Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

hello
i have a question regarding the waterpump of an twincam engine. is it necessary to remove the cylinder head also to remove the front cover?

chris

Hi Chris,

On cylinder head removal, I suppose technically you could undo the front cover and slide it out without removing the head or sump, the problem has always been to make a good seal at the top/bottom of the cover with that method.

If you are desperate not to remove the head then I suppose with modern gasket materials it might be worth a shot, but I'd be prepared to re-do the job if it didn't seal well enough. Personally I'd remove both head & sump, even dropping the sump slightly at the front wasn't good enough to retain a good seal there when I tried that idea once.

Brian

Brian is absolutely spot on.
Head and sump off is the best, and for me, the only way to go, even though it's technically possible to do it without taking them off.
Alan P.

It might be theoretically possible to take the front cover off without touching the head or the sump but in practice I suspect it's going to turn into a mess of patched up gaskets and fingers crossed sealing.

I've always taken the engine out and then removed both head and sump before taking the front cover off. Last time though I thought I'd try and do it with the engine still in the car so removed the head and dropped the sump slightly at the front. You can't get the sump completely off because of the cross member.

Fixing the pump and replacing the head went well enough but resealing the sump has proved to be a niggle. It leaks just enough to be annoying but not enough to force me into doing something about it. I've been thinking for some time about sawing the cross member off and converting it to removable but I'm still uncertain as to whether this is a good idea or not.

If you try to remove front cover and not cylinder head, you are stopped by the timing chain pad
Alan

Alan's right, I'd not thought of that little snag.....

here's mine going back together with the pad sticking up from the block. Getting that off, even if you dropped the sump, would be a real problem.

Brian

The Early Workshop Manual (S1/2) states that the water pump can be removed/replaced with the head on but by just lowering the sump, the later manuals were revised to advise removing the cyl. head.
I know of people who have done it without removing the head but never tried it myself as I have always removed the heads when I did them.
As my Sprint needs a water pump I intend to give it a go just for the hell of it .......if it leaks oil I'll just do it again.
I also remember reading about a mod so the timing slipper is fitted with the screws screwing in from the outside of the timing case so it can be fitted later but of course I cant find that article that now.

Hi Brian,
good luck you'll need it
Alan

Quick reply here. I have done this with the head and pan on, but the problems make it not worth it. I have done it with the head on and the pan off. Easier and you have to use RTV for the gasket between the front of the head and the front cover because you cannot squeeze the cork gasket enough to have it fit properly.

Give it a try with the RTV but I honestly dont think it is worth it.

Tony Vaccaro
www.lotusowners.coom
www.lotusltd.com

As above, it is possible, but really an unsatisfactory way of doing the job, with problems of oil leaks after.
Malcolm

One more thing here. What is the reason for taking off the head? Water Pump...Right?

Well if you use the Burton or Bean Cartridge Water Pump front cover, then that is no longer necessary. So do it once with one or the other cartridge front covers and do it right. Chances are you wont do it again for 75,000 or more miles.

Tony V