Hammer59

Only for us Antipodeans.

I considered it but that would have meant taking everything out of my boot, including the battery charger that was doing its thing at the time. Also, my Phd in spatial 3-D geometry has lapsed. Thought I'd save that challenge for another time.

I've had the v8 shocks in the car for a few weeks now. They are just in as a stop gap as my leaky adjustables are away in the big smoke (Auckland) waiting to get refurbished. As Steve from SJ warned me, they are WAY too stiff for the SE. Perfect for a track day but it really highlights how beautifully damped it was before - soaked up the bumps but great in the corners too. It has to be said that the v8 shocks weren't in the best of condition, but they got me through the WOF (MOT). I wouldn't advise anyone to change to v8 shocks for everyday driving. My plan of action is to wait for the quote on the refurb. If it's silly money I'll order a pair of new ones from Steve. On a totally different note, I took my sunroof out for the first time today. I know the previous owner had never taken it off so it would have been at least 25 years since it was off. Was surprised that everything was in good nick. Will take the beast out topless as soon as I get over covid. At least it's given me time to catch up on a few little things on the Esprit. Also had the wheels refurbed and painted gold a few weeks back. Opinions?

Thanks Erik. That's what I was hoping to hear. I'll give it a try.

Hi all. Both my rear dampers are shot and I've had the offer of a pair of used dampers out of a mate's V8. He replaced his with high-end adjustables. It looks like replacement is pretty straightforward so won't have wasted much time if they turn out to be of no use. Anyone with any knowledge in this area? Cheers.

Had vacuum pipes checked and no leaks found. At a bit of a loss as to the cause of this hanging throttle.

Thanks Andy. When replacing the fuel pressure regulator, I noticed the vacuum line had come off the regulator. It looked original and had split. I was actually convinced that I had found the hanging throttle problem source but it turned out that replacement of the pipe cured the hot-start issue (unless it was a regulator problem) and not the one I was expecting. I'll probably get my friendly neighbourhood mechanic to do the smokey test thing to see if another air leak presents itself. I'm pretty sure I had the problem before I replaced the injectors.

Thanks John. I'll give that a go.

Discovered a leaking fuel pressure regulator. Replaced this and the hot start problem disappeared. Yay. Still have the revs dropping too slowly, though.

Thanks Filip. That info is invaluable. I was ready to apply a pair of pliers which wouldn't have ended well. I'll start limbering up!

Cheers Michael. Not too fussed about the A/C (this is NZ, after all). I did try to investigate the heater issue a while back but couldn't get the temperature control knob off for love nor money. Manual's description and diagrams of heating system make them look pretty complex and my body's still recovering from the gymnastics of removing the binnacle last year. I can't see that tinkering with the heater control system is going to be any less of a stern test for the ol' back, but I'll give it a go soon.

Actually - on the cooling system. I'd like to replace coolant at some stage but I'm a bit worried as my heater has never worked and the heater core wouldn't be opened up. Would you foresee any issues with this scenario? A/c doesn't work either - there's no activity at all from the compressor when it's switched on. Both these are on the 'to-do' list but it may be best to address these before changing the coolant. Any observations welcomed.

Thanks for the input, Barry and Dave. Sorry, my description was probably a bit vague. It was only the flexible hose that broke which should be easy to replace although the hose clip at the alloy pipe end is well and truly seized. The careful application of a dremel should take care of this. We're actually in a full lockdown here in NZ (first in over a year) so have to wait to get a replacement hose and jubilee clip. I did manage to pick up some Castrol Radicool Concentrate. As mentioned, all three reservoirs are very low. I'm assuming it will be compatible with the existing coolant (green - as is the concentrate). There's no visible coolant leak anywhere and no evidence of head gasket problems so I'm not sure why the levels are low.

Was replacing my air filter and knocked off one of the hoses coming from the main cooling system header tank (not chargecooler tank). It broke off right by the connection to the tank and was probably lucky it did as the hose was very brittle and could have let go any time. It led me to check both reservoir levels plus expansion tank. These were all very low and I'll need to keep an eye on those levels. The hose that broke was the one that returns coolant to the main system (not the overflow hose to the expansion chamber) and I've never seen anything like this. There is no explanation of this hose's purpose in the manual and wondered if anyone had any information about it. It seemed odd that a closed system would be connected to just below the neck of the filler tank unless there's some sort of valve where the hose connects back into the system. Can anyone shed any light? TIA.Lotus_cooling.bmp

Looks like only US models had the accumulator. Does this sound right? If so, it's a shame as a defective accumulator can definitely give hot start problems according to my googling.