Flooding

Archives Known Problems
1

I couldn’t start my car yesterday. It seems I flooded the engine the day before by starting it, and stopping it again a few seconds later. (I was just moving the car onto a ramp so I could remove the right hand side wheel speed sensor.) It seems these cars are very prone to flooding if you switch off when the engine is cold. Remember chaps, if you start the motor for any reason, always let it run for at least 10 minutes before shutting down, or you may have to whip the plugs out and clean them.

2

Brendan, would this be the sensor that cuts the fuel on over-run? If so (and please excuse my ignorance) is the “right” side as you look at the car from the front or as if you were sitting in it? As I know both sides actually have a sensor fitted and dont want disconnect the wrong one!..or am I talking crap?

3

Brendan…any chance of posting some pics and telling us what you did to disconnect it - are there male and female parts?

4

Brendan! Wake up!!

5

Well, I’ve now disconected the blue/black connector near the hub on the off-side rear, then just put tape around the ends to stop crap getting in there. The result is loads of pop-crack-bang on the mildest of overrun, which is a lot of fun and keeps those tailgaters at bay! MPG will probably suffer big-time [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]Apparently, you SHOULD NOT do this if you have a cat fitted.

6

For a flooded engine; full throtle depression on startup stops fuel flow.

7

quote:Originally posted by X1GGE:MPG will probably suffer big-time [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]do you mean even further after the 190 upgrade…I haven’t done the sums yet but from a recent trackday I had to refill twice whilst elises were ok with what they arrived with!

8

Let’s compare again. My Exige 177BHP with cat now does between 19.5 and 21.5 MPG at the moment. Rather heavy right foot…

9

Sorry for the late response guys, I’ve been a bit busy for the last couple of days.It’s on the right hand side if you’re sitting in the car. Remove the rear wheel, and you should see the handbrake cable and an electical wire running along the front part of the lower wishbone. There is a connector in the cable. Disconnect this. The end of this cable is attached to the speed sensor. The speed sensor is bolted to a braket which is bolted to the hub. You may as well remove the braket as well while you’re at it. Undo both bolts. You will need a 10mm socket, or you might get away with a spanner, but there’s not much space.I tried the full throttle trick, but it simply did not work.I haven’t noticed any significant change in MPG since (22-29mpg depending on my mood). [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

10

Just goes to show how differently set up the cars are. I have moved my car just ten yards (cold) in order to wash it, without any problems. Also the handbook clearly states that full throttle depression cuts off the fuel. I for one cannot start the engine on full throttle. Also my fuel consumption is around the 30mpg mark and I do not drive tippey-toe.

11

Ken, I also am getting 30mpg, and I also give it some stick on a regular basis. After reading the 192 upgradees reports, and bearing in mind I am hitting around 20-25k p.a., I am reconsidering getting the upgrade, due to lack of fossil fuels left in the earth. (:slight_smile:

12

I’ve got the 190 upgrade, & manage 27 to 33 mpg in normal motorway/town use. A couple of weeks ago, I managed 33mpg on a round trip of 220 miles from Bolton to Birmingham (via M6 & including about 25 miles in Brum itself). I was well chuffed, previously in my EVO VI I would have been lucky to achieve 22 mpg on a similar trip.

13

Sheesh…I don’t know…You spend �30,000 on a car… �400 on an exhaust… hundreds on other performance mods, then you quibble over your fuel consumption !What a frugal car, get a Corsa or something [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/image](All in jest by the way)

14

I know that you have your tongue firmly in one cheek or other, but the point is the wide variation that people are experiencing. I also suspect, by reading some of the other postings, that there is a similar variation in perfomance. 50% difference in fuel consumption may be irrelevant but how would you feel if there is a 50% variation in performance??

15

Same here about 30mpg but i have noticed it is now leaving a black deposit on the ss exhaust after the 190 upgrade. Is this a symptom of running rich?

16

After fitting a Sports exhaust I also get wet sooty streaks on the bodywork below the exhaust. I put it down to condensation forming in the exhaust body. In theory an engine should run slightly weaker if a Sports exhaust is fitted. The reduction in backpressure means that each exhaust stroke clears more of the cylinder contents, allowing more fresh air in on the induction stroke but more partly burnt gas gets out.

17

I’m sure most of the variation in fuel consumption is down to driving style, and what kind of roads you’re driving on. I tend to do a lot of very short journeys (I live 2 miles from where I work) so the engine spends a lot of time running in cold start mode. This is clearly using a lot of fuel. When I do use the car properly, it rarely runs below 5000rpm, and it’s usually on twisty roads, so again it’s going to use some petrol. I’m not surprised I’m getting as low as 22 mpg even without the 190 upgrade. (I’m going to do it soon, I’m feeling the need for more power).Back to the subject of popping on the overrun. Is it normal to get an occasional VERY loud bang on the overrun at high revs?

18

No it certainly isn’t. It is indicative of a fuel mixture igniting in your exhaust. This could be due to poorly seated exhaust valve, burnt exhaust valve, timing out, no spark in cylinder and unburnt fuel mixture being ignited in hot exhaust. Have it investigated, because it can amongst other things split the silencer.

19

Consumption AND performance differences. All right - my consumption figures seem to be the worst of us all (20 mpg or about 12 l / 100 km for an unmodified engine). But I seem to be the only one having about ten to fifteen minutes of uninterrupted topspeed every day. That also seems to be the reason, that the engine eats up oil like kiddies do candy. By the way - I ordered the ELISE supersports exhaust (twin pipes!) yesterday. According to Nick Adams’ posting on the Lotus Life BBS it offers even more noise and reduced backpressure than the Exige’s part. We’ll see. I’ll keep you informed…

20

Yeah, I know! I’ve just read it… and altered my order. So it’s the oval endpipe for me too… grrr