MIL light just came on. Is the weekend shot?
Discussion
I was on a 60 mile drive from Bedford to London tonight when my MIL light came on. The light was solid, not flashing.
My car is a new 135R with around 1650 miles on it. I've got a Janspeed exhaust and a Hurricane induction kit, but the cat is stock.
Once the light came on, I pulled over to check the owner's manual (the light has the shape of the engine on it, so it looks pretty alarming!). After a brief (and relatively uneducated) poke around the engine bay and finding nothing obviously wrong, I called the Lotus assistance line. I asked the lady on the line if it was safe to continue driving, etc. She said that since it was an "orange" light it just meant to get it checked "by the dealer" in the near future. I hadn't noticed anything wrong with respect to performance, weird noises, etc., so I carried on. After awhile I became aware that the idle was a bit higher - usually it is 800-900, but now it was 1000-1100. Also, when approaching a stop, after changing down the gears and finally putting the clutch in to stop, I noticed that the idle was around 1500. Usually this car idles around 1100-1200 as I slow down to stop, but it will return to 800-900 once I fully stop. By the way, I've never had a car that idled differently when it was rolling vs. when it was stopped, so is this normal?
Anyway, since I set out this morning I now have an orange MIL light shining at me and a high idle. I would be grateful for any ideas about what this is, and how to fix it.
Also, is the lady from the Lotus assistance line right that I can continue to drive? It looks like a great weekend coming up, the top is off, and I'm ready to do some driving.
Thanks for your help.
lama
My car is a new 135R with around 1650 miles on it. I've got a Janspeed exhaust and a Hurricane induction kit, but the cat is stock.
Once the light came on, I pulled over to check the owner's manual (the light has the shape of the engine on it, so it looks pretty alarming!). After a brief (and relatively uneducated) poke around the engine bay and finding nothing obviously wrong, I called the Lotus assistance line. I asked the lady on the line if it was safe to continue driving, etc. She said that since it was an "orange" light it just meant to get it checked "by the dealer" in the near future. I hadn't noticed anything wrong with respect to performance, weird noises, etc., so I carried on. After awhile I became aware that the idle was a bit higher - usually it is 800-900, but now it was 1000-1100. Also, when approaching a stop, after changing down the gears and finally putting the clutch in to stop, I noticed that the idle was around 1500. Usually this car idles around 1100-1200 as I slow down to stop, but it will return to 800-900 once I fully stop. By the way, I've never had a car that idled differently when it was rolling vs. when it was stopped, so is this normal?
Anyway, since I set out this morning I now have an orange MIL light shining at me and a high idle. I would be grateful for any ideas about what this is, and how to fix it.
Also, is the lady from the Lotus assistance line right that I can continue to drive? It looks like a great weekend coming up, the top is off, and I'm ready to do some driving.
Thanks for your help.
lama
The MIL can come on for about 20 different errors - for the more serious faults then the engine can go into 'limp home mode' with reduced power output. I would get it into a dealer asap - only takes 10mins to put the scan tool on and see what it is. It may just be a faulty sensor, a misfire, faulty relay, ecu etc etc ..well thats what listed in the service manual anyway
Join the club - I also got an steady orange light from my EMS on the return trip from Goodwowod on Saturday. I'm taking my Elise to HR Owen tomorrow and will let you know what they find. The electronic log is not confidential so your dealer should let you have a copy/details of the printout. Like you I had a poke around and found nothing, all other warning lights were normal as was operating temperature. I suspect the exceptional heat may have something to do with it - we'll see...
And the good news is that the continious EMS light was caused by a faulty lambda probe - not uncommon according to HR Owen.
Given the reputation of Lotus I would recommend anyone with a new car to run it as much (and hard) as possible while under warranty to make any faulty parts fail.
Hopefully your 135 will prove to be as simple and cheap (free) to fix...
Given the reputation of Lotus I would recommend anyone with a new car to run it as much (and hard) as possible while under warranty to make any faulty parts fail.
Hopefully your 135 will prove to be as simple and cheap (free) to fix...
I ultimately had to have mine picked up by a breakdown recovery truck. Lots of fun with Lotus Assistance (total waiting time in excess of 7 1/2 hours over two days), but that's another story.
Bell & Colvill just advised that the problem was with some sort of accelerator transmitting device - apparently some part that tells the engine how far open the accelerator is pushed. I'll post more once I see the receipt.
Covered under the warranty, but quite a hassle.
Bell & Colvill just advised that the problem was with some sort of accelerator transmitting device - apparently some part that tells the engine how far open the accelerator is pushed. I'll post more once I see the receipt.
Covered under the warranty, but quite a hassle.
Hi,
my MIL light went on yesterday evening after a fast ride. It was hot outside (ca 36°C)but watertemperatur was around 95°C and pretty normal. My gas tank was as good as empty. If this had to do somthing with it I don't know. After filling up the tank and 5 times shutting of the engine and restart the Mil Light disappeared. I believe it had something to with the extreme outside temperatures, or am I wrong ? Comments ??
my MIL light went on yesterday evening after a fast ride. It was hot outside (ca 36°C)but watertemperatur was around 95°C and pretty normal. My gas tank was as good as empty. If this had to do somthing with it I don't know. After filling up the tank and 5 times shutting of the engine and restart the Mil Light disappeared. I believe it had something to with the extreme outside temperatures, or am I wrong ? Comments ??
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