JRTUPIN

Hello John; Thank you for your help. Only the expansion tank stays cold after several radiator fans cycles .The header tank is clearly hot; and thanks god ,there is coolant circulation inside.. I just have opened the radiator bleed as you mentioned ( and as mentioned in owner's manual ). Earing a " spchitt" I guess that there was air inside coolant system. In this way; I hope now that coolant will be expelled in expansion tank as describe in lotus procedure. ( i Will do the test tomorrow ; for instance, it's too late for engine noice ). But even with a good result; I'm sure that I have a coolant loss somewhere ( I have added more than 2 litres whitout seeing any coolant expelled during all my tests procedure ) _Engine Oil has been check ( no water inside) _many Pressure tests have been done by my Lotus mechanic expert ( tests with engine off and many tests with engine on). No lack of pressure detected . _All hoze clamps are adjustable between expansion and header tanks.. What should I check now?.. Bye JR

Hello; The coolant level sensor has been washed ( it was my first hypothesis );and I had put 2 litres in the header tank to full fill it until top ( as indicated on maintenance procedure; but without full fill expansion tank;as stipulated too..) Now ; after shecking my expansion tank I'm sur that no coolant has been dropped in the expansion tank with warm engine after several fans cycles ( more than 4 cycles). Any leak can visible on floor or on any hoze after this test ( and no smell of lookant loss) After test,with engine cold; the coolant level stay at the top of header tank Engine oil is very clear; without any water include ( the worst situation ) Last month; my Lotus specialist ( well known in Belgium ) didn't find any leak; even after mesuring pressure coolant system fot many hours You can imagine that I'm a little desapointed..Where the coolant is gone? Do I have a real coolant loss ? Bye JRT

thank you for help. after shecking all clamps in my coolant system ( header tank and expansion tank), I only have adjustable clamps for hoses. But I noticed something curious. After fullfiled at the top my header tank ; and when the engine is warm ( 100

Hello, I read consentiousely the forum topic about coolant level and the difficulty to adjust coolant liquid for V8 engine; but I have something curious on my car. Indeed; after filling my header tank ; and after 3 or 4 hours driving on my car ; the coolant level always stabilizes very low in the header tank ( 1 inch lower than moulded jointline ). The dashboard red light doesn't glow.. I don't anderstand what's happened because the "lotus procedure" talks about 1 inch above the jointline. is there something wrong , or is it Ok like that? do you have an idear ? Thanks for help Jean ren

hello; Mine is SCCDA0825WHD15523 lOTUS ESPRIT V8 08/1998 Jean Ren

He said that in his time of crashing cars (erm, to order!) the Esprit was one of the safest cars he's seen in most impacts and he's seen thousands of cars being totalled in tests. Nick, your experience sounds horrific and I winced reading it but I hope there is some assurance in the words of a man who crashed literally hundreds of Esprits in the name of science (well, type approval!). I'm working on passive security equipement for cars. In the past I had to work for a famous Italian Sports car Fabric. The italian Firm had crashed only 3 GT .One for the homologation ; and the others to check the airbag comportment ( in order to confirm programming). Regarding confidentiality; I can't tell you more. So I think you are a little optimistic regarding the hundreds Esprit tested in crash condition Regarding Esprit production ; this number is really big ( very heavy costs for lotus engineering). If Esprit was "one of the safest cars" it should have been probably compared with others GT ; as Ferrari . Regarding Paul's images; the Esprit Frame has a very bad comportment , a failure in the upper structure ( just above the door ) shows that the underbody of the car had a bad comportment. Pedals intrusion is bad too ( very bad for ankles and knees..) Front Bumper and side panels are in pretty good conditions.So the crash of paul was probably at a quite low speed. Of course I'm not mr Columbo so I can't guess the real speed. I imagine that Paul was "scared "enought during is crash that he didn't watched the speed impact.. I'm a Esprit V8 owner because this car is beautiful and Powerfull. But I know that I have to drive carefully because things can go wrong in crash condition.

Remenber that the frame of Esprit is a (very) old design; based on low weight and hight stiffness ; without any care of crash absorbtion. although front airbag option improve safety comportment; it should be wrong to consider that Esprit is becoming a secure car with such a passive safety equipement. The steeringwheel airbag can only protect your head and thorax in a frontal accident. In any case it can save your leggs ;Knees and ankles . The best thing you can don to improve your security onboard Esprit ;is to drive slowly. Regarding EuroNCAP; i don't think that Esprit could win stars. I don't know if this famous crash-test has ever been done with GT cars ( ferrari, porsche; Aston...) JRT

Even if the hardware is similar; the software is absolutely different. the programming of the software is based on several specifiq dimensions of the car ( weight of the car; stiffness and torsion of the frame ;localisation of the calculator..) Nick ; I'm very sorry to appear so pessimistic; but what you try to install by yourself could have a bad issue for you. It is clear that the airbag itself can't kill you ( just a lot of noise and a huge punch in your face..) but if the airbag explosed during car ignition ( at 7.30AM when you go at your job) or worse when you are driving... The result will be the opposit of what you want.

G

hello Nick; My job is to integrate passive safety components in Renault cars developpment. So I know very well the request you are asking for. If the Esprit you want buy has never had an airbag; it is not possible to retro fit one. Indeed;I think that ,as in France; you won't be allowed to buy all the components from Lotus company ( wheel with airbag; electronic calculator and wires ). This precaution has been taken by all car manufactures because this operation could very dangerous ( suddenly airbag explosion due to wrong installation or bad calibration of calculator). Bye JRT

Hi Marcus; When i read your basic rules; I need to be very carefully with the gearbox itself. However; On my stock engine I have the sensation that the weak point is not gearbox; but engine mounts. Indeed; when i ask for engine torque,the engine moves very much ( you can ear the engine bumps againts the engine bay ) .This phenomen happens even if when the car is still in movement on the 2nd gear. ( i don't talk about a stupid acceleration from 0 to 100km/h..) What should it be if the engine torque is increased ( the engine will be ejected on the road..) ? Bye JR

Hello Marcus; I can guess that your engine is now much more powerfull Do you have a stock gearbox in your own V8 ? Do you think that gearbox can admitt more torque than stock engine? Thank you

Hello Marcus; My car in a stock/V8 engine with 14cm space between road and lip.But some french bumps are very hight and they touch and push the front spoiler lip. I'm from Paris; so Mediterranean coast is far... I will have to change dampers first Bye JR

Hello; There is still something that let me anxious. Indeed; the tappets's noice appears each time I let the engine off more than 4 hours.In that case ( 4 hours only) the noice is very short (2 or 3 seconds); but is here. It's clearly shorter that all i can read in yours coments. Oil( mobil 5w-50)and filter have less than 6 months;I can't believe that it's time to change it What do you think about ? JR

Thank you for help Marcus. What you describe with "no grip at the front" is exactly what i feel with the car. I'm clearly stupid because i have removed the spoiler lip one month ago..and now is destroyed. In France you can find every kind of road surface, but the main problem is that autorities have put bumps from side to side of center town's roads in order to slow down speed of cars. My spoiler lip didn't like those bumps