Hi there, I finally bought myself a lovely S1 a month or two back. I’ve only recently had the time to start using it and it seems to be ‘playing up’ a little…
It started a couple of weeks back, when the car didn’t start, the engine just turned over but did not fire… I noticed the fuel pump didn’t prime when the ignition turned on, and then finally found a loose wire that had been spliced - I can only assume this was done when the Emerald ECU was installed. So I re soldered the wire, and it has run pretty well so far, but what I have noticed is that the relay for the ECU (the top one of the four behind the seat) gets really really hot… Is this normal? Does anyone know what relay these should be? as all four of mine are the same.
If anyone knows/knew the car - it could be useful… Reg No. Y104 JTM, Cobalt blue, No.437.
Hi,
I bought this car new from London Lotus in March 2001 and sold it in April 2012.
If I could have brought it back to the USA I would not have sold it!
The emerald ECU was installed by Dave Andrews in August 2006.
I had the immobilzer replaced at the Lotus factory in April 2010.
The alternator was replaced November 2011 at 23,392 miles.
A new Head gasket and remote thermostat in September 2011 at 23,130 miles.
Thanks for the info - The car certainly is very nice indeed, as i had been looking for a good one ‘on and off’ for 5 years +. Interestingly enough the prices don’t seem to have budged much at all in this time.
Maybe i will call Dave Andrews to see if he can shed any light on the hot relay!
The brown LR relays have ( should have ) suppression diodes in them and they run a little hotter … but really the only reason it would run hot is if the current is very high or some contact in the relay is bad.
Did you swop it out for another relay or change them around and see if the problem follows the relay or the circuit ?
I would be checking contacts in the relay box if the fault stays in the circuit and changing the relay if it follows the relay as a first step. Then checking for any bad connections that would be creating a problem
Thanks, I have swapped them about, but not had a chance to give the car a good run since - so I guess this is the next step. I’ve got to run out to the Haynes motor museum next week, which is a real nice cross-country trip, so that’ll be a good test!