When Lotus introduced the Federal Elise S2 to the United States back in 2004 as a ’05 model year it set the sports car world on fire. Finally we were offered a new Lotus that was built around the traditional Lotus values and philosophy of the vintage Europa and Elan, but with a truly modern chassis, drive train and body style. The new Elise was an instant hit in this country and the car has proved to be a reliable Lotus as well. Now that the first ’05 Elises are getting close to the end or have exceeded their warranty period, the need of the owners for technical information regarding these cars is becoming important. The purpose of Tech Tips is to release important technical information to Elise owners as the maintenance of these cars shifts from dealer service to local shops and D.I.Y owners.
Before attempting any repairs or maintenance on an Elise it is very important for the owner to have access to a shop manual for the car. The information contained in the Elise Service Notes available from Lotus will increase your knowledge of how the car is built and for the D.I.Y mechanic or a local shop it will allow proper repairs to the car without unnecessary damage. Fortunately Lotus has allowed access to this information via the Lotus Cars USA web site and the service notes can be downloaded for a $25 membership fee. This fee allows one day of access to the most up to date service notes for the Elise as well as the newer Esprit. You can also obtain access to these publications for a one month period for a $300 membership fee, but one day should be enough time to obtain what is needed.
Now that you have the latest service information, let us take a look at a couple of maintenance issues that many owners have experienced. The first item that every owner should check is the condition of the battery. The battery in the Elise is mounted in the trunk on the left hand side. It is a sealed lead acid battery due to the confined space in the trunk and the proximity of it to any items placed in the trunk such as the rolled up soft top. Unfortunately the original sealed battery has a tendency to develop leaks and does not appear to have a long life even if it remains sealed. The typical life of the O.E.M. battery appears to be about two years at best and a few months at worst. If you have not replaced this battery yet it is strongly recommended that it be replaced as soon as possible. If the battery is allowed to leak acid into the trunk, the acid will attack the battery hold downs and saturate the carpet and trunk floor insulation creating a large mess. If you are unfortunate enough to have this happen while you have other items stored in the trunk they may be damaged as well.
To inspect for a leaking battery unsnap the carpeting and remove the battery cover from the car. Wearing gloves, carefully inspect the trunk floor, and carpet for signs of battery acid. If acid is found, make sure the car alarm is off and remove the battery cable terminals from the battery posts starting with the negative terminal. Once the cables are disconnected, remove the battery hold down bolt and the hold down bracket. Now remove the battery from the car making sure not to get any acid on yourself or any other part of the car. Remove the carpeting and insulation mat and neutralize the acid on the floor of the trunk with a baking soda and water mixture until there are no signs of bubbling when the mixture is applied. Pay special attention to all the metal parts the acid has contacted. Now clean the carpeting, insulation and anything else that was in the trunk in contact with the acid with the baking soda solution. Finish up with a good carpet shampoo and let everything dry.
With everything removed from the trunkand cleaned it is now time to make a decision on what kind of battery you want to use in the car. Depending on the time in service, Lotus may replace the original battery under warranty or a better option may be to purchase a new battery that will not leak. Many Elise owners have installed dry cell batteries that can not leak and have a very long service life like the Odyssey or Braille batteries. A plus to using this style battery is the small size and lighter weight it affords. A down side to these batteries is the inability of the battery to hold a charge if the car is allowed to sit unused for a week or more with the car alarm armed. Use of a battery tender is recommended and will eliminate this problem. Here is a photo of an Odyssey PC-680 installation. The spiral wound Optima battery is another good choice. There are other sealed lead acid battery choices as well that will replace the original battery and retain the stock appearance and fit. The Interstate MT-26R is a good choice and replaces the original perfectly. If you decide to go back to using an original style battery, it is recommended to use an acid absorbing battery mat like this under it to contain any future acid spills that may occur:
No matter which battery you chose, make sure you have a suitable method to hold it down to the trunk floor. Custom mounts can be purchased through Elise specific vendors or you can fabricate them yourself if the factory hold downs will not work. A loose battery in your trunk can cause severe damage to the rear bodywork and tail lights as it rolls around in the trunk. Remember, there is nothing to stop the items in your trunk from punching through the rear clam of your car during spirited driving, so secure everything you put back there. Once you have the cables attached starting with the positive terminal and the battery secured with a hold down bracket, simply replace the insulation, carpeting and battery cover. If the battery cover will no longer fit because of the size of your new battery, install terminal protectors to make sure the battery cables cannot short out.
Another item to heck for safety is the torque of the rear toe control inner end link nuts as shown in the following illustration. It is not uncommon for the mounting nuts on the inner toe link rod end studs to loosen slightly over time which in turn causes a slight amount of play between the stud and the mounting hole in the rear sub frame. Under hard cornering the loosened stud can shear off causing the rear wheel to severely toe in or out resulting in complete loss of directional control of the car. A sheared link looks like this:
This failure typically occurs in mid turns and the result is an uncontrollable spin so it is very important to check these links at regular service intervals as well as any time you drive the car at a track. The proper torque setting for these link nuts is 50 nm as shown in the service notes but the most recent torque setting recommended by Lotus is 60 nm. The torque is most easily checked with the rear diffuser and engine under tray removed, however with the proper torque wrench and sockets, it can be done with the panels in place. Make sure to check the torque of the link end nuts with the suspension under load because this stud also attaches the lower wishbone as shown in the illustration. If you find the link end nuts will not retain their torque settings between checks, it is a good idea to remove the links and check the rod end studs for wear as well as the integrity of the mounting holes in the sub frame. Replace the link end if any wear is noted on the stud. If any part of the toe link is replaced the car will require a reset-ting of the rear wheel toe alignment. Once again checking the torque of these link ends is crucial to your safety and should not be overlooked. For heavily tracked cars it may be a good idea to invest in a toe link brace that bolts between the link ends and to the rear sub frame to strengthen the link end studs in shear. Lotus offers this brace with new rod ends as a track option and Lotus aftermarket vendors offer their own designs. Here is a photo of a toe control link brace during installation:
These are just two examples of technical issues with the Elise that if known to the owner can allow them to perform preventative maintenance to ensure a safe and more enjoyable owning and driving experience. Future Elise Tech Tips columns will continue to bring this type of information to light as well as releasing any new technical information that may arise.
