Here's why it's important to change your timing belt:
Notice the flattend valves in the pictures? Ouch.
Replacing 16 valves. Pistons are dinged, but don't have to be replaced. My mechanic is going to frame my timing belt and hang a copy of my bill in his office. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistake!
To put a positive spin on this (as best one can in this situation), the motor compression will be improved, I will have new spark plugs and he is replacing things that might be a problem down the road. What else can you do with the engine out of this thing? Just take pictures... and cry... Going to take about a month from start to finish. Parts for Lotus apparently aren't cheap and are hard to get quickly here in the US.
I did lots of things to the car since the engine was sitting outside the chassis. Mine is indeed a V-8. The timing belt break was the catalyst and indeed the labor and the 16 valves to repair this alone wasn�t cheap. In addition to a new timing belt, we had to rent the kit from JAE to set the timing belt. While we had her "heart" out, here�s what else we fixed (for the $12k):
Oil filters, oil change
New turbo waste gate
New EGR valve
Water pump
Exhaust valves
Turbo drain hose
Camshaft pulleys
New spark plugs
New axle seals and o-rings
New engine mounts
New thermostat
Cleaned starter and replaced solenoid
New slave cylinder
More gaskets, seals, and misc items than I care to list
Jeff at JAE is great if you happen to need Lotus parts! If you need someone in Wilmington, NC with expertise (and now experience) with an Esprit, Performance Auto is the shop! Highly recommended.
I also highly recommend subscription to the Yahoo Lotus Group if you are Lotus owner in need of advice, have questions, or simply like on topic chat.
EMAIL: turboesprit@yahoogroups.com
OK. Car is back on the road and better than ever!! Performance was greatly improved with all the work done.
From Car show in Burgaw. Yes, that's a shopping cart on wheels!
Very cool Lotus videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KOrUWZW0AW8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FCSlVQD-nwQ
35,165 hits as of 8/11/07
Brief Lotus sighting on MTV's Jackass:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3131211218427133139&q=jackass+season+2+episode+6&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
8/30/07 - Car problems AGAIN!
Driving along (and yes, perhaps showing off a bit), was downshifting into second gear coming to a red light (RPM's from 5500 down to 3000), when the back wheel (or wheels) completely locked up on me. Skidded to a stop. Car stalled. Restarted the car, but gear shift wouldn't move (engine runs fine). After applying significant pressure, the shifter would move into the normal slots, but no normal response. Easing off the clutch it would rock forward a bit and then just die (almost like the emergency brake was on, but it definitely wasn't). Emergency brake still operates like normal. Clutch tension appears to be the same. Just the shifter not cooperating. Immediately I think "transmission" ! and yes, under the car (V8), there was a bit of smoke from just behind the oil pan. I know transmissions are a weak link in these.
Stay tuned...
