Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I suppose a little insulation could make it track the heat of the radiator better. John

I removed the wheels from a rolling floor jack, welded under the front of the deck.
So you need to put the car in gear, and use e-brake. Get out, and lower the trailer. Not as easy as this, and if you set the jack just off fully tight. Once weight is applied, it tilts on its own.
They have electric jacks now a days too, which one could control remotely.

Half filled petrol tank, ready for a run out, +2 had other ideas. Found fuel dripping onto the floor. All connections ok, found it was coming from bottom of pump.
Just reading up on service kits at moment. Will update in 'fuel' section anon.
Les.

baileyman wrote:I suppose a little insulation could make it track the heat of the radiator better. John

Yes, that was the second step of my plan but it hasn't been necessary. Or making it in copper, or with more teeth, or mount it on the rear of the radiator.

I imagine the probe runs a few degrees cooler than when pushed directly through the radiator but the thermostat has an adjustment that allowed me to take this into account when setting it up. According to the dashboard temperature gauge it starts running at the same temperature as before - I set it to 90c.

There's obviously no reason why it shouldn't work just fine, which is why I made it in the first place, but I have to admit that I was surprised by how effective it is. Of course, the standard approach of pushing the probe through the radiator fins doesn't exactly win any prizes for design elegance.

Nick

During our last long drive this pas fall, two issues came up: 1) the driver's wiper blade "slipped" - it would sometimes park way high, sometimes way low; and 2) the squealing of the heater blower motor, always an issue, became a show stopper. Plus, the passenger heat was significantly less than the driver's, for unknown reasons.

So the current project is to go after both those issues. To date, the dash is out. I've taken the heater box and motor apart, cleaned and lubed the motor, and reassembled. Motor spins easily, and quietly now. Unfortunately, I also striped the grub screw threads on the fan, so I'll try rethreading up one size.

Many thanks to JonB - his post of a couple of years ago clarified how the motor should go back together.

Still to do - get the wiper mechanism out, and figure out what's wrong. I thought maybe the gear box had come unbolted, but nope, that's not it. Maybe something wrong with the cable? Or broken teeth on the gears? Will know more tomorrow.



Pretty amazing how much junk gets sucked into the box over 49 years or so...

steve lyle wrote:During our last long drive this pas fall, two issues came up: 1) the driver's wiper blade "slipped" - it would sometimes park way high, sometimes way low

Still to do - get the wiper mechanism out, and figure out what's wrong. I thought maybe the gear box had come unbolted, but nope, that's not it. Maybe something wrong with the cable? Or broken teeth on the gears? Will know more tomorrow.

Unless the wiper arm is slipping on the shaft where it sticks out in front of the screen, the most likely culprit is that the teeth have worn on the wheelbox gear (the other end of the shaft that holds the wiper) that engages with the cable and coiled spring rack that oscillates back and forth from the motor. The cheap fix is to turn the gear 180 degrees as only half the gear ever gets used, but given the grief involved in taking the dash out I would replace it. I would also replace the wheelbox on the other wiper and strip and service the motor and gearbox.

Good luck.

Andy8421 wrote:[Unless the wiper arm is slipping on the shaft where it sticks out in front of the screen, the most likely culprit is that the teeth have worn on the wheelbox gear (the other end of the shaft that holds the wiper) that engages with the cable and coiled spring rack that oscillates back and forth from the motor. The cheap fix is to turn the gear 180 degrees as only half the gear ever gets used, but given the grief involved in taking the dash out I would replace it. I would also replace the wheelbox on the other wiper and strip and service the motor and gearbox.

Good luck.

Sounds like a good plan.

Oddly enough, it didn't bother me much to have to take the dash out - at least there were multiple reasons to do it. A couple of hours and it was done - the biggest pain is draining the coolant to get the temp sensor out - that's always a mess with this radiator, that has no drain - so I just have to pull the lower hose and hope my catch basin gets most of it (it never does).

Could it be a the cover on the wiper gearbox is loose, rotating, and changing the park location? John

It turns out the fan grub screw is a #10, so I got a 1/4” one, drill and tap, and upgraded. Motor works great now. I’ll take the time to paint the box while it’s out, and I’m waiting for parts.



And I’ll need parts to fix the wiper - the problem is worn teeth on the wheel. The wear is subtle when looking at the wheel, but you can see the worn material from the wheel deposited on the drive cable.

That's not just ancient grease on the cable?

steve lyle wrote:
- the biggest pain is draining the coolant to get the temp sensor out - that's always a mess with this radiator, that has no drain - so I just have to pull the lower hose and hope my catch basin gets most of it (it never does).

I have the same issue with my TTR radiator. Pulling the lower hose off to drain it creates a huge mess. Can’t position a catch basin/funnel properly.
Next time I’m going to try tying an open plastic bag around the lower radiator opening to try and catch the runoff. The bag should be able to conform to the available space and allow the coolant to be directed into the bag.

bitsobrits wrote:That's not just ancient grease on the cable?

Nope, it's tinted the same color as the wheel, and the tint is only in the area where the cable drives the wheel.

Today I believe I've found the last of the mice who gave their lives in the confines of my car- I think that comes up to 12 or so in total, after this car sat for several years. This may take care of some of the old, musty "vintage" car smell...
The good news is the lattice frame inside the sills is in fantastic condition, so after a good cleaning, I can get back to installing the new carpeting. Just need to figure out how to cleverly locate the screws in the side panel boards as they go back on.

Just finished up my Cylinder Head change & engine bay tidy up from over the winter

Time to take her out for an Italian Tune-Up!

Tidy, indeed Phil. Looks great.