2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Well.. still no videos or pictures to go with this post.. but, tonight I actually drove the car!!! I didn't go far, but I did do a little bit of drive-ability tuning and throttle tip-in mapping. It's starting to shape up to be a drive-able car already!!! I have to hand it to Vi-Pec for their base map.. I haven't had to do that much adjustment from their base map to make it run nicely.. I'm not saying I haven't made changes, but I have been able to fairly quickly adjust the map to work nicely.

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

This week was extremely successful I think. I managed to have a new set of lotus timing belt tools made for me.. Here's a picture of them:





and.. I took Aerobat's Esprit for a good little drive (about 5 kms) It actually runs smoother than the factory tune!!! I'm absolutely amazed at how smooth it is. The only stuff that I'm having some issue with is the cold start mapping... as I only have a few opportunities to adjust fuel mapping during warm up and cold start before the engine warms up too much. Here's a small video of me pulling lightly through a couple of gears... I have left the top end of the fuel map extremely rich, but the rest of it is fantastic.

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

So, Tonight I wired in the secondary fuel pump. I had to cut the ground loop in the relay box and then wire the second ground to the ecm... then I had to hotwire the positives within the relay box. Next.. I wired in the Intercooler pump. So, It all works, but I still have to hook up the Detonation sensor and the IAC. Next will be A/C clutch hookup and then.. I think... I'm done.

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Well, Today was interesting.. I was in the driveway... well, I was actually on the street.. Idling. I was trying to setup the ecm to datalog the AFR under load so that I would be able to compare logs and adjust mapping. While I was sitting there, getting things setup, I heard an additional "hiss" over the rad fans. I thought this odd, but didn't really register it as anything terribly significant and figured I could check it out just after I click this parameter. As I was about to click.. my friend shouted "SHUT IT DOWN!!!" I did, and I got out of the car and discovered that in about 1 minute.. I had lost 3 litres of oil onto the pavement! We then pushed the car into the shop and jacked it up to discover this:





So.. in a nutshell - Had I been driving, and thus at higher rpm, the car could have vacated its entire oil supply in a matter of 15-30 seconds. I can't explain the emotions I am going through right now.. I'm so glad it happened in my driveway.. I'm so glad I wasn't on my way to the dyno.


Next I must remove the entire oil cooler line, which runs from the front of the car to the back of the car, through the chassis. This is a major PITA! But.. Here it goes..


Step one.. remove center console cover..




Remove the plate...




Remove the shift knob..




And.. now I'm going to bed.. lol.

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Here's what we got done on wednesday night..


Here's the transmission linkage out:




Here's how tight it is in there




Here's the lines as viewed from the top.. before we yanked out the intercooler line and the oil cooler line:




And here it is after we yanked them..




I have already had a new line made and we should have them both put in tonight... I hope.. lol

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Well, today was a bit of a rough one.. We managed to get the lines through the chassis in good time, but when I went to install the other oil line fitting... I discovered that the threads were completely stripped. Now, this wouldn't be so bad, escept that one of the bolts is behind the engine mount. This meant that we had to pull the motor out... So.. a Little bit upset was I... anyhow.. here's a minor play by play:

Here's the new lines.. installed.... The line I had made was significantly bigger than the original and I had to grind away some of the hole in the chassis tube to fit it all.


Here's what came out of the oil line fitting hole... not a good sign:


Here's the back deck out... and beginning the process:


Here's what it looks like with the exhaust out... hard to see a change, I know.


Out with the transmission...


Pull the entire wiring harness out of the car and pile it on top of the engine...


And.. Voila!! Engine out... 5 hours later...

[VanDamage]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Oh man. That looks like sooo much work!

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Yeah.. it's a huge job to get the motor out.. probably one of my least favorite jobs. However, **** happens, and I guess we have to deal with it..

Today.. though I'm absolutely exhausted, we managed to pull the oil filter housing off of the engine and complete a few other things. Center console is now completely re-assembled. We also built a nice little dash mount for the widebad o2 sensor guage. It's temporary, but I still wanted it to look good.

Here's the Engine on the ground:


Here's the culprit that caused all the problems..


Here's the guage pod mounted to the dash


and here's what it looks like through the windshield

[Stonewall]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Now that you have the engine out it would be a good time to clean up your engine harnesses

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

I would clean it up.. but.. the problem is that I may still be doing more wiring and the issues are length and location of stuff, so I am just not comfortable cleaning it up just yet... it looks awful.. i know.

[Stonewall]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Wasn't really worried about the looks, just thought it would be easier with the engine out

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Lol.. gotcha.. It will be easier with the hatch off though.. Just gotta figure out what we are doing with the oil filter housing now... once I have a price, then I can determine if I'm gonna have a machine shop fix it.. or if we are replacing it.

[R-Audi]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

And I thought S4 owners were gluttons for punishment.
Guess I can cross an Esprit off my list of cars I'd like!

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Lol.. this car has actually been almost trouble free for the last 4 years... but... this year... arggghh lol.

[marktc]

Re: 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 TT build

Well... Since I had the engine on the floor, I thought I would check the clutch and flywheel... and.. well.. it's in need. Not shocking really, as most of the Esprit V8 twin plate clutches don't tend to last longer than 20,000 miles.



The clutch isn't quite down to the rivets... but it's close enough to call it.

Then I decided that since the bottom end bearings are known to not be able to handle a whole lot of horsepower, and we plan to put some down... I thought I would check them out and replace them with higher grade bearings... so here goes the process:

Here's the engine on the stand.


Here's the oil pan removed and the rod bearings removed..


Here's the main bearings removed...



Here's the front cover removed to expose the intermediate shaft.


The intermediate shaft removed..


And... since you have all seen the plenum removed before etc.. I skipped a few pictures.. here's the cams removed so we can also find which lifter is sticking...


So.. now I have a nearly completely disassembled engine... lol...