Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Again, not an owner yet of the Elan. But is it really true that neither
an access plate/dust cover nor sufficient access is available through
the starter hole to let you pry the thing and determine whether it's
about to fall off? If not, seems very odd... Not much access would be
needed for this level of assurance.

If you can't get at the flywheel, how do you guys read timing marks?

Tony's right that it fits the symptoms, but I hope for your sake he's
not on the money. running a loose flywheel is sure to make for some
nasty cleanup.

-- Doug Nicholls, 54/1822 Ma~

Yes..you can see the flywheel when you remove the starter. But what Roger
was referring to is the lower shield that covers the bottom 1/3 of the
flywheel. It is right behind the pan. On some cars..like my crossflow in
my seven?this shield is ?cut? in a manner that allows you to remove this
shield without taking off the top bell housing bolts and moving the engine
out about ? to clear the ,for lack of a better word that I cannot think of,
locating nipples?.or bushings.. I know on my early ?lans?.it was a solid
piece?like a BIG U.



You only see a small portion of the flywheel when you remove the starter and
it would be tough to get enough leverage to see if it was loose.



Tony



_____

From: ***@***.***lto:***@***.*** Behalf
Of Nicholls, Doug
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:18 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Re: Loose Flywheel



Again, not an owner yet of the Elan. But is it really true that neither
an access plate/dust cover nor sufficient access is available through
the starter hole to let you pry the thing and determine whether it's
about to fall off? If not, seems very odd... Not much access would be
needed for this level of assurance.

If you can't get at the flywheel, how do you guys read timing marks?

Tony's right that it fits the symptoms, but I hope for your sake he's
not on the money. running a loose flywheel is sure to make for some
nasty cleanup.

-- Doug Nicholls, 54/1822 Ma~

My S3 SS has a section of the shield that can be slid out easily by undoing 2 small set bolts, simple. I think some s4's had this as well.

Rodney Stevens
CSIRO Minerals
phone 02 9710 6701
Mobile 0432 506 427
Web: http://www.minerals.csiro.au/

Personal Web Page
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rodjohnst ... mepage.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: ***@***.***lto:***@***.*** Behalf Of Tony Vaccaro
Sent: Thursday, 14 September 2006 10:02 AM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Re: Loose Flywheel

Yes..you can see the flywheel when you remove the starter. But what Roger
was referring to is the lower shield that covers the bottom 1/3 of the
flywheel. It is right behind the pan. On some cars..like my crossflow in
my seven...this shield is "cut" in a manner that allows you to remove this
shield without taking off the top bell housing bolts and moving the engine
out about ? to clear the ,for lack of a better word that I cannot think of,
locating nipples....or bushings.. I know on my early ?lans....it was a solid
piece...like a BIG U.



You only see a small portion of the flywheel when you remove the starter and
it would be tough to get enough leverage to see if it was loose.



Tony



_____

From: ***@***.***lto:***@***.*** Behalf
Of Nicholls, Doug
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 6:18 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Re: Loose Flywheel



Again, not an owner yet of the Elan. But is it really true that neither
an access plate/dust cover nor sufficient access is available through
the starter hole to let you pry the thing and determine whether it's
about to fall off? If not, seems very odd... Not much access would be
needed for this level of assurance.

If you can't get at the flywheel, how do you guys read timing marks?

Tony's right that it fits the symptoms, but I hope for your sake he's
not on the money. running a loose flywheel is sure to make for some
nasty cleanup.

-- Doug Nicholls, 54/1822 Ma~

Tony,

I think you are right about it being solid across the bottom on the early 4-bolt cranks, but the later 5-bolt crank engines I believe have a removeable piece at the bottom. And the car in question is a +2, so should have 6-bolt crank. Seems like I remember one of the 1/4 bolts holds a clip which anchors the clutch tubing. I think I was wrong about 4 -1/4" bolts, that there is only 2 holding on the removeable piece.

Roger


was referring to is the lower shield that covers the bottom 1/3 of the
flywheel. It is right behind the pan. On some cars..like my crossflow in
my seven…this shield is “cut??

--- In ***@***.***, "Roger Sieling" <rogsie@...> wrote:
the later 5-bolt crank engines


Ah! maybe thats the noise.........the sixth bolt in a 5 bolt crank has
came loose!
Jokes aside, I don't think anyone has mentioned the possibility of a
cracked piston, it can happen and can make a loud thumping noise.
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/Birkin T.C.Seven

Gidday,
With a cracked or broken piston the noise is reduced or eliminated when cranking without plugs fitted.
See ya, Les.





----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Goodison
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 9:43 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Re: Loose Flywheel


--- In ***@***.***, "Roger Sieling" <rogsie@...> wrote:
the later 5-bolt crank engines

Ah! maybe thats the noise.........the sixth bolt in a 5 bolt crank has
came loose!
Jokes aside, I don't think anyone has mentioned the possibility of a
cracked piston, it can happen and can make a loud thumping noise.
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/Birkin T.C.Seven






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Hi Everyone,

Thanks again for the suggestions--sorry I haven't looked earlier--job
comittments taking up the time.

I have decided that the engine must come out this winter and am now
trying to track down an engine hoist and hope to be able to do the job
in about 3 weeks.

I know that you can see a bit of the flywheel when you pull the
started out so I might poke around there a bit as I have to pull the
starter out anyways to get the engine out.

Any advice about pulling the engine--I have never done this kind of
thing. A more experienced friend will help me but don't think he has
ever done it on a +2--baby Elan yes. Anything I should be on the look
out for?

Thanks again.

David


--- In ***@***.***, "Tony Vaccaro" <tvacc@...> wrote:

--- In ***@***.***, "david_c_w" <david_c_w@...> wrote:

I must have missed an earlier post but did you confirm its a loose
flywheel?? If it is, I'm sure there'd be some funky clutch symptoms,
too. Just making sure its really justified.

Greg Z
'72 Sprint

Haven't confirmed the loose flywheel yet--I'm taking the engine out
next weekend and will update everyone at that time if I find
something. Even if it is not that, I think that the engine still must
come out for a rebuild--oil leaks are increasing and I can not be sure
what was done in the last supposed rebuild so it is best to take it
out and do it right now.

I will keep all up to date as to what I find.

David

--- In ***@***.***, "Greg Zelazek" <gjz30075@...> wrote: