[OneFastLotus]

I had my first service yesterday. We used our own oil, Amsoil 5w40 synthetic. Also I had an oil sample taken for Blackstone Labs so I'll post up my results when I get them back.


My question is, HOW do you read this printout from the ECU download? My service was actually done by someone other than the Lotus Tech and he positive how to read it either, so I thought I'd ask here.

I have throttle Position/ Engine Speed/ Wheel speed/MAP/ Coolant Temp/Oil Temp/ Max Engine Speeds/ Max RPMS. Problem is I dont know how to read/interpret the number rows after the headings.

 

[CAErven]

any way to scan and post it here?

 

[OneFastLotus]

I dont have a scanner, but I know someone who does. They're going to come over a little later and scan it for me. I'll try and post it up.

 

[Randy Chase]

The last section deals with the maximum rpm incidents. Following each rpm was the numbers that were labelled with the description.

So it could say 8400rpms followed by the data of throttle position, engine temperatire, etc. A snapshot of the conditions when you did it.

On mine there were 4 max incidents over 8000rpms when I had it serviced which I was told was fine.

The first part was percentages of time spent at each rpm band.

 

[z06fun]

So do you mean you didn't actually have to take the car to a Lotus dealer to have the 1000 mile service done? If that is the case did you have to have Lotus "OK" the service place or recommend a service place for you or did you just find a place you felt comfy with?
I am really hopeful I don't have to take my car to a Lotus dealer for the first service as it would be about 700 miles round trip to my nearest dealer.
Thanks

 

[OneFastLotus]

So do you mean you didn't actually have to take the car to a Lotus dealer to have the 1000 mile service done? If that is the case did you have to have Lotus "OK" the service place or recommend a service place for you or did you just find a place you felt comfy with?
I am really hopeful I don't have to take my car to a Lotus dealer for the first service as it would be about 700 miles round trip to my nearest dealer.
Thanks

Yes, you have to go to a Lotus dealer.

I drove all day long yesterday to get there..I wouldnt have done this if I didnt have to. Left home at 6am, got back home at 9pm.

There was a mix up ( long story) with my appointment and so when I got there the Lotus tech had gone home. His mother in law had passed away. As such, they very well didnt want to tell me that my roadtrip was in vain, so they had another technician do the service using the Lotus checklist.

 

[OneFastLotus]

Ok. here's my print out. Sorry its so big, I had someone scan it for me and I dont know how to reduce the size. Its actually a long tape, like a grocery store reciept, but I had to break it down into three.

 

[OneFastLotus]

.

 

[OneFastLotus]

..

 

[OneFastLotus]

anything stand out Randy? or anyone who can read it.

 

[Randy Chase]

The first number is the parameter.

The second line is time in HOURS MINUTES SECONDS

So for example, you can see you spent 11 hours, 31 minutes, and 48 seconds between 3500 and 4500 rpms. You spent 21 seconds from 6500-7000rpms and 9 seconds above 7500rpms.

The next section is wheel speed with the same time segments.

Not sure why you have no time for coolant and oil temp ranges.

The last part are snapshots of the 5 highest rpms you had the car at. Each snapshot shows the rpms, coolant temp, oil temp, and time on the engine when it happened.

 

[CAErven]

Thanks Jenn - I'll post mine when I get it so we can compare with other cars to see if something looks off - I'm not a car expert and most of this is Greek or Ebonics at least to me. Appreciate the info - you the man! OOPS.....you the babe

 

[ex-M3]

Looks like you have been treating the car nicely! Looking at what they watch, you can back surmise some of the things they are looking for. Such as:

1) throttle position: 54 sec at 80-100% and only 2.5 min over 65%. Pretty gentle. I may even use a little more throttle to seat the rings when new. I would bet lotus is looking for extended periods over the 50% or 65% range which would be counter to their recommendation not to use WOT until broken in.

2) engine speed. again reasonable. only 9 sec over 7000 rpm. I am surprised there is no 7500+

3) wheel speed: not sure this gives us more info but you only exceeded 90 for about 4 sec. Hopefully this will not be admissable in a court of law but all of this onboard data could be misused by the gov't!:no:

4) MAP - manifold air pressure. 101 kPa is 1 atm (std conditions). This is a vacum measurement and is similar to throttle position. not measured here

5) coolant temp - either not measured or you never exceeded the threshold of 221 deg F., note they are only looking for high coolant temps. Since this would not likely be your fault it may be used for troubleshooting (i.e. blown head gasket)

6) oil temp - only tracking above 284 F. Pretty hot if you get up there

7) The one to worry about. Note the oil temp is not measured. -40 is where deg C and deg F are equal. They are probably looking for high revs at cold temps. Always a bad idea! Note the highest revs occured after 18 hrs. At 30 mph avg this is 540 hrs. So it says you waited to do this.

All in all I think the only items I would be worried about is not too much time at WOT and definitely make sure the oil is up to temp before the revs go high. High revs + cold oil will definitely raise their eyebrows.

I work on jet engines and a HUGE amount of data is recorded to troubleshoot incidents. The pilots are wary because somethimes the data points back to the most unreliable system on the plane/car/train - the nut behind the wheel.

 

[z06fun]

Thanks for the info and the printout. I think there is not time listed for the coolant and the oil because those temps listed are fairly extreme. The lowest, 105 C is about 220 degrees F

 

[OneFastLotus]

the elise wont allow you to go over 6,000 RPMs until its warmed up.

 

[Randy Chase]

the elise wont allow you to go over 6,000 RPMs until its warmed up.

Yes you can... downshift!

 

[OneFastLotus]

Yes you can... downshift!

Ah, Clyde or someone told me that until the elise is warmed up it stops you from going over 6,000rpm. I figured it rev limited you, even on a downshift.

 

[khamai]

Ah, Clyde or someone told me that until the elise is warmed up it stops you from going over 6,000rpm. I figured it rev limited you, even on a downshift.

Rev limiter or not you can over rev any engine by downshifting. Imagine being in 4th gear near redline and you downshifted to 2nd. As soon as you let the clutch out the engine will be FORCED to spin way over redline... the next sound you hear will be EXPENSIVE!!!

The good news... you'll be able to see what went wrong with the engine cuz there will be a large inspection hole in the side of the block!!!

 

[Randy Chase]

Right. That is a common failure point on these engines and one major point of the data.

They will be able to see you downshifted at redline and for a very short time, the engine revved at 14000rpm.

The ECU only stops the car from more throttle at certain rpms.

 

[TimMullen]

Ah, Clyde or someone told me that until the Elise is warmed up it stops you from going over 6,RPM. I figured it rev limited you, even on a downshift.

Nothing can really stop you from over-reving on a downshift unless the computer is controlling the transmission. Rev the engine to 6,000 rpm in third, downshift into second and drop the clutch - the engine will now be doing a quite a few revs over 6,000 rpm...:huh: :no:Not a recommended practice.:no:

The rev limiter will stop yo from going over 6,000 RPM as you accelerate.