on my 02 Esprit. Great dry weather tire, not so great wet, but you can still drive, just more interesting.

Sadly after install it does not tilt or disappear, but you can still reach behind it fairly easily.