Ouch, that does not look good. Apparantly customer #6 drove his car into the back of a Mercedes while fighting traffic in San Francisco. As expected, folks are already blaming the lack of “noise” generated by the car as being a factor. Huh? This was not a pedestrian getting hit, this was just your classic rear-end collision, almost always caused by aggressive tailgating.
While the damage does not look too bad, as most Lotus owners can tell you, this is not an inexpensive vehicle to repair. Both front and rear “clams” will need to be replaced at a cost of approximately $10,000. In addition, the suspension is very fragile, and often even low speed accidents will require replacement of some suspension pieces. Heaven-forbid if a suspension mount is damaged, because the aluminum chassis is “non-repairable”, and has to be swapped out if bent or damaged in any way.
After my oil cooler hose mishap (Oil Cooler/Line Failure at speed), I have been paying close attention to any and all strange sounds. While putting the car in the garage one evening, I noticed a strange new sound.While standing right by the right rear wheel I could hear a tap-tap noise, almost like the old baseball card in the spokes sound. As I revved the engine, the tapping increased in frequency. From inside the car, I could barely make out the sound over all the other Elise sounds. Even directly behind the engine with the lid up, it was difficult to hear. But, stick your ear down by the rear wheel and it was very obvious.So, in to Criswell before my warranty is up (June 22). The verdict was the Belt Tensioner Assembly and a new belt. No more noise, and once again a nice experience with Marty in service. While poking around on Google, I found this
Toyota TSB for the Belt Tensioner
So, if you hear a similiar tap-tap, take it in. If you are out of warranty, try taking along the Toyota TSB, who knows, maybe it will help to get it covered.
Filed in DIY, Lotus
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Also tagged belt tensioner, Criswell, Elise Belt, Lotus, lotus elise, oil cooler, strange sounds, tapping, Tensioner, Toyota, tsb
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