soldave

Most definitely the servo. Took the vacuum line off it and had a short drive. Brake pedal felt fine, just with no power in it (I'd forgotten what non-servo assisted braking was like!). Think I can get hold of a good used one so will go down that route and buy a seal kit for it for good measure. It doesn't replace much but if it's going back in the car and is used, I want to do a few things to it to refurbish it.

Will give that a try this weekend. Master cylinder only a few years old but that's not to say it can't be a seal there. Should be an easy thing to test, as you say. Will try and take a look. The puff of air was audible in the car under braking with the engine on, so could very well be escaping that way.

Never a dull moment with the Eclat! Driving home this afternoon and step on the brakes at a junction. Pedal gives me a bit of extra initial resistance at first. I push a little harder and hear a "poof" of air and the pedal drops to about halfway as the brake comes on a little more strongly quickly (that's a really bad explanation - what I mean is when the pedal drops with my foot pressure, the braking is not inline with pedal pressure. Then for the rest of the travel it feels normal again. Let the pedal out and do it again, same result. If I used very gentle pressure on the brake pedal pushing it down I could almost avoid the change in braking performance but could still lightly hear the poof of air. Made it home and changed the hose going from inlet manifold to brake servo and it had no effect. I'm thinking I'm going to need a replacement servo or someone rebuilding it - don't think there's anything else it can be, is there?

Would be interested in knowing the price. That's the inlet that sits just above the front spoiler, right?

Right, carbs back in with new rubber bushes/insulators, new o-rings, new fuel pump diaphragms. New coolant hose fitted between inlet manifold and water pump and everything seems watertight. Got it up to running temperature at the weekend and then then went to work today and back without issue. Was soooo hot coming back and traffic bad so I was just sat in traffic with the temp gauge rising above 90. Fans kicking in bringing it down but it was hot. Noticed a few things in the drive: 1. A couple of times when I was stuck in traffic and heat and then started going again, I shifted into 2nd at low rpm. When I did the engine hesitated a lot in picking up until I have it more gas. Once I'd got going again and the temps came back down it was fine. Wondering if something had heat soaked. My first thought would be carbs but I've not heard of that happening when the engine is running. 2. I needed a bit of a top up of coolant when I got back. I'm guessing a few pockets of air that weren't filled with the car sat idling before when I warmed it up. No sign of more coolant leaking so I'll just keep an eye on the level. 3. No power steering leak any more from the reservoir and level is stable. Might be fixed... we'll see! 4. Headlining fell down again. I've got the replacement material but not the skills but it needs doing very shortly. Think that's it for now!

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll investigate further tomorrow. Maybe a leak in the carb cover gasket where the float lives. We'll see...

Down the rabbithole one again. Intake manifold off so I could make sure that tiny coolant hose is in place, and so I could take a look at things (I did have a small fuel leak when I was messing with that hose in front of the front carb. So I've found a few things: 1. One of the nuts holding the rear carb onto the manifold was finger tight at best. 2. The fuel leak on the front carb doesn't seem to be from the diaphragm as was suspected (although I will replace them). It appears as though it's coming from between manifold and carb (see pic). Someone has suggested it could be a float valve that needs replacing - does that sound like a good theory? I have no idea about carbs so am unsure. 3. A couple of the rubber springs on the manifold to carb studs are trashed, so I'll replace all of those too. Looks like the carbs have been tightened up way too much in the past so new o-rings etc. 4. There is no way in hell I'm going to get that hardened fuel hose back on the carb and sealed. Time to replace with R9 hose I think, but I need to find a nipple to thread adapter for connecting to the fuel valve next to the starter motor. Typically I have the one that has a nipple on one side and is threaded on the other. All stuff which I'm glad I've found and needs doing, but just makes the shopping list longer.

Does anyone know what size needle valve is needed on the Dellortos in an S1 Eclat? There are so many variants and sizes at https://www.dellorto.co.uk/product-category/dellorto-car-carburettors-parts/parts/dhla-parts/ that I don't know where to start. I suspect it might be a 200 size but not sure which variant on that site.

You speak sense I think! New gasket, silicone hose, and the replacement carb parts I need should get me sorted. And will mean I can get the hose seated on the water pump first and then feed it onto the manifold from there.

Found that shortest of hoses was the cause of my persistent coolant leak, and what a pain that is to remove and replace. Got some 38mm i.d. rubber hose and last night just managed to get it fitted although it's not gone around the water pump beaded inlet very far, and still leaks. Couldn't push it any more over the inlet with the limited space and leverage I had. The slight angle isn't helping either. I'm considering getting a silicone hose as I might have more luck, but can anyone confirm the hose i.d. that I need? I thought it was 38mm (1.5") but someone else has said it's actually 35mm so am wondering if that's contributing to my leak with the new hose. Hose area below for reference.

I'd agree with what's been said here and would say make sure your earthing points and leads to chassis etc are in good condition.

Mine must be doing it by telepathy then!! Not quire sure where my temp gauge is getting the pickup from - will have a look around tomorrow in the area for another sensor.

Well spotted! But if that's to a temp sensor then my car must be getting its temp reading from elsewhere as there's never been anything connected to it!

I know, right. And I'm wondering if that's what's caused the power steering to leak out of the reservoir cap (overheating). Will find out when it's replaced. What a pain to get out though... and going back in is going to be even tougher I think!

Thanks for the thoughts. Started the car and warmed it up again and almost had a heart attack when I saw water dropping down the side of the engine and then off the sump onto thr ground. A closer inspection though and I think I've found the culprit: That shortest of hoses between manifold water pump is the source of my leak. Took the old hose off this evening and what a pain that was. Would have been even more difficult if it wasn't rotten all the way through, but even so I had to end up cutting it away. No way am I going to get a new hose on there with everything in place so I might have to remove the inlet manifold to make it manageable.

Got some more coolant yesterday and filled up. Need to bleed it but I was around a litre low. No obvious leaks and no signs of oil contamination so I don't know where it's heading off to. But I can drive for weeks with no change in coolant. Then a 320-mile round trip to Norwich (mostly between 50 and 70mph, in warm weather) and it's dropped quite a bit. Strange.

I didn't say but probably should... I did check my oil cap but no emulsion or anything bad looking there.

Beautiful day at the Garden Party, and more about that later. Car update! Sono was quite nervous about the drive considering my pet steering leak issues but decided to give it a go. Left home at 6 and got there 3 and a half hours later. Sun was out and mild outside. Checked fluid when I parked up and all good. Came the exact same route back and took about the same time but was much warmer so the temp gauge pegged at 90C. Got back and checked fluid, and noticed a small out had come out of the top of the reservoir past the cap. Before there was about 1cm of fluid above the strainer; now a few mm but still over. I then checked coolant for a cursory check and found that was suuuper low. No visible leaks so I don't know if that cap is not good either. Think I'll try to replace both and see if my problem sorts itself out. I do think the Lucas Stop Leak has had a positive effect, but still a few things to sort out. Oh, and the headlining fell off again just as I pulled into Carleton Manor 😁

Interesting. Thanks for the thoughts. Would it be a straight swap for the manual rack and then just removing the pump, piping etc?. My only thought is considering the car does have a bit of history, I would like to keep it as close to original as possible.

Got a leak from the power steering rack on both sides potentially (disappointing only 2 years and 500 miles after a rebuild, but here we are). I see that SJ sell a power rack rebuild kit, but do you know if these kits can be fitted whilst the track is still on the car? I just remember from last time getting the track off was an absolute nightmare. I'm sorry getting some Lucas Stop Leak I'm the hope I might get lucky, but preparing for that not being the case.

Thanks for the thoughts. I know the service manual says you need to be very careful turning the wheel when the engine is off. I thought I had been but maybe not careful enough!

Did a fluid check over the weekend and noticed my power steering needed a top up. Did that but then dropped under the car this evening and noticed that both boots/gaitors on the rack seemed to have some fluid in. Pushed one of them and heard a bit of liquid, and also felt it on the other side. Ditto on the opposite side. Now I'm guessing that seals have gone on the rack, which is a huge disappointment as the rack was rebuilt under 2 years ago and has probably covered less than 500 miles since (although I have been out on plenty of short trips - my 14-month old son has put pay to more longer trips). But it's bizarre to think that seals have gone on both sides all in that short time period. I couldn't see any leaks from the hoses above, but I only looked for a minute or so, so may have a closer look tomorrow. If I got something like this (https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/A075H6023F.htm) and the leak was coming from those seals, would that most likely fix it? Also, is it possible to do the rack work at the ends with it in place - I just remember what an absolute pain it was getting the rack out last time in my garage! Finally, I may try something like the Lucas Oil Power Steering Stop Leak oil. It's leaking now already so the worst it could do is make the seals fail completely and need replacing. Which they probably do already! Plus, if it did work, it would mean I could still get to the Classic Team Lotus Garden Party the weekend after next - I was just about to buy tickets for it tonight

Brilliant write-up and pictures as always. I think I know what you mean with the brakes working up until about 50% of brake travel and then really kicking in. Strange to describe but I might have similar. Glad you've finally got them all working well though

Yeah... I do wonder that. I've contacted Lotusbits and they have the material. Am going to call them tomorrow to just have a chat about what would be involved in me doing the work myself. Most likely, I've found a trimmer in Leeds who should be able to do the job.

Right, quite has come in. I don't have any experience with quotes for this kind of work so just wanted to check with you guys that it sounded appropriate. I've been quoted £1,400 for it doing, with the following disclaimer: " Due to the way the head liner is fit and the delamination we have to strip the car that’s front seat out rear seats out then any trims from the door glass upwards out. Whilst every car will be taken with the car due to the age any plastic parts become brittle and may break also due to the delamination under the headliner the delaminated foam is extremely stick again every care will be taken but this may get on the trim and is difficult to remove hence taking the seas out before we start" Does all that seem to read alright to anyone who's had this internal trim work done before? Will probably try to get another quote before I decide anything.