17 replies to this topic

[pomoz]

G'day All

Pomoz here... long time no speak to forum.

After a time ... i have replaced the oil and filter no probs ...
Usually just dump the oil every 6 months and change the filter every other 6 months.
I really do not do the miles to do otherwise.... maybe 400 - 500 miles per year

My PROBLEM ....... NOW!!!!!

Change Oil and Filter ..... car still on ramps...no probs

I'll just put oil cap back on .. then start car to see if any oil leaks perform

Putting the oil cap from the side as per normal .....

OPPS ... OIL CAP SLIPPED OFF and headed engine way ..... no probs ill get it

WEEKS LATER .... still cant find it ..... it is there some where ....

Searched the garage floor didnt help that i had cardboard on floor so if the cap had fell there it would have been a light thud noise .

I pose a ??
What other oil cap from another car will fit my 87 S3 2.2 hc ?

I really dont want to buy another new one from UK at 25-30 quid
Reason being as soon as i did and move / drive the car ......
I will find the original one ........................

Now it is raining in Queensland and i have time on my hands ......( to find the bloody OIL CAP)


Many Thanks for all answers ..... i would like to take the car out soon for the first time this year


Pomox 87 S3 HC na

[Sir Paolo]

If all you need to do is move the car to find the filer cap, why don't you double wrap a small plastic bag around the filler, and secure it with a cable tie or tightly wound wire?
That way you can start the engine without coating your ex m/f in oil.

[pomoz]

Thanks Sir Paolo,
Though that can not do ...as i need a lot of plastic wrap to wrap the engine.
As the rocker cover has no err .... lip to ...... do that.

Also may take a bit of driving to dislodge the ... the oil cap ... if it is indeed in the engine bay area .
I have taken both bottom shields off .... to give me more room to look at what im looking 4 ...... lol

That will teach me for being complacent .... putting the cap back ..................

Still think a emergency oil cap is the go ..... from a donor car

Keepem coming

Cheers
Pomoz

[ramjet]

Can it gain access to where the fuel tank sits in the body? Maybe it has bounced in there. I am not sure if the tanks are open to the engine bay though?

[Sir Paolo]

I don't think you'd need a lot of plastic, just enough to cover the filler mouth. However, if you do feel you need to make a better seal, just remove all traces of oil from the filler neck and secure the edges of the plastic with Duck tape, then use a cable tie.

Failing that, you could use a tool with a magnet on a telescopic (aerial type) extension. I've found them very useful for retireving nuts and bolts from places that hands can't reach, and eyes can't see.

Good luck!

[molemot]

You will need to raise the car up enough to lay under it (be VERY CAREFUL it's supported firmly) then grovel under it, right to the middle at the front of the engine. Up there lies the Devil's Triangle....the triangular gap between the chassis tubes, with a bit of sheet metal and the oil cooler thermostat. I would bet that the filler cap will be lodged in there, somewhere...it seems to be a magnet for anything dropped down the front of the engine!! All those hoses trap things, too....Torch and inspection mirror is useful to peer into the hidden recesses....and simply feeling about with a filthy, grimy hand works too. (hand will be filthy and grimy afterwards!)

Can't happen to me....my oil filler cap is wired to the cam cover!!

[Sir Paolo]

I did have the wirey thing on my filler cap until it broke..................

Don't think you can easily replace the wire, without buying a new cap(?).

[andydclements]

'87, is that the screw-in type with a neck of approx 1 3/4inches rather than 1 1/2 inches?
If so I've been told it is / was a standard part however I found it difficult to find one to fit in a breakers yard which may be due to the fact it was probably a GM sourced part and so imperial rather than metric as most would be now.

It may sound drastic but take the cam cover off and go to a breaker's yard, Start with GM vehicles of that period. In the end I used a Japanese metric one and simply cut the neck to shorten it, the thread wasn't an exact match but close enough to not leak.

[Mesprit87]

Hmmm, Devil's triangle... that sound familiar!

I would definitelylook in there and don't forget, driving the car might be a way to dislodge the cap but it's surely a good way to loose it for good. One other thing I didn't figure out is that some of the caps are red while others are black...

[pomoz]

Hi Guys

Back again ... just walked past Gcar in the garage... just growled at it ..swear it smiled at me .. barstard ......

Sunday maybe the day that i jack up the rear .....again and put the ramps underneath it .....

Then with the grace of a beached whale and patience of Jonah (lol) ..... head towards Devil's triangle....AGAIN
Armed with a fluro lamp with me amd a one in the engine bay looking down.
Also armed with a telescopice mirror .................

Hands clean .............. to get dirty /greasy again/bloodied knuckles .....

Mind you the weather here is getting cooler
Winter in a couple of days and temp will max at 21C and min at 7C Sunday ( 2moro)
Not like a few weeks ago in begin May ... temp was about 27C though 95% humidity ... didnt help me and my situation.
"her indoors" did mention something about lots of $%#^@^@#&^%%&*(* emulating from the garage tch tch
Since then i have stayed away ,,,,,,,,, and am asking all u Gurus for ideas ...................



Mesprit 87 ..... i am heading that way .... my cap is/was Black which dont help looking in the Triangle ... u have the same year as mine ... u have a Black Oil cap and really want a RED cap dont you ?

Molmot .... why dont you live dangerously..... cut the wire !!!!!!!! it is a UMBILICAL CORD... BREAK FREE OF IT

Sir Paolo .... You broke free of the UMBILICAL CORD .... No wirey thing for you ...

Andy .... i have just measured the OIL CAP hole in cam cover ...............1 1/2 inches ( after a i found a imperial tape)

So i assume it is the same size as previous GCars ...............Imperial S2 S3's

I lived in Norwich "Lotus Home " for 13 years b4 i brought Ccar back with me ....

Keepem thoughts coming
Pomoz

[andydclements]

The early caps were pressed steel that located on a pair of steel pins. Triangular top shaped.
Later they went to a screw thread type with a fairly large hole, later on still it went to a smaller hole screw thread type. Yours sound like the last of those three and should be a fairly cheap item to source (unless you want something fancy with a ratcheting system so as not to over-tighten.

[molemot]

Cutting this umbilical is rather like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, non? That little bit of wire would have saved you a whole load of hassle. A friend of mine was Bosun's Mate on the Malcolm Millar, a Sail Training Association's vessel...he was doing some splicing out on the bowsprit whilst the vessel sped across the Bay of Biscay. Dropped his knife......saw the splash....bye bye knife. After that, he always kept his knife attached to his person by a length of string!!

My oil cap broke the wire...so I made up a new one from recycled model aeroplane control line wire!!

[pomoz]

Thanks guys
What a way to kill time ....

Yes ... When found i think i may try and be reborn ...with a "umbilical cord" ....(never 2 old 2 learn)

Typical Lotus .... not like Rice Burners ..... 1 part fits all
Even OIL CAPS were different on various models !!!!! as i find out.....


Some times i think Lotus ... was just prone to ASSUME THE LOTUS POSITION ...with everything
Also working with "the engine in box" is no mean feat to do simple tasks .....
Cheers

[stevem]

Be careful, you'll give us POHM's a bad name if you carry on whinging like that !

[Iconic Ride]

Grasshopper, you have not truly achieved The Lotus Position unless it is strengthened with colourful chants not normally employed in polite company.

[Mesprit87]

Somehow, a lot of us understand what you mean...

[pomoz]

G'day lads (as u poms talk)

Thanks for all the encouragement ....

Last w/e i still didnt find that "lilltle barstard"
I be thinking that it is smaller size than i thought it was.

So armed with all your good wishes .... i will be heading into the black hole/black triangle again this week end.

As long as it is not anywhere near all the belts ..... might even get to send the CAT down to check it out also .

If no joy ... i shall shell out $6 and buy a emergency fuel/oil cap .....
Start it .... drive UP the driveway .................. hopefully the OEM cap falls out intact .

If not ... i will be despondent ...... so will go and have a tipple

LOTUS POSTION .......I think i have mastered that long ago
6'2" getting in and out of the car was challenge ....
getting in when a 10 ton truck was heading my way !!!!!

Cheers
Pomoz ......

[pomoz]

Back agin ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

After a stint away .....
Gcar still on ramps ....
Thought i would have another look for that .............stray OIL FILLER CAP

....Looked under /around car ............... nothing
... Checked that nothing would be around belts...
Started car .............. Nothing
Drove up drive way .... with a lot of hope .................nothing
Reversed into garage ................. nothing

Where did Lotus get the original OIL CAP FROM ?
Which PARTS BIN?

I believe that there were 3 types of OIL CAPS
Mine is the latter .................
I believe that they also fitted the early S4

All help appreciated .... nice to drive the car this year

Many thanks
pomoz 87 S3 HC na