Factory warranty recalls

[steve930]

What were /are the most common issues that affected the 400's on the early versions, that owners were having rectified by dealers... 

 

The reason I ask is... My car has only covered 7000 miles in its 3 year life and I'm unsure what issues have come to light & that one's may be waiting to happen.. My concern being the car is now out of factory warranty.. 

 

One example is that I'm noticing movement in the seat while throwing the car around corners

 

Thanks

 

[Neal H]

The two I can recall on my 400 were the creaky seat and repositioning the MAF sensor (engine stutter). If you take your car to a Lotus dealer they should be able check if there's any outstanding warranty recalls on your car.

I don't recall anything about seat movement, but that may be just because mine didn't have that problem.

[steve930]

OK thank you.. 

The seat... It feels like there's movement at the pivot point between the base and backrest... 

 

I'm also having occasional issues engaging reverse gear, wasn't sure if it's a common trait or whether I have an issue.. 

When I get chance I'll visit local dealer

 

[Simon Bateman]

Mine is an 18 reg:

I've had quite a few small issues.....

The main ones that seem to be consistent with other owners are:

1) creaking seat base.  Mine had the additional brace but still broke.  (replaced under warranty)

2) Cracks in pillars either side of windscreen (replaced under warranty)

3) Cracked windscreen removing above pillars (replaced under warranty

3) Boot lid didn't always open when pressing fob or button in car many times (fixed myself by winding out the rubber stops a bit more)

I also had a problem where the power kept cutting out, which was traced to a loose main power fuse cable plate.  Prior to this problem I often had the head unit resetting itself for no apparent reason.  This has not happened (in the 12 months) since the cable was sorted.

The windows can rattle a bit, but I've ignored this, although they can be adjusted apparently.

Adding in the rattles and creaks that were also rectified....I got to the stage where I was spending so much time at Silverstone that I was expecting an invite to their Christmas party.

 

[Techyd]

5 hours ago, steve930 said:

One example is that I'm noticing movement in the seat while throwing the car around corners

@JayEmm has covered this and other things quite extensively on his youtube channel.  I would highly recommend you watch some of them for some input.

[ByJoveByJingle]

5 hours ago, steve930 said:

OK thank you.. 

The seat... It feels like there's movement at the pivot point between the base and backrest... 

 

I'm also having occasional issues engaging reverse gear, wasn't sure if it's a common trait or whether I have an issue.. 

When I get chance I'll visit local dealer

 

Not sure if your 400 is a manual or automatic, but I have similar issues in my manual 400. At this point by default I put it in another gear first and then it slides into reverse with no troubles. I’m sure there’s a mechanical explanation that is obvious to those who understand gear boxes better than me.  

[Bruss]

14 minutes ago, ByJoveByJingle said:

Not sure if your 400 is a manual or automatic, but I have similar issues in my manual 400. At this point by default I put it in another gear first and then it slides into reverse with no troubles. I’m sure there’s a mechanical explanation that is obvious to those who understand gear boxes better than me.  

It could just be cable adjustment after stretching and settling in.

[Geoffers]

Occasionally had trouble engaging reverse & first on my old NA, usually solved by letting clutch out to turn the gears a little & trying again. Not had it so far on the 400, always goes in ok.

[steve930]

This is great, thanks for all the input so far on everything 👍

Regarding selecting reverse... 

More often than not it won't go straight in reverse.... I'm having to:

Release Clutch pedal

Depress clutch pedal /select forward gear

Come back to neutral 

Release clutch

Depress clutch, then finally Engage reverse

 

[TheKevlarKid]

58 minutes ago, ByJoveByJingle said:

Not sure if your 400 is a manual or automatic, but I have similar issues in my manual 400. At this point by default I put it in another gear first and then it slides into reverse with no troubles. I’m sure there’s a mechanical explanation that is obvious to those who understand gear boxes better than me.  

Try only half depressing the clutch pedal, see if it want to go straight in then.

2 minutes ago, steve930 said:

This is great, thanks for all the input so far on everything 👍

Regarding selecting reverse... 

More often than not it won't go straight in reverse.... I'm having to:

Release Clutch pedal

Depress clutch pedal /select forward gear

Come back to neutral 

Release clutch

Depress clutch, then finally Engage reverse

 

Likewise ^^^^

[ByJoveByJingle]

10 minutes ago, steve930 said:

This is great, thanks for all the input so far on everything 👍

Regarding selecting reverse... 

More often than not it won't go straight in reverse.... I'm having to:

Release Clutch pedal

Depress clutch pedal /select forward gear

Come back to neutral 

Release clutch

Depress clutch, then finally Engage reverse

 

Same for me, except I don’t have to release clutch . . . I just select any forward gear and then go into reverse with no problem without releasing clutch. 

[steve930]

1 hour ago, ByJoveByJingle said:

Same for me, except I don’t have to release clutch . . . I just select any forward gear and then go into reverse with no problem without releasing clutch. 

Mine won't do that, so wondering if I might have a slave or master cylinder issue

[JayEmm]

Engaging reverse could be difficult for me too. Ironically the gearshift was one thing in my car I always loved, then a useful tech decided to perform some "adjustment" without me asking and after that it never liked going into reverse easily. Or sometimes first either if the car had stood for a bit

[Bruss]

6 minutes ago, JayEmm said:

Engaging reverse could be difficult for me too. Ironically the gearshift was one thing in my car I always loved, then a useful tech decided to perform some "adjustment" without me asking and after that it never liked going into reverse easily. Or sometimes first either if the car had stood for a bit

Lol. Cable adjustment is a black art.  Adjust when cold, perfect. Car warms up, cable expands, bugger, go back to square one.

 

[steve930]

Hmm. 

Maybe I could be opening a can of worms! If I start getting people to look at the adjustment

[JayEmm]

The only people I'd let near it would be Lotus

[Bruss]

2 hours ago, JayEmm said:

The only people I'd let near it would be Lotus

I adjusted my own

 

but then I am an expert ( in my own mind) 🤨

[blueg33]

If you call the factory customer services they will email you with a list of all warranty and recall work done.