Supercharger failure at 100 miles from new.

[sun374]

Hi, there

This is Yao Sun from Indiana, new to the forum! BTW I am a student from China, so I ask you please forgive my crappy English speaking.

I Purchased a Lotus Evora 400 on June 23.

They have nicely delivered my vehicle to my door! And they have awesome service.......

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Till some crap happened.

I feel there is a periodical rattle/ shiver from the rear of my vehicle, I thought it was the tire first since our area is under construction and something might got me. But soon I found out it`s not the case. So I brought it to my mechanic in town, who is focused on time attack on his Evo, he instantly noticed the noise is from somewhere in the engine compartment, and soon he figured out the snake belt was done. So I have my dealer to pick it up at my house since I am afraid to drive it.

Soon I hear back from my dealer saying there is a design failure that the supercharger is leaking oil, and potentially the pulleys are mis-aligned, so the dripped oil was landing on the belt, then the belt was sticked to the pulley, thus as I started the vehicle, the belt was tortured and worn out. 

They acquired a revised version of the supercharger and did the repair for no charge, then fully inspected the vehicle. But even for that I am not confident about driving the car anymore.
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Since from the post I read saying I am overreacting, I think that might be true after I carefully think about it. And I truely thank Gator Motorsport about picking it up in a blast and getting it fixed. But since I have no ride now, I need a way to retrieve it from their location. I think that should be a thread end.

Edited August 18, 2017 by sun374

[CocoPops]

I know of two others with oil leaks from charger, all swapped under warranty, but many have no issues.

So I think it's normal, but not something to return the car over if they've fixed it under warranty.

[Barrykearley]

In the states - is there not such a thing as "lemon law"?? Where you can simply hand it back and ask for another??

to be fair these things happen and they should sort it promptly 

[NedaSay]

Your supercharger may have been one of Edelbroke's bad batch of superchargers, as far as I understand Lotus and Edelbroke are aware of it and are replacing them under warranty at no charge for the customer. From what I understand your dealer has taken car of it in a very timely and professional manner.

I don't see your dealer getting the car back for 100% of its value, no way! 97% of the value seems logical as your car is not new anymore, it had one owner and the mileage now exceed the "new car status" . Besides this car won't qualify as a lemon law car until an avalanche of issues is found on the car. 

This is not a tragedy, you did not die, nobody did, your car is not totalled, the engine is not damaged beyond repair. The truth is that if shit happens on a car it happens very early.

If this is your first experience with an exotic car I can somewhat understand your reaction, but then i would advise you to stay away from small car makes, all of them. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by NedaSay

[DJW]

Did 5k miles in mine with no problem, so I would suggest you were just unlucky to have a duff one from the word go. Once replaced , you should be fine for years ahead. 

[Likuid]

1 hour ago, Barrykearley said:

In the states - is there not such a thing as "lemon law"?? Where you can simply hand it back and ask for another??

to be fair these things happen and they should sort it promptly 

Yes most states have lemon laws, but there are certain criteria that needs to happen to trigger it. It looks like in Indiana any issue within the first 18 months or 18000 miles that doesn't get remedied after 4 attempts or 30 total days that can trigger the lemon law. The good news is as long as the problem happens before the 18 months or 18000 miles it will be covered. So if your supercharger died at 17999 miles and you took it in to get fixed and it kept going bad or didn't get fixed within 30-days total being out of your possession for service you could still be protected even if your car now had 30000 miles.

As for the leaking superchargers, my dealer told me when I bought my 400 a few months ago that some of the earlier ones received a bad batch of superchargers. It will be covered under warranty. Mine was a newer '17 and so far no issues.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Likuid

[Barrykearley]

The 30 total days is gonna be a challenge with parts availability.....hmmm.

fingers crossed for a positive outcome - it'll be worth the wait

[Bibs]

Barry,  read the post again mate, it's all fixed and was done it what sounds like a timely and professional manner. 

[Barrykearley]

What a twat - I never read that bit... doh.

get out and drive that car - it's amazing ?

[JayEmm]

Hmmm....

About a month ago I got into my car and it drove like utter dog do, supercharger felt like it was "off" - and the actuator at the back was playing silly buggers.

Car has been fine since, but if there was a "dodgy batch", perhaps worth enquiring. Anyone know more about it? My vehicle is an early one...

[franjipane]

Enjoy your 400 dude, don't be worried just go for it  Happy to hear the issue was resolved!

[Loquacious Lew]

Hi Yao sun from Indiana!  

 

This is pretty much the same post you put up on Lotus Talk (can I mention them?) so I think it's appropriate to post something similar to you by way of reply.  

 

There was a bad batch of superchargers and a good number of them ended up in the States.  My car suffered the same failure at 1500 miles, three weeks into my ownership. It is known what the cause is (a bad seal in a run of superchargers) and what the cure is.  My car was returned to me in five working days with a new supercharger.

 

In my case, I noticed an oil mist on the exterior of the lift gate which caused me to take a glance at the motor.  I could see that there was some oil flung about coming from " the top end."  I immediately called my dealer and he told me to bring the car in right away.  A week later I had it back.....that was today.  It's cleaner than when I collected it and runs fine, just great and a delight to be in. 

 

 Edelbrock, the famous US manufacturer of performance components  makes the supercharger for the 400 so getting a new one was a matter of a couple of days.  I don't think  this is a design or build flaw per se.  Well, to be fair it's a problem an OEM had, but it's known and there is a permanent fix. I suspect you didn't notice the oil on your car and drove the supercharger and/or it's drive mechanism to failure.  Although that shouldn't have happened, things do happen to all cars of course.  To me it's  reassuring when a problem  is already identified , a simple fix is known  and the issue is corrected  in a  realistic time frame by people who impress me that they care.

 

Really, that's as good as it ever gets.  Enjoy your 400.  I love mine.  

 

May I rather boldly suggest an Uber to the dealer to collect your car now that it's repaired?   You're missing out when you're not driving it.  

 

Edited August 19, 2017 by Loquacious Lew

[Loquacious Lew]

James:  I don't think you'd miss this particular problem, seal failure.  You'd spot the oil mist on the outside of the car immediately.  You can also see it through the rear light as it spatters up there too. It was obvious.  If you never looked at your car you'd still notice it when filling with fuel.   

I'd think your issue  is something to do with the  actuator and by that I mean: electrical or code glitch.  To be honest, I have no idea but it's not the supercharger seal failure we've experienced.  

Edited August 19, 2017 by Loquacious Lew

[JayEmm]

Fair enough, I look at the engine bay semi regularly, I would like to think I'd notice oil everywhere