Anyone Know This Elise?

Not that particular car but I had a 2006 model mine was the S model. One think you should check is the Cam for gaulling. They had a manufacturing defect where the lub holes were not drilled correctly at the factory. I had three freinds with the base model who had this issue. The cam cover is easy to take off.

When you drive the car expect to be impressed on the wonderful handling. The car should come alive at 6500 rpm at least the S model did. The car gets on cam and explodes with power well 192 hp power

good luck

Lee

 

With a respect to lee, the cam issue almost certainly was not due to lubrication. It was improper surface hardening of the cam. In any event it is a good idea to remove the cam cover and inspect the cams as a special check on the Elise.

 

Keith could be right. British car two decades pior were known for bad soft metals. They aparently never got the metal hot enough past the pearling point to then quench and harden.

Easy to check as Keith suggests. When I retired we used a device called a Rockwell tester to check hardness as the standard. As I was retiring the Ultrasonic tester were just becoming available. These are better and totally non destructive and cheap to buy. So most shops should have one.

The Lotus of your vintage had a drip system. A hole is drilled by the factory that is directly over each cam lobe. If the hole is not drilled squarly, at an angle or slightly off, right or left. The cam lob does not get the correct lubrication only some splash.

This is what was found on my freinds Lotus Elises. Newer cars like the Evora most likely have a more modern system. Not sure because I never went into the Evora engine personaly like the Elise.

I had the S model with a tag on the lower passenger side that said #8 of 50 cars for racing. It was supposed to have 220hp versus the stock 192hp. To be honest I could not tell any difference in performance versus base or sport. The paint job was really sharp tho.

Keith talked in absolutes which is difficult if he or I cannot inspect the engine. I would recommend you have your dealership check both to be safe and ask your mechanic.

Good luck

Great cars
Lee

 

Correct.

It's dirt cheap to replace with another set of stockers. My Elise had almost 50k miles on it when I sold it, zero issues other then the recalled oil line busting. Excellent cars and you can't beat the prices

 

and to argue further with Lee, the engine is a Toyota mill, identical to the Celica GTS and even Pontiac Vibe GT, so can't blame the Brits for the problem.

Be the cam issue lubrication or improper surface hardening, I'd expect it to happen early in life. Which is why I wonder if another failure mode is that most unholy of crimes, revving a cold engine before temps are up and clearances and viscosity where they need to be.

Anyway, pull the cam cover - a competent mechanic should be able to R&R the cover and inspect the cams in under an hour.

 

I've never read anything conclusive that improper hardening is the sole cause of Elise/Exige cam wiping. Harder (Rockwell hardness) cams will undoubtedly wear better, but even such aftermarket units have been shown to fail. Whether it's inadequate oiling, too tight intake valve lash, "bad design", or a combination of factors, I believe only Lotus / Toyota/ Yamaha know the real cause.

 

Well said and I agree.

The mechanic where I bought my Lotus Sport told me the cams on some cars were soft. My three freinds who had the problems on their cars told me it caused by the engine drip holes being drilled improperly.

Only thing I know is they had problems and I did not and the cars like all Lotus cars are a wonderful drive.

Also they raced their cars and I did not. just amateur stuff.

Best

lee