Gearstick snapped

[MikieP]

Ooof! I am starting to feel I am not in a bottomless pit by myself now. Sorry to hear of your misfortunes, but take heart, it could be quite worse as in my case having taken my car to a thief, fraud an liar's shop for a relatively minor makeover. Keep the faith and passion, all will end well if money can be thrown at it. Taken to his shop 2 Feb 2012 and ~30K gone and I still do not have it in hand, but I will even if I have to mortgage the house.

[Stimpy]

"A replacement has been found and is on it's way to Maidenhead."

 

 Most excellent. One of those rare times when a parts merchant "sticks it to you" and you're a happy camper.

...and in all honesty he could have named any price, really.  It's not as if I could say 'Nah - I'll do without' and have a 14ft long ornament in the living room (the wife would love that!)

 

Cost = £250.  Taff could only manage to knock him down to £240.  A tenner to spend on petrol then (ensuring the car will start!).

[Stimpy]

Suspension and stuff dropping?????

He mentioned something which started to go over my head.  I was sort of in "oh, I see, ah, yes, ok, oh dear, oh well, etc" mode as I admit not to knowing what he meant.  Fact is -  I said that once the g/box is done can we leave that to anther time - that's when he said how dangerous it was and stuff about suspension dropping or something of equal nastiness.  I realise some people (service types) will over-hype an issue to get some business.  Taff is actually the opposite of that.  He's been trying to get other bits and pieces from contacts who have quality second hand bits rather than Lotus brand new stuff and he DOES mention that some things can be left 'for now' to keep the bill down.

 

To the person who knows SGT etc  - apparently its completely changed.  My wife tried to find it and it wasn't in the normal place.

 

It looks like they don't do sales anymore - My wife said it looked more like a specialist outlet for servicing and repairing Lotus's  and Morgans.  Quite radically different. 

[top-plumber]

Glad you got it sorted, was going to suggest the S4 at douglas valley.

 

Regards

Wayne

[Stimpy]

Ooof! I am starting to feel I am not in a bottomless pit by myself now. Sorry to hear of your misfortunes, but take heart, it could be quite worse as in my case having taken my car to a thief, fraud an liar's shop for a relatively minor makeover. Keep the faith and passion, all will end well if money can be thrown at it. Taken to his shop 2 Feb 2012 and ~30K gone and I still do not have it in hand, but I will even if I have to mortgage the house.

Oh lordy! My issue feels like the centre mirror has become loose compared to you.

I have had a similar issue with a garage I use for the stag.  It's odd that whenever I've been there 'the head gasket has gone'-  V8, alloy heads, OHC  - £cost.  They seem to be able to prove it though - must be bad luck.

Your issue looks like they've got your cat and done enough to make it near impossible not to let them finish it.  Crafty.

Good luck - I know what esprit 'cod turkey' is like when you've fallen in love with driving it!

Glad you got it sorted, was going to suggest the S4 at douglas valley.

 

Regards

Wayne

Thanks for that.l

 

Looks like Mike P needs more 'forum help' than me.  £30k?  Outragous. 

[MikieP]

Good News! Picked it up on Friday afternoon! Less than three blocks from the shop I noticed a new chip in the windshield, rattling in the engine compartment still there around 2500 rpm on decel, steering wheel has new cuts along the top edge, the horn no longer functions, driver side drain hole still holding water from the shop's free washup as it splashed up on the bonnet during a take off, but I did get 1.2 Bar of boost ever so often. Stereo working and fan belt held on for the drive to the new house 150 miles away and held up over the next day's flogging to and from on errands! Gas smell still remained in the cabin after being told they had repaired a cracked hose, oil pressure still on the low side but as I was told could be due to break-in oil being used (I hope). One final niggle - the key no longer turns the passenger door lock at all.  But, I can say I have an unasked for, unplanned for, unscheduled for, yet completely NEW engine for all the funds spent w/Alunox SS Header (highly recommended), an LSD and 1.2 Bar of boost now though maybe not yet on a regular, recurring basis. 1st Gear lasts less than a second to needing 2nd involved! Bit of rear tire screeching without trying. Ridiculously faster than I remember it. Did a short, brief 2nd through 3rd jaunt side by side with a new Corvette and if he was actually making an effort, I feel really really really good. The smile on my face is far worse. And, no apparent oil leaks. No A/C although once in a while, there is actually chilled, cooler than ambient air coming out of it so that is something. If I can figure out how to keep the heat from coming out of the shifter channel around the console sides and top cover would help with that somewhat. Left it at the house inside the garage for the week so it can recover and I decide where to go from here. Reversing camera, bi-focal driving beams, Trunk release mock up for that unexpected cable breakage, charging hookup, more money needed. Glad I do not care much for upholstery fix-up! So there is some good news, finally.

 

If one was available, what would a new 2.2l engine cost? Add in the head porting and polishing, ECU upgrade, proper length SS header using V-Clamps, improved WC injectors, improved turbo, blueprinting, larger valves, correct intake cam, correct cam pulleys etc. Got to be 10K just for parts I would guess? then there is the evil labor bills - something I can not possible perform. Given that the entire suspension was also completely renewed (shocks, bushings) and properly setup, new and matched tiring being in that cost though I still lack the settable upper links, I feel pretty good after taking the big block vette that cost over 80K to get on the road and I have more storage space and arguably, better handling!

[Stimpy]

....and the interior bits don't feel like it's made from the cheapest thinest plastic!

 

Nice to hear you're enjoying the head-sung-into-headrest acceleration - I just can't get enough of that.

 

I took a biker friend in the thing once and he said the feeling was the closest to a motorbike than any other car.

 

I have the feeling that the air con in the Lotus must be tiny as recent temps here (over 80F) don't get much cooling even when everything is on full whack.  Plus I suddenly get cold temps that would do the trick if it would only stay cold.

 

And I think most people will know about frozen buckles !!   :-)

 

Still - the state of the air con goes way down the list of 'things I need' list.

 

Its not often one says this but right now I need a lot of stick!!   (boom boom)

[Simon350S]

Gary Kemp may still have some boxed brand new S4 engines remaining. If not he will do you the best rebuild in the world!

[MikieP]

Simon,

 

At what cost? hehe. Got mine done it looks like. Did not know any OEM still around anywhere!

 

Stimpy,

 

It was 95F here Saturday. If you are sitting still it gets extremely hot in the car due to heat gain via the windshield and engine heat coming through the tunnel. My car has an Sanden SD508 compressor which is the same as my SAAB 900 Turbos so compressor capacity is not the issue, proper charge and volume of air moved seems to be the issue, and the Esprit fan's speed / volume does seem to be half of the SAAB's volume so that is still a problem even when I locate the leak I am told I have in the system. When it did work, it did get cold

[Simon350S]

Cost was quite reasonable, you really don't want to know!

[MikieP]

Considering its only an S4, I would not be upset to learn the number with USA shipping.

[Stimpy]

Gary Kemp may still have some boxed brand new S4 engines remaining. If not he will do you the best rebuild in the world!

 

Tony Hadley knocks out a great a+ series engine too.

 

ha ha ha ha

 

 

ha ha

 

erm

 

ha?

 

ok - well it was funny at the time.

 

BTW - my previous post is full of mac autocorrects with me half asleep - just in case anyone noticed (like buckles=knuckles) 

Simon,

 

At what cost? hehe. Got mine done it looks like. Did not know any OEM still around anywhere!

 

Stimpy,

 

It was 95F here Saturday. If you are sitting still it gets extremely hot in the car due to heat gain via the windshield and engine heat coming through the tunnel. My car has an Sanden SD508 compressor which is the same as my SAAB 900 Turbos so compressor capacity is not the issue, proper charge and volume of air moved seems to be the issue, and the Esprit fan's speed / volume does seem to be half of the SAAB's volume so that is still a problem even when I locate the leak I am told I have in the system. When it did work, it did get cold

 

We haven't hit 90 yet - the odds are increasing though, apparently.  The S4s has that greenhouse window instead of a roof too which can't help.

[MikieP]

Stimpy,

 

I have the solid roof and am looking for the glass roof and its associated gasket as a winter upgrade! I have yet to get the laptop to talk to the ECU but that will attempted again next week when I bring the car home again next week.

[Stimpy]

I noticed you're from Maryland - so your climatic conditions are probably not far off where I am in the south east of England (or maybe M/land is a bit more south than I think), although 95 is impressive.  In Florida there's the occasional ridiculous temperature where in the past I've had to start the (hire) car up and leave the air con on full blast and take shelter in the car park until the inside of the car stops melting.

 

 

Ok - grabbing a thick rope and turning this back on topic again :-)

The new stick didn't arrive at SGT today (yes, the paranoia-meter was starting to climb).

 

His current concern is the loss of transmission oil.

 

The problem is it's (new seal)  on back order and he knows I want to get on the road again, so he's going to show me where and how to top up the transmission oil - however he's made it known that he doesn't like the idea of running it that way.

 

Apparently - according to the place where the leak emanates the box could go down to 1/3rd full - which is not a happy place to be.

 

His two big concerns are

1 - why did the stick break in the first place (on top of the forceful gear change issue)  - it should never get like that and he's kinda  hoping that nothing is going wrong in the g/box 

2 - He's not at all happy with transmission oil leakage esp when sold by a dealer.  I now know why the drops on the driveway were golden rather than black (my initial thought was - wow - this engine sure does keep the oil clean).

 

Of course - at some point there will be the matter of a bill to pay.

 

Hoping to have a guided tour of the underneath of the car on Wednesday afternoon

[rizla603104]

SJ Sports got me one  -it was £115 though

[fjmuurling]

Where is the leak on the gearbox? Maybe a picture.

[fflyingdog]

The roll pins on the out put drive splines leak if not sealed ,and cause quite a mess.Oil leaks always looks a lot worse than they actually are (At least that's what I tell our pilots).How much oil are you loosing? Did you have any problems with gear selection? 2nd gear is a known weak link,otherwise a fairly robust unit.

 

   Nick S4s

[rizla603104]

I managed to get hold of a composite roof - had it re-lined and sprayed the appropriate colour. Looks great. I still have the glass roof - still wondering what I should do with it. Its in the loft right now.

[MikieP]

Wish you wanted to ship it to the states!

[Stimpy]

SJ Sports got me one  -it was £115 though

For a stick and the associated bits at the bottom?  

 

I shall raise this tomorrow (on a visit)

[Sparky]

Depends what you mean by 'associated bits'.  There's the stick, and there's the master gearchange unit.  I'm still not clear on exactly what broke...

[Stimpy]

Where is the leak on the gearbox? Maybe a picture.

 

Don't know yet - one of my tasks tomorrow (by invitation) is to go to SGT for him to do a guided tour of my car to explain why it was surprisingly well priced!  Although it's cosmetically beautiful - there are signs that confirm a lack of servicing.

 

He's going to show me the leak (i.e. where it is) and I'll take photos.

 

I need to take photos of the area where I need to top up the 'box oil if I choose to drive it.  Apparently having the V8 exhaust system makes it a lot easier.  I seem to remember him saying that it might need a special tool or something (I was still concentrating on knobs, so to speak)

 

I will also take pics of the thing that he said could have been catastrophic.

 

...plus the other thing which I've forgotten now but can be delayed if I want.  Also I think he said the actuator was buggered - denying full pressure.  looking at the waist gate thing it doesn't look that difficult to swap over - or am I out of depth here?

 

IF I can slip in an admittedly off-topic question for a quick answer - are dump valves a good idea?  One of my issues is the wooosh sound reminds me of fiat uno, citroen saxo, and other teen-mobiles !

[Bibs]

You've got a V8 exhaust on your 4 pot Esprit and that makes it easier to top up the gearbox oil?

 

You need to start taking notes during these phone calls...

[Sparky]

Ummm, the exhaust system has absolutely no bearing on gearbox oil topup.  The special tool is a 10mm female key, and you'll get change out of a fiver.  Wastegate actuator, easy job, £100 for the part.

 

Take a voice recorder!  You're not giving us enough to go on..

Oh, and I'm still dying to know what suspension components are in danger of 'dropping off'!

[Stimpy]

The roll pins on the out put drive splines leak if not sealed ,and cause quite a mess.Oil leaks always looks a lot worse than they actually are (At least that's what I tell our pilots).How much oil are you loosing? Did you have any problems with gear selection? 2nd gear is a known weak link,otherwise a fairly robust unit.

 

   Nick S4s

"At least that's what I tell our pilots" - hopefully not on the 747-400 flight V29 to Barbados in a few weeks!!   :-)

 

I know what you mean by the oil spread - he was mentioning (Taff) that the engine could have been wiped down before sale because the oil would have to make it's journey to the 'drip zone' - plus driving it can artificially 'stop' the leak as wind, movement etc clear the area of endripment(new word).  So it can appear to be a small leak if regularly used.  While it's been up on the ramps at SGT the 'spread' has grown to 12".  Once I get pictures it might make more sense.  Describing over the phone is always a bit vague - especially if you're not very familiar with the unit.