Its back, and then gone again....

General General Lotus Talk
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Well, I finally got the car back again yesterday. Many of you will know about the ‘fun’ I have had with my little Lotus. All looked well, everything worked, the car ooked great and I had really forgotten how much fun they were to drive, the sun was shining and I thought I would take it on a little driveUNTIL…The fg bd tg cg wg S*g car broke down! Would you believe it! After sooooooo many months being rebuilt a variety of times, it decided to throw up a bloody ignition problem! It just died on me whilst pulling out of a junction!It was close to a scene from Fawlty Towers with me about to beat the car senseless with a stick!Yet again, I had the all too familiar site of the car being dragged onto a flat bed to be taken back to the garage…not happy, not happy at all… Again, I had to convince the flatbed driver that the car would just slide on with the smallest of scrapes on the number plate (after all, I am kind of an aficienado with pick up trucks now!)However, having had the quickshift and UCR fitted and only an hour or so to play with it I can’t really comment that much on it except it does change gear very sweetly indeed. It snicks into gear really nicely, and the throw is near to half what it usually is. It is a real real joy to change gears just for the hell of it! It keeps its revs much better whilst accelerating, and it is almost like an automatic as you go through the gears and revs! Very nice indeed.You do have to rev it much more. If you want a quick getaway, you have to hold the revs much much higher than normal. Similarly, when deciding to put your foot down, you have to dump it a good few gears to get the revs up before it starts to go. Otherwise it tends to get a bit bogged down.Would definately recommend the quickshift kit to anyone out there. As for the UCR, haven’t driven it enough to be able to compare, but so far, it seems good.If only it will run long enough!

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TubbsReally, really sorry to hear about your continuing saga [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/frown.gif[/image]I bet the ignition problem is something dead simple - fingers crossed,anyway.Looking forward to the next report, which hopefully will confirm that all is sorted to your complete satisfaction.

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quote:Originally posted by Mrs Pesky:TubbsReally, really sorry to hear about your continuing saga [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/frown.gif[/image]I bet the ignition problem is something dead simple - fingers crossed,anyway.Looking forward to the next report, which hopefully will confirm that all is sorted to your complete satisfaction.The RAC guy thinks it is the cam timing sensor switch? Think it was this, but can’t remember. Basically, the car starts every now and then, then decides to cut out and lose its ignition. Starts after a while, sometimes, and then dies as soon as you drive it around a bend.At least it didn’t blow up again (yet?)

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TubbsCan’t beleive your bad luck - hope you get it sorted quicklyDavidPS Remind me never to get in a plane with you [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

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Not lucky at all…Do u know the ratios of your UCR g/b?Nicolas

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quote:Originally posted by Nicolas:Not lucky at all…Do u know the ratios of your UCR g/b?NicolasI think it is:1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th3.000 1.937 1.556 1.273 1.0433.923 FINAL DRIVE RATIOFirst might be wrong though. I scribbled these down on a scrap of paper, so they could be the ratios for something else, but think they are correct…

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I bet if you remove that bit of cardboard from the roof…

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quote:Originally posted by Miles:I bet if you remove that bit of cardboard from the roof…Trust me, if you knew what I have been through over the past 5 months…etc… [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]Just top top it all, the car won’t play up on the garage. They have been driving it most of the day and it hasn’t faultered once! Excellent, an intermittent electrical gremlin waiting to pounce when I least want it to - just what I need.I wouldn’t mind but just when you think you have got it sussed and it has finally been fixed, then bam, the little bugger has to play up!Picking it up tomorrow hopefully, expect it to be trailored back some time sat![This message has been edited by Tubbs (edited 03 April 2003).]

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Bloody hell Tubbs how pleased am I that I didn’t buy IPJ’s car!! - you deserve a gong the size of a dinner plate - hope its sorted now and the enjoyment starts tomorrow big time [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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Tubbs,Mine did the curl up and die thing a while ago, luckily only about 100 meters from my house the last time, but they are still heavier than you think when you have to push them.It was the alternator that wasn’t charging and that caused it to just die intermittently, had replaced the battery already but to no avail it was the alternator, have had it fixed and it is fine again.Hope this helpsJason

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quote:Originally posted by JASONR:Tubbs,Mine did the curl up and die thing a while ago, luckily only about 100 meters from my house the last time, but they are still heavier than you think when you have to push them.It was the alternator that wasn’t charging and that caused it to just die intermittently, had replaced the battery already but to no avail it was the alternator, have had it fixed and it is fine again.Hope this helpsJasonCheers, will get them to check it over to see if it charging…

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The saga continues and my levels of sanity ebb away! Lotus ownership is very trying to say the least!The ignition problem that left me stranded did not happen to the garage, they drove it everywhere and it didn’t miss a beat. So I picked it up hoping it was maybe a loose plug or dodgy connection that was a result of sitting around for so long and as usual corrects itself.Hahaha - the world of Lotus motoring is never that simple. Suffice to say, it broke down on the motorway and I just managed to cruise it off onto a sliproad. Hmmmmmmm…the little piece of turd!!! Yet again, my pride and joy laughs in my face as I am stranded on the side of a road, mobile in hand trying to get assistance. (where would we be without them!!)So, it was another call to the garage who by now think I am just taking the **** as it only breaks when I am in it. Thankfully, they came out to take a look as the RAC have already mentioned my car has been trailored way too many times already and I have had issues with AA before from calling them out too many times in the past.Now, after it breaking down again, you would think I am ****ed off, well this is not the case.Fortunately the car would not start on the garage, and after some fumbling around the electrics, it looks like a dodgy ECU connection! Hooray, found the problem. A temporary fix of wedging the ECU with a woolly jumper seemed to get the connection going again and enough to hack it back to the garage.Still no car, but we finally have sourced the problem, and just need to fix it. If very lucky, could get it back tomorrow, but the seats have to come out to get at the ECU again and check the connections.Fingers crossed as the weather looks great for the weekend!PS the UCR and quickshift just feels better and better everytime I have a short blast in it…

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This has all the ingredients of a horror movie, but nah, nobody wud believe it - 2 farfetched… [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]