Scottish Elises

My interior fan packed in a couple of weeks ago, and the car went in to Murray's to get fixed. Whilst getting the new resistor pack fitted, they gubbed the threads on the condenser. Cue a week at Murray's till the replacement part is in and I can pick it up.

I drive it home, then leave it in the car park at home for the week. I drove it to Glasgow today and parked in an NCP. Going through the city center on the way back, the temp guage gets to 100 but when I get into clear air it stays around 96. I drive it home at a constant 96 degrees, and come off the dual carriageway in to Ayr. Immediately, the guage heads north of 115 to the point that it's hissing like a barsteward and the clutch feels like a power drill.

I pull it up and call the AA. AA man says it looks like a problem with the radiator hoses. The resistor pack change and subsequent swapout of the condenser were both clam off jobs, and from what I gather quite close to the radiator.

The engine had never put a foot wrong till it went in for the fan/air-con repairs, and the first time it's driven any distance afterwards it ends up like this:



Coincidence?

I'm open minded, but it's a bit of a coincidence that the problem lies in the area they last worked on in the car. Thankfully it's still got a couple of months left on the warranty.

My old S2 went into MMC to get a new alternator belt (along with a few other things!!)

They put the belt on so tight that it strangled the alternator and made it pack in...! Alternator was almost new btw..

Soooooo they fixed it but at the same time made it worse

Bummer

I was thinking about trading the Elise in with a few extra grand for something newer. Looks like once the warranty runs out it will be something that doesn't have a Lotus badge on it.

The trip out there each time is a barsteward, having to go back out when they've broken my car (if proven right, this will be the 3rd time something a fix from them has resulted in a new fault) is the last straw though. Even if it wasn't them, I'm getting fed up, more recently due to the recent electric woes.

If the car is under 3 yrs old, you can buy extended warranties... for an Elise its £425 for a year or £575 for 2 years IIRC. Prices increase obviously if the car is older.

Well Keith called me and explained that the fault was caused by an airlock in the cooling system. When I said the car had its clam off the week before, he checked and said it was almost certain that they disturbed the coolant hoses to work on the condenser they also broke the week before.

So now I know my car has been running either without coolant or with a very small amount for 30-60 miles, should I expect any damage in the future? Is this something I need to write them a letter about in case my car suddenly develops problems further down the line?

Just make sure they acknoledge that they caused the problem.

Overheating can be a contributory factor with HGF....


(Edit: Translated into English)

just about to get my resistor changed at Murray;s too as soon as part arrives - might mention this to them I think to avoid any c0ck up's ;-p

I'd give Ali a call mate - he can most likely tell you what caused it or they haven't done.

Be could also probably advise on best POA

One call to Graeme and it's all sorted. Keith was doing a good job standing in for Bill, but Graeme was able to come in with a fresh pair of eyes and come up with a plan.

The car's coming back to me in Ayr, with a good deal on the service it needs, and should get to me fueled and clean by the end of today.

This is exactly the kind of thing that needs to happen when there's a problem like this. Decisive and swift, no inconvenience to the customer.