No replacement Temp sensors anywhere, even Lotus !

[paulg390]

Further to my earlier post... looks like it is indeed the temp sensor (the one that feeds the ECU) that has gone awry.. means my car is difficult to start when hot and runs lumpy when it does eventually cough and splutter into life !

The trouble is no dealers have them (inc Fibreglass services) and Lotus say they don't have any either nor do they seem to have plans to supply any...

All this amazes me as a bit of Lotus newbie. I am used to old cars, alos owning a 1972 Avenger Tiger, 1988 TVR etc but never known a critical part which stops a car working being "unavailable" and with no solution in sight...

Is anyone involved in Lotus Esprit World aware of this and is there any sort of "action plan" to lobby Lotus or is it everyman for himself.

[Bibs]

Lotus Esprit World can be contacted at kato@lotusespritworld.com

Have you got a part number, I'll see what I can find out for you. The head of ASO at Lotus is a member of LEF and a good man and we have some very senior engineering staff on the site too who may be able to help. There are people at Lotus who job it is to keep out of production cars on the road and if anyone can help, they can

[okspeedsix]

Are you referring to the coolent temp sensor that is located on the under side of the intake runners?

[davegtst]

Yes that would be the one under the intake. Im also after one without much luck but i suspect my problem is the ecu itself. I know Lucus and all the parts places i've been round don't list them (only the gauge sensor).

[okspeedsix]

Thats really odd I just ordered one from Fox Valley Motorsports three weeks ago. No Problems 888-339-1166. Fits up underneath the intake runners on my 1994 Turbo Esprit.

[rocket63]

Lotus are currently trying to source another supplier for this part. Hence why there are none available at present.

It would seem that since Rover disappeared, many of the smaller suppliers that other manufacturers were also dependant on, have gone to wall.

I have been after one of these for several weeks as mine has also failed.

[Paula&Marcus]

Paul,

How can you be sure its the coolant-sensor ?

Have you hooked up Freescan or a Tech-1 and checked all the sensor readings ?

Cheers

Marcus

Further to my earlier post... looks like it is indeed the temp sensor (the one that feeds the ECU) that has gone awry.. means my car is difficult to start when hot and runs lumpy when it does eventually cough and splutter into life !

The trouble is no dealers have them (inc Fibreglass services) and Lotus say they don't have any either nor do they seem to have plans to supply any...

All this amazes me as a bit of Lotus newbie. I am used to old cars, alos owning a 1972 Avenger Tiger, 1988 TVR etc but never known a critical part which stops a car working being "unavailable" and with no solution in sight...

Is anyone involved in Lotus Esprit World aware of this and is there any sort of "action plan" to lobby Lotus or is it everyman for himself.

[Drfatz]

If it is indeed the coolant temp sensor that you are after I picked one up for around $10 US at a local auto parts store. If you check the cross reference list you will find that same sensor fits a variety of GM cars. I found one from an early 90s GM that works perfect! I am sure it is not the original "Lotus" part, but a cheap GM replacement seems to be a good solution in the meantime.

-Graham

[davegtst]

Any ideas which GM it came off and what engine?

[geoffsmith]

Dave,

Given the Esprit and Elan ECUs are the same (only the memcal is different), I bet the CTS will have similar electrical characteristics. They are only a thermistor operating over a comparatively narrow range of temperatures so the most likely difference is most likely the mechanical construction and connector. I wouldn't be surprised if a decent motor factor couldn't identify it for you.

There is a write up on LEC on the CTS and I am getting one sent over from the States as a spare. It's from Rockauto.com under Isuzu|1990|Impulse|1.6L 1588cc L4 MFI (5)|Cooling System|Coolant Temperature Sensor. I'm going for the AIRTEX Part # 5S1018 which I believe has the correct connector for the Elan and costs $11.42. A hell of a lot less than anything I can get in the UK and they will ship to the UK. Use the discount code 912479807929 and you'll even get a 5% discount until 1st April.

You can also search Rockauto if you have a different connector - do a Part Number Search, Part Group: Cooling System and Part Type: Coolant Temperature Sensor and you will get pictures of all it finds.

Good luck with the search - if your CTS is the same as ours, you could probably get one from someone on LEC (maybe even me if mine arrives).

Geoff

[EDIT] A bit more information from the Lotus Service Notes EMK.4 for the Elan. CTS temperature (

Edited February 17, 2008 by Geoff

[jpspeedy]

Further to my earlier post... looks like it is indeed the temp sensor (the one that feeds the ECU) that has gone awry.. means my car is difficult to start when hot and runs lumpy when it does eventually cough and splutter into life !

The trouble is no dealers have them (inc Fibreglass services) and Lotus say they don't have any either nor do they seem to have plans to supply any...

All this amazes me as a bit of Lotus newbie. I am used to old cars, alos owning a 1972 Avenger Tiger, 1988 TVR etc but never known a critical part which stops a car working being "unavailable" and with no solution in sight...

Is anyone involved in Lotus Esprit World aware of this and is there any sort of "action plan" to lobby Lotus or is it everyman for himself.

Most of the ECU and fuel injection is from the 1987-90 Pontiac Grand-am Quad 4 motor , alot of the electronic sensor you'll find GM stamped on them and the part #. just go to Gm dealer for the part. jp

[Tentenths]

Good info Geoff!

Thanks for that.

[superdavelotus]

I will make a call on monday, I think they can be sourced in UK.

Will get back to you on Monday afternoon.

Dave Walters

[Glyn Harper]

I think I've got a spare one of these if anyone gets desperate.. I am using an Emerald ECU on my car, so I actually use a Ford temperature sensor. My lotus one that I removed is knocking about somewhere.

I'd hate to see someone off the road for the sake of a bit I have in the garage.

In fact, I've just checked.. I've got the black water temp sender, still sat in a spare inlet manifold I have..

I also have a grey one.. which I think is an air temperatur sender?

[davegtst]

Don't suppose you have a spare ecu do you?

[Glyn Harper]

No, sorry! Mine was a carb turbo when I bought it. I fitted the Emerald ECU as a way of avoiding all the excessive work I would have to do trying to retro fit the Lotus ECU setup.

I bought an injection system second hand including all the manifolds and stuff, and fitted those.

I'm looking to upgrade my emerald ECU shortly to the new version which does adaptive mapping using a wide band lambda, as well as switchable maps, traction control.. etc..

However, they need the old one as part ex as they just change the board in it I think.

Don't suppose you have a spare ecu do you?

[esp88]

Dave,

Given the Esprit and Elan ECUs are the same (only the memcal is different), I bet the CTS will have similar electrical characteristics. They are only a thermistor operating over a comparatively narrow range of temperatures so the most likely difference is most likely the mechanical construction and connector. I wouldn't be surprised if a decent motor factor couldn't identify it for you.

There is a write up on LEC on the CTS and I am getting one sent over from the States as a spare. It's from Rockauto.com under Isuzu|1990|Impulse|1.6L 1588cc L4 MFI (5)|Cooling System|Coolant Temperature Sensor. I'm going for the AIRTEX Part # 5S1018 which I believe has the correct connector for the Elan and costs $11.42. A hell of a lot less than anything I can get in the UK and they will ship to the UK. Use the discount code 912479807929 and you'll even get a 5% discount until 1st April.

You can also search Rockauto if you have a different connector - do a Part Number Search, Part Group: Cooling System and Part Type: Coolant Temperature Sensor and you will get pictures of all it finds.

Good luck with the search - if your CTS is the same as ours, you could probably get one from someone on LEC (maybe even me if mine arrives).

Geoff

[EDIT] A bit more information from the Lotus Service Notes EMK.4 for the Elan. CTS temperature (

Edited February 18, 2008 by esp88

[geoffsmith]

I just checked Esprit service manual Section EMH.4 and showed the value is same as Elan

But I'm Not sure my Elan has only one cable to CTS ?

I also checkted MAT sensor and it looks same as Esprit incl. connector also same vaule !

Good work Yasuo!

Fortunately, I have my turbo and CAS off at the moment so I could take a picture. The single connection sensor (blue) feeds the temperature gauge, the two pin connector is the CTS (red) and the radiator fan switch (yellow) is the radiator side of the thermostat. If the CTS connector is the same then they are probably interchangeable! The Elan part number is A1006373S (

Edited February 19, 2008 by Geoff

[rocket63]

Good work Yasuo!

Fortunately, I have my turbo and CAS off at the moment so I could take a picture. The single connection sensor (blue) feeds the temperature gauge, the two pin connector is the CTS (red) and the radiator fan switch (yellow) is the radiator side of the thermostat. If the CTS connector is the same then they are probably interchangeable! The Elan part number is A1006373S (

[geoffsmith]

I am after A910E6928F. Not available from Lotus currently. Thay are trying to source a supplier.

Paul,

Have you tried SJs? Their website suggests they have them in stock.

[rocket63]

Paul,

Have you tried SJs? Their website suggests they have them in stock.

Hi Geoff. Tried SJ. On backorder with Lotus as are, Strattons, SWLC, Paul Matty, Nick Whale, Chris Neils, London Lotus etc etc. Been and tried everywhere. Looks like the USA will be my next stop. Been to Germany too.

[Bibs]

I'm up at the factory on Thursday and will discuss this with them to see if we have any luck

[geoffsmith]

Paul,

I've posted over on LEC and PM'd a few people to see if we can help. I'll try and get in touch with my contact in the States to see if my spare is on its way yet.

Geoff

[Guest surferphil]

Further to my earlier post... looks like it is indeed the temp sensor (the one that feeds the ECU) that has gone awry.. means my car is difficult to start when hot and runs lumpy when it does eventually cough and splutter into life !

The trouble is no dealers have them (inc Fibreglass services) and Lotus say they don't have any either nor do they seem to have plans to supply any...

All this amazes me as a bit of Lotus newbie. I am used to old cars, alos owning a 1972 Avenger Tiger, 1988 TVR etc but never known a critical part which stops a car working being "unavailable" and with no solution in sight...

Is anyone involved in Lotus Esprit World aware of this and is there any sort of "action plan" to lobby Lotus or is it everyman for himself.

Geoff told me of your plight, I have one on a spare M100 Engine, if you are despirate you could come over and borrow it. But I'm not sure how to get it off without stripping the CAS. I'll have a go tomorrow (I'm in Wooburn Green, Bucks).

Cheers,

Phil

[speedster9110]

Don't suppose you have a spare ecu do you?

I bought a rebuilt gm ecu locally for ~$110 CDN