I am sporting a little patch of oil on the garage floor under where the oil cooler is located (assuming they are front nearside), and a oily deposit where the wheel arch liner meets the clam at the bottom.
I have not heard of this as a ‘known problem’ … anybody else ?
My oil level on the dipstick is fine.
So I am appealing for input from those who know better than me on such subjects.
Sounds like the oil cooler is the culprit. Could be something as simple as one of the connections loose.
If you take the wheel arch liner out you’ll get a better look at what is wrong.
If it’s the rad knackered, don’t buy new they cost a fortune, I have some here.
[quote=TarmacTerrorist]Sounds like the oil cooler is the culprit. Could be something as simple as one of the connections loose.
If you take the wheel arch liner out you’ll get a better look at what is wrong.
If it’s the rad knackered, don’t buy new they cost a fortune, I have some here.
[/quote]
Fortune Gav? �170 + vat
So an update…
With thanks to Gav, the oil cooler was delivered to Chris Foulds for fitting, and I took the car along expecting a fairly easy fit.
Oh dear…It was not at all an easy fit, but it could have been so much better…
You see, the front clam had to come off…
OK. I half expected that, but that is where the problems began.
The car is not yet 5 years old, but unfortunately earlier in its life I had JCT fit new grills and tow post (under warranty). They of course took it to AutoBody Care.
When fitting the front clam back on, they must have used no copperslip at all, and did the bolts up as tight as they possibly could. Consequently, four bolts didnt want to come out. After much trying the fixings spun in the clam, which if you didnt know look like this (nearly circular) and are bonded in with good old sikaflex. It really doesnt take much for them to spin. One of the bolts that didnt want to move was the one nearest the screen (second pic… it is inside that bracket).
Both really bad designs, that with a bit of thought from Lotus could have been so much easier… Remember the bobbins on a 60s Elan ?
In the end we had to grind the head off it, since it is so difficult to get to (It is a lot easier on an S1)
All credit to Chris for getting the job done, because some of those bolts were an absolute pig to get at, but I now am lighter to the tune of many hundreds of pounds, all for the want of some grease or copper-slip and a little less force when it was put back together by JCTs body-shop.
…
Hey glad you have got it sorted now…the thought of oil on the tyres at any time of the year can be quite intimidating.
JCT…maybe the less said the better…
On a positive note your oil will be that much cleaner now!
Are the flat sides of the nuts meant to butt up against anything and so stop them turning?
Sounds like you had a nightmare matey. Glad its all sorted now!
Your welcome 