Front ground post

[TBD]

So I have a apparent ground issue (why wouldn't a Lotus have ground issues?).

It seems the ground signal wire for the instruments is open, which leads to wrong readings for water temperature and boost (the low impedance sensors). I'm reading ~50 ohms between the ground wire and chassis (which would be expected if the wire is grounding through all the instruments).

I have the service notes, but I can't find the front ground point. All the service notes say is "on the left front scuttle beam". But I can't find it and don't know how to access that area.

Any tips? Anyone have some photos?

 

[TBD]

So I found this 

Yes bad earth can give you issues such as that. because you are not getting a full circuit and can lead to reduced spark in the cylinder.  Very similar to running a car on when the alternator has died.  I have the manual for the 93 and up and I doubt that they changed them much. I can later in the evening here place that page up for you if no one else has if that helps you any. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But how to access those earthing points?

 

[Steve V8]

7 hours ago, TBD said:

All the service notes say is "on the left front scuttle beam". But I can't find it and don't know how to access that area.

On the RHD V8 the main earth for the instruments is a 6mm cable from the scuttle beam above the passengers knees, exiting through a grommet in the passenger footwell and earthed to the chassis on the rear of the LH shock turret.

This may or may not be mirrored on the LHD V8

[Chillidoggy]

I strongly suspect that some dashboard dismantling will be required to access it.

[TBD]

18 hours ago, Chillidoggy said:

I strongly suspect that some dashboard dismantling will be required to access it.

I did  some deep diving under the dashboard yesterday, but could not trace the wires (all I got was a back ache). I did see the ground strap, but couldn't figure out how to gain access without dismantling everything. Obviously our older cars have had a life and every owner has probably made some modifications or repairs, so I did  see a couple of strange wired and a  "flying" fuse holder that shouldn't be down there.

I finally decided to chicken out and install a new ground wire to the scuttle beam. I'm assuming the original ground wire was inadvertently cut sometime, and went for the easier repair since everything else seems to be OK.

 

 

[Chillidoggy]

I was going suggest exactly that if you cannot access the original.