A suggestion for when you fix it. Move the tensioner to the passenger side. This way you can unlatch the roof from the driver side without eating the gasket under the soft top. The tensioner is on the wrong side for American cars.

 

Been there, done that, and...

There are 2 designs for that cable. The early ones had a threaded tensioning fitting on one end and a fixed swagged fitting (that's the term for it) at the other. The later design has fixed fittings at both ends and the adjustment is in the middle.

If your cable broke at the threaded end I think you'd have a hard time making a DIY project of it. If the cable broke at the fixed end, you might be able to cobble something together.

Mine broke at the threaded end so I bought a new one from Lotus. I think it was around $70-80. There are different part #'s for the front and back cables.

Threading the cable through the sleeve could be tricky, but if you have the broken cable in place, you can connect it to the new one and pull it through.

Good luck.

 

My car had that problem when I bough the car. The part from Lotus is not that expensive if I remember correctly.

The fun part was when I ordered the cable, the parts guy got on the phone and was talking with Lotus to check on availability. The conversation was great. Sort of went:
"Yep, Ok, I see, Ok. Let me tell him." puts them on hold and tells me, "I can get the cable but.... Bob, who makes the cable at the factory, is at his nieces wedding. There will be a week delay on getting it"

I knew I was not driving a mass produced car at that point.

 

Which side does everyone start and end from to prevent wear when putting the soft top on and off?

 

The first side put into the slots is the driver side, the passenger side is clicked into place second. This creates the least wear on the roof gasket. When removing, you unlatch the passenger side, then, once the tension is released, you undo the driver side. Obviously this works well when the driver side is the same as the American passenger side. The drivers in England can easilly pop in and out by simply undoing their side.

 

Thanks. To be clear, when you refer to "driver side", this is for left hand drive cars, correct?

 

Thats the way I've always done it, just wanted to make sure.

 

I just took my soft too apart this morning to fix the liner. It was coming apart on the pasenger side. It was fairly easy to work on.

 

My rear cable broke and I ordered the replacement part. How the hell do you thread it through the "sleeve" it came out of? I tried a coat hanger and string. The sleeve is small and the new cable will not go through because of the adjuster and/or the connectors on the ends. I took it apart in the middle by the adjuster and still can't get it through. Ideas?

 

This might help:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f101/replacing-rear-cable-convertible-top-31340/


How I found the threads:

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

 

Thanks. I will give that a shot. I tied some strong nylon string to the adjuster but there is simply no way to pull it through. It is very frustrating and I have to stop myself often to keep from breaking something!

 

I thought I'd give my instructions for when I replaced my cable. I used the MWR ones.

-don't bother trying to pull the new cable through the old one, just pull out the old cable (do not through away)
-unscrew the adjuster end of the MWR cable
-the head is tight but once you push it through , it should slide in smoothly to the other end
-you're going to encounter resistance when trying to get the head to pop out
-take the adjuster screw and put it through to screw into the head that is "stuck"
-pull out the head via the adjuster screw
-as a starting point, use the old cable for reference to adjust the cable length
use the instructions outlined here to screw in the new cable

Fixing a broken roof cable - TechWiki

wiki.seloc.org