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Common Elise Problems

The following are generic problems with both the S1 and S2 Elise. They can also affect other variants.

Punctured Radiator

This problem only came to light recently (June 2004) to me. The front bonnet hinge is ust above the radiator. If hinge is very stiff it can apply force to the pop rivets holding it onto the front clam, which makes them become a loose and drop slightly. If clam has been taken off and replaced with too few washers under the mounting points, this also lowers the hinge towards the radiator. After time the hinge can wear a hole in the radiator. You may be able to repair the radiator but realistically a new one is required. The radiator cores can be replaced seperately but the cost may be prohibitive. A similar hinge is used on the boot. Lubrication of the hinge is recommended to prevent this problem. Once it has occured it is often better to replace the rivets with bolts.

Elise Footwell Floor Corrosion - February 2004

As stated by Lotus ...

Lotus is aware that a small number of Elise models factory fitted with synthetic mats in the footwells, have experienced some cosmetic corrosion of the top surface of the aluminium footwell floor panels.
Lotus has concluded its investigations and would like to thank its customers for their patience over the last few months, which has enabled us to fully research the issue and validate the solution. These extensive investigations involved both Lotus and independent testing laboratories undertaking tests in an attempt to replicate the corrosion under laboratory controlled conditions. Given the extremely unusual and unpredicted nature of the problem it took several months to recreate the corrosion in the laboratory using both automotive and aerospace accelerated testing methods. Only when Lotus was satisfied that it had scientific and proven evidence as to the cause was it able to proceed to develop and test an effective remedy. The cause of the corrosion was established as being a complex chemical reaction within the moisture and salts which tend to become trapped between the floor surface and PVC matting.
Lotus fully understands that this cosmetic corrosion has caused concern to some of the affected customers. It would like to reassure all of its customers that the footwell floors are not part of the primary load bearing structure of the car and that this corrosion does not compromise the integrity of the chassis.
All PVC based matting was deleted from production specifications of the Elise several months ago. Owners of Elise models factory fitted with either the black synthetic (rubber like) or grey synthetic chequer plate patterned footwell mats, are offered the opportunity to upgrade from these mats to new breathable black carpets. These breathable carpets will provide suitable ventilation of the footwell floor surfaces.
Lotus authorised dealers will be pleased to assess the footwell floor condition of your vehicle and then arrange a convenient time to carry out the appropriate improvements. Where little or no corrosion is evident to the footwell floors, a colourless anti-corrosion fluid will be applied to the footwell surface. In other cases, where more corrosion is evident, the original floor will be treated and a secondary floor panel will be bonded and sealed on top of each of the existing footwell floors. In all cases new breathable black footwell carpets will be fitted
Whilst the footwell condition of the majority of vehicles will not amount to a failure under the terms of the 8 year chassis anti-corrosion warranty provided with the vehicle, in order to maintain customers confidence, Lotus will, as a goodwill gesture, undertake the above treatment and improvements free of charge to any Elise within its 8 year chassis anti-corrosion warranty which was factory fitted with the PVC based floor mats (standard warranty terms and conditions will apply).
Lotus has released this statement at this time to reassure any concerned customer, and is in the process of obtaining stocks of materials and arranging appropriate dealer training. Any concerned customer should contact their authorised Lotus dealer from the end of March onwards to discuss appropriate arrangements. Customers may prefer to have this work carried out in conjunction with a maintenance service or other repair work and should therefore discuss this with their authorised dealer.
The U.K. Vehicle Inspectorate has confirmed to Lotus that as the footwell floors are not part of the primary load bearing structure and any corrosion of these panels does not compromise the integrity of the chassis, a corroded or perforated floor panel is not in itself grounds for a U.K. MOT failure. Any queries related to MOTs should be directed to the Vehicle Inspectorate. Enquiry Unit on telephone number 0845 6005977, quoting vehicle test station number and the date of test.
Lotus recommends that routine car cleaning and maintenance by Elise owners should include lifting the footwell carpets and cleaning and, if necessary, drying the floors.
If customers have any queries in connection with this issue they should contact their authorised Lotus dealer who will be happy to assist. Once again thank you for your patience.

So what does this all mean for the owner? Lotus are fixing floors that have corroded and supplyingh cloth mats to cover the fixed floor up.

Accelerator

The pivot bolt can work loose on the complex cable mechanism under the dash. Trying to resolve this problem by adjusting the cable will result in partial throttle opening. The pivot bolt works loose gradually and if you find it early on it can be fixed by re-tightening the bolt with a 7mm spanner and some time spent on your back in the footwell. If the problem has gone undetected for a while, the bolt threads will be damaged and it must be replaced. Using a bolt as a pivot is bad design since they are not designed with these stresses in mind. The problem is made worse by the nylon bush that is used since this allows the bolt to tip under stress. Even though a nyloc nut is used, the friction of the nylon is overcome by the pivot action working to unscrew the nut. A long-term cure requires changing the design. Replacing the nylon bush with a brass equivalent will also help. A picture (640 x 480, 53K) of the throttle linkage.

Alarm

There have been a few cases of problems with the category 1 alarm system fitted to later cars, but in general the system seems to work well. In its worst manifestation the immobiliser can trigger leaving the driver stranded, but his has been a rare occurence.

Fire

The Elise engine bay is a confined space with hot exhaust components in fairly close proximity to the engine. The catalyst in particular can get very hot. Any oil leak will often result in a fire.


	Fire Prevention Check the engine bay for oil leaks regularly. The rear under tray will catch any drips giving good indication. Carrying a fire extinguisher around under the front passenger seat is highly recommended, especially if you do track days. They are very cheap to buy and fit. See the accessories section for more details.

Gearbox

The quality of the gearbox shift is variable from car to car. This is usually down to clutch drag and the hydraulics problem detailed below but, due to a tolerance problem some of the Honda gearboxes can jump out of 5^th gear. MGF's are also afflicted and cars built in '97 are more susceptible. If this is a real problem and you are persistent enough the dealer will change the gearbox under warranty. Reverse gear is always noisy due to the design of the gearbox.

There is a single roll-pin used in the gear shift which can fall out, resulting in no gear changes/selection. An owner's tip is to run a tie-wrap through the roll-pin and around the shaft to stop it falling out if it becomes loose.

The gear box is always noisy on over-run, especially in 5th, and sometimes in 4th. They all do it but the amount of noise does vary slightly. This is more noticable with the roof off. There is no cure for this. Finding reverse can also be difficult and this also appplies to every Rover I've even driven too. Depress the clutch and try again. Don't rev the engine and ease the gear lever into reverse slowly to avoid the 'clunk'.

Head Gasket Failure

This isn't an Elise specific problem. The K-series engine is prone to premature head gasket failure. I've owned 6 K-series engined cars and one failed at 22,000 miles. It was fixed under warranty. Mike Satur

sells a competition head gasket which is less likely to fail. The gasket above the alternator can fail due to the small surface area on the head between the water jacket and the outer face (about 5-6mm). This coupled with the deficencies of the gasket materials causes the seal, which is bonded to the steel gasket, to blow out causing a water leak.

Rover modified the K-series engine in March 2001 (but I'm not sure when these changes arrived at Lotus) to reduce the problem of HGF. The original cylinder head / gasket to block alignment method used 2 nylon hollow dowels one either end of cylinder head. The 2 nylon dowels have since been replaced with steel dowels to improve alignment. This along with associated head gasket modifications to improve sealing and oil drain back have reduced the possibility of failures occurring.

Steering Rack Wear

The Elise steering rack is prone to a short lifetime. Improvements in the quality of materials used on the S2 Elise should help reduce the problem but it is a design feature. See the steering sections for more details.

Temperature Sender

If the Stack unit is proividing eratic temperature readings this is usually down to poor electrical connection between the sender and the display. you can confirm a poor earth path by switching on the lights. This should not affect the temperature reading. If the fuel sender is also providing eratic readings then it is very likely that the voltage regulator in the Stack unit has failed.

Stone Chips

The Elise is very low to the ground and also tends to be going quite fast. This means that it picks up a lot of stone chips. The solution is to use the transparent plastic guards that are now fitted as standard around the leading edge of the rear wheel arches and to fit a similar material to the front nose. A touch up paint is available from your dealer and is a must on picking up the car. Stick on paint protection films can be used to reduce paint chips and are described in the accessories section. Another problem is that the driving lights can get broken and these stick on protection mechanisms can save you alot of money here.

Under Tray

Some owners have had problems with the under tray working loose. It is recommended that this is checked regularly, especially if it gets noisy. It is also recommend that these zinc plated bolts are replaced with stainless steel equivalents to stop corrosion problems.