Lotus 190

Dear all,

on my 190 Exige, the revs refuse to fall to idle speed after giving the car a (serious outing). Has anybody experieinced this problem and if so what is the sollution. (emerald will not work as it is an A/C car)
Your help is appreciated.

Tom

Take a closer look at the throttle bodiesand attack them with a can of spray grease. Perhaps the heat is causing them to seize up?

99% sure Randy is right. Lotus replaced some under warranty IIRC.

Yeah, Lotus replaced mine with a reconditioned unit which was even worse. It then siezed completely at full throttle at 120mph. Fun. Not.
Get it fixed before it gets worse.

Are you talking about a slow return to idle, or does it come back down quickly but to a high rpm?

Other ideas:

  • The Throttle Position Sensor doesn’t like getting hot and can do funny things (usually effects restarting when hot)
  • Isn’t there an idle sensor down near the rear diffuser that gets mucky at times (anyone)? That caused mine to cut-over when hot

Ian

Thks everybody,

The idle speed is just under 2000rpm. It returns quickly to that level and only when the engine is hot; as long as the engine is cool idel speed is the regular lumpy 1000 rpm.

I will clean up the tb and see wether this does the trick otherwise: Lotus your call!

Tom

Hi Tom,

Another suggestion is the IAC valve (idle air control?) - it is mounted below the throttle bodies and has a blue pipe connected to it - they regularly seize. Removing it and giving it a thorough clean should help, though if you can see scoring on the inside of the chamber then it’ll need replacing - I recall them being less than �40 from Lotus dealerships and only about an hour labour to fit by your local friendly mechanic. The symptoms are high revs at tickover particularly when hot. If you search this site then you’ll find plenty of info - one option being to remove it all together!!

IAC valve

That’s the one I was trying to remember, thanks Tom!

It would cause mine to cut out after a hard track session.

Ian