Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

This is with thanks to John P. Clegg for suggesting it to me, cheers John.

It deserves to be wider known.

Buy an Infrared Thermometer and use it to measure the exact temperature of the exhaust manifold pipes an inch or two from the head.

It gives a very good indication of the fuel mixture each cylinder is burning. You can adjust the mixture screws and see the difference it makes to the temperature with far more accuracy than a colortune.

It allowed me to finely balance the mixtures across all 4 cylinders and make a major improvement to a lumpy idle, and so easy to use.

It does not allow for the balancing of the carbs though! Mixtures only.

Maplin have one on special offer for ?19.99 which is where I bought mine; again thanks John for putting me on to it.

You can probably also use it to spot vampires and zombies, then use your finely tuned Elan to run them over and save the world.


Mark.

Agree with Mark on this one, have just done the exact same thing with a work colleagues '79 Kawasaki, saved the skin on the tips of his fingers and little more accurate

Chris.

Many thanks Mark,have yet to try it on the tyres,but I believe it does give one a good indication of.......

John

Awesome idea. We have a thermal camera at work, will have to grab it tonight!

They can also be useful for finding weak cells in batteries.

I have one further tip for balancing the carbs. Many years ago, having tried all the usual methods I started taking out the progression hole blanking screws on the inner two throats and shining a light up the carb throat so as you can see the butterfly plate in relation to the progression holes. You can then use the idle speed stop screw and the balance screw to ensure that both plates are positioned correctly to the same relevant hole. Follow this up by adjusting the mixture screws as per normal. I've found this to be the best method by far.

Gene

weak cells in batteries?

Tell us more....

John

Would this also be useful for checking actual water temperature through the hoses, rather than what's being displayed on the gauge ?

I think that may be a bit misleading as it doesn't take the insulation properties of the rubber hoses into consideration. It would have to be aimed directly at the water - careful with that rad cap now!

Mark.

Great idea boys I did look on E-bay for these devices. There are a number on them with various temperature ranges. Can I ask up to what heat range should I consider when the engine is hot?

John,

Checking a battery using a temp. gauge will find a faulty cell that has a short between the plates, by this time though the battery will be almost certainly ready for the bin. (recycling bin of course)

Chris.

I don't know about your's Chris, but my wallet has developed a faulty cell since buying my Lotus.

Mark.

John,
Chris is right. You won't be able to "fix" the cell, but least you'll know where the problem lies. The newer "sealed" batteries preclude the use of a hydrometer, I read the temps across the case looking for a "hot" or "cold" spot.

M.J.S wrote:Buy an Infrared Thermometer and use it to measure the exact temperature of the exhaust manifold pipes an inch or two from the head.

Mark.

What temperaturrange (in Celcius) is neccessary to measure the exhaust manifold pipes? 200 degrees? less or more?

If it stops p*****g down today I will take the car for a run up to temperature and measure the reading on the thermometer and let you know. From memory I think it was about 220 degrees centigrade or something close.

Mark.