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Tag Archives: oil cooler

Lotus Elise Belt Tensioner Failure

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.

Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like This…

Was traveling North on I95 between Washington and Baltimore yesterday when at about 75MPH noticed a change in engine note. Let off throttle, noise went away, back on throttle, definitely something not right. As I worked my way over to the right lane, the oil pressure light came on. Clutch-in, and started coasting. Light flickered a few times, then solid on. Once it was on full, I turned off engine and coasted off the Rt175 ramp all the way to a gas station at the end of the ramp. The time the engine was on and first noticed issue until I shut down was approx 1 minute (probably less).

As I got out of the car, I was greeted to the whole left side of the car covered in oil, with more flowing from the oil cooler location.

Took four hours to get a tow truck that would tow it to Criswell, most wanted nothing to do with towing the Lotus. One guy came by and said he would never trust the tow ring to pull it onto flat bed.

Waiting to hear back from Criswell today…

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