Clutch Hose Problem?

[Stevo9]

Evening All,

Can anyone help? I think I know the answer but best to confirm!

I brought my S1 Elise in to town for the first time this morning. After a 45 min commute then about the same sitting in traffic on the way into Edinburgh I started to have real trouble finding gears. The engine was hot with all the stopping and starting - got to 100 before the fan kicked in. By the time I got to the office, I lost all gears. The clutch just wouldnt engage.

Bringing it home tonight was fine - although very 'mashy' until I got out of the city.

After a bit of the research, it sounds like the well known 'red clutch hose' problem. But on looking under the bonnet, I couldnt see a red hose. I have looked in the engine bay and saw this....

Anybody know if this is the problem? If so, is it costly to replace at say SLS, or is it easy to have a go yourself?

Thanks for your help.

Regards

Stephen

[fd]

That's the battery supply cable to the starter motor . . .

Look at this, it's as clear as day as to whether you have the red hose or not . . .

http://elise-faq.info/index.php?title=Gearbox

When posting things like this it helps to give the age of the car etc as it can rule things in and out . . .

As for replacing it yourself, it's simple enough but it depends on how 'handy' you are with fiddly mechanical stuff . . .

Fd

[Jacobite]

Yes that sounds like mine before I had a metal clutch hose fitted
I'm not sure exactly the date Lotus started fitting the metal clutch hose some time in 99 I think, but you will be able to see the plastic hose under the bonnet

Pirtec can make you a hose up for a fraction of the price of the EliseParts one if you can pull the old one through with another hose /cable attached so you can refit it and would reuse the metal fittings if Neccessary.
Fairly straight forward to fit but bleeding it after needs a power bleeding kit

http://www.pirtek.co.uk/

[robin]

Can also be caused by leaks in the hydraulics, broken/weak clutch slave cylinder mounting brackets, failed clutch master or slave cylinders, etc., etc. Check the hose first ...

Cheers,
Robin

[Stevo9]

Thanks for your pointers. Just checked under the bonnet and it does have a braided hose. That rules the obvious out I suppose.

The car is a '99 SI Elise. Seemed strange that I have only encountered this with engine really hot, and with lots of stopping and starting. Seems to be fine when the temp. is in the 80s

Regards

Stephen

[robin]

I would check for movement in the clutch slave cylinder (you'll need somebody to operate the clutch while you watch the slave cylinder and see if it moves about).

Then check for weeping fluid where the hose enters the clutch cylinder and, I suppose, it's worth popping the rubber boot off the end of the cylinder and see if there's any evidence of clutch fluid in there, implying a leaky cylinder.

Finally I would bleed the whole thing out at the clutch end - be careful to keep the reservoir topped up at all times - it helps to remove the little filter/cup thing that floats in the reservoir as this can fool you into thinking there's fluid when there isn't as it only drains slowly into the main reservoir. The fluid might just be heavily contaminated (which would work OK until hot).

If none of that cures it, it's time to suspect the clutch itself - clutch pressure plate and/or release bearing can cause difficulties if knackered, though I would have thought these would be persistent problems, not just when hot?

Cheers,
Robin

[fd]

Again depending on age the clutch slave cylinder support bracket can fatigue and bend, a newer one was used on all cars at some point that was properly designed . . . The temp related issue could just be the gearbox oil making things marginal or not . . . but unlikely . . . I would check for leaks then bleed it as Robin suggests and see what horror comes out, usually it's like treacle, but even then engine bay ambients are not very high, even for heavily contaminated fluid . . . so it's difficult to see that being a huge issue . . .

Fd