The Lotus Cars Community banner
  • Hi there! Why not register as a user to enjoy all of the benefits of the site? You may register here. When you register, please pick a username that is non-commercial. If you use a name that appears on any search engine commercially, you must pick another name, whether it applies to you or not. Commercial usernames are for supporting vendor use only. If you want to become a supporting vendor and grow your business, please follow this link. Thanks!

New-to-me Elise. Questions under the front clam

1K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  E.Murray 
#1 ·
I just got a 2005 Elise delivered. I have zero history, so before a first drive, I'm doing all the maintenance things on it. I ran into a few questions when looking under the front clam.

  • First, there are plastic fittings going into the brake master cylinder. Both are broke (meaning the reservoir is empty). Glad I didn't try to drive it... :eek: When I look up master cylinders, the pictures don't show these plastic pieces. But I can't find them separately, either. Where can I get them? I'm dead in the water without this.
  • Second, there is a box under there that is broken/melted (see attached picture). What is this?
  • Finally, when looking in front of the tire in the passenger's side (right) wheel well, I can see an AC line. It looks like there is a plug or something in it which might be broken. What is this? (see attached)

It looks like I'm also going to need the torx-style tool to pull the wheels off since the car didn't come with a tool kit. If anybody has ideas on where to buy one, I'm all ears.
Thanks!
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
1. Are the lines broken or just not plugged in, they actually come in and out of the reservoir pretty easy. If they are broke I think you're going to have to get a new reservoir if you're in a hurry but id doesn't NEED to be OEM.
2. That looks like a resistor pack box that has been relocated to that area so when it fails in the future its not a 6 hour job to change it.
3. That is a AC service port, that has been bent for sure, but if it's not leaking then it is what it is.

Someone will come on here with the tool available for sale They are in the $20s normally. I just use studs and nuts now.
 
#5 ·
So will the plastic pieces come with the reservoir rather than the master cylinder?
Where to the resistor packs come from (I'm assuming not OEM since it looks added on)?
I thought maybe the part in the AC line was a pressure switch or something with the electrical connection broken off. The line looks much more bent in the picture than it is, so I'm not concerned about that. I just don't have working AC, and am trying to hunt obvious stuff first.
Thanks for the replies.
 
#3 ·
Note to new Elise & Exige Owners:


1. These cars have large (i.e. dangerous) blind spots. Multivex mirrors are NLA, but RLS (Really Light Stuff) offers very good tape-on replacements.


2. The horns are way too weak (quiet). There’s an inverse relationship: smaller the car, louder the horn needs to be.

Get something such as a Stebel Nautilus.

Stock: “Excuse me”


Stebel: “HONK! LOOK OUT!”

Remove the stock horn; replace with louder.

(I drive with my finger on the horn button in any traffic. Iffy situations, my headlights are on.

Stay to the left of traffic, i.e. avoid passing on the right if you can.

Stop way behind trucks, SUVs, etc. Some have blindspots >50’. )


3. The early cars came with misaimed and dim headlights. If you drive at night, convert to HIDs. While better than stock halogen bulbs are available, HIDs throw more light. Stay around 5000k.


4. Ensure your car has had the work required by the recall for oil line fittings done. You could lose an engine and/or spin in your own oil.

5. The best transmission lube I’ve found is Redline MT-90 plus a little Power Punch Extreme Gear Oil Additive. (Note that it takes two changes to get rid of the previous lube.)

a) Early cars have wobbly shift towers. Look up Stan’s Mod (bolt and spacer; http://www.billswebspace.com/ShifterReinforcement.pdf) and

And, use:
Re-Enforcer long thru bolts that terminate under car and tie down the tower:
https://www.inokinetic.com/lotus/re-enforcer?category=Transmission

These (lube, mods) make a huge change in shifting.


6. As per some engine builders on these sites, wait AT LEAST 20 minutes after coolant has reached full operating temp before engaging cam switchover.

For street cars, consider removing one or both oil coolers. Some cover them.


7. Rear toe-links can loosen and break with disastrous results. You can check tq periodically, or use Nordlock washers. Best is conversion to better engineered brace, such as BOE’s InoKinetic’s for two examples.


8. While under the car with panel off, look around for hoses and wires chafing their way to failure. That’s how this was found:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f311/cooling-ticking-timebomb-how-your-cooling-u-tube-47232/

9. The stock radiators are prone to leaking where the end caps meet the metal part. Keep an eye on this. Most of us use single-pass all-aluminum radiators.

10. When your wheel well liner comes loose, skip the lame plastic rivet and use Well-Nuts instead.

11. Life will be better if you disable the auto-arming alarm function on the earlier cars. You won’t have to press a button to start the car. Instructions:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f320/remote-key-fob-immobilizer-misc-alarm-programming-70940/


12. These cars cannot be left off a Battery Tender for weeks at a time. Unless dead batteries are a particular joy of yours. Buy one right away. There are numerous threads here about which ppl use and like.


13, Some on this site are a bit obsessed with hockey pucks for lifting the car. Don’t use these. Too hard and slippery, generally, and too small a surface area. Use a piece of wood, as your hero does.

14. Visit the Uber Thread

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/elise-exige-uberpost-read-everything-you-need-know-here-25131/

15. Most parts on the car are made by Toyota and others, so buying things like a/c compressors, engine parts, etc. is wildly expensive when purchased thru Lotus.
Toyota dealers, auto parts stores are way less expensive.

16. The soft high-grip tires on most of our cars lose much of that grip when temperatures drop below 50 F. I know of too many ppl who spun their cars when not remembering this. I use hi-performance all-seasons.

Note that many summer tires cannot even be stored in temps below 20 F.

-----

Plus, “How to bleed brakes”:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f101/how-bleed-brakes-241138/


How to Search:

For future reference: Don't use the search on this site. Simply use Google and end the search text with "site:lotustalk.com". E.g.
Transmission Fluid change what bolt site:lotustalk.com no space betw site:lotustalk.com
 
#6 ·
The resistor pack is to set the fan speeds on the HVAC fan. They fail in their oem location so people move them.

Why doesn't AC work. You need to give more to work with, no fan, not cold, compressor never kicks on, etc? I don't think there are any electrical connections to the AC piping up there? It's been a while since it was in my car.

Im not 100% sure what pieces that are broke I guess. Pictures man, try to help.
 
#9 ·
I haven't gotten into sorting through the AC yet. For now, I'm just trying to identify parts and get an assessment. I'll do my research when I get to it and ask more specific questions. So if the fan speeds work, this resistor pack is ok? Thanks for the answers.
 
#7 ·
I got a new torx-style lug nut tool from Lotus of Greenville. If you don't want to wait for somebody on LotusTalk to sell you their's, Lotus of Greenville will order it for you and mail it to you. I honestly can't remember what I paid for it, but I don't remember it being stupid expensive. Ask for Robert Davies.

Robert Davies
Maserati Lotus Greenville
1450 Laurens Road
Greenville, SC 29607
(864) 255-3593 Office
(864) 235-3068 Fax
www.maseratilotusgreenville.com
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top