CarBuff

LotusEspritWorld is another good source of information and buyer's guides for 'noobs'. http://www.lotusespritworld.com/buying.html

Where are you located? (fill out your PROFILE) Equipment varied by locality and year. You may be faced with a decision: turbo or N/A (normally aspirated) If you are in North America, the '86 & '87 had Bosch FI.

Hi Gavin! You aren't only crazy (for owning an Esprit) but you must be blind, too! 😁😇 <just kidding> The oil temp switch on our USA car shows a Dowty washer sealing it. Sheet 17.06A #14 of the 88 - 92 parts list. 17.07A # 22 has a notation on the oil sender to use Permabond A131 to seal between the sender and block.

A rubber brake line that swells on the inside, preventing the caliper from releasing, can overheat a wheel, too. 🙄

Properly installed dampers should NOT affect ride height, only springs. (see comments above) At one point in our ownership, we DID swap springs & struts side-to-side to even out suspension height. Did that on a friend's S4s as well. Be aware that the bodies are NOT symmetrical. You need to compare L & R side distance to the ground at the front frame, should be 170 mm on each side. Measuring wheel arch height will lead you to false conclusions.🙄 Our '88 still rides on the original suspension (I soak all the rubber in silicone spray to keep it supple, while waiting for engine oil to drain)

No answers? The brass OEM radiators can be re-cored. Of course, in today's 'throw-away' society, many shops just want you to replace them. As a result, most of the radiator repair shops have gone belly-up. 🤥 A farm or construction equipment business might know of radiator companies that could do the job. If your cooling system is running hot rather than leaking, the issue MIGHT be junk blocking the airflow. Here was our radiator after about 50,000 miles

Right, those should not move...just twist. BUT you said you lubricated them. Your sound DOES seem to be that of the ARB moving in the bushes.

I'd try some silicone spray on ALL the front end bushings individually. That way you can help isolate the issue for those who have creaky joints in the future! The upper ball joints do not have grease fittings, but you can lubricate them by injecting chassis grease into the rubber boots, with a needle fitting on a grease gun. (I do that once a year) https://www.amazon.com/LockNLube-Grease-Injector-Needle/dp/B0779J6HTX WD40 might deteriorate rubber bushings after a few years. If you don't have a silicone spray, try some Armor All.

You need to investigate this, but there is a potential leak at the auxiliary (oil pump) housing on the forward/front/RH side of the engine, where it mates with the block. The mating surfaces have a large gap that needs to be filled. Easy to overlook, I did when I refreshed our engine. 🥶 Some folks create a gasket for this joint, I'll let @Sparky give you the details, my memory is a bit foggy after 10 years.

Riveted on our '88 Stevens.

Ran into the same problems with different fittings, on a friend's S4s. Our US vendor, JAE parts, next-day-shipped the adapters needed. Not the first time they had encountered this issue...

TOPIC DRIFT ALERT! The original query was regards the oil pressure sender. 🙄 An 'open' circuit will cause the dash gauge to 'peg' towards the high end. So, a high resistance will cause higher readings than actual. Or, 'twitchy' readings. Our dash gauge has always been a bit spotty due to loose fitting spade connectors (a 'tradition' with Lotus wiring, even to this day). What really calmed ours down was re-crimping and soldering the right-angle wiring connectors. (Easier said than done with the limited access) Good Luck... PS We installed our mechanical oil pressure test gauge right at the turbocharger. More room there. You can see the twitch in this video.

Not familiar with the SJ part, but a few years ago I needed to replace our washer pump motor. A locking collar and O-Ring held it in place. A common one from an auto parts store fit, with minimal 'fettling'.

Look CAREFULLY for 'coolant trails' that show leakage. Often, a loose jubilee clasp will only leak when pressure builds in a warming cooling system (but not when the circulating coolant is fully warmed). In the USA, you can often borrow cooling system pressure testers from auto parts stores, for free (after a deposit). Using the pressure tester decreases the amount of time spent in the Lotus Position. Pay attention to hoses clamped to aluminum components, like the pipe that go through the backbone chassis. These get 'bumpy' when they corrode, and will not seal well, unless you coat them with non-hardening Hylomar Blue.