Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I've had my +2 for ten years and this is the first time I had any problems starting. It wasn't started all winter. Turned the engine over and it abruptly stopped cranking with a hydrolock. I finally got it going after a couple of turns of the key, and it ran rough but I was able to warm it up. This happened twice.

Shut it off again, and came back to work on it a few days later. This time I removed the spark plugs to do a compression test and a great amount of fuel blew out of #1 and 2 cylinders when rotating the engine. Sprayed up about two feet into the air!

Is it possible the Stromberg carbs are leaking fuel into the cylinders? Is this typical of Strombergs? Not that it matters but I had them professionally rebuilt ten years ago when I rebuilt the car.

Mechanical fuel pump, and burning aviation gas to avoid the ethanol .

Entirely possible carbs are leaking fuel into there. Make sure fuel lines are hooked to right places, possible to have it attached to float bowl vent tube. On another track, be very careful about doing what you did to get the fuel out. Possible to have a fire with atomized fuel and a spark from plug wires. Best to wind engine with a wrench. Oil is probably diluted as well. Other likely issue is a broken float or dirty or worn float needle and seat

Lucky you did not hydraulic the engine and bend a rod! I'd be draining and replacing oil, checking fuel connections and potentially overhauling the Strombergs.

also, liquid fuel in the cylinders risk to wash off the oil film and greatly reduce the lifetime of the engine,so something you want to investigate (the extra fuel also seep down into the pan etc.)