Fuming!

[Martin_StuartUK]

As it happens, I'm in the middle of producing a risk analysis and standard risk assessment forms relating to gas fires in housing, for the large City Council who pay my wages. As a result I could probably *bore* everyone to death right now with the national statistics on CO poisoning in the UK, contributory risk factors and symptoms.

It certainly can be fatal, but the good (!) news is that you'd be more likely to die through losing control of the car and driving head on into an 18-wheeler due to drowsiness brought on by CO poisoning than by the poisoning itself. There is also a strong likelihood that the headaches and feelings of nausea which are early symptoms would make you wind the window down for some fresh air, first, so you stand a fair chance of *not* dying from Elan-related CO poisoning!

Let's not forget, though, that even the great Jim Clark himself crashed dueto Lotus Twin Cam Poisoning (the prototype 23 at the Nurburgring) due to drowsiness caused by exhaust fumes from a cracked exhaust manifold...and that in a completely open car with the engine located out of harm's way, behind the driver.


Martin Stuart

----- Original Message -----
From: Arno Church
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 8:09 PM
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Fuming!


Worse, it will cause serious death !
Arno


Simon,

One other thought on this topic. Carbon Monoxide will cause serious
headache. Have you checked the exhaust manifold for a crack and made
sure the exhaust manifold gaskets are up to snuff?

Jeff Ivers
67 Elan S3 FHC

[Elanman99]

Simon

Maybe you could ask an obliging MOT station owner if he could use his
exhaust anayser to sniff inside your car. Actually very low concentrations
of CO are harmful but are probably below the sensitivity of a analyser for
sampling raw exhaust. You could try a domestic CO alarm.

Ian Phillips

S4 DHC

[tvacc]

If you want to find out if you are getting CO into the cockpit...go to or go
online to a Aircraft Supply place,,,

they sell a red strip...that turns i color n the presence of CO...very
reasonable...

At least that will confirm no not confirm the presence of CO...which in my
opinion is what your problem is..

Yes you are getting "oil burning" smell..but I suspect it is the CO that is
giving you the headache

Tony Vaccaro
http://www.lotusowners.com
http://www.drivingclothes.com

[ardee_selby]

--- In lotuselan@y..., Simon Knee <simon@a...> wrote:

Lots of CO from all those other exhausts relatively high wrt an Elan?


Isn't this just drawing more exhaust fumes in?

The thought of commuting across London at 2mph in any car, let alone
an Elan, gives me a headache!

Good Luck with sealing up the Elan.

Richard

["mageiger"]

How about a good carbon filtered respirator

--- In lotuselan@y..., "ardee_selby" <ardee_selby@y...> wrote:

[ardee_selby]

Many cyclists use face masks...however London Cycling Campaign say
about pollution:

"pedestrians and cyclists near the kerb take in the least. Bus
passengers take in one and a half times as much and car occupants
take in up to three times as much"

"If you want to use a facemask to make a political statement you
would do better to use the mask while riding in motor vehicles"

Richard (News Flash - Darth Vader seen in an Elan!

--- In lotuselan@y..., "mageiger" <mageiger@w...> wrote:
How about a good carbon filtered respirator

[powellsmail]

Simon,

When I first had my S4 dhc I suffered a "gassed out" problem when
running with the roof up. The rings were pretty loose and the engine
breathed heavily. I fitted the type of breather pipe which vents to
the road low down next to the gearbox and problem went away. I know
this is not very green but no more headaches!

Regards

Mark Powell
69 s4 dhc

ps are you the red fhc I occasionally see near Lambeth North Tube
station.

[simonknee]

Got to Worcester Friday night without incident, despite the weather's
best efforts to throw me into a hedge.

Still getting gassed but found that at 80mph the windows up and fan
off was the best technique.

Have discovered some more holes (hurrah). The rear struts poke trough
into quite large gaps in the rear arches. Gaffer tape covered some,
but not all as the garage had left a gap to get at the adjustable
spax that went on in earlier in the year. From the evident soot this
is definitely a source of exhaust ingress.

Since sealing boot, bonnet, gaitor and the rest hasn't helped, maybe
(just maybe) this is it??

Probably is me in Lambeth too, although I am Gold Leaf sponsered not
just red! That's one of my routes from Streatham to Hampstead each
day. I'm hoping Ken might give me a toll exemption on the basis of a
historic attraction! Only other Loti I know of are a nice red +2 in
Brixton, a well used +2 in Clapham Common, a luverly black jps europa
kept 5 doors away from me, then there is a lime green +2 to be seen
in the north and another lister has one further south. Never seen
another baby elan in 10 years, where are they all!

I just hope I get back to London in one peice tonight. The UK has
80+mph winds today which makes a Lotus 'interesting' to say the
least. No danger of nodding off due to CO on this run.

cheers

Simon
'67 S3 DHC (in need of stabilisers!)

[simonknee]

Got to Worcester Friday night without incident, despite the weather's
best efforts to throw me into a hedge.

Still getting gassed but found that at 80mph the windows up and fan
off was the best technique.

Have discovered some more holes (hurrah). The rear struts poke trough
into quite large gaps in the rear arches. Gaffer tape covered some,
but not all as the garage had left a gap to get at the adjustable
spax that went on in earlier in the year. From the evident soot this
is definitely a source of exhaust ingress.

Since sealing boot, bonnet, gaitor and the rest hasn't helped, maybe
(just maybe) this is it??

Probably is me in Lambeth too, although I am Gold Leaf sponsered not
just red! That's one of my routes from Streatham to Hampstead each
day. I'm hoping Ken might give me a toll exemption on the basis of a
historic attraction! Only other Loti I know of are a nice red +2 in
Brixton, a well used +2 in Clapham Common, a luverly black jps europa
kept 5 doors away from me, then there is a lime green +2 to be seen
in the north and another lister has one further south. Never seen
another baby elan in 10 years, where are they all!

I just hope I get back to London in one peice tonight. The UK has
80+mph winds today which makes a Lotus 'interesting' to say the
least. No danger of nodding off due to CO on this run.

cheers

Simon
'67 S3 DHC (in need of stabilisers!)

[ardee_selby]

--- In lotuselan@y..., "Simon Knee" <simon@a...> wrote:

Hi Simon,
Hope your return trip is succesful - will certainly blow away the
cobwebs!

Sounds very much like you've found the culprit. Soot? a bit of a
giveaway. Could it also indicate running a bit rich?

Good Luck - Richard

[simonknee]

Luckily the winds died down.
Unluckily theses holes weren't it (they probably were a source of damp
though!
However running at 80 mph meant no gassing.
As soon as I slowed down in London it came back.

Next to re-route the breather, visit the gaiter again (I am still suspicious
of my seal here) and cut some holes.

Oh and when I said soot I wasn't meaning chimney sweep quantities just a
little residue caught in the wadding.

Simon

-----Original Message-----
From: ardee_selby [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Sun, Oct 27, 2002 13:54
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Fuming!



--- In lotuselan@y..., "Simon Knee" <simon@a...> wrote:

Hi Simon,
Hope your return trip is succesful - will certainly blow away the
cobwebs!

Sounds very much like you've found the culprit. Soot? a bit of a
giveaway. Could it also indicate running a bit rich?

Good Luck - Richard

[dmreeceuk]

We are out there in our Elans, infact I have one and live in
Worcester but with the weather we had, it was all tucked away!

One thought in locating your leak. I reciently used an engine Redex
treatment on my engine. It was poping back on overrun and thought I
would remove some of the carbon build up. I poured Redex in the plug
holes and then after half an hour started the engine. THe thick white
smoke that came from the exhaust was AMAZING and lasted for around 5
mins before it cleared. However, what might help is that I was able
to see any small leaks in the exaust system. One very small one in
the joint under the car which is undetectable otherwise.

You could try this and see if your car fills with smoke. You may be
able to see where it comes from.
BTW it cured the backfiring and the car runs much better as well.

Dave






--- In lotuselan@y..., "Simon Knee" <simon@a...> wrote:

[Briggs1]

What is redex?

I suffer from popping on over run and believe my carbs are set fairly well.
What does this product do ?

Thanks,
Briggs (pop pop pop) Pletcher

-----Original Message-----
From: dmreeceuk [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 7:43 AM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Fuming!


We are out there in our Elans, infact I have one and live in
Worcester but with the weather we had, it was all tucked away!

One thought in locating your leak. I reciently used an engine Redex
treatment on my engine. It was poping back on overrun and thought I
would remove some of the carbon build up. I poured Redex in the plug
holes and then after half an hour started the engine. THe thick white
smoke that came from the exhaust was AMAZING and lasted for around 5
mins before it cleared. However, what might help is that I was able
to see any small leaks in the exaust system. One very small one in
the joint under the car which is undetectable otherwise.

You could try this and see if your car fills with smoke. You may be
able to see where it comes from.
BTW it cured the backfiring and the car runs much better as well.

Dave






--- In lotuselan@y..., "Simon Knee" <simon@a...> wrote:

[dmreeceuk]

Briggs

Redex is a fuel treatment but you can also use it direct in the
engine to remove carbon buildup.(i think its parrafin based) I would
not use it in petrol because if the addives were any good they would
be in petrol allready!
You just pour it in the plug holes (wait 30mins) then turn the engine
over (still with the plugs removed) and wait again. Top tip : you
need to stuff rags in the plug holes and then put something heavy
over the cam cover to stop the stuff spraying everywere. Then start
the engine.

You can see down the plugholes that it works because you can see
shiny metal that was all sooty before.

My engine no longer goes pop-pop just gurgle gurgle on overrun!

Redex is available in the UK .
http://www.holtsauto.com/products/index.html
BUt each country should have something similar.

Dave


--- In lotuselan@y..., "Briggs Pletcher" <Briggs1@i...> wrote:

[Elan45]

Our last trip to London, my wife decided we should do a "Charles Dickens walk". She read from a tour book as we walked. On one street, she said we should imagine we were there in Dickens day and how the streets would have been littered with trash and dumpings of chamber pots and droppings from the popular mode of transport of the day. Be careful where you step, etc.

I remarked it was very hard to put any of that into my mind when I was almost sick from the diesel fumes.

I always try to pick up a rental car in London, just as I am ready to leaveto the country. London is no place I would want to drive on a regular basis.

Roger



Lots of CO from all those other exhausts relatively high wrt an Elan?


Isn't this just drawing more exhaust fumes in?

The thought of commuting across London at 2mph in any car, let alone
an Elan, gives me a headache!

Good Luck with sealing up the Elan.

Richard












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