Scottish Elises

At the last service Ali recommended changing one of the toe links. What is the verdict on fitting the Elise parts uprated ones?

it's an extra 200 notes, I don't often track the car (not time) but can't help wanting to upgrade bits. Is there any point, or am I just wasting money?

Pete

S2 111s, standard, 2 track days a year or thereabouts. Currently using 1litre of water a week

Stuff the toe links - find the leak. Find it now.

Pull the plugs and find out if its inlet manifold gasket, if plug 1 or 4 are nie and shiney then its probably inlet manifold, if not then could be HGF.

Toe link upgrade will be worth it in the long run, if you break one then it will probably take you off the road. I imagine like for like would not be too much but remember you'll need a geo after (£70-£100) as well.

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:Stuff the toe links - find the leak. Find it now.

Pull the plugs and find out if its inlet manifold gasket, if plug 1 or 4 are nie and shiney then its probably inlet manifold, if not then could be HGF.

Toe link upgrade will be worth it in the long run, if you break one then it will probably take you off the road. I imagine like for like would not be too much but remember you'll need a geo after (£70-£100) as well.

^+1

A litre of coolant is a lot to be loosing in a week.... Are there any visible signs of drips at all? Its got to be going somewhere!

on the leak

give ALi a phone again about the toe link kits.
I believe he was speaking to an alternative supplier who might be able to source them cheaper for you...

IIRC Progrip done my Geo for 50 odd quid (top bloke as well)

Ross

Toe link is only a shaft with 2 threaded collars in and a couple of rose joints.
Should not be hard to get something made up...

Coolant pixies visited me today though I suspect my car was not bled correctly . Was over full then after leaving it with the cap off over night the tank was empty . Its sitting at the correct level now so fingers crossed.

For mostly road use I'd use (and indeed do use) the latest spec S2 toe links. The rose jointed ones are IMO overkill for the road, and do not have the servicable life span of normal toelinks due to the difficulty in sealing the rose joints.

Standard S2 toe links are fine, even if your a track whore running sticky tyres.

Lotus Motorsport just suggest an improved checking regieme for wear and tear.


Mac

Do we have a dimentional drawing ?
and material spec ?

mac wrote:Standard S2 toe links are fine, even if your a track whore running sticky tyres.

Lotus Motorsport just suggest an improved checking regieme for wear and tear.


Mac

Thanks Mac. Your advice is by far the cheapest, errrm best, so I'm doing that.

Pete

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:Stuff the toe links - find the leak. Find it now.

Pull the plugs and find out if its inlet manifold gasket, if plug 1 or 4 are nie and shiney then its probably inlet manifold, if not then could be HGF.

It has been losing coolant quite cheerfully (about a pint everytime I check) for quite some time - ie 12 months or so. I got Ali to check last time last month but he couldn't find anything, although it does seem to have got worse since. It nearly overheated a couple of weeks ago, the water had got v low I suspect...

The other things you say about inlet whatnots is errm a bit of mystery to me, the car is living outside at the moment as the garage has been pressed into use as a woodworkingshop but that will end Sundya and I will make a concerted effort to find aforesaid leak...

Pete

pete wrote:

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:Stuff the toe links - find the leak. Find it now.

Pull the plugs and find out if its inlet manifold gasket, if plug 1 or 4 are nie and shiney then its probably inlet manifold, if not then could be HGF.

It has been losing coolant quite cheerfully (about a pint everytime I check) for quite some time - ie 12 months or so. I got Ali to check last time last month but he couldn't find anything, although it does seem to have got worse since. It nearly overheated a couple of weeks ago, the water had got v low I suspect...

The other things you say about inlet whatnots is errm a bit of mystery to me, the car is living outside at the moment as the garage has been pressed into use as a woodworkingshop but that will end Sundya and I will make a concerted effort to find aforesaid leak...

Pete

Sigh. The cooling system won't overheat just because the tank level is low. The tank represents a small fraction of the total coolant volume. It's there to provide somewhere for the coolant to expand when hot, as well as a convenient place to allow the system to be filled. It should sit on the min/cold line when cold and rise to the max/hot line when hot. Any other behaviour (e.g. sits at min when cold and then drops when hot) implies air in the system. If it's actually losing coolant as well you would tend to smell it if it's the radiator or heater matrix.

I'm assuming there are no drips and leaks under the car (Ali would have spotted these, typically), so I'm going to hazard a guess that the coolant is being lost into the engine. This would go hand in hand with potential overheating/running hot.

Good luck.

Robin

robin wrote:

pete wrote:

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:Stuff the toe links - find the leak. Find it now.

Pull the plugs and find out if its inlet manifold gasket, if plug 1 or 4 are nie and shiney then its probably inlet manifold, if not then could be HGF.

It has been losing coolant quite cheerfully (about a pint everytime I check) for quite some time - ie 12 months or so. I got Ali to check last time last month but he couldn't find anything, although it does seem to have got worse since. It nearly overheated a couple of weeks ago, the water had got v low I suspect...

The other things you say about inlet whatnots is errm a bit of mystery to me, the car is living outside at the moment as the garage has been pressed into use as a woodworkingshop but that will end Sundya and I will make a concerted effort to find aforesaid leak...

Pete

Sigh. The cooling system won't overheat just because the tank level is low. The tank represents a small fraction of the total coolant volume. It's there to provide somewhere for the coolant to expand when hot, as well as a convenient place to allow the system to be filled. It should sit on the min/cold line when cold and rise to the max/hot line when hot. Any other behaviour (e.g. sits at min when cold and then drops when hot) implies air in the system. If it's actually losing coolant as well you would tend to smell it if it's the radiator or heater matrix.

I'm assuming there are no drips and leaks under the car (Ali would have spotted these, typically), so I'm going to hazard a guess that the coolant is being lost into the engine. This would go hand in hand with potential overheating/running hot.

Good luck.

Robin

Hmm. You are making my policy of self delusion very difficult Robin.

I have faith in Ali, but the car has been leaking water for 2-3 YEARS. Two other independents in Scotland failed to spot previous leaks, one of which was the rad. Although the rad was replaced (last summer) the leaks continue (and worsen).

Now obviously this is not necessarily cause and effect, ie I may well be looking at consecutive problems with the same symptoms.

I suspect the water is going into the engine, but the car is used every day, and I am surprised that a water leak into the engine has lasted so long without doing any damage. Having said all that the car is coming into the garage tomorrow to sit on paper so I can see once and for all if the water is coming out the bottom.

Pete

(Should be painting, rather than talking about finishing painting! Car used 1 litre sat in the drive for 2 days.)

You should fill the header then pressurise the system overnight . . . an easybleed pressure cap will fit the header tank cap and a large tyre at 15psi will probably last overnight . . . if it's a leak to atmosphere this will speed up the leak and give you a better chance of finding it . . . if it's into a cylinder or perhaps the inlet manifold gasket, you may end up with the cylinder full of water . . . so watch out for hydraulic lock . . .

Fd

fd wrote:You should fill the header then pressurise the system overnight . . . an easybleed pressure cap will fit the header tank cap and a large tyre at 15psi will probably last overnight . . . if it's a leak to atmosphere this will speed up the leak and give you a better chance of finding it . . . if it's into a cylinder or perhaps the inlet manifold gasket, you may end up with the cylinder full of water . . . so watch out for hydraulic lock . . .

Fd

Alan has offered to lend me one, if plan a fails I shall try that.
I have tried leaving the cap off entirely thinking this would speed up the leak by removing negative pressure stopping water leaking out when the car was off (in the same way as taking the cap off a plastic bottle would allow water to drip from a pinhole in the bottom which would only drip very slowly if the cap was on). Is this theory bollocks?
It has seemed to speed up the water loss. But then it rained. And snowed. So disguising where the water may have come from.

Really need to get it inside, which I'll do tomorrow.

P