S1 engine troubles

[robin]

The background to this is that the VVC could suffer a misfire that was so severe it could cause problems (whether those problems are HGF or cat fire, I don't know).

Lotus issued a misfire detection kit to be fitted to the VVC. What this does is mad, IMHO, because it deliberately cuts two cylinders and surely makes the problem worse, except that the car is undriveable so I guess in that sense you don't just keep driving and risk whatever they wanted to avoid happening.

I don't profess to understand the exact fault they were trying to cure and why this kit cured it.

I don't know exactly what the kits plug into - I guess they sit between some of the sensors/coils and the ECU.

I suspect that the kits are sensitive to both electromagnetic interference and moisture ingress.

If you remove the kit, remake the original wiring (which is all just connector plugging/unplugging, I think) then see how it runs.

If that works then you need to decide whether to risk the original fault and leave the kit off or refit the kit having rerouted cables/cleaned contacts to see if you can make it work the way it was supposed to.

Cheers,
Robin

[robin]

BTW, you need to trace the wiring from the misfire detection unit to find out what sensors it does actually plug into and remake all those connections ... suggest you take photos or make careful notes about what you're unplugging from where in case you decide to refit it all. If you don't find all of the connectors the chances are the engine won't run.

Cheers,
Robin

[robin]

And finally, did this all start after you jet washed the car ... if so the problem likely to be moisture in the plug bores (which then causes a small misfire which then triggers the misfire detection kit which then causes a big misfire ).

[jimbo]

Yeah it started after jet washing... I feel guilty

I've given it to Ali to take a look at while sorting some wiring issues. He seems to have solved the issue so I'll let you know what he said

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[jimbo]

Scrap that, still can't find the issue. I read somewhere that the VVC engine with the misfire kit and blue magnecor leads don't like each other. This sound plausible?

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[Stu160]

Scrap that, still can't find the issue. I read somewhere that the VVC engine with the misfire kit and blue magnecor leads don't like each other. This sound plausible?

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I do know that the leads for the vvc and non vvc leads are a different colour, one blue , one red.

Not much help..

Stu

[robin]

Did you remove the misfire detection kit? There are reports of non OEM leads causing problems.

[jimbo]

Kit removed, problem solved. What are the chances!

Thanks for all the help folks

James

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