Has anyone experienced/fixed a loud squeak from the engine compartment?. It appears after the car warms up and gets progressively worse. I would not normally worry about a sqeak but this is really loud and I start to anticipate it and it is driving me loopy!Rob Gibbons (new member in Essex)
Where abouts in Essex Rob? Nr Dunmow?
It appears your exige is fitted with the machine that goes ping.Holding thumbs there are some Monty Python fans who will get it.
Jed,I go arround Dunmow quite a lot. A pal of mine lives in Little Dunmow and is building a Cobra replica (�8k for the engine alone!).I have also bought Triumphs from Ongar Motor Cycles, but that is not neccessarily a reccomendation!.I have found lots of potential squeak areas that I have fixed, but the original one is still there!.
RobSounds like it could be the infamous “yip”!There does not appear to be a definitive cure (even Lotus can’t figure it out!), but I found that tightening the bolts (allen key type)which fasten the rear clam & roof, helped![This message has been edited by Pesky (edited 18 February 2002).]
The first two replies made me chuckle.There’s poor Rob with a query on his car and all he gets is quizzes on location and some Monty humour!My dealer thinks the Yip comes from the suspension.Rob, do you think the sound is an engine one? My fan belt has been slipping which gives me a squeak…but I guess you’d know that noise.
IDG,after I had posted my note I saw that a similar point had been raised last year. So today I loosened all the hardtop/clamshell bolts, greased the rear window sealing rubber with vaseline (the wife’s I hasten to add!), and went for a drive. Two and a half miles and the squeak is there.Took a pal of mine out he he thinks it comes from his seat - no way, but it shows that the sound is omin directional (?) . But we both agree it is mettalic. The sound is too ‘sharp’ and the note it strikes too ‘pure’ for glassfibre.Dropped the rear undertray. The catalyst is sawing through the undertray at the rear and the handbrake cable at the front.The sealing strip on the rear has charred and broken up and the tray if rubbing on the captive female fastners. But whilst the tray is down I see that the exhaust has got a flexible - the Lotus Service Centre at Ketteringham said it hasn’t. Anyway, cleared the undertray from the catalyst and wrapped the handbrake cable in rubber. Also replaced the rear sealing rubber and went for a drive.IT STILL SQUEAKS!Tomorrow (I’m retired and I think its a good job) i’m going to spray the flexible with a drying graphite/copper lubricant and at the same time I will check the suspension. I recall seeing a ‘witness mark’ on the adjusting collar a couple of weeks back, but it didn’t strike a cord then. I cant see how the heat would affect it, but that rear end has got some really wierd heat paths.I will find it.Best regards and thanks for help.Rob Gibbons
My rear near-side wheel arch liner has a hole worn through it as a result of contact with the tyre. Probably cause of yipping!The yip has gone now - I guess because the hole has got so big.
Thanks Matthew,no signs of tyre contact on my rear liners. I’ve been under it all morning and have so far found the rear brake hose (coiled covers) have been rubbing on the wishbones and the speedo transponder was catching the coil spring.I’m not getting obsessive about this. Oh no.RegardsRob Gibbons