Lost 4th and 5th gear

[Arregueti]

So, just as I was enjoying the car early this morning and thinking about reporting on the fact that the chassis makes up for all the grip missing from the tires in slippery and cold conditions, all of a sudden, 4th gear did not want to engage. Try again with 5th gear, just the same... 

All other gears, including reverse, do work fine, though there is an increased level of mechanical noise from the gearbox when first, second or third gear are engaged. 

Only symptom before the issue arose was a slight "clonk" noise and a soft kick occasionally, noticeable mostly when changing to 4th or 5th or when releasing throttle under mid-acceleration. This symptom has now disappeared and gear changes on the other gears are very smooth.

Tried to engage fourth once when the car was in the garage and all I get is a "drilling" noise when I release the clutch but no gear/movement of the car whatsoever.

I fear I am into something pretty expensive most likely, but would appreciate feedback from any one who has experienced something similar. Hopefully it is only a cable... You can always dream.

It comes in the worse moment, too.

Thanks in advance for any tip, before calling the "special forces" @ komo-tec.

[CocoPops]

Interesting, this was EXACTLY as @Beady found with his old launch edition (sports ratio box).

he had to have a new gearbox.

[2011 Chrome Orange]

This has also been reported by 3-4 others on another forum. Appears to only happen to the CR gear box.

[Arregueti]

Thanks @CocoPops and @2011 Chrome Orange

Will look for threads elsewhere. Do you recall whether previous cases ended up in new gearboxes?

[CocoPops]

Yes, @Beady needed up with a replacement gearbox fitted by Silverstone.

I believe the car was out of warranty but Lotus still contributed as goodwill due to it being one owner and correct servicing etc

[2011 Chrome Orange]

Yes, most installed new (or used) gearboxes  but I think at least one had the gears replaced. I would have posted a link to the thread but we're not allowed.

Also, I believe Jubu Performance had stated that they built stronger 4th/5th gears. Might be something to look into.

[Arregueti]

I think I found that thread. Really appreciated. Don't know how to move forward, though. I love the car, but not willing to spend a fortune. I will talk to Lotus and Komotec and see where it goes.

[CocoPops]

 

 

[Arregueti]

Thanks @CocoPops

I was probably too shocked/scared today to recall that thread...

Will have a look at the fix proposed by Jubu performance, too. Anyone on here has any feedback about it?

[Arregueti]

So, I thought it might be worth updating the thread. If only to serve as an outlet valve for me...

The car was picked up by Komo-tec some days ago, and it looks like a mess, actually. Gears 3 through 6 need being replaced, just as selector forks and the input shaft... Not sure to which extent some of it is preventive work. I just hope it gets fixed properly.

Will just take advantage of this "situation" to do some preventive work and replace the clutch and the gear-shift cables which seem to be slightly damaged, too (burnt protection from what I can see from the pictures). The gearbox seems to have been opened before (not under my ownership). First owner was Lotus, so...

Some pieces seem to be in backorder, too. Hopefully this will be sorted quickly.

Let's see how we end up. I am starting to lose faith, I hate to admit.

[CocoPops]

Sorry to hear this news

I hope she's back together soon

[auRouge]

On 07/12/2016 at 14:10, Arregueti said:

Let's see how we end up. I am starting to lose faith, I hate to admit.

Difficult when cars go wrong mate? 

Was just having a chat with a work colleague yesterday about his 8th oil leak in his V8 BMW 6 series... BMW want £5500 to sort it! Cars done 90k miles so isn't young. He's looking at specialist options. Another friend has just sold his knackered 997.1 due to engine issues... Another friend in a Jag F-Type (under 20k miles is considering driving his car through the Jag dealers showroom window?!!

My brothers mates 991 GT3 has been with Porsche for over a month and is having its second engine OUT rebuild!! Wtf is wrong with 911 engines? Aircooled had issues, early watercooled had issues and now the new ones have issues!

They all go wrong from time to time, if they don't you're lucky! I hope this helps commiserate you a bit. You own a very rare and amazing car that's not perfect but is lovely and worth a bit of pain. 

Keep your faith, get it fixed and then enjoy???

[Arregueti]

Thanks for the support @auRouge

I know what you mean but it does not help me much to think that others are worse off.

In Spanish we say something like "Evil of many, consolation of fools".

The car has done 40,000 Kms, out of which I have done 22 k. It was owned by Lotus before and was apparently a press car (which I did not know when I bought). It has always been properly maintained and used by me. I was just expecting them to be (slightly) more supportive given the car's mileage and history, but I understand it is tough times at the factory.

It is hopefully in good hands now and I will get it fixed properly. Fingers crossed.

I just need to release some steam, I guess. Hopefully I will leave this behind soon and think it was all worth the effort next year.

[auRouge]

All cars break apart from my dad's old Datsun Bluebird in the early 80s... that "w" reg wouldn't break no matter what, weird!?

A transmission failure at 44km is unusual, surprised Lotus won't entertain a goodwill? But as you stated times are tough I guess..

Anyway, forgetting others (just trying to illustrate it isn't just Lotus!!)0 hope you get sorted and the bill isn't too painful?

[Arregueti]

They are not in a position to help. The car is apparently too old... I must admit I am disappointed.

As expected, the bigger cost is the time required to get to the gearbox. So I will just change the clutch once they are there.

Will hopefully post soon that everything ended up well (except certainly for my bank account)

[Bibs]

4 hours ago, Arregueti said:

The car is apparently too old... I must admit I am disappointed

While I certainly feel for your plight, you were aware the car was supplied with a 3 year warranty and is coming up to 5 years old now. 

[auRouge]

Thanks for sharing the information.

Great thing about this forum is the wealth of information. Such a low production number car but thanks to the members here and on other Lotus forums we are profiling the car really well without the help of the manufacturer. 

If someone else posts saying they've had the same issue then that just builds a picture of that transmission / engine combo.... (The weakest part and reason I ended up moving on from my Evora was the transmission, it worked but wasn't good enough given how much I paid for the car. Its not a show stopper but in the end it just ended up frustrating me. Thankfully the 400 is a lot better!)

Good luck.

1 minute ago, Bibs said:

While I certainly feel for your plight, you were aware the car was supplied with a 3 year warranty and is coming up to 5 years old now. 

Is it 3 years in Europe? I thought it was only 2? I might be wrong!

[Arregueti]

2 minutes ago, Bibs said:

While I certainly feel for your plight, you were aware the car was supplied with a 3 year warranty and is coming up to 5 years old now. 

Yes, I am aware, but, as I said, almost half of the mileage was done by Lotus themselves and the car was a press car, so potentially exposed to a tougher use. I was not aware of this fact when I bought it (and I do not say or imply that Lotus intentionally hid this from me. It was probably down to miscommunication with the selling dealer...).

While I do not -in any way- hold Lotus responsible or intend to have a full reimbursement of the costs, I guess you may agree with me that a gearbox is expected to last longer than 40,000 kms. (on normal road use) without the need to being rebuilt. It is also true that fourth and fifth gear in the close ratio gearbox are specific to Lotus and seem to be prone to this kind of issue and these are the gears I lost.

On the above basis, I would have expected Lotus to do a small effort, just as I am "happy" to put additional money to replace the clutch and gear-shift cables which are more exposed to increased wear and tear because of the car's layout.

As I said before, I have been treated extremely well up to this point by Lotus and I understand their priorities are elsewhere for the time being. I will just repair the car to the best standard possible "on my own" but there is some level of frustration seeing this outcome for my specific situation.

 

[Arregueti]

41 minutes ago, auRouge said:

Thanks for sharing the information.

Great thing about this forum is the wealth of information. Such a low production number car but thanks to the members here and on other Lotus forums we are profiling the car really well without the help of the manufacturer. 

If someone else posts saying they've had the same issue then that just builds a picture of that transmission / engine combo.... (The weakest part and reason I ended up moving on from my Evora was the transmission, it worked but wasn't good enough given how much I paid for the car. Its not a show stopper but in the end it just ended up frustrating me. Thankfully the 400 is a lot better!)

Good luck.

Is it 3 years in Europe? I thought it was only 2? I might be wrong!

It is 3 years in Europe, too.

I am fully aware the car is out out of warranty. I do not intend to escalate things into a claim with Lotus or anything similar, but rather to share information (with owners and Lotus).

From earlier posts on this thread and some research you may find out that the close ratio gearbox has apparently given rise to a few similar cases. I did share my situation with Lotus and asked the dealer to check with them, trying to make sure that any repair would be consistent with the factory's "best practice" if this proved to be a repeated problem or an area known to create problems.

I am ready to proceed to repair the car when something breaks. I guess I was just expecting some more involvement from the factory upon recognition of this situation not being up to their standards.

[Arregueti]

Just to update the thread and close on a happy note.

I picked up my car today. Everything seems to work fine now (except an ocasional annoying vibration when releasing the clutch in first/second gear, but I guess it is simply break-in of materials / minor adjustment).

Apparently, some of the parts currently fitted to the cars (gears, shaft, fork) have been re-thought compared to the older cars and are different. Hopefully they are now better engineered for their intended use and will last longer. In any case, it was reassuring to see that something has been done to address a repeated issue.

I decided to replace clutch and cables, too, so I am hopefully into some enjoyable years of peaceful motoring. I need them to restore my faith in the car (and my bank account).

Komotec have been very friendly, professional and helpful through the process, including spending some time today explaining what may have happened in the gearbox. They do seem a very professional shop and know the cars inside out. I think it is very good to have them on board, taking care of the cars. And they have some amazing machinery in development. :-)

 

[JG220]

@Arregueti, your good humour in all of this should be an example to us all. 

Sometimes shit happens, might as well be philosophical about it. 

I'm glad its all sorted now. 

[Arregueti]

Thanks for that, @JG220 

She makes me too happy to get angry on her. I only have humour left, as a defense. :-)

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

12 hours ago, Arregueti said:

Everything seems to work fine now (except an ocasional annoying vibration when releasing the clutch in first/second gear, but I guess it is simply break-in of materials / minor adjustment).

That's the one thing I immediately noticed when my gearbox and clutch were changed recently. Higher bite point on the pedal (which I guess is good), but also a minor vibration through the pedal at the point of release. Lotus Silverstone said that there is no manual adjustment possible, so I'll have to live with it. I've only driven 170 miles since, but the vibration is still there. I generally don't agree with those people who claim that a minor mechanical niggle will somehow improve with time/use.

At least we both know we now have nice fresh transmissions!

[Stuno1]

Very sorry for you and like others glad you have it resolved. Hopefully there is lots of trouble free motoring ahead for you now. 

[CocoPops]

18 minutes ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

That's the one thing I immediately noticed when my gearbox and clutch were changed recently. Higher bite point on the pedal (which I guess is good), but also a minor vibration through the pedal at the point of release. Lotus Silverstone said that there is no manual adjustment possible, so I'll have to live with it.

Clutch is hydraulic, so it is self adjusting, not like the old cable systems.