Lotus specialists (HGF)

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:45 pm

Hi,

Does anyone know and good places i can take the elise to get it checked out (in near glasgow?)... car does not feel right and i have been losing coolant... i dont even want to think it but it may be HGF

anyway i dont want to lose anymore sleep so i might as well go and get the problem confirmed!

i ve noticed water coming out of exhaust and car not idling properly when stationary! also coolant loss!!

How much would it cost if worse came to worse?!

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:44 pm

S2 radiators are prone to failure. However, steam out of the exhaust at times other than during the initial warming up period would indicate HGF rather rad failure.

Remove the spark plugs - if you're weeping coolant into the bore, one of them will be steam cleaned, and should be pretty obvious compared to the other three.

If it's just HGF then it's not too expensive to fix it - you would need to ask for quotes.

However, if you have low liner heights or a damaged cylinder head, then expect a big bill to repair. I don't think that's very likely on an S2 111S though ...

Cheers,
Robin

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:54 pm

robin wrote:
a damaged cylinder head, then expect a big bill to repair.
Cheers,
Robin

Can vouch for that

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:19 am

BiggestNizzy wrote:
robin wrote:
a damaged cylinder head, then expect a big bill to repair.
Cheers,
Robin
Can vouch for that

what are the symptoms? and how much are we talking? (so i dont take a heart attack when i get the bill!)

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:59 am

My symptoms where water in the oil and having to fill up with water every 5 days

I had smeg forming in the header tank as well as under the oil filler cap for me there was no question it was gosed Plus I have a S1 K-series so thats the first thing you look for

robin · Post by **robin** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:33 am

mj9 wrote:
what are the symptoms? and how much are we talking? (so i dont take a heart attack when i get the bill!)

First of all you have to ascertain there is HGF. You also have to decide where to get it fixed. JPS and SLS are going to be a lot cheaper than MMC, but you pays your money and takes your choice.

Once you know that you have HGF just to replace the head gasket and perhaps give the head a wee skim is the best case scenario.

You would change the cambelt and tensioner at the same time, unless you had it done recently (this saves getting it done when it's due which makes the next C service a bit cheaper).

On SELOC, this is commonly quoted as costing between 500 and 1000 quid depending on who's doing it and whether or not the head needs a skim. Often people say 800 is the minimum it costs to get it fixed properly, but I don't know where that comes from ... anyway, that's SELOC pricing ...

If the problem was originally caused by low liner heights (unlikely on your car I think) then the engine needs to come out and be stripped down - you then need to get the block machined to correct the liner heights and then rebuild. An alternate to this is to buy a replacement bottom end or low mileage second hand engine. Either way, it's going to be a lot more expensive than the HGF repair alone because of the extra labour to remove the engine.

Cheers,
Robin

hiscot · Post by **hiscot** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:42 am

cost depends where / who does it can be cheap if done without main garage rates , its quite straight forward
main problem is finding why it went ,a lot of hgf is not an engine problem but can be rad fault a leaking hose / loose clip or gasket ect ect , so try to locate the origanal fault or its hgf again
fit the prt mod whilst your doing it
i would get the head checked whilst its off unless the engine was not boiled

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:46 pm

does anyone know any garages in glasgow that can have a look and do the job?

Cheers

ExigeKen · Post by **ExigeKen** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:26 pm

I would recommend Ali of SLS in Edinburgh worth the drive through

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:39 pm

ExigeKen wrote:I would recommend Ali of SLS in Edinburgh worth the drive through

yup thats the idea i got after reading the forums! Spoke to Ali the other day and have arranged an appointment!

ExigeKen · Post by **ExigeKen** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:55 pm

mj9 wrote:
ExigeKen wrote:I would recommend Ali of SLS in Edinburgh worth the drive through
yup thats the idea i got after reading the forums! Spoke to Ali the other day and have arranged an appointment!

Goos stuff mate hope you get it sorted soon

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:31 am

Had the car checked out on sat and yes its confirmed

HGF! I must the most unluckiest guy - only had the car for 2 weeks!

I wish i hadnt chosen the option to pay my car insurance in full!

Looks like no dinner for me for the next few weeks!

Anyway, will have the car back next week

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:14 am

How bad is it?

mj9 · Post by **mj9** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:41 am

i dont think its too bad... I had Ali from SLS look at it and the car is booked in for wednesday... Getting full headgasket set changed... thick smoke from exhaust and creamy stuff in engine oil... sorry not too technical when it comes to these things! I ve been told its a typical hgf scenario...

Ali - thanks for all your help, much appreciated!

jj · Post by jj » Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:51 am

Mate that is a nightmare scenario, dont let it put you off the car though, just bad luck.