Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I'm stuck

Motor not working and I can't get it out.

Assume there are just the 3 bolts. 1 is out, 1 is just spinning and the other I cant access because the motor is ith the way.

I'm particularly concerned about the spinning bolt as I assume there is a captive nut which has become un attached?

viper wrote:I assume there is a captive nut which has become un attached?

Yes, three bolts with captive nuts and the frame often cracks around the captive nut so it turns in the frame. The motor is only supported by these three bolts so the frame is prone to cracking at various places probably due to the motor vibrating when the door is slammed.
When I worked on my S3 I did a mod to support the motors which also stops the motor vibrating when the door is closed/slammed.

OK Thanks

Do you think I will need to cut the frame to get the motor off.....I can see me cutting a hole in the outside of the door at this rate

viper wrote:...I can see me cutting a hole in the outside of the door at this rate

Err....that sounds a bit drastic.....you could try forcing a screwdriver between the motor bracket and the frame to put tension on the nut so maybe it would hold while you unscrewed the bolt.

I vaguely remember having a similalr problem many years ago. I cant remember for sure how I got the bolts out but I think if you get the glass up and out of the way then you can get something down into the door to hold the captive nuts and then remove the bolts. i may have also removed the window frame securing bolts so the frame was loose in the door.

cheers
Rohan

Would another option be to use a Dremel with a little grinding wheel and simply grind the head off the bolt?

It sounds like it would take forever, but I never fail to be amazed how quickly a Dremel can do this sort of thing. You should probably cover the motor with some plastic to keep filings out of it.

Nick

I'll have a closer look when I'm feeling more patient.

Thanks for you advice.

There's not much room in the door....can the window frame and glass be removed without the motor being removed first. I'm assume cables would run through a gearbox on the motor

viper wrote:..can the window frame and glass be removed without the motor being removed first. I'm assume cables would run through a gearbox on the motor

No the motor has to be removed first, as the frame and widow goes up through the door and the motor would not go up.
The motor has a two pole drive that just drives the cable spool, it just pushes on to the spool.

I've had the same problem in the past and had to drill the head of the bolt off. As long as it's not the one under the motor it's not too bad. The motor just pulls off the frame when the bolts are removed and there are a few wires that need to be unplugged.

If you need to take the frame out to repair the captive nut you'll think drilling the bolt out was the easy bit when you come to fiddling with the lock mechanism.

Here are a couple of pics showing the motor with the two pole drive and the spool that the poles fit into.

I had exactly this problem quite recently and just drilled through the bolt heads. The captive nuts escaped so, in their place, I put in 3 short bolts the other way round, facing out, with thin nuts securing them. Replacing the motor was simply sliding the holes in the mounting plate over these, effectively now, studs.
Jim

Thanks Guys

Great help ....especially the pics.

Drilling off the bolt heads sound favourite

Just had the window frame out today to fix the cable. The window motor bolt which is being obstructed by the motor itself and can only be reached at an angle... Who thought that was a good idea?

adigra wrote:Just had the window frame out today to fix the cable. The window motor bolt which is being obstructed by the motor itself and can only be reached at an angle... Who thought that was a good idea?

Use a short L shaped screwdriver.
i.e one similar to an Allen key, but with a phillips/posidive end on it.

billwill wrote:

adigra wrote:Just had the window frame out today to fix the cable. The window motor bolt which is being obstructed by the motor itself and can only be reached at an angle... Who thought that was a good idea?

Use a short L shaped screwdriver.
i.e one similar to an Allen key, but with a phillips/posidive end on it.

But it's a bolt, or have I missed something?