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I did not see it. I have the part number for the valve...I just need the part number for the switch.
I do have a complete kit here somewhere...I just cannot find it!!!!!!
And I would not do it without Tony's permission.
Heater Core Bypass Mod (Tony Wa) [How To]
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I do have a complete kit here somewhere...I just cannot find it!!!!!!
And I would not do it without Tony's permission.
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2,771 Posts
The parts list was in the first post of this thread, and later updated in post #69. I didn't see a part number or source for the potentiometer switch, although there was a lot of discussion about it in various posts between 46 and 69. Everything else that didn't have a part number in his list were just generic parts.
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2,847 Posts
Tony sent me the potentiometer seperate from the kit and I still have it in my parts collection. I don't remember it having any numbers or identification on it, however I will take a good look at it tonight when I get home from work and report back any I.D. markings I might find on it.
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2,963 Posts
To people that have installed this:
When you start up the car and drive it with the bypass on and the a/c off and then turn the bypass off, does the vent temperature go up right away?
I tried it and it doesnt seem to make much difference. Also if I drive and have the bypass off and then turn it on, it doesnt seem to make the vent temperature any lower, or does it take a while for the temperature to cool down. This is without the a/c on. Or does the bypass work best when the AC is on?
I tested it once with the a/c on and drove for 50 miles with the bypass off, 50 miles with the bypass on, and then 50 miles with the bypass off, and didnt notice much of a change in vent temperature, but I was heading south and the outside temperature probably was 15 degrees warmer at the end of the test and the sun was constantly beating down on the vent area. I noticed that the temperature in the car with the roof on and the windows up can get to around 120 degrees, when it is sitting in a parking lot, so maybe starting from a garage temperature in the shade at 80 degrees into the hot sun at 95 degrees makes the vent get that much warmer. Or maybe the a/c cycles off and on at different times to prevent freezeup and maybe I was getting a temperature reading from when it wasnt cycling on.
I have a Radio Shack indoor/outdoor thermometer and the outside temperature only updates once a minute and noticed that when I stick the outside probe in hot water, it takes about 10 minutes for it to return to the normal temperature so I may not be getting up to date figures, and the outdoor temperature always reads about .9- 1.1 degrees lower than the indoor room temperature when it is left in a room with the outside probe next to it.
I also noticed that when I play a CD, the radio generates a lot of heat and noticed that the radio is right under the vent, so maybe this was increasing the vent temperature too since the radio might have heated up as I was driving.
I will have to try it at night when the sun doesnt hit the vent with the radio off and get a new thermometer to see if that is the problem. I noticed the little lever moves, so the valve is working.
When you start up the car and drive it with the bypass on and the a/c off and then turn the bypass off, does the vent temperature go up right away?
I tried it and it doesnt seem to make much difference. Also if I drive and have the bypass off and then turn it on, it doesnt seem to make the vent temperature any lower, or does it take a while for the temperature to cool down. This is without the a/c on. Or does the bypass work best when the AC is on?
I tested it once with the a/c on and drove for 50 miles with the bypass off, 50 miles with the bypass on, and then 50 miles with the bypass off, and didnt notice much of a change in vent temperature, but I was heading south and the outside temperature probably was 15 degrees warmer at the end of the test and the sun was constantly beating down on the vent area. I noticed that the temperature in the car with the roof on and the windows up can get to around 120 degrees, when it is sitting in a parking lot, so maybe starting from a garage temperature in the shade at 80 degrees into the hot sun at 95 degrees makes the vent get that much warmer. Or maybe the a/c cycles off and on at different times to prevent freezeup and maybe I was getting a temperature reading from when it wasnt cycling on.
I have a Radio Shack indoor/outdoor thermometer and the outside temperature only updates once a minute and noticed that when I stick the outside probe in hot water, it takes about 10 minutes for it to return to the normal temperature so I may not be getting up to date figures, and the outdoor temperature always reads about .9- 1.1 degrees lower than the indoor room temperature when it is left in a room with the outside probe next to it.
I also noticed that when I play a CD, the radio generates a lot of heat and noticed that the radio is right under the vent, so maybe this was increasing the vent temperature too since the radio might have heated up as I was driving.
I will have to try it at night when the sun doesnt hit the vent with the radio off and get a new thermometer to see if that is the problem. I noticed the little lever moves, so the valve is working.
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831 Posts
My heater bypass
I've taken a different approach to the heater bypass. In summary I used the stock hot/cold servo to control a standard heater ball valve.
1. Plumb in a standard heater ball valve into the coolant line near the heater core.
2. Remove the heater flapper door drive servo, and modify to attach to the above ball valve. Bascially this involved making a bracket which attached the ball valve to server, and a part which connected the servo output shaft to ball valve shaft.
3. Remove / alter the heater flapper door so that the airflow is AC evaporator -> heater code -> vehicle. This is more like a normal vehicle. (Actually I swapped to an alumimum heater core and re-made the whole HVAC box).
4. Modify the hot/cold servo motor so that its range (from the hot/cold variable resistor) matches the ball valve. Bascially this was trial and error with different resistors to limit the range of the servo from 90 degrees to about 75 degrees.
I'll let you know how it works in about 6 months.
I've taken a different approach to the heater bypass. In summary I used the stock hot/cold servo to control a standard heater ball valve.
1. Plumb in a standard heater ball valve into the coolant line near the heater core.
2. Remove the heater flapper door drive servo, and modify to attach to the above ball valve. Bascially this involved making a bracket which attached the ball valve to server, and a part which connected the servo output shaft to ball valve shaft.
3. Remove / alter the heater flapper door so that the airflow is AC evaporator -> heater code -> vehicle. This is more like a normal vehicle. (Actually I swapped to an alumimum heater core and re-made the whole HVAC box).
4. Modify the hot/cold servo motor so that its range (from the hot/cold variable resistor) matches the ball valve. Bascially this was trial and error with different resistors to limit the range of the servo from 90 degrees to about 75 degrees.
I'll let you know how it works in about 6 months.
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2,847 Posts
The potentiometer from Tony has the marking CTS (the manufacturer's name) on the front and R1378550 as well as 37-2022 on the back side. It looks like one of their 270 series potentiometers, but I can't tell for sure. Hope this information is of some use to you guys.
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2,933 Posts
I considered the circulating pump. I'm sure Lotus installed it for a reason.
I don't remember off hand but I think it only comes on when the temp is about
210 or something. The highest temp I've seen on my car was 206, which is nothing IMO. Can't see much benefit circulating water though the heat soaked heater core anyway. I bypassed the heater core 2-1/2 years ago. No problems that I know of. I did get real cold in the car last winter. I was at an autocross when it was 40 degrees out.
Just an option, no warranty expressed or implied. :shrug:
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Once you let the hot water into the heater core, I imagine it would take 30-60 minutes for it to cool back down.
Turn the bypass on immediately after starting the car, unless you need some heat. The vent temp will be within 10 degrees of ambient. The a/c will work well with the top on and windows closed. I had the windows open the other day, and the a/c had to be on MAX to keep up, even bypassed.
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2,591 Posts
Experimentation today leads me to believe it only takes 10 minutes or so.
Anyway, 9 months after buying and receiving the kit, I installed it today. I figured it would take a skilled person 3 hours. So I gave myself 6. For a variety of reasons, it took closer to 15 hours over 2 days. Some of the time spent was driving to various stores.
Reason 1 (guesstimate 3 hours lost): Failure to follow the instructions on the CD that came in the kit. Whoops. I didn't realize that there were variations. This thread has several versions in it.
Reason 2 (guesstimate 3 hours lost): Lotus inconsistent use of wire colors. When Tonywa28 mentions "2 yellow wires" near the ignition switch, I found 5.
Reason 3 (guesstimate 1 hour lost): Not having all the right tools, in particular a multimeter for troubleshooting.
Reason 4 (guesstimate 2 hours lost): Having to put my variation on the kit. I decided early on to make the switch "fit in" to interior, instead of concealing it. I didn't do so well. The idea was to get a 3 button switch panel that the driving lights kit uses and build my switch into that. There are two primary obstacles to that:
a) The light switches that come with the car are MOMENTARY. The logic is controlled by a computer. The switch just provides a momentary pulse of input. The kit requires an actual on-off switch. I experimented with a switch (thanks, Fred) and some logic pieces, but it turned into a huge hassle.
b) The second obstacle was finding or creating a gel for a light to shine through to the right of the button, to match the other gels above.
You can see the results below. The good news: I can buy a button (for $60!) to match the stock button. The other good news is that there I think I can replace the stock gels with similar (but different colored) lights. I think white for headlights and red for parking lights would work.
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2,591 Posts
Oh yeah...the light I installed interferes with the operation of the solenoid if placed in series . You have to do it in parallel.
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3,046 Posts
Yes....
I agree....but mine takes at least 30 min to cool off...
Anyways.....
So...I am ready to put some of these Kits together...
Give me some idea of the quantity, the expected demand or the interest in some more of these..... I need to price out....then I will give you the price and you can then commit. Keep in mind that I may not be as alturistic as Tony W and I want to make a few bucks along the way.
I have spoken with Tony and he told me to go and make them up...
Let me know
Email me at tony ***** at***** lotusowners.com
I agree....but mine takes at least 30 min to cool off...
Anyways.....
So...I am ready to put some of these Kits together...
Give me some idea of the quantity, the expected demand or the interest in some more of these..... I need to price out....then I will give you the price and you can then commit. Keep in mind that I may not be as alturistic as Tony W and I want to make a few bucks along the way.
I have spoken with Tony and he told me to go and make them up...
Let me know
Email me at tony ***** at***** lotusowners.com
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2,591 Posts
I think you start a new thread. Bump.
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Yes and no. The head and parking light switch are momentary, as is the AC switch.
However, the switch used for the installation of the factory Driving Lights is an on/off switch, not a momentary. One of them could be used...
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2,591 Posts
Fred Zust sent me one...it is a momentary switch, pretty sure after testing. See my other threads about switches for a possible solution suggested by jim-clayton..
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12,374 Posts
Well, I've tested my driving light switch, and it is definitely not momentary. Others have accidentally swapped headlight and driving lights switches when installing the driving lights, and discovered that things don't function properly until they swap them back around and put the on/off switch on the driving light circuit.
The factory driving light switch IS NOT a momentary switch.
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2,591 Posts
Maybe Fred sent me a different switch.
Why don't you sell me yours? $20?
/kidding kidding
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6,961 Posts
Interestingly enough, the wiring diagram definitely shows the headlight and parking light switches as maintained (on/off). However, what is not shown, is the logic circuitry in the switch pack module, that could very well mean that these switches are momentary.
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12,374 Posts
Well, if you think of how the headlight switches work, it becomes apparent that they are momentary and the logic is in the switch pack module.
If you push the parking light button, the parking light turn on. Pushing it again turns them off.
Now, push the head light button. The head lights and the parking lights turn on. Push it again, and only the head lights turn off. You have to turn off the parking lights by pushing the button (that you didn't push to turn them on). The parking light switch is not "latching" in an on or off position.
The only way the above works is that they parking lights switch has to be a momentary switch sending a "signal" to the the switch pack module. Since both the parking and head light switches are the same, they are both momentary (Also this has been confirmed by people that have accidentally switch them when installing the driving lights).
If I remember correctly the AC button works similar. If you push the button without the fans on, nothing happens. Turn on the fans, and then the button and the AC turns on. If it was a latching switch (on/off switch) then pushing the button should leave it in the "on" position and the AC would turn back on if you turned on the fans. Additionally, if you have fans on and AC on, the AC on is canceled if you turn off the ignition, then turn it back on. Again, it's a momentary switch.
Now, the function of the driving light switch does "latch". Push the button, and the driving lights come on with the high beams. Turn off the head lights and/or the ignition, and when you turn the high beams on again, the driving lights will be on. That switch "latches" - on or off - and stays that way untill you push the button again.
And again, it's all been tested by people with multi-meters to check continuity...
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