Scottish Elises

Car wouldn't start, initially thought it was s sluggish starter caused by a low battery as the engine wouldn't crank. Tried it. a few times as anyone else would normally do.. nope, didn't want to turn over. Then the realisation that this has happened before terrified me.

I pulled the plugs and found one of them wet. All I could smell was fuel. Not coolant. turned the engine over with the plugs removed and yep, cylinder was full of liquid. Last year I lost an engine due to it hydraulic locking.

Put the plugs back in and it started on the first turn of the key, no issues.

So now the questions..

Does the injector rail stay pressurised after you switch the car off?
Is it possible that fuel has leaked from the injector rail into the cylinder?
Or am I looking at another HGF?

Are there any common parts between the new engine and the old one that hydraulic'd before?

Ferg wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:54 pm

Are there any common parts between the new engine and the old one that hydraulic'd before?

Same head I think. Exchange bottom end.

Victor Meldrew wrote:

Ferg wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:54 pm

Are there any common parts between the new engine and the old one that hydraulic'd before?

Same head I think. Exchange bottom end.

New symptom...
in 5th gear at 50mph. Accelerate hard to 70mph. After 20-30 seconds the temperature spikes from 87 to over 110. It is as if the higher pressure in the cylinder from the high load acceleration has broken into the cooling system and caused the engine to pump the exhaust gasses through the cooling circuit, bubbles or whatever reducing the engines ability to cool itself. Dropping it into fourth seams to cure it with the higher engine revs pushing whatever has gotten in round and out into the expansion tank...

Convinced myself now that it is HGF... also the expansion tank cap is venting, you can hear it hissing after a hard run. I had to replace a header tank a few months ago as it had cracked.. put it down at the time to old age.

Thoughts?


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How about a sniff test to be sure?

Ferg wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:43 pm

How about a sniff test to be sure?

I did have the kit somewhere but the solution will be almost ten years old by now...

sounds an awful lot like what my engine did before banana-ing the conrods. head gasket had went enough for coolant to leak in slowly when sitting overnight, but not enough for noticable smoking from exhaust.

tjscott3 wrote:sounds an awful lot like what my engine did before banana-ing the conrods. head gasket had went enough for coolant to leak in slowly when sitting overnight, but not enough for noticable smoking from exhaust.

I have the plug socket with me in the boot and i will check all four cylinders before i even dream of turning the key, if i find a wet plug i will be on to the AA to get it picked up. Not going to risk driving it.



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Gasket by the sounds of it 🤨

Mine bent a con rod last year. Apparently the cause was a failed inlet manifold gasket allowing rain water to dribble into the cylinder.
Currently dealing with the garage who have still not completed the repair but are keen to issue demands for payment despite having had a healthy interim payment.

Stephen wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:20 am

Mine bent a con rod last year. Apparently the cause was a failed inlet manifold gasket allowing rain water to dribble into the cylinder.
Currently dealing with the garage who have still not completed the repair but are keen to issue demands for payment despite having had a healthy interim payment.

The fluid that came out did look reasonably clear, I put some new white microfibre cloths in the boot to see if I could determine what colour the fluid was if it happened again.

That might explain the water in the cylinder but not the overheating issue?

Mine did exactly the same as yours. Difficult to start then went a couple of times, but then it hydraulic locked and seriously bent a con rod and just kissed the underside of the liner. A bit of machining and a new liner sorted it.

Yep, that's what I am worried about...

Just had mine sorted at Ken Brown's. IMHO the best place in Scotland to look after lotuses; see here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=35469&start=15

The issue was eventually traced to a warped aluminium intake manifold not sealing properly and allowing rain water to leak into the cylinders.

This manifold was on the "god knows where it came from" engine that was in the car when I eventually got it back from Dan. I suspect that the engine had came from a crashed car and the flange on the intake was bent in the crash.

Craig removed the manifold and had the face machined flat again and I have not had an issue since.