My engine blew this morning!

[mark248am]

 

First some backstory. I picked up my car early this year from the Lotus dealership. It was the display model and had done around 3,400km mileage that included a couple of heavy track days. But I got a great deal on the car. That was April and since then I've driven the car around 12,000KM bringing up the mileage to around 15,000KM. I had two track days with the car during this period.

Since I've gotten the car I've run into a bunch of random issues, its become kind of a joke in one of my whatsapp groups where whenever I share an issue I'm having, my friends would respond with "Proudly made in Hethel”. Most of my issues have been items that have just gotten loose, like silly issues. Luckily I had a 1973 Datsun 240z before my Lotus so was already used to random things just failing at me all the time.

This morning on my way to work, I had just left my house and a few minutes into my drive while I was on an inside road heading towards a traffic light, my engine blew. It all happened a bit too fast so can’t really recall the exact stages but this is what I remember:

- I had my car in normal touring mode
- I have an automatic and it was on D
- I was coming out of a turn, I wasn’t speeding but I think the car was in second gear. The gear change lights came on, the first and second light came on and I was just thinking in my head that it was odd the car hadn’t upshifted yet since in drive mode while driving normally the car usually upshifts before the gear change light comes on. Suddenly I heard a loud POOOF sounding explosion, and then lots of dark grey smoke took over the engine bay and I started hearing metal pieces clunking around the engine bay.
- I had no idea what happened so I quickly just stopped on the side of the road where I was, turned off the car, grabbed my shit and got out of there.

Right away I called the dealer up, I was pretty pissed cuz it’s been just one issue after another and here I was now with what looked like a blown engine stranded on the side of the road. Dealer thinks the piston rod might have gone through the engine head. They sent a tow truck to pick up the car awhile ago and I’m waiting to hear from them. I found metal engine parts on the street and in the engine bay. The car is covered under warranty but I’m more upset with the fact I’m gonna be away from my car for some time now since the local dealer doesn’t stock any parts and everything must be shipped in.

So far, since I’ve gotten the car in April these are the issues that I’ve had:

- Doors stopped locking with the remote
- AC blower speed switch stopped working right
- One of the radiator fans stopped working
- Car died turned out to be loose battery cable
- Left air intake cover was loose and was making screeching sounds at high speed
- Car sometimes would stall at hard acceleration from a standstill
- Had a cylinder misfire
- Crack in catalytic converter 
- Car battery moved out of place into the trunk during track day
- Trunk wouldn't open
- One of the front hood latch parts was loose causing front hood to vibrate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAnKuLKyyFo

I don't believe in lemons, but this is turning into one by the looks of it. I really want my car back!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark030358]

Bummer, sorry to hear that. Metal bits all over the place looks a proper written off engine. The up side of that is you will egt a new one, not a re-con job I expect.

Again, sorry to hear of your woes.

 

thanks

Mark

[NW76]

Sorry to hear that ... 

[Arregueti]

That looks bad. Here is hoping your car will be properly fixed and back on the road soon.

[550superfast]

Ohh major bummer man - but guess the warranty will cover everything.

[alias23]

Sorry to hear your ongoing troubles @usurp... it will be interesting to hear how Lotus handle this... arguably they could turn this situation into a good customer service story if they go about it the right way

[BatMobile]

Hey buddy, sorry to hear about this sequence of events.

i also know how much you have added to the car (stereo etc) which makes it an even harder pill to swallow.

hope whatever it is, it gets sorted quickly and you can get back to enjoying it.

i agree on the stupid issues, it’s enough to drive you mad - if you weren’t a fan of the brand you would leave and not return!

Edited December 12, 2017 by BatMobile

[Xisthos]

Oh man, really sorry to hear about what happened to you. I do hope you get to sort everything out quickly. 

[andyj007]

wow thats bad news..fingers crossed teh warranty /dealers steps up and sorts it all quickly for you..

as others have said...  will be a new engine, and you will know the history of it from fitting.

did you have a poke around in the engine bay, i imagine its got a big hole some where!

 

[Maxi_z]

Maybe one of the oem catalyzer broken and some parts got sucked back by the engine?

It seems that other than that they are quiet reliable engines.

 

[mark248am]

Thank you everyone for your condolences 

38 minutes ago, andyj007 said:

wow thats bad news..fingers crossed teh warranty /dealers steps up and sorts it all quickly for you..

as others have said...  will be a new engine, and you will know the history of it from fitting.

did you have a poke around in the engine bay, i imagine its got a big hole some where!

 

7

I looked in the engine and it looked perfectly fine except for a few pieces of the piston rod here and there

 

 

17 minutes ago, Maxi_z said:

Maybe one of the oem catalyzer broken and some parts got sucked back by the engine?

It seems that other than that they are quiet reliable engines.

 

I have a couple of theories using my bro science:

1) The engine wasn't broken into properly 

2) Something related to the cylinder misfire I was previously having

[stephenwhyte]

Jeez that’s not good - I haven’t even driven mine on the road yet.....and you’ve got me worried

Hopefully you’ll be back up and running with a replacement engine fitted soon!

[mark248am]

I don't think you have anything to worry about, I might be the only V6 Exige owner with a blown engine. I mean from all the issues I was having, the one issue I didn't think I would have is an engine one since it's made by Toyota..

[Mark030358]

I've also heard of the engines swallowing the catalytic converters too, they are very very close. Have a read on the 2bular web site aka the Engine Protection Kit an explanation is written there.

cheers

Mark

[NANO]

Even on my part I am very sorry for this annoying problem ... I hope everything resolves in the best possible way for you but also for your car.

Lotus should provide you with a replacement engine so you can start from "NEW"

Come on ... we hope you will soon be driving again, you will be happier and you will have ... forgotten ...

[SFO]

I wonder how Lotus would react if this happened outside the warranty period 

[andyj007]

I was led to believe that tracking your car  invalidates a warranty, certainly on the new cup versions  as thats what i was in disscussion about when i asked the question..  its good that its covered..

 

 

[mark248am]

13 hours ago, SFO said:

I wonder how Lotus would react if this happened outside the warranty period 

no idea but the local dealer has been pretty great so far. its such a tightknit community here, i mean there are maybe around 11-12 Lotuses in Kuwait and me and my friends own like 4 of them. 

11 hours ago, andyj007 said:

I was led to believe that tracking your car  invalidates a warranty, certainly on the new cup versions  as thats what i was in disscussion about when i asked the question..  its good that its covered..

 

 

what i understood is you can't professionally race your car but a day at the track is absolutely fine. I mean its a lotus, most people get an exige not because of the comfort and features but because of the car's trackability.

[Seriouslylotus]

15 hours ago, SFO said:

I wonder how Lotus would react if this happened outside the warranty period 

Probably the same as many other manufacturers would............

[Neal H]

I'm guessing they are going to want a download from the ecu to check what has gone on. This is the first Lotus V6 Toyota that I've heard of that's gone bang, so it does seem highly unusual.

[mark248am]

14 minutes ago, Neal H said:

I'm guessing they are going to want a download from the ecu to check what has gone on. This is the first Lotus V6 Toyota that I've heard of that's gone bang, so it does seem highly unusual.

yeah they already sent all the computer data to Lotus and they're waiting on a response. The dealer called me a while ago and told me I'll be getting the Evora 400 as a loaner vehicle. I was hoping I'd get the Exige 350 as a loaner but they haven't registered it yet since it just recently arrived. Not a fan of the Evora but better than no car...

[Neal H]

Having to slum it in an Evora 400 isn't so bad

Hopefully it all gets promptly sorted for you.

[mark248am]

Just now, Neal H said:

Having to slum it in an Evora 400 isn't so bad

Hopefully it all gets promptly sorted for you.

lol i know, i was writing it and thinking about how i've got such a first world problem. but really its cuz i love my exige so much and you could put me in a ferrari right now and i wouldn't be happy. ok maybe i'll be a little bit happy but just a little bit.

[Swiss380Cup]

It will be interesting to know the exact reason... extreme weather condition ? sand ? whatever keep us posted.... A Toyota Camry engine exploding isn't an usual occurrence probably......you could get some explanation from Toyota also, there must be plenty of them and dealers around Kuwaït, more than Lotus

[Bravo73]

19 hours ago, andyj007 said:

I was led to believe that tracking your car  invalidates a warranty, certainly on the new cup versions  as thats what i was in disscussion about when i asked the question..  its good that its covered..

FYI, the wording of the warranty refers to timed events, or the use of timers etc, invalidating it. Therefore, that includes racing but not track days (at least in the UK, where timing obviously isn’t allowed). 

However, if an owner chooses to post YouTube videos of themselves at a track day using a timing device, then that’s their choice.