Our Lotus has come back in for a service before the owner takes it out on a road trip.
We’ve attended to the engine cooling fans which are working correctly, we’ve found no oil leaks, we’ve checked over the vehicle to identify any other faults, which we have not found and replaced the oil and filter.
The original water pipe on a Lotus Esprit is made from Aluminium and over time the Aluminium starts to deteriorated creating very small holes in the pipework.
Water and holes tend not to agree with one another so a new pipe is required.
These pipes can be purchased but at £400 a the only supplier being in the USA it makes more sense for Dave to make us a new one at the workshops.
This has now been fabricated, fitted and the car runs perfectly once again. Great work from Dave and Pete to diagnose and fix the issue…
The Bridge Classic Cars engine team have been hard at work investigating a knocking noise coming from our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo.
Ady, our engine expert explains the process; “we removed the whole engine to investigate. The pistons were in bad shape. We’ve gone right through the whole engine and all its components.”
The Lotus has been treated to four brand new pistons, new gaskets, new bearings and a new cambelt. It was also discovered that a loose clip has caused the pully to rub on the waterpipe, causing a leak.
It’s taken the team three days and a whole lot of tea! But we’re finally over the worst. The engine is only waiting on a new water pipe to be fitted and she should be raring to go soon!
Our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo is back with us for a diagnostics and a possible full engine rebuild.
Our engine expert Ady has the whole engine out of the car, with many of its components removed for closer inspection. “When fitting the cylinder head to the cylinder block, you have to torque the cylinder head up to a certain lbs per ft.” Ady explains. “It was in doing this that I found that the thread in the cylinder block was completely stripped.”
Being an all aluminium engine means the wear and tear is so much greater on the threads. An aluminium engine does however give the Lotus Esprit Turbo its high-speed performance, so it’s swings and roundabouts one might say!
You can see the extent of the damage from the pictures of the parts shown below. The problems been rectified by putting a helicoil into engine.
Our spirited Esprit is longing to be driven down some winding Great British roads. We’re doing all we can to get her back to tip-top condition and return her to her owner as quickly as possible.
Congratulations to Oscar S Casco, winner of our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo with ticket number 394 and Karl Burgess, winner of our 1991 Ford Sierra with ticket number 164.
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