Had a big scare the other night. Just completed a spirited drive of about 10 miles back from dinner. Got out, opened the garage door, drove in, noticed large puddle of oil in the driveway and a line of oil leading up to the puddle. Then I looked and there was another pool of oil forming under the Elise.
Since I’d just had the 1K service performed, I thought maybe the drain plug or filter had come loose. So, I quickly got out the manual, read about jacking points, jacked the car up and looked at…aluminum. Also, cool NACA ducts dripping new oil. So, I set the Elise back down and went to the Safeway for oil dry (kitty litter) in the Volvo.
The next day, after consulting this web site, I removed the engine access panel and the diffuser. The plug and filter were nice and tight. While I was wiping up the oil, I noticed that both oil cooler lines where very loose where they attach near the oil filter. I drained the motor oil and got about one gallon, so I only lost about a quart. The oil light never came on. The leak began in my driveway. No damage to the engine. Very lucky!
With the fittings finger tight and filled with new oil, I trailered the Elise to the dealership. They fixed the problem (removed, taped and torqued the fittings), cleaned off more oil and gave the car a clean bill of health. Hope that’s the last of our manufacturer defects!
Sam