Gearstick snapped

[dodge1979]

I wouldnt have thought an ecu..nothing like an aftermarket amp for the stereo?

[Stimpy]

Just had a flip out high(er) end car hifi stereo system (and I'm a bit of an audiophile!)  - no - its not stereo related.

I put money on it being the ex-immobiliser but Taff's comment (piggy back ecu) comment should have made me ask "how does that work" at the time but then I was eating into his home time and the 5 year old had already been introduced to Taff's home made Morgan go-kart (bad idea - the little 'un is car mad !)

Ok - just a quickie - the knackered waist gate.

 

I think i'll order the one here:

 

http://www.pnmengineering.com/lotus-engine-parts.html

 

unless anyone has any other recommendations?

[pete]

don`t see a waistgate for later cars on that page

[Simon350S]

Photo of the box?

Any writing on it anywhere at all?

[Stimpy]

Photo of the box?

Any writing on it anywhere at all?

nope - anonymous aluminium box - with a loom going in - no clues at all

 

==========================================================================

don`t see a waistgate for later cars on that page

right at the bottom - second item up.  Mine's a 1994 S4s

Here's the list of 'advise' items:

 

Clutch slave cylinder leaking.

Clutch very heavy and creaks

Off side top outer suspension arm bolt very loose.

Front anti roll bar and bushes worn.

>>>>>>>Wastegate actulator diaphragm broken.   <<<<<<<<

Rear lower suspension arm bushes worn.

Disc's showing corrosion and reduced brake surface.

Fuel Tank showing signs of corrosion.

Fuel tank balance pipe corroded and rubber hose perished. Heavy rusting to both front hub/supension components. Off side door lock requires attention.

Off side courtesy lamp corroded.

Cooling low sensor, possible fault. 

 

 

​I've highlighted one of the quick-win items from what I've heard (i.e. DIY)

 

==============================================================================

Sorry - to simon...

 

I'll get a photo of the box v soon

Edited June 28, 2014 by Stimpy

[dodge1979]

Soo

New slave, easy job

Creaky clutch sounds like its been stood idle for a while. It may well quieten down with use..and a new slave would help with the pedal feel and its actuation

Loose bolts..well tighten or replace

Front bushes..looks like your gonna strip down the suspension anyhow now so u may as well shot blast and powder coat!

Turbo actuator easy enough to replace

Rear suspension bushes..well looks like your gonna strip down again as per front!

Worn brake discs simple enough

Corroded fuel tanks..nothing new there and common..looks like they need to come out (pain but quite do able)

Rusty suspension. .car has sat for a while..strip shotblast and powdercoat

Door lock.could just be the actuator rods.etc inside the door popped off.

Rusty door light..easy fix to replace

Coolant sensor prone to messing up on the plastic header tanks..especially if the car has sat for a while! They gum up and the float jams. Simple fix. Their about 30quid from Peugeot. Next day order..dont bother buying from sj or pnm just get the Peugeot item from your local dealer its better quality.

So steve your list is made..you have your orders..ready steady.....go!

[pete]

ah the actuator not the waistgate

[espritmania]

Why are you spending a fortune on a car you just paid a fortune for??(Sorry if I am on the wrong thread)

[Simon350S]

A lot of that list are maintenance items Paul so won't be covered by any warranty.

I think that's a fairly simple list in all fairness. Should get most of it ticked off in a couple of days graft

Edited June 28, 2014 by Simon350S

[dodge1979]

Its only really the fuel tank repair thats the longer pain job. Suspension is straight forward. .just if you go to the full extent of shot blast and powder coat it takes more time. But then again you may aswell do the job properly in which case..in reality it takes more than a few days...

[Simon350S]

Is there any changes in the wishbones etc on the front suspension from SE - S4S? I don't know without looking through the parts manuals.

If they are the same then drop MysteRae a massage from here. He's not long replaced all his metal bits for new and will most likely have all the old stuff floating around. From memory they were no where near as bad as yours.

This would give you the chance to get all the parts cleaned and painted/powder coated and re-bushed so it would be a simple swap job and realignment at your local wheel alignment centre minimising time off the road.

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/59803-replacing-front-suspension-bushes-advice-please/

[dodge1979]

The local wheel place wont be able to do it though. Any change with bushes etc will require a geometry check and adjustment by seriously knowledgeable guys..I say that because there are some that do it hut not quite as good as the rest.. do t be illusioned that with new bushes it all falls back to correct new set up..it wont. Itll need shimming and adjusting. More expense but worth it ultimately

[espritmania]

Just done both fuel tanks ,made me sweat my nuts off with the engine out!!

[Stimpy]

"New slave, easy job"

 

Suddenly - I like you very much !

"Creaky clutch sounds like its been stood idle for a while. It may well quieten down with use..and a new slave would help with the pedal feel and its actuation"

 

Basically, when the car was up he showed me the 'journey' of the moving bits after the stick - he said that in order to make the selection change as comfortable as possible those bits and pieces had to be adjusted to their (or close to) tolerances.  Although I didn't ask for it he also made the stick sit fractionally back a bit (I told him about the flip out screen car hifi and just very occasionally the knuckle would touch it). 

"Loose bolts..well tighten or replace"

 

That was just a description of the finding.  It was tightened, of course, but having that in writing will be handy when I show the bill to the dealer - if you see what I mean.

 

 

"Front bushes..looks like your gonna strip down the suspension anyhow now so u may as well shot blast and powder coat!"

 

Noted...

"Turbo actuator easy enough to replace"

 

So I've been told - by everyone - which makes me happy.

"Rear suspension bushes..well looks like your gonna strip down again as per front!"

 

Hmm - yeah - thats going to have some proper professional attention - in the short term I going to get it up on a pair of halfords ramps and use an abrasive-ish thing to remove surface rust - then kurust then some sort of covering - like dinitrol or something.

"Worn brake discs simple enough"

 

 

Now that's interesting - I remember on my old cosworth you had to battle with the brakes with proprietary tools just to do the pads ! So that's good news.

"Corroded fuel tanks..nothing new there and common..looks like they need to come out (pain but quite do able)"

 

Taff explained how Lotus - in their 'great wisdom' put a sponge near the bottom of the tank and that rainwater could get into the side of the car and then get held in the sponge against the metal.  He also explained a few other things:

 

The right-hand tank can be taken out - but its a pain.

The left-tank is an 'engine out' story.

Unfortunately any rust will most likely happen at the bottom of the tank (as per explanation) so there's no 'grace time' with a hole appearing higher up - if you get my drift.

Apparently either tank can be made redundant.

"Rusty suspension. .car has sat for a while..strip shotblast and powder coat"

 

Yup.  And learning (from this very forum) that the car lived by the sea makes sense - add to that some low level of care with 3k miles over 5 years etc etc etc etc

"Door lock.could just be the actuator rods.etc inside the door popped off."

 

In reality?  It's just fiddly.  When you have a Stag and a '66 elf it's positively 'perfect'! 

"Rusty door light..easy fix to replace"

 

Agreed

"Coolant sensor prone to messing up on the plastic header tanks..especially if the car has sat for a while! They gum up and the float jams. Simple fix. Their about 30quid from Peugeot. Next day order..dont bother buying from sj or pnm just get the Peugeot item from your local dealer its better quality."

 

When the light came on first I was in "Oh no - now the coolant's been dumped! What next?" mode and then found that all was well in the tank.  I pulled the contacts out - then in - and the light on the dash went out.  Maybe a bit of re-cabling, but I'll take your advice on board.

"So steve your list is made..you have your orders..ready steady.....g"

 

:-)  It's in a queue - sorting a mini out first but will probably end up mixing jobs up to make life a bit more interesting.

 

Get ready, you might want to make a printout of the next sentence.

 

At least I have the Stag to fall back on which just 'works'.  Roof down in the crawling rush hour over the last 2 days then XXX mph on the motorway.

ah the actuator not the waistgate

Apologies - still not 'au fait' with the exact terminology.

Just making sure that I'm buying the right thing dependant on the description

Why are you spending a fortune on a car you just paid a fortune for??(Sorry if I am on the wrong thread)

 

The car was unusually lowly priced which I couldn't put my finger on.  Had it been lifted in the service dept of the dealership I would be able to see what contributed to that.  In all honesty I bought the car within the budget I set and after all the work it's still under budget.  It's just really handy having a forum like this to share experiences.

Its only really the fuel tank repair thats the longer pain job. Suspension is straight forward. .just if you go to the full extent of shot blast and powder coat it takes more time. But then again you may aswell do the job properly in which case..in reality it takes more than a few days...

 

He said that they could last up to another 10 years from what was seen - i.e. too difficult to predict.   But needed to be told, as it were.

Is there any changes in the wishbones etc on the front suspension from SE - S4S? I don't know without looking through the parts manuals.

If they are the same then drop MysteRae a massage from here. He's not long replaced all his metal bits for new and will most likely have all the old stuff floating around. From memory they were no where near as bad as yours.

This would give you the chance to get all the parts cleaned and painted/powder coated and re-bushed so it would be a simple swap job and realignment at your local wheel alignment centre minimising time off the road.
http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/59803-replacing-front-suspension-bushes-advice-please/

Cheers - I will bear that in mind for the moment - but need to repair the credit card first :-) 

The local wheel place wont be able to do it though. Any change with bushes etc will require a geometry check and adjustment by seriously knowledgeable guys..I say that because there are some that do it hut not quite as good as the rest.. do t be illusioned that with new bushes it all falls back to correct new set up..it wont. Itll need shimming and adjusting. More expense but worth it ultimately

 

Again - EXTREMELY good advice - thanks.

 

Regarding the turbo part - from what I've said I am buying the right thing correct?  I'm 99% sure that I'm right but there's no harm in asking knowledgable folk on here! 

[Vanya]

The local wheel place wont be able to do it though. Any change with bushes etc will require a geometry check and adjustment by seriously knowledgeable guys..I say that because there are some that do it hut not quite as good as the rest.. do t be illusioned that with new bushes it all falls back to correct new set up..it wont. Itll need shimming and adjusting. More expense but worth it ultimately

 

Does this apply to the Turbo SE too? Because I went in for a geo check recently and was told flat out that there was more or less no way to adjust jack squat except toe. Or was the guy simply saying so because he saw I'd have to disassemble the entire suspension to put a shim in, come back, pay another 150 pounds, check, leave, readjust, come back etc etc?

[Simon350S]

You can adjust toe conventionally and castor with washers on the front, camber on the very late ones I think (not 100% certain on that last bit).

Rear is toe only with shims on the radius arm, unless you have the adjustable upper linkages and then you can adjust camber.

Not a lot to it really. Unless you take it to the factory, you'll be hard pressed to find someone with a shelf full of shims specifically for your car.

If the geo is seriously out, look at replacing bushes. If it's still out after that, look for something bent.

[Stimpy]

re:

 

http://www.pnmengine...gine-parts.html

 

second item up, waist gate thing - I assume that the lack of "no don't get *that* one" replies that I can go ahead and order.

 

I'll make an order in a few hours in case of any warnings by fellow posters.

[mr.oogieboogie]

Looks good. If you dont have the equipment to set it up do it the same as the on that is on by measuring the length.

All the best

[Stimpy]

I've been told it will be pre-set for the car - however I'll be asking, to be on the safe side (plus there's your advice).

 

BTW You're avatar is enough to give me nightmares!! 

[dodge1979]

the pressure will be pre-set...the length of the actuating rod wont...it will need measuring and adjusting to suit. Its not difficult though.

[Stimpy]

Cheers - all good info

[Qavion]

Steven, please do a forum search for wastegate fitment before you start the job.

 

The actuator rod/spindle can't be adjusted for length after you attach it to the wastegate lever on the turbo. You have to adjust it first, then fit it (trial and error stuff when fine-tuning the mechanism). You'll probably need an air pump to get the wastegate actuator spindle to move into the right spot to hook it up to the wastegate lever. Don't attempt to push, pull or turn the part of the rod/spindle which goes into the bellows with pliers, multigrips or whatever... It's probably how the actuator broke in the first place. Only the end of the actuator spindle should be turned (the part with the eye) and, after carefully undoing the locknut.

 

If the seat lumbar supports on your Esprit use hand operated air pumps, use one of those to activate the actuator bellows. I've also used a large syringe, but it's fiddly. 

 

The manual tells you what you need to know regarding adjustment. I wouldn't be solely relying on using the old measurements of your existing actuator. They could be completely wrong. 

 

I plan on changing mine in the future, and even bought an air pressure gauge to get things set up perfectly.

 

Cheers

Ian.

[Stimpy]

Talking about condition of bodywork (well sort of) - I thought this new product might be a good idea.

 

I immediately thought of Chris's stone chip 'display'.

 

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/3m/paint-defender-spray-film.aspx

 

After seeing reviews for what looked like an amazing product - I now backtrack and suggest not getting this stuff.

Steven, please do a forum search for wastegate fitment before you start the job.

 

The actuator rod/spindle can't be adjusted for length after you attach it to the wastegate lever on the turbo. You have to adjust it first, then fit it (trial and error stuff when fine-tuning the mechanism). You'll probably need an air pump to get the wastegate actuator spindle to move into the right spot to hook it up to the wastegate lever. Don't attempt to push, pull or turn the part of the rod/spindle which goes into the bellows with pliers, multigrips or whatever... It's probably how the actuator broke in the first place. Only the end of the actuator spindle should be turned (the part with the eye) and, after carefully undoing the locknut.

 

If the seat lumbar supports on your Esprit use hand operated air pumps, use one of those to activate the actuator bellows. I've also used a large syringe, but it's fiddly. 

 

The manual tells you what you need to know regarding adjustment. I wouldn't be solely relying on using the old measurements of your existing actuator. They could be completely wrong. 

 

I plan on changing mine in the future, and even bought an air pressure gauge to get things set up perfectly.

 

Cheers

Ian.

Thanks for the info.

That's very inventive - utilising the lumbar pump as a tool - nice one.

 

Am I right in saying that incorrect adjustment could mean underboost -or more dangerously - overboost?

[dodge1979]

Yup. I refer to our little chat the other day...

[Stimpy]

...which reminds me of a certain delicious souding 320 bhp chip upgrade for the wide-arsed one (the car, that is..not...erm... nevermind)

Edited July 4, 2014 by Stimpy