Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello all...

Just an update to all you you...I appreciate all the help..

Driving the Elan Sprint (1972) from the west coast to Louisville was
a great idea and driving through Montana...Yellowstone...Grand
Tetons..was unbelievable fun..but the car now sits in Kansas City
with a blown water pump. We drove 2000 miles..and only had 550 miles
to go..when the water pump just gave out.

Dont mean to put a plug in here...but as a Lotus Ltd. member...I
just took out my roster..looked at the closest person in the "help
network" and called him to see if I could have the Elan towed to his
house. Mike Roberts (an Elan S1 owner..and has an Elise on order as
well)...was great and allowed me to put my elan in his garage...he
even put his DeLorean out in the driveway.

I will have the car transported back to buffalo by the guy that I
was supossed to meet in Vegas...so it is really no problem. We
rented a car in kansas city and drove all night to Louisville..
(where my brother lives) and I will fly home to buffalo tonight. I
will post pictues later in the week...on www.lotusowners.com

My question to all now..is....

WATERPUMP. I replaced this water pump about 10 years ago...only
about 10K miles ago as I recall. this is the third one since I first
bought...then sold...and now rebought this car.

Dont mean to be harsh here..but I DRIVE my cars..and if a car cannot
be made reliable...I am just not going to keep it. The belt is
loose...I had the pump installed at a machine shop..what else do you
need to do to make this a part that will not break.

I know bean makes a new front cover with an outside pump...but it is
expensive.

I will have to take a long long look at this...

Tony Vaccaro
www.lotusowners.com

Tony,

Did the pump sieze up or was it just losing water so fast you couldn't keepup w/ it. The reason I ask is: I drove my Elan to the last Log in Cleveland, maybe LOG18 or 19. I had picked up Jon Rosner at Port Columbus and we were enjoying a nice drive up to Cleveland. As we came down the exit ramp I noticed a bit of steam so we stopped immediately. It was empty and adding water couldn't be put in fast enough. We finally waited 'til the traffic light was timed just right, closed the bonnet and took off and luckily the LOG headquarters hotel was less than a mile away. We arrived in a cloud of steam and I shut off as we pulled in the drive. It sat there in the lot the rest of the weekend and another Lotus Ltd friend loaned me his Elan to get home and he took mine home on his trailer. Earl Myers had trailered to the event so he could bring stuff to sell. We met the next weekend at Mid-Ohio andtraded cars on trailers.

When I took it apart, I found the rubber/ carbon seal had failed catastropically. The rubber had split and this was a pump rebuild that didn't have many miles on it from about 2 years earlier. That rubber seal was different from any other I'd ever seen and I kept it so I would never use one like it again if I ever found another.

A bit of irony here. I had brought the parts identifier contest with me andmy theme was rubber parts. Now I had another FAILED rubber part to add if I were to ever do it again.

Roger




Hello all...

Just an update to all you you...I appreciate all the help..

Driving the Elan Sprint (1972) from the west coast to Louisville was
a great idea and driving through Montana...Yellowstone...Grand
Tetons..was unbelievable fun..but the car now sits in Kansas City
with a blown water pump. We drove 2000 miles..and only had 550 miles
to go..when the water pump just gave out.

Dont mean to put a plug in here...but as a Lotus Ltd. member...I
just took out my roster..looked at the closest person in the "help
network" and called him to see if I could have the Elan towed to his
house. Mike Roberts (an Elan S1 owner..and has an Elise on order as
well)...was great and allowed me to put my elan in his garage...he
even put his DeLorean out in the driveway.

I will have the car transported back to buffalo by the guy that I
was supossed to meet in Vegas...so it is really no problem. We
rented a car in kansas city and drove all night to Louisville..
(where my brother lives) and I will fly home to buffalo tonight. I
will post pictues later in the week...on www.lotusowners.com

My question to all now..is....

WATERPUMP. I replaced this water pump about 10 years ago...only
about 10K miles ago as I recall. this is the third one since I first
bought...then sold...and now rebought this car.

Dont mean to be harsh here..but I DRIVE my cars..and if a car cannot
be made reliable...I am just not going to keep it. The belt is
loose...I had the pump installed at a machine shop..what else do you
need to do to make this a part that will not break.

I know bean makes a new front cover with an outside pump...but it is
expensive.

I will have to take a long long look at this...

Tony Vaccaro
www.lotusowners.com
























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On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:52:51 -0000, "sevenman93"
<***@***.***> wrote:



With the greatest respect Tony 1000 miles a year is not driving its
barely enough to warm the engine and shake loose any screws

The only things that comes to mind (other than lack of use) on a
properly fitted original pump that could cause this are depleted
corrosion inhibitors in the coolant or a sticky water pump seal. I
turn my pump a few times every month during the winter layup to try
and avoid this although how effective it is I'm not too sure. In my
experience, (touch wood) the pumps last a long time if fitted properly
with the belt on the slack side.

Martin

72/45
--

I noticed a noise about the middle of Nebraska...we still had about
2 hours to get to Nebraska City..which is on the east end of the
state, then our plan was to proceed south to Kansas City..then St
Louis..then Louisville..I would stay the night at my brothers..then
head up to Buffalo.

We stopped for gas and to check the oil in Nebraska City...when I
took off the bonnet..I noticed that we were holding up the gas
line..so I told my brother to pull out of the pump area (with the
bonnet off the car) and I will check the oil...over about 25 feet
from the pumps. I walked over and when he drove up..I heard
the "rattle" louder...touched the pump pully and it was real
loose..about 1/4 play..but it was not leaking. We decided to check
the rad..full....and press on after making arrangements with other
Lotus Ltd members to be prepared in case we needed them. About
another 50 miles...and I saw the coolant on the windshield...we
stopped..filled it up..and dashed to the next exit where there was a
gas station. Car was blowing coolant like the faucet was on.

I called the AAA....and off it went on a flatbed......with us in the
cab...

Sort of disappointing...but we really had a great time..met some
really nice people...every body...including a trooper in
Nebraska...stopped to ask about the car and what we were doing..

No regrets...

Tony V

--- In ***@***.***, "Roger Sieling" <rogsie@t...>
wrote:

last Log in Cleveland, maybe LOG18 or 19. I had picked up Jon Rosner
at Port Columbus and we were enjoying a nice drive up to Cleveland.
As we came down the exit ramp I noticed a bit of steam so we stopped
immediately. It was empty and adding water couldn't be put in fast
enough. We finally waited 'til the traffic light was timed just
right, closed the bonnet and took off and luckily the LOG
headquarters hotel was less than a mile away. We arrived in a cloud
of steam and I shut off as we pulled in the drive. It sat there in
the lot the rest of the weekend and another Lotus Ltd friend loaned
me his Elan to get home and he took mine home on his trailer. Earl
Myers had trailered to the event so he could bring stuff to sell. We
met the next weekend at Mid-Ohio and traded cars on trailers.

that didn't have many miles on it from about 2 years earlier. That
rubber seal was different from any other I'd ever seen and I kept it
so I would never use one like it again if I ever found another.

rubber part to add if I were to ever do it again.











*




*

I have the Bean water pump modification and have put about 3500 miles
on the car since the rebuild this winter. I also installed an
electric fan instead of the engine fan.

I can't vouch for longevity, but, if I buy and carry a replacement
unit, you can change the pump easily if it fails on the road. This is
why I decided to go for the cost. I also drive the car and want
reliability and easier maintenance.

Steve B
1969 Elan S4

--- In ***@***.***, "sevenman93" <tvacc@l...> wrote:

I have the Bean water pump modification and have put about 3500 miles
on the car since the rebuild this winter. I also installed an
electric fan instead of the engine fan.

I can't vouch for longevity, but, if I buy and carry a replacement
unit, you can change the pump easily if it fails on the road. This is
why I decided to go for the cost. I also drive the car and want
reliability and easier maintenance.

Steve B
1969 Elan S4

--- In ***@***.***, "sevenman93" <tvacc@l...> wrote:

At a guess I'd say the pump would have lasted longer if the car had more
miles on it. I believe it is one of those things that fails early if not
used, but then I could be wrong.

To answer your question I'd probably go the electrical water pump if the car
has an alternator. Then if it does go it is easier and quicker to change.


Rob LaMoreaux
Ann Arbor, MI USA
(734)-971-5583
Cell (734)-604-9280
Email: ***@***.***
Too many Hobbies.... Too Little Time
1969 Lotus Elan....It's not a restoration, it's a never-ending adventure.

Tony,
I think that the pump suffers from a lack of everyday use- total mileage isnot an issue! In engineering terms the Lotus design is total crap; best tobite the bullet and pay for a capsule design, from Bean, Burton or whoever. I try to drive my car at least twice a week, even if it's just going downto the local shops.

Over to the one-owners who have never changed a pump..............

Pete
----- Original Message -----
From: sevenman93
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 4:52 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Seattle to Louisville then to Buffalo...stopped in KC...



Hello all...

Just an update to all you you...I appreciate all the help..

Driving the Elan Sprint (1972) from the west coast to Louisville was
a great idea and driving through Montana...Yellowstone...Grand
Tetons..was unbelievable fun..but the car now sits in Kansas City
with a blown water pump. We drove 2000 miles..and only had 550 miles
to go..when the water pump just gave out.

Dont mean to put a plug in here...but as a Lotus Ltd. member...I
just took out my roster..looked at the closest person in the "help
network" and called him to see if I could have the Elan towed to his
house. Mike Roberts (an Elan S1 owner..and has an Elise on order as
well)...was great and allowed me to put my elan in his garage...he
even put his DeLorean out in the driveway.

I will have the car transported back to buffalo by the guy that I
was supossed to meet in Vegas...so it is really no problem. We
rented a car in kansas city and drove all night to Louisville..
(where my brother lives) and I will fly home to buffalo tonight. I
will post pictues later in the week...on www.lotusowners.com

My question to all now..is....

WATERPUMP. I replaced this water pump about 10 years ago...only
about 10K miles ago as I recall. this is the third one since I first
bought...then sold...and now rebought this car.

Dont mean to be harsh here..but I DRIVE my cars..and if a car cannot
be made reliable...I am just not going to keep it. The belt is
loose...I had the pump installed at a machine shop..what else do you
need to do to make this a part that will not break.

I know bean makes a new front cover with an outside pump...but it is
expensive.

I will have to take a long long look at this...

Tony Vaccaro
www.lotusowners.com

50,000 miles, 40 plus years, slack fan belt, origional pump. Now it fail on
me next week - hey.

Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "elansprint71" <***@***.***>

Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 2:34 PM
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Seattle to Louisville then to Buffalo...stopped
in KC...



Tony,
I think that the pump suffers from a lack of everyday use- total mileage is
not an issue! In engineering terms the Lotus design is total crap; best to
bite the bullet and pay for a capsule design, from Bean, Burton or whoever.
I try to drive my car at least twice a week, even if it's just going down to
the local shops.

Over to the one-owners who have never changed a pump..............

Pete
----- Original Message -----
From: sevenman93
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 4:52 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Seattle to Louisville then to Buffalo...stopped
in KC...



Hello all...

Just an update to all you you...I appreciate all the help..

Driving the Elan Sprint (1972) from the west coast to Louisville was
a great idea and driving through Montana...Yellowstone...Grand
Tetons..was unbelievable fun..but the car now sits in Kansas City
with a blown water pump. We drove 2000 miles..and only had 550 miles
to go..when the water pump just gave out.

Dont mean to put a plug in here...but as a Lotus Ltd. member...I
just took out my roster..looked at the closest person in the "help
network" and called him to see if I could have the Elan towed to his
house. Mike Roberts (an Elan S1 owner..and has an Elise on order as
well)...was great and allowed me to put my elan in his garage...he
even put his DeLorean out in the driveway.

I will have the car transported back to buffalo by the guy that I
was supossed to meet in Vegas...so it is really no problem. We
rented a car in kansas city and drove all night to Louisville..
(where my brother lives) and I will fly home to buffalo tonight. I
will post pictues later in the week...on www.lotusowners.com

My question to all now..is....

WATERPUMP. I replaced this water pump about 10 years ago...only
about 10K miles ago as I recall. this is the third one since I first
bought...then sold...and now rebought this car.

Dont mean to be harsh here..but I DRIVE my cars..and if a car cannot
be made reliable...I am just not going to keep it. The belt is
loose...I had the pump installed at a machine shop..what else do you
need to do to make this a part that will not break.

I know bean makes a new front cover with an outside pump...but it is
expensive.

I will have to take a long long look at this...

Tony Vaccaro
www.lotusowners.com

Tony,

Glad you finally made it.

Nothing like keeping your stick down.

Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "sevenman93" <***@***.***>

Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Seattle to Louisville then to Buffalo...stopped
in KC...




I noticed a noise about the middle of Nebraska...we still had about
2 hours to get to Nebraska City..which is on the east end of the
state, then our plan was to proceed south to Kansas City..then St
Louis..then Louisville..I would stay the night at my brothers..then
head up to Buffalo.

We stopped for gas and to check the oil in Nebraska City...when I
took off the bonnet..I noticed that we were holding up the gas
line..so I told my brother to pull out of the pump area (with the
bonnet off the car) and I will check the oil...over about 25 feet
from the pumps. I walked over and when he drove up..I heard
the "rattle" louder...touched the pump pully and it was real
loose..about 1/4 play..but it was not leaking. We decided to check
the rad..full....and press on after making arrangements with other
Lotus Ltd members to be prepared in case we needed them. About
another 50 miles...and I saw the coolant on the windshield...we
stopped..filled it up..and dashed to the next exit where there was a
gas station. Car was blowing coolant like the faucet was on.

I called the AAA....and off it went on a flatbed......with us in the
cab...

Sort of disappointing...but we really had a great time..met some
really nice people...every body...including a trooper in
Nebraska...stopped to ask about the car and what we were doing..

No regrets...

Tony V

--- In ***@***.***, "Roger Sieling" <rogsie@t...>
wrote:

last Log in Cleveland, maybe LOG18 or 19. I had picked up Jon Rosner
at Port Columbus and we were enjoying a nice drive up to Cleveland.
As we came down the exit ramp I noticed a bit of steam so we stopped
immediately. It was empty and adding water couldn't be put in fast
enough. We finally waited 'til the traffic light was timed just
right, closed the bonnet and took off and luckily the LOG
headquarters hotel was less than a mile away. We arrived in a cloud
of steam and I shut off as we pulled in the drive. It sat there in
the lot the rest of the weekend and another Lotus Ltd friend loaned
me his Elan to get home and he took mine home on his trailer. Earl
Myers had trailered to the event so he could bring stuff to sell. We
met the next weekend at Mid-Ohio and traded cars on trailers.

that didn't have many miles on it from about 2 years earlier. That
rubber seal was different from any other I'd ever seen and I kept it
so I would never use one like it again if I ever found another.

rubber part to add if I were to ever do it again.











*




*

Roger,

maybe there is a difference in quality between the cheap aftermarket pump
and the expensive original unit ?
Which one did you put in your car ?

The water pump (and several other things) lives longer if the car is used
regularly.

Harry
Munich, Germany
71 Elan Sprint fhc rhd

Hi all..



Just got back from driving a 72 Lotus Elan Sprint.from Seattle to
Louisville to Buffalo (well almost.but that is part of the story).



My brother an I flew out to Seattle and instead of driving to Las Vegas..
decided to drive the car back.and see the USA.



You can all see the pictures and story at www.lotusowners.com
<http://www.lotusowners.com/>



What I really want to say here is that how nice all the Lotus people I met
and called along the way. Lotus is a VERY small world.and you guys (and
girls) were just so helpful in many ways.





We got stuck in Spokane when I inadvertently pulled off the dist lead from
the back of the tach.trying to fix a bad bulb..it was late.I was tired..you
know how it is.



The next morning Ray at RD faxed me a wiring diagram.Susan Coffin and her
husband in Spokane, offered to let me keep my car there if I could not get
it going..Bill "keep you stick on the ice" up in Vacouver offered to drive
4-5 hours to come over and help.bringing spare parts.Everybody was so great.
What a great network of Lotus people.



David Mautino.in northern Washington (or was that Idaho) talked me through
the wiring diagram.and will his and everybody's' help,..We was back on the
road in the morning.



We drove down and through Yellowstone and then the back roads through
Montana.and Nebraska we took the interstate.



We were fine until the water pump started giving up the ghost in Nebraska
City.We had driven 2200 miles..just 600 miles short of our first goal of
Louisville.



With our next stop being Kansa City ..then St Louis .then Louisville.(where
my brother lives)..I grabbed my Lotus Ltd help list.and called Mike Roberts
in Kansa City..Stewart Preston in St Louis (Mark Pfeffer as well) and Ben
Tennyson in Evansville IN.each about 200 miles further in our trek from
where we were then.



All of them were more than happy to help.and would let me have the car
towed to their house if the need arose.well it did.as we only made it
another 40 miles towards Kansas City when the water pump started leaking
more than I was comfortable with. We called a tow truck and had the car
towed. We then rented a car.drove all night to Louisville and I flew back
to Buffalo



2200 miles.just 600 short of our goal.great Lotus Roads.great Car..car ran
great.what a blast.would do it again in a heartbeat.



Not to sound like a commercial here..but ...Thank goodness for the Lotus Ltd
help network.saved my arss and saved my car from being towed to a place
where it was not safe.



Like I said..you can see all the pictures at http://www.lotusowners.com
<http://www.lotusowners.com/>



Was a great time.I want to do it again.this time from the south route.



Tony V

www.lotusowners.com

Hello Tony,

Sounds and looks like a great trip you had, notwithstanding the waterpump failure. Could you tell me what purpose the
red switch on one of the steering wheel spokes serves? (see photo 041010 026.jpg)

Regards,
Andrew

When I first got this car..( This is my old car.I sold it 5 years ago.now
buying it back).the horn was a little button on the valance under the
steering wheel.'





By the time I found it.whatever I was beeping at..was long gone. So I
hooked up these buttons for the horn. Kinda hoaky.and I expected the new
owner to take them off years ago.but when I went to pick up the car.there
they were.still there.



Tony V



_____

From: Andrew King [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:32 AM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Road Trip from Seattle to Louisville to
Buffalo..



Hello Tony,

Sounds and looks like a great trip you had, notwithstanding the waterpump
failure. Could you tell me what purpose the
red switch on one of the steering wheel spokes serves? (see photo 041010
026.jpg)

Regards,
Andrew










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