Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Oil filter ?5
1ltr gearbox oil ?10
5ltrs engine oil ?20

Just need a sunny day.

john.p.clegg wrote:I changed to Redline ( bloody expensive ) in the 5-speed box, and drained it out after 12 months as it was too thin.causing notchy changes when hot,went back to good old 20/50.

John

P.S. anyone want a couple of pints of hardly used Redline MTL

mmmmmm........ Lotus 5 speed ? synchros and bearings in good condition ??? clutch disengaging fully ???? it cant be a too hot local climate

Redline MTL has worked perfectly in my less than perfect 5 speed (5th to 4th shifts are not great with any oil) and much better than the alternatives I tried before I became a Redline convert.

cheers
Rohan

Ok,

So rather than creating lots of little posts as in the past i thought id post all in this one thread.

My question is, and ive looked in the search but not found a suitable answer, window related.

Before i put back the door trims id like the windows working better. Is there some serviceing schedule to follow? Also they are slow to go up and down and id like to look into this.

Does anyone have better knowledge of these or can i be directed to something i may have missed.

Paul

Paul
Voltmeter at the window motors while they're going up/down will tell you if you've got any wiring/battery problems.
Should only be a couple of volts lower than the battery voltage.
John

I had slow windows since I bought the car in 1977 so was determinined to sort this at the recent rebuild. The frames were out for re-chroming anyway.
I replaced the window channel brushes, cleaned the glass right to the edge and found that they now moved very easily compared to previously.
I washed the old grease out of the operating channel and replaced it with silicone grease.
The windows now run faster than my modern car.
I think friction in the felt channels is a major cause of slow windows.
Dougal.

Dougal,My frames are fit for the bin, need new ones when i can afford them. But ill take your advice and give them a good clean first.

Is there a manual way of winding them up and down?

John i will find said multi meter and pretend i know what im doing with one. Learning curve is going to be steep i guess.

Its a job for next week, thanks guys

Paul

Paul- I found the info in these two threads most helpful in understanding the mechanical operation of the windows. When you get around to replacing your frames they will be invaluable. There are threads on adding relays to power the lift motors that you may want to read as well. Fun, fun, fun!

http://www.lotuselan.net/wiki/Lotus_Ela ... r_Overhaul
lotus-electrical-f38/fitting-window-motor-assemblies-t24949.html

Paul
Once the motors are out you can push them up and down by hand!
If they slide easily by hand they'll slide easily by motor, if not the motor will find it hard no matter how many relays.
Dougal.

Well i finally solved the window issue. Simple lack of use, now at least drivers goes up and down reasonably quickly.but ill still need to replace the frames as their both quite badly corroded.

Changed engine oil and filter too, simple job.

As its now my daily driver im finding issues, most important i think is lack of heat from the heater. I dont seem to have any hot air flow in any position. Found this out in the rain the other day. Any ideas? I do have good airflow from the outlets, its just ambient temp. The other part of same issue is cost of arms and blades. ?80 seems a bit steep.but as mine have fallen apart i need them, and ill keep the park position on drivers side.

Happy lotus driving

Paul

Paul

The Heater...I've had plenty of fun with that bugger in the last 18 months....flushed and back-flushed and all seemed OK...sealed all the ducting to the eyeball vents...a little better airflow but not warm...fitted a craig davies pump in-lie with the hose , still no better , in the end built up a spare good unit,bit the bullet and dashboard out etc.etc.etc. Swapped the full heater unit and all is now toasty. On dismantling the heater it ends up that there was a slight blockage in the heater matrix....

So,firstly get your head down with a torch and check the flap seals through the side openings ( air will take the path of least resistance , rather than flow through the matrix ) , flush/back flush the matrix with a garden hose ( this will also push out any trapped air ) next check for sufficient flow through the system....failing that it's heater out job to really check the matrix/flap seals.

John

Thanks John

So i guess im gonna flush it out, trip to halfords for new coolant first. Needs replacing anyway.

So how do i go about flushing it? Any tips, thankfully i have a garden hose.

Paul

Don't put the coolant in yet,I undid the hose on the thermostat housing and fired the garden hose into the heater feed,you'll have to remove the radiator cap to allow it to escape..

To back flush it remove the other hose ( back of timing cover ) and ditto..

John

Personally I'd remove the heater return hose from the engine as well. Should allow you to run water both ways through the heater in isolation and avoid any crud making it's way into the engine/radiator.

Good point that. Dont want to trash my lovely Cliveyboy rad. Id have to refit the original one.

Paul,

when you do get heat, you may find that you can't shut it off, which was my problem.

Should you need it here's 5 pages of my heater rebuild saga:
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/lotus-twincam-f39/heater-rebuild-t16068.html?hilit=heater%20rebuild

Hopefully you won't need it

Robbie