tbeggan

Have you replaced the coil? It could be starting to weaken, and unable to produce enough spark at the higher RPM range.

I had a high-rpm stumble a few years ago, it turned out to be a defective rotor inside the distributor cap. It had come loose and was wiggling around. It sounds as though your car may be acting differently though...... over 4,500 rpm, my engine would lose power and skip. It felt like it was misfiring and the car would shudder and shake a bit. Do you just lose power gracefully? Or is there any shaking and shuddering involved? If it's a jittery experience, you may have a bad rotor/cap issue. If it's smooth, it's more likely to be a fuel pressure problem. Immediately, I'd check the fuel filter. Let us know. Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire - USA Just re-read your post and saw you've replaced the fuel filter already. You may want to check the fuel line to look for crimps. It "could" also be dirty/clogged carb jets, so you might try some carb cleaner like SeaFoam, etc.. PS: Please post some pictures, I've never seen a G-car with a wing before, I'd like to see how it looks.

It's designed to decrease turbo lag by temporarily increasing exhaust backpressure at the beginning of the turbo cycle.

Mark, welcome to the Esprit world. I'll try to hit a few points here: Federal means built for export to the US (or Canada I believe). As others have suggested, an engine like yours without a service history needs to be dealt with cautiously. You really should consider having a "C" service done. That's somewhat involved, but it will eliminate possible problems before they have an opportunity to ruin your car (some of these problems can be catastrophic, like timing belt issues). Do your research though, find a shop that's competent with this car before giving them the keys. There are many venues on the web that are full of information and advice, so someone is bound to know of a decent shop near you. Where are you? The starting and running characteristics of these motors is not unlike what you've already described. The high idle (idle while cold) is typically between 1600-1800. After about 5 minutes it should drop down to the normal idle of about 1100. Your cold starting (3 times) is not all that unusual, although when they're running well, they'll start on the first try, and stay running. You've probably noticed a lumpy idle too, this is totally normal; theese engines simply don't idle smoothly, so wipe that idea out of your mind. You mentioned oil leaks. They're somewhat common, but you do need to beware, depending on where they are. This engine runs incredibly hot (especially near the turbo), so if the leak(s) are anywhere near the turbo or catalytic converters, you really need to have them fixed quickly, or risk turning the car into a lump of melted goo. The good new is that leaks would be addressed in a "C" service. Loose, Rickety Steering? Not on a G-body. There's something going on there. The steering should be exceptionally precise and there should be little (if any) play in the wheel. It could be flat-spotted tires if the car has been sitting forever, but it could also be a worn steering rack. (not usually part of a "C" service, but it could easily be done there) You said you were missing a bolt on the exhaust manifold. If that's true, you're lucky. Chances are at least 50/50 that it's broken off inside and it just looks missing. Anyway, I keep a web repository of info about my car that I refer to constantly. I've got a medical history of all my repairs and troubleshooting, some stuff from the manuals, a "tips" sheet for prospective or new buyers, and some diagrams that I find to be particularly useful. If you feel like reading, I'd immediately suggest that you look through the "Tips for Owners....." document; it will answer many of the questions I'm sure you're asking right now. You can find all this stuff here: http://home.comcast.net/~tbeggan/esprit.htm (documents are at the bottom of the page). anyway, congrats on your new toy, Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire

I could be wrong here, but isn't the HC motor easily identified because it's got red cam carrier covers, plennum, etc...? While non HC motors are black?

Funny you should ask. Try this: Giugiaro Buyer's Tip Sheet

Chandra, It's not much different over here I'd guess it's even worse for us, but that could just be the old "grass is always greener" speaking instead of any cold hard facts. Window motors, windshield surrounds, bosch fuel meter valve, crown wheel & pinion, various cockpit switches, glass, exhaust manifold, gas tanks, fuel bypass valve, etc... not sure about body panels and bumpers, but I'd be they're scarce too. Sometime I feel like a cuban mechanic; fixing a 56 Chevy with Lada parts but that's part of the charm I suppose. Tom

It's my understanding that the ratios are the same, but you'll need to ask an expert like Harry Martens to be sure. The nice part about using in SM unit is that since the transaxle faces forwards in the SM and rearwards in the Lotus, they use opposite sides of the gears, so the drive-side of the gears that you'll use in the Lotus were only used for reverse in the SM (they'll be practically new). It's funny byt I'm told they needed to to design the Lotus engine to run backwards to use this transaxle.

Cliff, I never asked for specifics about the exact shade or the type of power-coating they used, so I'm not able to answer your question. What I do know is that I spoke with Jamie Goffaux down at Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA and he said he'd worked with a local power-coating shop to approximate the earlier G-car red as well as the slightly darker S-car red. The toughest part about the whole process was getting the original coating completely removed. Evidently, it falls off freely on it's own (the OEM coating seems to peel liberally), but when you try to muscle it off yourself, it fights like hell. If you're interested in specifics, I'd suggest contacting Yesteryear directly Yesteryear Home Page. They were very helpful years ago when I had it done. Tom

Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA did mine about 3 years ago. It's a textured red powder coat, probably a little less textured than stock, but it's held up perfectly. No chipping, no fading, it's perfect.

Dave, Are there any warning signs that this failure has occured or is occuring? Are there sounds, or symptoms? And, if the nylatron thing was left out, how long would it take to fail? Is this a 500 mile thing, or a 10,000 mile thing? Just curious. Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire USA

Lee, OEM is Valeo # A910E-6604F - it's a 90 Amp unit. Bosch alternate is # AL49X - it's also a 90 Amp unit. The Bosch is slightly larger and was used as OEM equipment in 1986-1991 BMW 3-series (not M). It requires a few small modifications to fit: 1. rotation of rear housing cover by 180

Ivan, as you know, you've got the Citroen C35 transaxle, as do I. There's an acknowledged weakness in the Crown Wheel and Pinion, so it's natural to suspect it, but I really doubt that's what you're experiencing here. I'm very hopeful that your issue is something entirely less serious. If it were the CWP, or frankly any major gear issue inside the Citroen box, it would have developed over time, not instantaneously, with no obvious abuse. The CWP, typically starts as an annoying whine that gets louder and louder. Eventually it'll start to grind with horrible crunching noises and then you loose your drive. I believe you've experience a fairly common problem with the gear shift linkage. If I recall correctly, the unit uses a rod linkage for forward/rearward gear changes and a cable for right/left changes. Since you've lost everything all at once, I suspect your linkage rod has come undone. Put the car on a lift and check the linkage. It should be an easy diagnosis if that's the issue. Obviously, there's a linkage connection back at the transaxle that's easily visible from beneath the car, and another linkage up in the cabin beneath the gear shift lever. For the gear shift linkage, you'll need to disassemble the structure around the gear shifter to get a clean view, but it's not a big job either way. Let us know if that's the issue. Good Luck, Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire USA

Andy, The exhaust hole wouldn't cause what you've described. My immediate response is that it sounds familiar, and that it could likely be three things: 1. Fuel Pump is getting weak. It can handle the demands of your engine at lower RPMs, including the start-up cycle, but when it needs more fuel volume, there's a problem. On a carbureted car, I "think" there's only one fuel pump, and it's not high pressure. I'd certainly look there. 2. Fuel Filter is cloggged and putting too much resistance into the system. If this is the case, the car would likely run well and low RPMs and choke out at higher RPMs. It's a fairly cheap piece and if I would imaging it "should" be easy to access from underneath the car (near the fuel pump). 3. Distributor Cap & Rotor. I had a very similar problem with my 87 HCi a few years back, where it would run perfectly well until I hit 4,500 RPMs or higher; at which point it would start to stammer. It turned out to be a problem with a loose Rotor inside the Distributor Cap. It was wiggling around, doing alright until the sheer centrifugal force stepped in and made it skip. The inside of the cap looked like a war zone when I finally figured it out and got in there. New Cap & Rotor fixed the issue totally. If these hints don't pan out, keep the information flowing here and I'll see what else I can dream up. good luck, Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire (USA)

http://www.lotusespritworld.co.uk/EGuides/...kingPoints.html Those diagrams are great! I'd add one jacking point that I've found very helpful over the years, though. If you look at the main structural backbone (the aluminum spine that runs up the center of the car), there's a point where that main structure comes to a "T" shape and extends out toward the front wheels. I've found that junction point at the center of the car is a great jacking point. From there I can lift both sides at once, with the car perfectly balanced. It makes placing the jack stands, much easier. Tom Beggan 87 HCi New Hampshire USA