spray shield behind rear oil seal whatssup?

[andrewp1989]

The Lotus manual is either vague or I am losing my memory (and, yes, both are likely).

Does the spring steel spray shield . . . looks a bit like a 6 sided star stretched into a U-shape. . . mount onto the cylinder block flange BEFORE or AFTER the crankshaft and the MBH is secured?

The S3 manual and the SE manual have slightly different procedures. The S3 manual is handy, at present, but the procedure is really poorly described (i.e. essentially not described at all).

Additionally, the spray shield appears to be "held" in place with two dabs of silicon rubber. The bent flange hook barely holds the spray shield in place and I'm a little concerned that at 6000 RPM two dabs of silicon rubber may be too weak.

Finally, what is the exact role of the spray shield?

Many thanks.

[andrewp1989]

Found the major issue.

You cannot mount the spray shield if the sump has already been fitted. The shield just does not clear the extra ridge of aluminum that is the sump lip. Without the sump, the spray shield slides in from below and is rotated around (behind) the crankshaft into place. Tricky, but possible.

Tip to our friends at Lotus . . . . improve the service manuals every few years with slightly better diagrams and/or more info to procedures.

[mchlrodrigues]

Additionally, the spray shield appears to be "held" in place with two dabs of silicon rubber.  The bent flange hook barely holds the spray shield in place and I'm a little concerned that at 6000 RPM two dabs of silicon rubber may be too weak.

Finally, what is the exact role of the spray shield?

Many thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can chuck the spray shield. I bought a new one when I was going to rebuild my motor only to have Lotus tell me in '94 that they had been subsequently eliminated.

[andrewp1989]

Thanks so much for this bit of news!

I was getting a bit worried about having to split the sump from the MBH just in order to install the spray shield.

AP

[Esprit Aviation]

Been running sucessfully w/o the spray shield for a while now, w/ no unusual leaks or other anomalies. I also had the sump fitted and torqued, and was greatly relieved to find out it was later ommited!!!!