L e Mans Classic 2010

[alexblack13]

Hi Guys,
Not all that unusual to get a puff of blue on start up,esp if the cars been sitting for a few days. I think it is some oil draining down the valve guides. A well known Lotus foible. Real valve guide wear shows up after a longish downhill with nil throttle.On reaching the bottom and putting ones foot on the pedal again results in a smoke screen for the vehicles behind. The Manifold vacuum sucks the oil down the guide. Fully synth oil helps But.. Not correct for our engines. As long as the blue disappears quickly I don't think there is a problem.

I have been looking at the guides that came out of my cyl head with a view to fitting some kind of oil seal. and was thinking of shortening the guide by about 1.5mm and seating in a small o ring. Just enough to wipe off excess oil from the valve stem. Don'T know if I have the balls to try this though. Thinking stem lub' sticking valve and Kaboom!!

What does the team think? Do the Colisbro type guides need as much oil lub?

Alex B.....

[richardcox_lotus]

Alex

Keith Franck looked into this a couple of years back (Search Archives under "Type26Owner", I believe), but I don't recall the outcome. Maybe worth a search if you have more time than i do !

Regards
Richard

[paddy]

Keith still advocates this solution and if you join his "VintageTechnologyGarage" Yahoo group then you can ask him directly. I didn't find anything permanently posted about it, but this was his reply to a recent similar request:

You should first establish the fact that you need these. That can be done by removing the exhaust manifold from the engine and looking inside the exhaust ports of the head for the telltale sign that the oil is coming from the guides. What you're looking for is a traceline of oily gooey soot leading away from the guide about the width of the guide. It will on the topside of the exhaust port so you'll need a mirror to see it if the engine is in the car.

If this is happening I can guide you the rest of the way. Suppose if you have a Paypal account I could acquire the seals and ship them to you if you'll pay for them and the shipping charges. Would you also be interested in paying for me to build you the special tools required to modify the guides in the head and the modified cupped washers for the springs? I have pictures of these items which I'll upload here later today.

I recently designed a special tool that allows you to change the seals without having to remove the head from the engine. The seals last about 40K miles and you'll know it because the blue smoke will return.

Paddy

[alexblack13]

Hi Guys...

I jumped the thread! Sorry. I am not unhappy with my motor. It just puffs a bit of blue if I leave it for a week or so.A few miles later = no smoke and its not using oil at any rate so... And everything is new! Motor wise!

Thanks...

Had the car out this morning... Just awesome! Its a joy to drive I can tell you. Wonderful.. We have some nice back roads around the Fife area to have fun on, with little traffic and great visibility etc. Great test roads...

Alex B....

[types26/36]

I didn't find anything permanently posted about it, Paddy

elan-f15/valve-stem-seals-t1053.html

[elansprint71]

I'm somewhat nervous of following any advice offered by Keith, iirc he was advocating drilling holes in Weber carbs (because they "did not work"), inflating tyres to 60+ psi to reduce rolling resistance and fitting thermostatic louvres to the radiator. Presumably he is currently in a place of secure confinement?

This thread seems to have swung slightly off course.............

[StoatWithToast]

I'm somewhat nervous of following any advice offered by Keith, iirc he was advocating drilling holes in Weber carbs (because they "did not work"), inflating tyres to 60+ psi to reduce rolling resistance and fitting thermostatic louvres to the radiator. Presumably he is currently in a place of secure confinement?

This thread seems to have swung slightly off course.............

I must have met him on the way down in the tunnel - a chap was talking at me saying pretty much the same thing. Didn't (want to) catch his name though.

Next stop - 10mm (:!:) drill to put through my carbs (which he thought were Webers but which are Dellortos) - yeah, right!