One of my engine mounts has broken (Exige 190, 12,200 miles).Major, visible longtitudinal vibration of of the engine (and the whole car!) at tick over is a bad sign. Vibration through the gear box and regular ticking noise, similar to a small exhaust hole.Various people have confirmed this is a common point of failure on modified K-Series units. It’s a standard Rover part (which is part of the problem). Recommendations from Lotus-types I spoke to today was to add extra welds to the mount before replacing it. Obviously removing the rubber first.I expect I’m one of the first of many here. The Lotus Experience chaps reported this as a not uncommon problem on the cars they use for driver training, and hence are under increased load.Get it looked at straight away. Will place load on other places etc… ie, don’t drive to Norfolk and back.I’ll report back on the fix, cost and related damage.
Matthew, FWIW Lotus’ own Exige suffered this problem at Anglesey on Saturday. They just nipped into their support van and produced a welding torch! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]
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My car is going in tomorrow to investigate a new clonking noise, appeared on the way home from Anglesey. Could be the same prob - will report back.
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Latest update - Engine mounts OKNearside driveshaft - u/sNearside rear wishbone bushes - u/sTo be replaced under warranty.p.s. - Lotus technician could not replicate my 2nd gear woes, as I suspected. He needs to try driving Anglesey with one hand holding it in gear ![This message has been edited by RussT (edited 18 October 2001).]
Glad to hear they’ve identified the problems Russ.I get the feeling that once the warranties have expired, there are going to be quite a few Exiges for sale.
As a follow on from that… How many people have bought the 3 Year extended warranty (and not made it void) as surely these cars will be the ones to have???(Yes, you guessed it… I did)Tim
Ah, but if it’s not gone past the first year anniversary, you can cancel it and get your money back for the warranty (it’s only an insurance policy after all)I did !
Glad to know that your car’s diagnosed and on the mend Russ, and that they’ll cover it under warranty. Have they attributed the cause to anything yet?
A common problem by all accounts. Solution: old bit welded back together and reinforced and the rest of the, presumably recently overworked, engine mounts tightened/checked/sorted. 2.5 hours of labour.It would seem like a sensible thing to have attended to before it goes though. I had no ill effects from the failure but I imagine that this could have been a lot worse. The noise that that accompanied that failure is various bits of shaft rotating on the sub-frame.
quote:Originally posted by Tony Whitter:Glad to know that your car’s diagnosed and on the mend Russ, and that they’ll cover it under warranty. Have they attributed the cause to anything yet?Yes - Absolutely thrashing the boll***s out of it. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]
quote:Originally posted by RussT: Yes - Absolutely thrashing the boll***s out of it. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]That’s funny; I hadn’t noticed that in the list of things covered by the warranty! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]
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