Scottish Elises

Hi All,

Short of dousing the car in petrol and putting a match to it, i'm hoping some of you have seen these problems before!
Car is a 2005 Elise 111S.

Quick Summary of events
New battery roughly 3 weeks ago, all good.
Two weeks later, new battery dead, jump start, all good.
4 days later battery dead again , jump start and miliage goes wacky (from 40 odd thousand to 277,000!!).
Today, another new battery, car cutting out after some coughing and spluttering but just comes on suddenly, was idling fine.

AA man thinks my alarm going off drained the battery previously.

Been for a drive in it now and everything seems fine and back to normal (except the odometer).

Therefore at the minute everything seems hunky dory but i'm not convinced and think something is draining the battery.
There is a 'ticking' noise from the dash when the ignition is off which I think whatever it is, is draining the battery...
If i put the key in and turn the electrics on the ticking stops. Any idea's on this???

Also, does anyone know of somewhere in Edinburgh to correct the mileage on the Shurlock dash display?
(found a thread recommending a place in Hamilton hoping of somewhere more local).

Thanks!

No idea on correcting the mileage - ask Craig at MMC what Lotus suggest you do?

The ticking could be the lighting relay module - it is powered even when the ignition is off.

I'm assuming you've verified that your alternator produces a good charging current when the engine is running.

Sticking brake light switch is a common "mystery" battery drain ... but doesn't cause a ticking sound.

It's pretty straight forward to work out where the juice is going if you can use get a multi-meter that can measure current.

Here's how I would do it:

Switch the engine off, remove ignition key.

Clear the alarm/immobiliser.

Loosen and remove the -ve terminal on the battery.

Using some crocodile clip leads, clip one ammeter probe to the -ve lead and clip the other to the battery -ve terminal, thus remaking the circuit.

Now the ammeter will show the current flowing back to the battery.

Allow the immobiliser to auto-arm itself, then clear the immob.

Now note the ammeter reading; this is your baseline.

Now allow the immob to auto-arm, not the reading; this is your immob-state current.

Now clear the immob and arm the immob+alarm with the fob as normal; this is your alarm-state current.

None of these readings should be more than a few 10's of milli-amps (your battery is 65Amp-hour or so; it should last 4 weeks untouched assuming fully charged which equates to a current of 100mA or so).

If the dash is not currently ticking away AND the current is less than 100mA then you know everything else is OK and the ticking is the problem.

Be careful to disarm the alarm/immob, disconnect probes, reconnect battery -ve terminal.

Please do not attempt to turn on headlights, ignition, crank starter, etc., etc., while the ammeter is in circuit as it won't be manly enough to handle that sort of current and you risk damaging it.

If the reading is significantly higher than 100mA as the baseline then you've a problem that needs to be isolated.

Simplest way is to remove and replace fuses one by one, checking ammeter while the fuse is removed to see if the current drops significantly.

In order to get a reliable reading each time I would be inclined to: disarm immobiliser, check current, remove fuse, check current, replace fuse, check current. The first and third should be the same readings, the middle one should be the same or lower; if a lot lower then that's your bogey circuit.

Remember that the alarm will moan a lot if you disconnect the battery (or the fuse that powers the alarm) whilst it is armed, so good practice to keep it clear at all times.

If you're in edinburgh and want a hand, let me know.

Cheers,
Robin

Sounds like the alternator to me but I don't know much about these things

I say douse it in petrol

Sounds like the alternator regulator, had a very similar problem a couple of years ago. I replaced the regulator and it lasted about a year before it died again. From my experiences, if it is the regulator I would just buy a new alternator rather than trying to replace bits, it will probably be cheaper in the longer term.

If I remember correctly it was Robin that nursed me through that issue as well!

G

Think the mileage issue probably requires a new stack - sure there was another thread recently with a similar odometer problem and its cheaper to replace than to fix.

dash fixer in hillington would be able to sort the stack im sure

http://www.dashfixer.com/

philthy wrote:dash fixer in hillington would be able to sort the stack im sure

http://www.dashfixer.com/

Pretty sure you've suggested them before and somebody tried, to be told they couldn't - reasonably sure.

Although my memory's not what it used to be...

think I remember the thread you are thinking about but it was a faulty Rev counter,

heres another thread with similar problems -
http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... lit=+stack

whaleys wrote:Sounds like the alternator regulator, had a very similar problem a couple of years ago. I replaced the regulator and it lasted about a year before it died again. From my experiences, if it is the regulator I would just buy a new alternator rather than trying to replace bits, it will probably be cheaper in the longer term.

If I remember correctly it was Robin that nursed me through that issue as well!

G

The alternator was tested and appeared to be working fine, this maybe wouldn't show problems with the regulator though? Was your Elise doing the ticking thing?

I made a similar post on SELOC and someone replied saying the ticking indicates a relay problem.

robin wrote: Lots of very helpful stuff...

Hi Robin, I don't have a multi-meter (haven't used one since Higher Physics ) and have been reading through some previous posts and you appear to be the resident guru on all issues and gremlins with these cars! I would be very grateful if you could give me a hand?

philthy wrote:think I remember the thread you are thinking about but it was a faulty Rev counter,

heres another thread with similar problems -
http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... lit=+stack

Thanks Phil. I found that thread previously (my original post should have said Hillington not Hamilton ).
If I can't find an Edinburgh based place I'll go there.

Thanks,
Alistair

AiD wrote:The alternator was tested and appeared to be working fine, this maybe wouldn't show problems with the regulator though? Was your Elise doing the ticking thing?

I made a similar post on SELOC and someone replied saying the ticking indicates a relay problem.

Went and double checked what my issues had been and it wasn't a ticking noise but a very quiet high pitched whine. On the surface however the alternator seemed to be operating as expected but was just draining the battery in a day or two.

Since is it the stack that is ticking or is it elsewhere on the dash? Is the stack light flashing when the immobiliser kicks in? How frequent is the ticking noise? I'm not likely to be able to diagnose it but that info might help others/Robin?

Have you tried pulling fuses like Robin suggested? Might help narrow down whats causing it.

Give me a shout tonight 07973 391 393 and we can probably work something out

Cheers,
Robin

Just had a rather surreal conversation with Robin... it involved making lots of car engine starting noises and some fuel pump priming noises!
Robin, I think you are a walking, talking encyclopedia of anything Lotus related!

Further update for everyone is the dash unit is now completely dead; no fuel, miles, temp, rev or speedo.
Car also wouldn't start on first attempt.

Hopefully have some results after Wednesday

AiD wrote:Just had a rather surreal conversation with Robin... it involved making lots of car engine starting noises and some fuel pump priming noises!
Robin, I think you are a walking, talking encyclopedia of anything Lotus related!

Further update for everyone is the dash unit is now completely dead; no fuel, miles, temp, rev or speedo.
Car also wouldn't start on first attempt.

Hopefully have some results after Wednesday

Christ, you've never had a surreal conversation with him if that's as far as it got

Ok, it was fairly apparent what's been (hopefully) causing most of the issues..... the MFRU unit was literally floating around the engine bay!
It has came loose, cover off and circuit board soaked.

So, I'm going to sort out another one of these and hope the gremlins go away!

I'll update this thread as I go...

A big thanks and to Robin for going out his way to give me a hand and guidance on this!

No worries. I'm assuming that you aren't going to buy a 13 year old second hand MFRU off ebay? A new one from Eliseparts is only 35+VAT+Shipping and I would think that the local motor factors or MMC ought to be able to supply one at around the same money. It cannot be worth buying an old one (who knows, it might be full of water too!!).

Cheers,
Robin