Elan M100 Question

[Julesd]

Have just become the proud owner of a 94 Elan M100. Having previously owned a Tuscan i am used to a finiky car!!

Question: What is the most common cause of an overheating engine. Have found the coolant bubbling away after a 45 mile, traffic jammed trip. I shall speak to the vendour but would like advice!!!!!

[Mustard]

is it overheating?

These cars do get hot in traffic, just make sure the fans kick in at 3/4s on the temp gauge to bring it back down to 1/2 way

The fans working is vital and the usual cause of cooked elans

[Julesd]

I didn't notice the temp light on, but didn't realise the coolant was so hot until after I'd stopped the car so didn't really look!!!

I'm going to fill up the coolant tomorrow morning (it seems to have boiled off all over the engine compartment and take it out for a run! See what happens!!!

If the fans aren't working will it really boil up and damage the car??

[Julesd]

Looking through some more links, could it be an over excess of coolant just being removed (boiled) off the system??(As it says it does in the handbook) My nice engine bay is now covered in dried coolant!!!!!

Am gonna check the coolant level, from what i read it should be showing just below minimum???

[andy_quantum]

Julesd said:

If the fans aren't working will it really boil up and damage the car??

Julesd said:

Looking through some more links, could it be an over excess of coolant just being removed (boiled) off the system??(As it says it does in the handbook) My nice engine bay is now covered in dried coolant!!!!!

Am gonna check the coolant level, from what i read it should be showing just below minimum???

I'd check the hoses for signs of deterioration, many are still running on the original hoses which arent great after 15 years. As said above, the fans kick in at 3/4's of the way up, which considering the normal temp is 1/4 is really alarming the first time it happens. I had the blowers on hot and a mild panic til the fans kicked in. What was your temp gauge showing?

Mine generally has a low coolant level, not as low as minimum but you've probably got coolant sat somewhere in the rad, block etc

Get on over to the lotuselancentral forum if you need more help, you might want to check thermostat (feel rad gets hot) and hot wire the fan to see if they both work

Edited by andy_quantum on Sunday 4th November 08:07

[Nick_h]

Hey, my dad's got a Elan s2 and we noticed after a few trips that when the car's been put away in the garage we can hear something bubbling away in the engine, we've had her a while now and nothing's gone wrong so my dad (a mechanic) decided to leave it. Might just be something they do.

[GKP]

They have a post shutdown water pump to keep the coolant circulating for a short while. Perhaps you were viewing this?

[Rob-C]

Coolant reservoir bubbling over is also a symptom of a failing/failed head gasket on these cars due to exhaust gases leaking into the water channels in the block.