DAMN VACUUME!

[RobCapper]

Oh the joys.. spent a very fiddly and frustrating few hours this morning replacing the vacuume pad on my +2.. put it all back together, and just been out to put car away and the **** lights are coming up again... (

It was def the pod which was at fault - everything else is fine, new valve, switch fine, new t piece etc.. could it perhaps be that as I didn't have the car running very long (3 mins) there wasn't 'much' vacuume to last or something? Or am I talking rubbish? Will it perform better after a long run?

After a very fiddly job and 80 quid on a part, can anyone help or make me feel slightly less gloomy?!

[john.p.clegg]

Rob
Sorry to say this,but,the pod may have been at fault but you now have an airleak(or is it a vaccuum leak).

I take it it's the failsafe type,and if you've enough vaccuum to lower the pods then you should have enough vaccuum to keep them down.

I know I'm not being much practical help here,but,keep on searching for that leak,work methodically,clamping the airline from the pods to start with.......

John

[twincamman]

try putting the electric motors from a GM fiero or any flip up headlight system they make --ed

[ppnelan]

Rob,

If it's a plastic T-piece, it may have cracked on installation. I suggest you swap it for a metal fuel line T-piece.

Have you checked the one-way valve on the inlet manifold ? They can get dirt inside and stop sealing properly.

You may need to rev the engine a bit - opening & closing the throttle may help 'fill' your vacuum tank. If you pull a vacuum pipe off, you'll hear a hiss of air going in if it is working at all. My lights come up after a day or so, and sometimes stay up for 30 seconds or so when the car is restarted - it seems to need a good 'helping' of vacuum for them to be pulled down initially.

Otherwise, check all the joints...

It's like the standard starter motor, or cooling system, or most other things on the car, if everything is working as it should be, it will just be adequate to do the job. If not, it'll cause EXTREME annoyance ! For me, this is the beauty of Lotus design and is what sets it apart from others. I personally would not want to do anything drastic like changing to electric motors....

Matthew

[RobCapper]

...but where could it be leaking from..? I've checked every joint, and everything is tight. New valve works fine, brand new pod, switch fine, pipes new, t piece fine... aggghhh! It's driving me MAD!!!!

[types26/36]

Rob,
Here's a thought, the one way vacuum valve that is screwed into the manifold has two take off points, one is for the headlights and the other for the brake servo. The connection for the servo is not through the valve as the servo has its own "one way valve" and is direct vacuum but the connection for the headlights is through the valve..............now if you get the pipes on the wrong connections the headlights cannot hold vacuum but the servo will still work.........just a idea......

[M100]

Use the Mark 1 vacuum device (i.e. your lungs) Pull off the pipe from the t piece and suck hard, assist the pod by hand but you should be able to just about move the actuator with lung power. Or if you suck worse than Microsoft then use a handheld vacuum pump like a mityvac to do the same

[twincamman]

or ask Monica Lewinsky ----its her birthday afterall ---- ed

[types26/36]

OH Ed!....................that sucks!

[ppnelan]

Rob,

How old is the chassis ? Probably the worst case scenario is that the chassis crossmember is no longer holding vacuum i.e. a crack or hole somewhere.
Have you tried bypassing the chassis 'tank' and see if they stay down any longer ?

Matthew

[M100]

...... and see if they stay down any longer ?

In the absence of someone or something to suck with, bypass everything, take a pipe from each pod back to the manifold and see what happens.

[andyhodg]

I had a similar problem - turned out to be a cracked cross-member It had cracked at the lower wishbone mounting points. It wasn't a big repair, Syder wre able to weld and reinforce those points. Only found it by presure testing the cross member and then looking for the leaks.

[JJDraper]

I had similar cracks on the vacuum reservoir as Andyhodg (Spyder Chassis) and plugged the vacuum pipe direct to the vacuum pods. Worked fine for over a year on my non failsafe system. Ditto finding the cracks - put a schrader valve (butchered from an old inner tube) on a bit of rubber tube attached to the cross member and put in VERY low pressure (<5psi) with hand pump & brushed a bit of washing up liquid solution over the area. Bubbles showed the cracks.

Jeremy

[handi_andi]

I have been having headlight lack of problems for a while, well ever since I brought the car really! Well I finally attacked the problem over the weekend and having failed to find where the fault lay yesterday I spent the grand sum of ?14.99 on a vacum gauge, complete with real carbon fibre dial (well thats what it says on the package anyway) which I have fitted to the air filter strap in the front valance. This allowed me very quickly, with the aid of a pair of pliers, to find that it was my offside pod that is leaking. I have to say that for headlamp fault diagnosis is is money well spent as it will allow me in the future to trace the inevitable faults!

Just thought I would share that idea...

Andy