1979 Yellow Lotus Eclat: My project thread

[soldave]

I know, right. And I'm wondering if that's what's caused the power steering to leak out of the reservoir cap (overheating). Will find out when it's replaced. What a pain to get out though... and going back in is going to be even tougher I think!

[TAR]

You appear to be missing an electrical connection to the temp sender on the thermostat housing, unless you removed the wire to take the picture?  

[soldave]

25 minutes ago, TAR said:

You appear to be missing an electrical connection to the temp sender on the thermostat housing, unless you removed the wire to take the picture?  

Well spotted! But if that's to a temp sensor then my car must be getting its temp reading from elsewhere as there's never been anything connected to it!

[TAR]

I believe that one is for the temperature gauge  

[soldave]

Mine must be doing it by telepathy then!! Not quire sure where my temp gauge is getting the pickup from - will have a look around tomorrow in the area for another sensor.

[Trunnion 74]

On 24/05/2023 at 21:16, soldave said:

Mine must be doing it by telepathy then!! Not quire sure where my temp gauge is getting the pickup from - will have a look around tomorrow in the area for another sensor.

The Temp sensor on mine is on the inlet manifold.

 

[soldave]

Down the rabbithole one again. Intake manifold off so I could make sure that tiny coolant hose is in place, and so I could take a look at things (I did have a small fuel leak when I was messing with that hose in front of the front carb.

So I've found a few things:

1. One of the nuts holding the rear carb onto the manifold was finger tight at best.

2. The fuel leak on the front carb doesn't seem to be from the diaphragm as was suspected (although I will replace them). It appears as though it's coming from between manifold and carb (see pic). Someone has suggested it could be a float valve that needs replacing - does that sound like a good theory? I have no idea about carbs so am unsure.

3. A couple of the rubber springs on the manifold to carb studs are trashed, so I'll replace all of those too. Looks like the carbs have been tightened up way too much in the past so new o-rings etc.

4. There is no way in hell I'm going to get that hardened fuel hose back on the carb and sealed. Time to replace with R9 hose I think, but I need to find a nipple to thread adapter for connecting to the fuel valve next to the starter motor. Typically I have the one that has a nipple on one side and is threaded on the other.

All stuff which I'm glad I've found and needs doing, but just makes the shopping list longer.

[TAR]

Point 2 above, the needle valve is what regulates the flow of fuel into the carb. A float raises as the fuel level goes up and at a certain level, it presses on the needle valve which stops the flow of fuel into the carb. The the needle valve was faulty, the carb would likely flood and leak fuel out of an overflow. If you have fuel showing between the carb and manifold, I'd suggest a bad gasket in that area not a faulty needle valve.  

[soldave]

55 minutes ago, TAR said:

Point 2 above, the needle valve is what regulates the flow of fuel into the carb. A float raises as the fuel level goes up and at a certain level, it presses on the needle valve which stops the flow of fuel into the carb. The the needle valve was faulty, the carb would likely flood and leak fuel out of an overflow. If you have fuel showing between the carb and manifold, I'd suggest a bad gasket in that area not a faulty needle valve.  

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll investigate further tomorrow. Maybe a leak in the carb cover gasket where the float lives. We'll see...

[jonwat]

12 hours ago, soldave said:

One of the nuts holding the rear carb onto the manifold was finger tight at best.

The nuts in the picture have been overtightened crushing the O rings, there should be an even gap between the spacers & manifold & carbs.

[soldave]

Right, carbs back in with new rubber bushes/insulators, new o-rings, new fuel pump diaphragms. New coolant hose fitted between inlet manifold and water pump and everything seems watertight. Got it up to running temperature at the weekend and then then went to work today and back without issue. Was soooo hot coming back and traffic bad so I was just sat in traffic with the temp gauge rising above 90. Fans kicking in bringing it down but it was hot.

Noticed a few things in the drive:

1. A couple of times when I was stuck in traffic and heat and then started going again, I shifted into 2nd at low rpm. When I did the engine hesitated a lot in picking up until I have it more gas. Once I'd got going again and the temps came back down it was fine. Wondering if something had heat soaked. My first thought would be carbs but I've not heard of that happening when the engine is running.

2. I needed a bit of a top up of coolant when I got back. I'm guessing a few pockets of air that weren't filled with the car sat idling before when I warmed it up. No sign of more coolant leaking so I'll just keep an eye on the level.

3. No power steering leak any more from the reservoir and level is stable. Might be fixed... we'll see!

4. Headlining fell down again. I've got the replacement material but not the skills but it needs doing very shortly.

Think that's it for now!

[soldave]

Sorry it's been over 7 months since I posted. Life with a toddler has just taken over and I've hardly had chance to do anything else 

The car got it's brake servo rebuilt in the autumn after the diaphragm inside failed and left me with very unpredictable braking . Not goof but all replaced now.

Recently though the car has had issues starting. After the car has been left for a while I'm no longer hearing the ticking of the fuel pump when I turn on the ignition. Thought it might be the points in the pump so I gave it a few taps but nothing. Then after a good few minutes if turning it over it fired into life. It then runs fine and when the engine is warm will restart without an issue. Seems like the longer I leave it the more difficult it is to get it going. I need to do some more testing on the fuel pump but may be needing a replacement I think.

If I need to replace it would be a good opportunity for me to fix the broken bolt from the top pump mounting bracket too. Looks like it'll have to be drilled out which will be fun!

Edited January 27 by soldave