mutski

For anyone interested in following this, I visited YTO 80Y (or rather a pile of stripped parts) this morning. I was showed the nature of the piston failure - rings that had overheated due to oil starvation and begun to melt, then scoring the liner. The head had also become burnt and damaged - though not irrepairably. The cause of the oil starvation was, as anticipated, a clogged oil strainer - it looked like it had dredged the Thames, full of blue hylomar, instant gasketing (used in addition to the gaskets ???), and red paint - no doubt from painting the cam covers. Incidentally, the technician told me that these were not, in fact, SE pistons and liners. I am no expert, but from the technical diagrams he showed me in the service manuals, he appears to be correct. Whether they were sourced and fitted having believed to be SE ones I don't know??? Also, the rear suspension geometry problems seem to stem from the shims either side having been omitted when it was all put back together - thus making correct adjustment impossible, and explaining the chewed rear tyres. At the front end, all appears well bar a missing fan. So then... biting the bullet and letting them get on with the repair and rebuild... the only choice realistically from this point I suppose, and they may as well stick a new clutch in as well while they are at it - I await the quote for the work nervously... I am also surprised to learn that Sportomotive has been fielding phonecalls from others regarding the car. No doubt the personal investment many put into it inspires interest - perhaps it will be running again soon in the not too distant future. Cheers, Mark

The guys at Sportomotive haven't got round to stripping the car as they are backed up with work from the Bank Holiday. Initial impressions from an inspection with a stethoscope are that the noise is coming from the bottom centre of the block and is rotational - so little or big end maybe. Manifold and dump valve have been tightened up and are fine. Left cam tower is leaking oil. And they did comment that from their past experience the use of instant gasketing compound is a bad sign - apparently when is squiges on compression and spews out the sides (as you can see on the outside) it also does this on the inside... and if little bits of this then break off and get into the system, they can clog things up and lead to oil starvation and then... tap, tap, tap The suspension at the back is also apparently set up incorrectly and this is why the car is chewing the shoulders of the rear tyres. Anyway, we won't really no for sure until they actually open the block - either way I'm starring down the barrel of about 40 hours labour to strip and rebuild the engine alone Thanks for the continued interest - will keep you posted - Mark

Nice one - thanks for info

Simple question..... can a steering wheel from a S2 be fitted to a S3 ???

Feeling less worried about the steering now, thanks - did feel very odd to jump along like that on full lock. Gauge did not suggest any overboost and oil pressure has been just fine. I did point out to Sportomotive that SE pistons had been fitted, but they still seemed adamant that the noise was too serious for a manifold fault. I have told them to investigate this thoroughly to rule it out first though - fingers crossed. Also, I'd just like to say how impressed I am about how proactive and helpful this forum is - having belonged to a Jag one that you were lucky to get a response from this is a real breath of fresh air. Thanks again to all - Mark

Sportomotive have just got back to me and have suggested that initial impressions suggest that the noise is too major for the manifold and a piston has maybe gone :s The steering rack is also making a horrendous noise on full lock - beginning to wish I'd walked away... I was warned ! lol

Thank you everyone for your replies - I had some idea that the car had a 'past' on the forum, nice to here some of the stories. There is no come back with the dealer as it was taken as part of a private swap with the firm's director for my old V12 Jag and as such didn't go through the books and was mutually agreed to have no guarantees - so c'est la vie ! I eventually got the AA out and they inspected the car using a stethoscope and the noise appears to be undetectable in the cam towers, slightly detectable at the bottom end and very noticeable in the manifold. We also noticed that the cylindrical ancillary connected to the manifold (something to do with the turbo ??? - excuse my ignorance) is not joined flush to the manifold. Hopefully then a manifold issue, although I am amazed how 'metallic' the noise is if caused by this. Anyway, to be on the safe side they agreed to recover the vehicle to Sportomotive in Salisbury - I'll keep you posted as to what they say. An ex-Elite owner friend of mine did warn me that Lotus ownership might be a rocky road. Thanks for all the input - Mark

Thanks for all the advice - car was bought 'as seen' I'm afraid so no come back... This morning, started her as noise was very noticeable, as was whitish pale smoke from the left of the engine bay as you look at it. A feel under that side also reveals it's quite oiler under the lefthand side of the left camtower. I am worried about keeping it running in case I cause any further damage. And yes, I think it is the 'Bigsi' project, which would suggest the engine was virtually completely rebuilt only about a year ago? Mark

Thanks Andy, A couple of other things I didn't mention because I didn't think them to be connected are a tendecy to pop from the exhaust on run down at low speed - in fact it properly back-fired a couple of times yesterday... and, being unused to the car, I thumped over a speed hump a little too briskly today - might I have damaged the manifold and this be causing the problems??? Also, if I locate the source of the sound, how should I proceed - can I still drive the car without fear of damaging it further. Incidentally, I think the car should be in good shape because it was (I think) the subject of a rebuild by this forum not too long ago. YTO 80Y ring any bells??? Mark

I acquired a 1983 Turbo Esprit yesterday with good service history and maintenance records. I've done a couple of hundred miles and felt all was well so went for a more spirited drive this evening. Since then, the car has developed a pronounced tapping noise. It's not quite as noticeable when idling, but as soon as you put the engine under load the noise becomes quite pronounced. Any ideas?