semi42

Fun fact… In the song “roadrunner” by Jonathan rich man and the modern lovers. At the start of the song the vocals count to six. because the Plymouth roadrunner had to be primed by pressing the pedal six times before starting.

I’ve noticed the servo assistance has never been the best on my s2 and the usual test ( press brake, start engine = pedal goes further down) seems to point at the servo being inoperative. There’s vacuum to the working NRV so I’ve pulled the servo with the intention of overhauling it using an overhaul kit https://www.ebay.com/itm/393076253041 has anyone done this? what is strange is that upon removal, I’ve noticed that there was no big rubber seal (as shown being removed with pointy nose pliers here https://majcd213.blogspot.com/2016/06/servo-removal-and-fitting-repair-kit.html) Is this normal or is this the cause of the seemingly none working servo?

I had similar problems with my s2, firstly, it wasn’t plumbed in right, secondly it was airlocked, the best way I found to fill the system (do this when cold)is not by the expansion tank but to leave the cap on , remove the heater hose at the rear of the head , use a spare bit of loose hose and put that on the connector on the head. You should now hold the two open ends up high and pour the coolant in to one of the hoses until it overflows from the other. Quickly remove the spare and reconnect the original heater hose.

I fitted a similar K&N setup, the car just didn’t perform well. went back to standard, never looked back

When the engine is hot and you switch on the heater, does the air blasting from it correspond to what your temperature gauge is showing? if it is relatively cool, you’ve got an airlock

I’m not familiar with A/C cars but when I got my S2, the smaller heater hoses and hose to the expansion filler tank were plumbed in wrong . I think it was maybe causing a conflict in flow somewhere .

My Lucas alternator stopped charging so I bought a Hella replacement that size-wise, matched perfectly. bought and fitted some replacement overhaul parts for the Lucas unit , were cheap enough so if it doesn’t work it’s no biggie. didn’t modify anything for the hella unit to fit. i did however have an issue with the slotted adjuster bar/ bracket as the one on the engine looked like it was a modified one from a different car. i just bought an original one off eBay …job done

A good few years ago I smacked the passenger side mirror while reverse parking but only now I have started to repair it. the mirror surround trim broke and I found that it is removable. I’ve had a guy measure up the broken unit and 3d print a replacement the 1st prototype fits well and I should be getting the final product this week

Replaced mine with a poly bush kit cut the long stud either side of the link arm so that the aluminium hub could be supported when being pushed out on a hydraulic press. 2 new studs are a lot cheaper than 2 hubs deffo an MOT fail , my s2 got advisories during an MOT because of excess movement in rear upper suspension arm rubber bushes . s2’s don’t have them !!

Simple simple jobs that were an absolute ballache; Locating and replacing the inline fuse for the electric mirrors. replacing instrument and dash warning bulbs. knew they were a pain but Jeez! waterpump renewal (especially after doing 40 miles on an exchange unit and it failed )

As jonwat says check battery first , any crud on the terminals will kill the connection , As well as the earth, also check that the main positive to the starter motor is secure, if it’s similar to my s2, there’s a lot of connectors feed off from there and can sometimes loosen.

The rocking horse must have done a dump recently as one turned up on eBay last week . Item no 265906768176 finished at £41 but looked like it wasn’t powered id pay £100 + Considering the rarity and thinking about the price of a replacement unit for a modern car can be eye wateringly expensive , it’s a good shout to get some of these replicated. keeping a keen eye on this thread as I need a n/s unit

Had something similar a couple of times. one was a crappy earth other was a faulty ignition switch

But if the caliper has not been rebuilt correctly, (the piston must be rotated 45 degrees to engage the ratchet) it will never self adjust

Similar here a couple of years ago, turned out to be a bad crimp on the fuel pump spade terminal

Yep, switch removed, checked and confirmed as faulty. New one ordered, adaptor stored safely, cheers Paul!

1979 Esprit S2 Rewired my ignition system to mega jolt over 10 years ago and now it’s not starting. The fault was a bit intermittent and once running, was fine. Only when the engine was turned off, restarting was a lottery. fitted a new crank sensor but no change. I set my phone camera on video, pointing at the mega jolt and it revealed that the ignition unit was not getting its 12v while cranking as the power LED goes out. it must have at some point as the car did fire and run on a couple of occasions. There is no ballast resistor bypass cable on the starter so I can only guess that the fault lies in the ignition switch itself and the contact inside is breaking when the key is turned in the start position. I’ve now checked and confirmed this at the switch. 1. Should the ignition feed remain when cranking? 2 can the switch / contact parts be removed , replaced or repaired without pulling the whole steering lock assembly out?

Makes you wonder what Chapman would have done if he was still around. probably build a chassis from batteries

But before all the above, check, set ignition timing check, set float valves

Back in 1990, I attended a James Bond convention at pinewood studios, wish I had taken more film rolls but I only took one photo of the turbo esprit.

I would maybe think that technology for sound deadening materials have greatly advanced since the OM material was used. chances are, whatever it is, it’s not made anymore as better materials are available. Googling for rubber based sound proofing brought the following the best thing I’ve seen that maybe looks similar is this but it’s described as a repair patch. https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=20027444&vat_inc=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6NOPBhCPARIsAHAy2zBBKQc3hP5nK6zC5AJDlH2SA4gNMPAMMpTe-9JUAGDDTv-a6clhzbMaAnPdEALw_wcB Id be interested to know too exactly what Lotus did use

Me too, threaded it through by attaching to the original using a bit gaffe tape then heatshrink

If Anyone could supply dimensions, a local engineering shop or contact with a lathe could knock some of these up.

Same knob as in my s2 One of my many projects is to make a replica gear knob, with a flip up insert to reveal a missile launch button. got as far as resin casting the insert. too many projects……