[cjac]

Greetings Gents:

As a new Esprit owner I am seeking the collective wisdom on replacing parts as per a timing belt renewal. The existing belt has approx 81oo miles on it but is approx 8 years old, which is a major concern for peace of mind motoring imho. Obviously the existing timing belt and tensioner needs to go; but is there a laundry list of itmes the mechanic should replace: ie, pulleys, water pump, drive belts, rad hoses etc??? Is there a full kit offered by a parts supplier for timing belt change outs?

Also, any suggestions on a reputable Esprit parts supplier would be greatly appreciated? I am hoping to avoid the local Lotus dealership if possible.

Any other sage advice?


Many thanks!

 

[MidLifeZ]

JAE
JAE - Vintage and late model Lotus car parts specialists

 

[sleekgt]

[snip]
Obviously the existing timing belt and tensioner needs to go; but is there a laundry list of itmes the mechanic should replace: ie, pulleys, water pump, drive belts, rad hoses etc??? Is there a full kit offered by a parts supplier for timing belt change outs?

Also, any suggestions on a reputable Esprit parts supplier would be greatly appreciated? I am hoping to avoid the local Lotus dealership if possible.
[snip]

Click on my 'garage' under my avatar - you'll see what I had done on an 88 with a 23 year old OVERDUE Service C - timing belt, water pump, fuel pumps, etc.

JAE supplied the bulk of my Service C items plus other vendors through my mechanic.

 

[89.5 Esprit SE]

JAE is a good parts supplier.

You need to replace the timing belt and check the tensioner.
Tensioner should be very smooth, if it is it can be reused.

The belt can be blue or black, the blue belt is more prone to belt whine, but in theory will last longer.

There is no need to replace any other items at the front of the motor. Other belts and hoses should be checked.

As to the water pump, depends on age and mileage, but they don't fail that often.

Pulleys are not usually an issue.

As a point of info we recently installed a new blue belt and tensioner that resulted in a horrible squeal, changing to a black belt and different tensioner eliminated the squeal. We have not yet determined if the problem was the blue belt or the tensioner. We have installed 4 other blue belts with no squeal.

Randy