Corroded Footwells

Author
Discussion

Bonce

Original Poster:

4,339 posts

286 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all
Guys and Gals, I do not want to alarm you but you may not have heard about the problem of chassis corrosion on the Elise under the rubber mats in the footwells. I only heard about it yesterday and immediately checked my car, which appears to be affected:



There is more detail on the problem here.

Please check your car as soon as possible, and if you are affected, contact Neil Turner (Tel: (01953) 608844) who is customer services manager at Lotus Cars. He's a very nice bloke so please be nice to him.
He will probably ask you to write an email to formally inform them with as much information about your car as is relevant, including the chassis number and photographs if possible.

Lotus are taking this very seriously and are talking to experts on how to resolve the problem. The more information they have on this the easier it will be for them to work it out.

Quixotic

35 posts

263 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all
Hmm, looks a bit worrying. I just got my 111s complete with rubber mats and all! I gather that it's these that are causing the issue from having trawled through the thread on the link. Have to check it tonight. I guess I'll have to get some carpet to replace those rubber mats...

Felix7

464 posts

267 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all
Blimey Bonce, that doesn't look good - has it actually eaten into the ally to any depth?

Mine has the carpets but I will be checking, it was afterall pi$$ing down last night and my soft roof is not the best at keeping out the elements.

fergusd

1,247 posts

277 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all
Yup,

What to do . . . lift the mats asap, tell Lotus, they have been looking at this only for a couple of weeks.

My car, 2.5 years old, doesn't look pretty, but the damage is not too deep, yet . . . www.ziplockk.com/driving/corrosion1.jpg

I've removed both drivers and pax mats and will not be putting anything non removable on the floor until Lotus make some knd of recommendation.

Fd

Bonce

Original Poster:

4,339 posts

286 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all
I don't know how much it's eaten into the metal yet because I've only looked at the passenger side and I haven't cleaned the oxidation away to see what remains. I suspect the driver side will be a lot worse!

Felix7

464 posts

267 months

Friday 2nd May 2003
quotequote all

Felix7 said: Fergus you've been busy on the BBS thread too - for those who are interested or concerned there is more here - www.british-cars.co.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=lotusbbs&mode=thread&access=&subject=2050&source=T&thread=2003041908014616836

> Edited to remove your access ID which allows people to change your settings and post as you!

>> Edited by Bonce (moderator) on Friday 2nd May 16:53



Cheers Bonce, got a bit distracted with that 9 to 5 thing called work, I think I was trying to bin the post having realised you'd already put this up!!

Captain Muppet

8,540 posts

272 months

Tuesday 6th May 2003
quotequote all
It's a feature - Active Self Draining System.

S1mon

9 posts

259 months

Tuesday 6th May 2003
quotequote all
Hi all had a look under mats of my S1 (its under 3 years old and is in A1 condition, done about 7000 miles).
I found some corrosion, and more concerning water under the drivers mat. This was a surprise as the car has not been wet inside, i.e. not been left with roof off.
I propose to grind corrosion out, measure depth of damage (allow for upto10% of material thickness to be removed). And re-assess. If alls well then treat with something like ally bright to kill corrosion and apply ardrox 1200 (a solution used in the aircraft trade) to re-protect the surface. Before deciding on a final surface finish.

Bonce

Original Poster:

4,339 posts

286 months

Tuesday 6th May 2003
quotequote all

S1mon said:...water under the drivers mat. This was a surprise as the car has not been wet inside, i.e. not been left with roof off.

You don't need to leave the roof off for the car to get wet inside, most S1 roofs leak!

zebedee

4,592 posts

285 months

Wednesday 7th May 2003
quotequote all
How do you lift the rubber without ruining it? - mine seem pretty well stuck down. But I do want to check...

Bonce

Original Poster:

4,339 posts

286 months

Wednesday 7th May 2003
quotequote all
I haven't worked out how to lift the driver's side yet, but passenger side was easy. First remove the footrest - it's only held in with velcro so a couple of good tugs gets it out. Then you can easily get your fingers under the far edge of the rubber mat and lift it.

Lotus are hopefully going to give an official statement soon, we just need to be patient with them while they try to work it out.

sagalout

18,836 posts

289 months

Wednesday 7th May 2003
quotequote all
Sneaked in hear when no one was looking. When I built my Caterham (1990) i sprayed GT85 (like WD40) all over the floors etc to protect the alli. It stained under the carpets but no corrosion 12 years after. Mind the carpets always felt a bit oily but that could have been a leaky gearbox.
Off before i get caught...

Felix7

464 posts

267 months

Wednesday 7th May 2003
quotequote all
Balls - I seem to have few interesting lumps under the rubber on the passenger side. I have not lifted it up yet to have a proper look as I want to see what Lotus say about it first.

Maybe something to do with the adhesive that holds the rubber down?

zebedee

4,592 posts

285 months

Wednesday 7th May 2003
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actually, having read the bbs, i don't care if I ruin them cos they ain't going back down again!!!!!

Quixotic

35 posts

263 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
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Just out of interest, do the carpets available have a rubber underside. I seem to recall most footwell carpets I have seen do have this to stop them slipping around. If this is the case swapping the rubbr mats for these won't help will it???

Bonce

Original Poster:

4,339 posts

286 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
quotequote all
The Lotus floor mats I used to have were foam-backed, not rubber.

jaydee

1,107 posts

276 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
quotequote all
The BBS link's died so sorry if this has been covered. The corrosion is called pillowing and arrises when water is trapped in pockets (eg the 'cells' in the underside of the mats)it happens in aircraft wings and was one of the big concerns in testing of the new XJ and the Vanquish. Given that S2 chassis are sprayed with a corrosion inhibitor in this area I suspect Lotus are well aware of the problem...
The good(ish) news is that the floors are not structurally integral so in the worst case scenario they could presumably be cut out and new ones bonded in ?
BTW 'my' S2 has no signs of wear or corrosion in this area, but one of the Avex rivets is clearly moving
Oh yeah - do everyones indicators wobble ?


>> Edited by jaydee on Tuesday 13th May 13:16

abz 7001

383 posts

259 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
quotequote all
JD

If you mean the ones on the bonnet then yes, when I wash them they move about a bit! Otherwise no

Heard about a couple of people with rear light clusters coming loose at high speed (also on S2) so if you are talking about those then yes!

The ones on the sides? Hm I will check this weekend!

jaydee

1,107 posts

276 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
quotequote all
Both front and rear are wonky, shame as the rest of the car seems pretty tight.
Should there be a barrier (eg piece of carpet) at the rear of the boot ? I keep worrying about tearing the rear light wiring out or putting a star in the GRP.

abz 7001

383 posts

259 months

Tuesday 13th May 2003
quotequote all
How old is your car? Bulbs may have been replaced and the light housings not replacxed properly, quick trip to the dealer and they should be able to pop them out and then back in straight at no cost...piece of mind as the car is tight and this is a shame!

As for carpet at the back, no yours isnt missing, mine had none when it arrived from the factory via the dealer...not like yacan get that much in the boot to do any damage ,)