Help!

[Dundeesfinest]

Regular reader of this forum but a seldom poster so not sure if anyone can help. My problems are as follows;

Currently own a 03 Elise Type 23. Have had the car a little over a year. Last Jan I had to get the headgasket replaced (roadboy from the forum did it through in Newcastle) The car ran fine till aout the end of August this year when it started to play up again. Felt like there was no power in the higher gears. After being recovered by greenflag (have cover through my bank) I was advised that the car was firing on 3 cylinders only. I was told it could be the headgasket again(hard to take after only having in replaced 7 months previous) or the coil kit? Due to not having the funds free for a headgasket, and fearing the worst the car has sat off road since then.

Please dont ringe at the next bit. Due to work commitments and time in the states the car has not been started for months. I attempted to start it today but as i expected the engine was dead. I hooked it up to my other car to give it a jump but despite trying its best the car would not fire up. I left the car hooked up to my other car for half an hour and still nothing. Once i took the leads off the car was back to being completely dead. Now......my question is this. Is there a sure fire way of telling the battery is totally done? Can anyone recommend a cheap replacement? Also is there a way of telling if its the coil kit or another headgasket issue? I now have the full AA Parts and Labour......know it would be cheeky to claim a 'known fault' but is this my best option for both battery and the mis-fire?

Thank you in advance for any help/suggestions

Derek

[cla5h]

Can't really advise on the problem, other than to ask if you contacted Dan after potentially having another HGF - I'm sure he'd be prepared to rectify it if it was the same problem (that said, it could be completely unrelated.)

As to the battery, if it was past its best anyway then allowing it to go flat may have killed it completely - they're about 40 quid from Halfords (not much more than a battery tester, assuming you don't have access to a multi-meter.)

Re AA P&L - I don't think they ever actually ask if your car is in good working order when you take out the policy, so as long as you've sat out the qualifying period (2 weeks?) I'd be getting them out to look at this problem which as far as they know has only just occurred.

[cla5h]

BTW, mine's a few months older than yours, and a coil pack went on it, so it could well be that (coincidentally, also had HGF around the same time.)

[Dundeesfinest]

Thanks for the reply. I no longer have a contact number for Dan so Im hoping he will read this post and get in touch. If it is the headgasket again it will be very disappointing because to be honest the car has barely dont 1k miles since it was last replaced. Will try and get a new battery this weekend and see if i can at least get the car to turn over. Once thats fixed i shall call the AA

[Shug]

Don't assume - give the AA a call (if you have home start) and they can diagnose whether the battery is gubbed or not, or any other issue it may have.

No point paying for it if you don't use it.

[Dundeesfinest]

Don't assume - give the AA a call (if you have home start) and they can diagnose whether the battery is gubbed or not, or any other issue it may have.

No point paying for it if you don't use it.

Fair point......I do have home start but I kind of need the car to start before I can 'suddenly' discover the mis-firing issue that Im not supposed to know about!

[r055]

IIRC the battery in mine was from a Corsa, but best just to take out the existing one and take it to the garage for a like for like replacement...
Then Call AA and get them out!

[roadboy]

Hi Derek,

First thing is to try a new battery. You could get the AA to cover this on the P&L but if it has another problem (that isn't HGF, see later in post) you may be better off paying for the battery and using the P&L to pay for the other repair.

In terms of your other issue (running on 3) there could be a number of reasons for it. Obviously if you can get it turning over a compression test will give some answers. My major concern is if the head gasket was causing your problem then leaving it parked up for such a long time could have caused it to seize up, hence the non-starting.

I would suggest getting a new battery (Type 063). Then if it turns over, starts and it's still running on 3 call the AA and get the car recovered to me. If it won't turn over with a new battery on, call the AA and get the car recovered to me.

If the fault is head gasket related I will do the repair FOC of course.

You can get me on 01207 592998 or 07834 732892. You'll be able to contact me tomorrow or Sunday but not at all on Monday.

Cheers

Dan

[robin]

I'm assuming it cranked well enough whilst on the jump leads?

If so, and it didn't start, I doubt replacing the battery will fix anything ....

You could remove the battery and attempt to charge it properly, but if you couldn't charge it in situ with jump leads that were allowing the engine to crank, then it's probably totally goosed.

Does it have petrol in it? If it only has a couple of litres it might be worth filling it to the top (I realize that's not easy to do with the car immobile, but if it needs petrol, it needs petrol ).

I would be inclined to remove the spark plugs, look for swarf ... if no swarf found, buy/beg/borrow/steal a compression tester and see whether there is compression on all four cylinders. If the compression is even across all four and it has got a tank full of petrol and it still won't start, then I think you have to start looking at sensors/wiring/...

Cheers,
Robin

[Dundeesfinest]

Ok well I have just changed the battery and it started first time. Considering its sat idle since end of August and is firing on 3 cylinders it actually sounds in really good nick! Only issue is the battery I have bought doesn't seem to fit into the existing bracket? Previous battery has smooth edges so it slid right in but this new battery seems to have ridges which means it only goes half the way in!? That means I can't secure the battery into position. Any ideas? Will I need to take battery back and get one with smooth edges?

If you are reading this Dan I will call Aa out this week and have it brought down to you.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Again this forum has been a life saver!

[r055]

Ok well I have just changed the battery and it started first time. Considering its sat idle since end of August and is firing on 3 cylinders it actually sounds in really good nick! Only issue is the battery I have bought doesn't seem to fit into the existing bracket? Previous battery has smooth edges so it slid right in but this new battery seems to have ridges which means it only goes half the way in!? That means I can't secure the battery into position. Any ideas? Will I need to take battery back and get one with smooth edges?

If you are reading this Dan I will call Aa out this week and have it brought down to you.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Again this forum has been a life saver!

i think hes getting married tomorrow, so reading this might not be at top of his priorities!

[Mikie711]

Elise parts do an adjustable bracket which works quite well. I used one on my old S1, find it here.

[dirkpitt]

Good to hear your getting it running again that must have put your mind to some rest.

If your head gasket has gone again, after changing it, might be because the head is slightly warped and hence not quiet selling properly. This would mean the head would need skimming . However from experience, even when you have done this its never quiet as good and may happen again down the road, so I am afraid a new head would be the option.

That been said this is the worst-case scenario however! And I am sure its not that bad and yours maybe a simple coil pack issue or spark plug etc…..

[Dundeesfinest]

Car still turning over nicely. Moved it about a 100m or so as well just to make sure the brakes werent locked on and thankfully they werent. Will wait till Xmas is over with and then have it taken down to Dan through the AA and hopefully he can pinpoint the exact problem. Again, thanks for all the help, hints and tips. Merry Xmas all