Lotus Elise S2 Problems


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Elise S2 Problems The Elise S2 has only just started making out to customers so there is little evidence to go on yet but, the general concensus is that it is of a much higher quality then the S1. There are a few issues that have surfaced so far, which have all received a prompt inspection and solution from Lotus: Doors Knocking On some cars, Lotus used a different specification for the door striker pins and the smaller diameter causes the doors to knock on rougher roads. If this affect your car it may be fixed under warranty by replacing the door striker pins. In some cases a simple re-adjustment of the door may only be required. Battery See the S2 battery section under Elise components. Brakes See the brakes section for more details. Misted Lights A few owners have had problems with moisture getting into the 'sealed' foglight units giving the lights a cloudy appearance. In a few rare cases, this has also occurred in the headlight assembly. Engine Noises A few owners have concerns with engine noise at startup, with the noise going away after a few minutes. This seems to be caused by noisy tappets and is not really a problem but is a bit annoying. In extreme cases some remedial work may be required. Front Access Panels These need to be removed to fill the washer bottle and access can be difficult. The screw fixings can be awkward so be careful you don't scratch the panels and the centre bonnet ridge in the process. See the bodywork section for suppliers of parts to resolve this. Gear Changes Some owners have experienced problems in changing gear, with 2nd tending to be the most problematic. The change shouldn't be difficult in any gear, although the change is always smoother if not rushed. The gearshift should be treated as delicately as the rest of the controls in the Elise to get the best out of it. If it's particularly awkward in one gear only then it is likely that the gear linkage is out of adjustment. If you then try to force it, the adjsutment will get worse. See the transmission section for more details. Indicator Lamps There have been loads of problems with the front indicator lamps falling out. Ordinarily this won't be a mjor problem but, at speed, it will flap about on the end of the wiring, causing expensive damage to the front clamshell. This and any subsequent damage should be fixed under warranty. It is a good idea to check them regularly and try and fix them in a better way. Interior Finish Some owners have had problems with bubbles and ripples in the alcantara trim on the dash (April 2001). These should be rectified by the dealer. Lotus have changed the adhesive to resolve the issue on cars now coming off the line (May 2001) but there may still be a problem. This is still under investigation by Lotus (June 2001) and a dash replacement may be the only real solution. The Race-Tech floor covering also appears to be causing problems with the leading edge curling up under the pedals (April 2001). Contrary to popular belief this is not the aluminium sheet found on the wings of Land Rover's but a thin material, actually stuck to the floor. It can be replaced by the real thing from most good Aluminium merchants. On a related note, the plain plastic dash found on the standard car has also been temporarily replaced by Alcantara (October 2001) due to problems with the plastic finish. Paint Finish There are also some issues with the yellow and orange paint colours and Lotus have delayed production of cars in these colours until they can assure quality finishes to avoid owner problems. The yellow paint was available from June 2001. Paint finish has been a concern for a number of owners on various colour cars, so before you accept your car, check the paint finish over very carefully. Radiator Fins A few of the very early S2 owners have had problems with the plastic fins above the radiator on their cars. The heat has degraded the plastic causing it to change from black to a crumbly greeny colour. Lotus have fixed this by changing the material used in the fins in subsequent cars. Rear Window A number of owners have had problems with squeeks and rattles from the rear window. This seems to be down to the gap between the glass and the body panels being too small. In a few rare cases the rear window has come unstuck and had to be rebonded by the Lotus. Windscreen Wipers A number of cars had had problems with failing windscreen wipers. Frequent fuse blowing is caused by faulty wiper motors and replacement is the only anwser. This seems to be down to a dodgy batch of motors. Wing Mirrors Lotus had some over enthusiastic people fitting wing mirrors in early cars and these caused stress fractures in the plastic mounting plate of the wing mirrors. Lots of early owners had them fall off because of this. A service bulletin was issued on the 25th Sept 2001 detailing the fix. The bulletin is number is SB2001/05. The mirror works its way loose with a gap appearing between the painted arm and the black joint where the mirror pivots. There is only one screw holding the mirror assembly on and the lug that it screws in to can break resulting in the whole assembly falling off. If yours is loose then don't drive the car like it as the assembly can fall out whilst moving, destroying the mirror assembly. Lee Mitchell has some pictures on his web site. Not Problems Noises The close ratio box (also used in the 111S) has always been noisier than the old wide ratio unit used in the base S1. Gearbox wine/chatter on over run in 5th is common. There is also a resonant frequency at which the gearselector mechanism inside the gearbox creates a noise, which is transmitted into the cabin through the gear linkage. Lotus did develop a fix for it but the loss of gearchange definition was too high and we it wasn't adopted it as a result. The S2 can also suffer from one or two rattles, the most common one being the door rattling on the striker pin (hold the door down and see is the noise goes away). This can be fixed by raising the striker 1mm higher. The hood tensioners can also rattle (is the noise only present with the roof off?) and the handbrake cables can also rattle on the undertray. There is a dealer fix for this latter one. Temperature A fair number of new owners are reporting high coolant temperatures being reached in the S2, some as high as 107°C. The S2 manual does state these high temperatures as being normal, with the pressurised system not allowing the water to boil until 120°C is reached. The S1 (118bhp standard car) behaviour is as follows and I'm not yet sure why the S2 is so different: Normal working temperature is about 87°C. It can go down to 84°C when on the motorway due to the increased airflow over the radiator. It can go up to 90°C when stationary for a short while. When you're in traffic the temperature will slowly climb until the fan is activated. The fan activates at about 100 °C. Above this temperature the readout will start to flash. Once activated, the fan stops when 93°C is reached.
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