CarBuff

You need to take the cam carriers on & off to 'dry fit' the shims and verify the measurements. It takes a few tries. Tedious but not difficult.

Could you sense a difference in engine SOUND that would indicate if the oil pressure actually was building?

All the engine and transmission mounts have to be in good nick on Esprits without the upper control arms, like your S2. Are the other three mounts sound?

When I start my engine, there is an subtle change in engine sound when the oil pressure starts to build. (slightly quieter) If you can hear this difference, and the gauge is reading zero, then I would suspect that you are right about it being a gauge or sender issue. Of course, the proper way to verify is to connect a mechanical oil pressure gauge and see what THAT reads. When I was questioning my gauge's reading, I hooked the mechanical gauge in at the oil feed braided line, right at the turbo. (The braided line is to the LEFT of the #3 on my picture of Sept 29)

My grease of choice these days is a synthetic type. Those are supposed to stay consistent in varying temps and will not attack any plastic or rubber. 😁 Or, you could just smear some of the existing lubricant from the edges of the worm drive back into the 'action' area!

Could that hole be access to the radiator bleeder?

I've heard plenty of standard-belt Esprits produce whine. They were just set too tight. (Many shops don't have the tension gauges or know how to properly do the frequency check) You COULD just mark the alternator position on the lower strap (the plastic one on a Turbo). It's EASY to loosen but more difficult to tension, if that's not the source.

Cambelt whine? (too tight or blue Gates Racing belt)

Wow, that was expensive. The mechanical gauges (Lotus/Boroughs or Krikit2) have verified tension in pounds. The values are different for each brand. The blue Gates Racing belts are a bit tricky. There isn't a Lotus spec for those. Some people just look for a 45 degree twist between the intake and auxiliary cam wheels...

The sender is screwed into a mounting 'base' which is then screwed into the block. The attached picture has the number 3 on the sender. Those bottom bolts directly under the sender are the ones I suggested to fuss with. You can even reach them from the underside without removing the engine...

On our Stevens car, the door lights (both sides) come on when the doors are opened, even if the overhead light is in the OFF position. They turn off after a delay (again, whether the center light is on or switched off). If your G car has the yellow light delay module, it might be wanky. <--- technical term Attached is a locator diagram from an '86 DOM service manual...indeed, it shows a module. PS: Again on our Stevens car, the yellow delay module was a bit eccentric, wouldn't turn on the door lights. Replaced the door bulbs with LEDs and it worked after that..except if the overhead (incandescent) lamp was OFF, the LEDs would glow very dimly FOREVER. 😵 Never affected the battery tho'.

OK, here's the info I saved. It was posted in 2012 <<<This was a sender for a Carebont gauge from an S4s ...still 7 bar. (yours would be VDO)>>>

No, don't remove anything. Just restore a good earth connection by backing off ONE bolt (reached from underneath) a flat or two. Repeat a couple times. Wiggle & jiggle! 😊 (It's the dissimilar metals thing.) ++++++++++ There are parts substitutions for the 7 Bar sensor (at least here in the USA). If needed I could dig them out of my pile of Esprit trivia. 💪

First, try correcting the ground path to the sender by loosening/tightening one of the bolts holding it to the engine block.

Does engine temp influence the amount of cranking time required? (Does it take longer on a hot start?) Could be fuel pumps (there are two) https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f164/v8-esprit-starting-problems-429866/ Could also be an issue with the fuel injectors. Take a look at Alan Swindon's cross-reference list, I believe that they cross to early-90s Cadillacs, but not sure.