S3 Dashboard and Fusebox photos

[brucey58]

Hi,

I'm trying to sort out the wiring and dash switches on my S3/S4 Elan.
It had a replacement dash fitted before I bought the car and currently has no labels.
I would like to tidy up the wiring and fuse boxes. Preferably label and place all the fuses in the engine bay.
Looking at the layout in the manual, I seem to have switches and knobs in the wrong positions.

Can anyone supply photos of their S3 dash (with labels?) and any fuse boxes fitted (with fuse ratings if possible).

Any advice appreciated. I don't want to re wire the car, just tidy everything up without spending a fortune

[gjz30075]

There is only one fuse 'box' and it contains two fuses (not sure of the amp ratings). It is located on the
left side of the firewall, in the engine compartment, above the top of the footbox. The pages from the
manual you posted is an excellent reference. That is what I used to learn the switches, since the dash
is unmarked on an S3.

Welcome to the forums!

[ericbushby]

As Greg says. There should be no labels on a Series 3 dashboard.
It causes great amusement if you take it for an MOT because the tester cannot get anything to work.
Also nearly everything was in the wrong hole when I bought my car. Even the bonnet release handles were swopped with the heater and choke knobs. Strange, as a workshop manual came with it. One by one I moved them to the correct places as shown in the manual
Eric in Burnley
S3SE DHC

[alan.barker]

Hi Bruce,
I know you are talking about wiring but i suggest you have the Fuel Lines going down vertical from the Banjos. To prevent leaks.
Alan

[brucey58]

Thanks for the replies

I'll put the switches and buttons back to those positions shown in the manual. I would appreciate a photo of a finished dash to see what standard I should be aiming for. I seem to have random washers on the outside of a number of switches. I have a great label making machine at work and some white on clear tape so may make some labels! Has no one else with an S3 fitted labels?

I have bought a new glovebox from Classic Lotus (under £30 ). I have fitted a new a slide switch to it but I'm not sure how to wire in the immobilizer as I have electronic ignition, positive earth and a 'Dynomator'. I was going to wire the feed to the electric fuel pump through the slide switch instead. This means the car will do about 100 feet before conking out

My car also came with electronic ignition. Is this the reason my tachometer shows 2X the RPM it should? Can I fix this issue while the dash is apart?

Can I also assume the horn push should be in the middle of the steering wheel and not a button on the back of the center console? I also have reverse light switch and another button that I don't know what it does on the center console!

Nice to see it looks like I put my new Tudor Screen Wash Bottle in roughly the correct position. It seemed more accessible there than on the front of the passenger footwell. I'll be fitting another Tudor Bottle and bracket for the Radiator overflow. Does anyone have a photo for the best mounting point for this?

The previous owner has added multiple fuses (around 10) both in the engine bay and at the back of the glovebox. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea and I am working through them to find out what each one does (Examples include electric fuel pump, screen wash pump, radio, etc.). However I want all the fuses in the same place (under the bonnet near the original 2 fuses). I'm after examples of what other people have done and what size fuses they have used for what item.

Alan, point noted about the fuel lines. I think I know what you mean but do you have a photo as I wasn't sure why orientation would affect leaking?

Well that's my Christmas break sorted!

Do I need to move this post to another forum? I couldn't really find one for interiors

Thanks again for all your help.

[alan.barker]

Imho the fuel lines horizontal will tend to loosen under their own weight and vibration.
When you want to balance carbs and take airbox off not easy.
Please be careful with fuel leaks
Alan

[Andy8421]

Imho the fuel lines horizontal will tend to loosen under their own weight and vibration.
When you want to balance carbs and take airbox off not easy.
Please be careful with fuel leaks
Alan

..and in the spirit of more advice you didn't ask for, that fuel filter is a one way trip to an engine fire, as I am afraid are those foam air filters.

The Elan is made of combustible material, and to make matters worse, has the distributor mounted directly under the carbs where fuel can drip down. The foam filters get saturated in fuel, and the plastic fuel filters crack - either through age or in any sort of impact. Many an Elan's final journey to the carpark in the sky has been engine fire related.

You clearly have quite a bit on your plate already, but a bit of work on the fuel plumbing (as recommended in the threads above), getting rid of that filter and changing the intake back to the original design (which will bring performance benefits as well) would probably be time well spent.

Good luck.

[Andy8421]

Thanks for the replies
I have fitted a new a slide switch to it but I'm not sure how to wire in the immobilizer as I have electronic ignition, positive earth and a 'Dynomator'. I was going to wire the feed to the electric fuel pump through the slide switch instead. This means the car will do about 100 feet before conking out

My car also came with electronic ignition. Is this the reason my tachometer shows 2X the RPM it should? Can I fix this issue while the dash is apart?

The previous owner has added multiple fuses (around 10) both in the engine bay and at the back of the glovebox. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea and I am working through them to find out what each one does (Examples include electric fuel pump, screen wash pump, radio, etc.). However I want all the fuses in the same place (under the bonnet near the original 2 fuses). I'm after examples of what other people have done and what size fuses they have used for what item.

Just a few comments FWIW on your note,

If your slide immobiliser switch is anything like the original, I would put it in the bin. It was open frame, with no positive detent, and was the cause of many a roadside stranding. Many (most?) on here have removed theirs.

The tacho / ignition system interaction depends on the type of tacho and the type of ignition module (and how they are wired). It could well be the cause of your problem. The electronics in the tacho are very basic, and the capacitors degrade over time, so alternatively it could be the tacho on the blink. There are threads on here (and some good youtube videos) on how to fault-find Smiths tachos if you have some basic electrical skills.

The original fusing on the Elan was a disgrace, the two fuses were not adequate, with many circuits unfused fire risks. Having said that, the challenges of reverse engineering someone else's attempts at fusing the system properly won't be easy. If it has been done to a good standard, with well fitting connections and tidy cabling, it may well be worth persevering, otherwise it may be better to start from scratch with a new loom.

As I mentioned before - good luck.

[RichardHawkins]

Brucey,

Andy has given you good advice. The wiring on my car when I got it, was frightening. Behind the dash were bare wires, burnt wires, and some coaxial ariel wire that had been used as power supply. Given the other fire hazards mentioned above, and repeated many times on this forum in previous years I decided to rewire the car, and whilst I am sure it is a good thing to do I should have listened to a friend who is an electrical engineer “don’t do it, buy a new loom to an existing design”. Well I went my own way, and although I am happy with the final result, it has taken so much longer than I expected, mainly due to my own errors which then required to be corrected with much additional rewiring.

Hope this helps

Richard Hawkins

[brucey58]

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm taking it all on board.

To be fair, the previous owner owned the car for over 35 years and spent a lot of money on new parts.

I think the existing loom as pretty new. However I want to tidy up the additional fuses and wiring he fitted. My plan is to move the fuse box from inside the car and mount it next to the one in the engine bay. I may even reduce the number of fuses and only use one 8 slot box if practical.

I drove the car 180 miles back from Southampton without it bursting into flames but I do want to minimize any potential fire risk

I was really after photos of what other people have done in the fuse department to give me some ideas. Especially interested in fuse ratings and wire sizes.

[Andy8421]

Brucey,

Looking closely at your pictures, were it me, I would start again. Not what you want to hear, I am sure, but just some more detailed observations:

The engine bay fuse box won't last long. That area of the engine bay gets very hot above the exhaust manifold. I wouldn't put an additional fusebox there, and I would think about moving the one that is there somewhere else. I know the original was mounted here, but it was made of sterner stuff.

It is tough to tell, but all the new wiring all appears to be red. While that isn't the end of the world, it makes fault finding hard going - particularly if you didn't do the original wiring. As original coloured wire is available at reasonable price, it raises questions about why the OP didn't bother with the extra step.

Difficult to tell, but the connections don't look great. Many of the Lucar (spade) terminals are missing their plastic 'boot' covers, and the heat-shrink job on others looks a bit random. Some of the new connections look like cheap 'household' crimp connections which won't last long.

FWIW - some advice

The wiring on the Elan was a direct copy of standard Lucas wiring used in many British cars of the period. While it was just about OK in steel bodied cars, putting it in a combustible car that didn't provide an earth return made it very marginal at best. Just look at the number of threads on here with strange electrical problems. You need to have it spot on if you want to avoid electrical reliability problems going forward.

Crimp connectors (either Lucar or bullet) were done at the factory with proper tooling, which required a known cable size and matching connector. This gave them strain relief and produced a gas tight crimp. Either get the right kit, or solder the connections - a 'Fitzall' tool from eBay and connectors of unknown parentage is not a recipe for success. If the cable comes out of the connector when you give it a good tug, you are doing something wrong.

Modern 'blade' fuses really aren't designed to be exposed to the elements. The underbonnet area is hot and wet, not a great combination. If you are keen to add extra fuses and tidy up what you have, then the firewall behind the glovebox is a good place, and not far from the original placement, just the other side of the glassfibre. There are some threads on here of excellent quality work where a new fuse assembly has been mounted in this area.

Good luck.

[alan.barker]

+1 Brucey,
I suggest you buy a new harness colour coded wires and put the bodged job in the trash bin. So nice to have a colour coded wiring harness a pleasure.
Alan

[smo17003]

Also of note are the unusual routings of the heater hose and the capillary tube. The PO appears to have made some very strange mods to your car.

[brucey58]

Yes, previous owner made some strange decisions! But generally the car and mechanical items are sound. I can sort most of the other bits myself as the really expensive bits have been done.

I have already got decent crimp connectors and clear covers, wire and the correct crimp tooling. I just invested in a decent mini heat gun for the heat shrink sleeve after using a lighter for 40+ years!

I'm a Chartered Mechanical Engineer working on High Speed Trains and have done a few crimping courses in my time! My slight OCD means I like nice neat wiring!

A good friend has an electrical background and worked on military planes and has offered to help but I need to strike a balance between making it look as original as possible and fitting military grade connectors everywhere!

I have seen fuse boxes on eBay with separate positive and negative feeds and tell tale LED's to indicate which fuse is blown. I think they are intended for GRP boats but struck me as also pretty good for GRP cars!

I have bought 8A rated wire in various colours and intend to replicate the original wiring loom up to the new fuse box where ever possible. I need to work out if I need higher rated (16A?) wire (and 10A fuses) for some of the bigger current draw items (lights, fans, wipers etc)

Any detailed photos of S3 engine bays and dashboards showing where everything goes would be appreciated. Google searches only get you so far.

[Andy8421]

Brucey,

Here's another suggestion. You mentioned earlier on you have a Dynamator? Did you mean the after market alternator that looks like a dynamo? If so, your control box is redundant, and you can have a very tidy solution that looks almost stock with additional fuses.

Scroll down through the thread, and there is a picture of an installation from Craven (who is still active on the site) that IMO looks very professional and original. It gives 2 extra fuses, which is probably the bare minimum to do a more reasonable job of the fusing, and I believe uses the original loom.

https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=41737&start=

As before, good luck.