Apn

Thanks all for the replies - I'm on different shifts from mate 2 (knackered v8) but have suggested checking plugs and leads (thanks for that) to Mate 1 (S2, not blown up yet) along with compression testing. Must admit for a relatively low mileage car (30 odd k) for the liners to go it must have had a hard life, or my mate is just unlucky and and buys nails (saying that, he is on his 2nd impreza turbo engine in his daily hack, having blown up the first on a track day... hmmmm. Pattern building...) Thanks for the help - will advise on progress. Ah yeah, forgot to add, the top of the engine has smears of silicon on it. Possibly having had problems with water ingress before and bodged to fix?

Hi all - first post from me trying to help out a friend/work colleague. A good mate (also work colleague) of mine has an S2, which he more or less strips and rebuilds himself, save for the machining work, thus cutting down bills/costs etc. Another mate/work colleague has not long ago bought a 96 v8 but doesn't really get his hands dirty and didn't take advice from mate 1 - to check see if liners had been replaced (were they done under a recall or warranty?) The V8 has only done 30 odd thousand miles, but when he turned up for us to have a look it was idling ropey, and mate 1 (s2) having test drove it said only putting out 0.4 bar. That to me suggested compression problems, boost leak (I used to have an Audi turbo so it was more or less a daily thing to check for leaks, especially when running 2 bar boost and near 400hp/over 400lb ft torque ). Having taken it to a specialist today (in Huddersfield I believe) it's diagnosed as having liner failure. How bad is this as a problem? With a few of us having reasonable mechanical knowledge the gearbox could be split and the engine lifted, once on the bench the head come off and get the block relined, do all the other stuff - belts, engine decoke, bearings, tappets, gaskets whilst at it. Or that was the theory - the specialist suggested going to South West Lotus and paying between 5 and 9k for a replacement engine! The car still runs (lumpy as always) but he's been advised not to drive it, so it'd be a trailer job. Anyone have any advice/alternate places to try/costs for parts or is it a 'bite the bullet' job? He shelled out 15k for the thing last month (private sale) and now another 5-9k? South west lotus charged mate 1 5k for a rebuilt engine and it took a few attempts for them to get it right - not good when said mate lives up north and south west lotus is in ...uh, the south west. I'm trying to help mate 2 (v8) out before he reaches for the credit card... Anyone got an engine to sell? Also, technical/workshop manuals - can these be bought from Lotus? I can imagine Haynes never got round to doing one (as I found with my audi) so it was a case of relying on advice from forums/friends who'd been there/done it. Thanks in advance for any/all help. I hope between us we can get mate 2 back on the road with his arms and legs still in place... Cheers Paul