Discussion
Oops Title's gone funny... should read... 'First "Episode" with the beast'
Firstly, let me briefly explain what "episode" means in my household....
a) Tantrum / Hissy-fit / Eggy / Kenneth etc
b) Scary moment
Well last night I had an a/b combo which brought out the side of me
which normally doesn't emerge unless I'm very stressed, tired and emotional etc. 
El Beast II (hope you don't mind me calling it that drag - just seems so fitting that I have bestowed the name on mine also
) has been round the old mans for a couple of days while I await my parking permit.
Last night I went round to pick it up for a trip to the cinema (an hour in advance so I could go the long way - n.b. cinema is a 5 min drive
) and the b
d wouldn't start.
All I got was a light show on the stack and a tick, tick, tick, tick, tick from the speedo and the engine. @rse! I panicked (this was the b) moment above) then became rather "excited" (this was the a) moment mentioned above) as the car started beeping, interior and indicator lights began blinking and I couldn't turn it off
.
A quick search on PH threads pointed to a dead battery rather than anything serious so it was straight on the phone to the knights of the road 
.
RAC took 2.5hrs to come out and give me a jump-start, fortunately it fired up right away. I guess the fact that the previous owner hadn't used it much in the last few months has meant the alarm has gobbled up all the power from the battery.
The nice thing was that the bloke who turned up was an Ex-Rover mechanic who'd tuned the K Series extensively on his own projects
. He advised that I should get the oil changed every 3k to keep things running nicely and also to have the bolts on the camwheel(?) checked/changed for heavier duty ones long before the cambelt change is due as apparently they are prone to coming loose and causing cambelt failure. Anyone know any more about this?
>>> Edited by S Works on Wednesday 3rd March 14:08
>>> Edited by S Works on Wednesday 3rd March 14:10
Firstly, let me briefly explain what "episode" means in my household....
a) Tantrum / Hissy-fit / Eggy / Kenneth etc
b) Scary moment
Well last night I had an a/b combo which brought out the side of me
which normally doesn't emerge unless I'm very stressed, tired and emotional etc. El Beast II (hope you don't mind me calling it that drag - just seems so fitting that I have bestowed the name on mine also
) has been round the old mans for a couple of days while I await my parking permit. Last night I went round to pick it up for a trip to the cinema (an hour in advance so I could go the long way - n.b. cinema is a 5 min drive
) and the bd wouldn't start. All I got was a light show on the stack and a tick, tick, tick, tick, tick from the speedo and the engine. @rse! I panicked (this was the b) moment above) then became rather "excited" (this was the a) moment mentioned above) as the car started beeping, interior and indicator lights began blinking and I couldn't turn it off
. A quick search on PH threads pointed to a dead battery rather than anything serious so it was straight on the phone to the knights of the road . RAC took 2.5hrs to come out and give me a jump-start, fortunately it fired up right away
. I guess the fact that the previous owner hadn't used it much in the last few months has meant the alarm has gobbled up all the power from the battery. The nice thing was that the bloke who turned up was an Ex-Rover mechanic who'd tuned the K Series extensively on his own projects
. He advised that I should get the oil changed every 3k to keep things running nicely and also to have the bolts on the camwheel(?) checked/changed for heavier duty ones long before the cambelt change is due as apparently they are prone to coming loose and causing cambelt failure. Anyone know any more about this? >>> Edited by S Works on Wednesday 3rd March 14:08
>>> Edited by S Works on Wednesday 3rd March 14:10
yeah - have finally given in and replaced my battery with a 500amp cranking monkey which was only 30 quid....much more powerful than the standard fitment, and should help I hope.................. cos all those symptoms you quoted have happened to me on endless occaisions since owning the elise as I hadnt been driving it frequently enough for the alarm not to kill the battery
strongly suggest buying yourself a jump pack - like another battery with jum leads. knackers to waiting 2 hours for the RAC!
strongly suggest buying yourself a jump pack - like another battery with jum leads. knackers to waiting 2 hours for the RAC!
tom_burnley said:
In my limited experience - once the battey has gone flat it never fully recovers. Thats why - I think, that once the battery on mine had gone flat on the forecourt, I had intermittenet trouble until I replaced the battery.
This is very true...car batteries are not designed toi 'deep cycle', so they don't take kindly to being flattened. At the first hint of any further trouble, get yourself a new one.
Cheers for the advice fellas - gave it a good charge during the day yesterday and it was fine in the evening.
If I get anymore hassle I'll replace it straight off the bat.
As for the mileage and cambelt stuff - it's done 22,400mls and was passed as fine after a thorough pre-purchase check from Miles @ Fibreglass Services in Arundel. He recommended getting it done next year. It had it's first B service in December 03 and is due two A's before the C... would you wait or just get it done for peace of mind?
If I get anymore hassle I'll replace it straight off the bat.
As for the mileage and cambelt stuff - it's done 22,400mls and was passed as fine after a thorough pre-purchase check from Miles @ Fibreglass Services in Arundel. He recommended getting it done next year. It had it's first B service in December 03 and is due two A's before the C... would you wait or just get it done for peace of mind?
Wait til it's due - it'll be fine. At the end of the day it's only a K-series engine.
If you have access to a power point near wher you park it, might be an idea to get a charger to keep it topped up. I charge my battery every couple of weeks if the car isn't being used which has to better for it than going flat!
If you have access to a power point near wher you park it, might be an idea to get a charger to keep it topped up. I charge my battery every couple of weeks if the car isn't being used which has to better for it than going flat!
S Works said:
He advised that I should get the oil changed every 3k to keep things running nicely and also to have the bolts on the camwheel(?) checked/changed for heavier duty ones long before the cambelt change is due as apparently they are prone to coming loose and causing cambelt failure. Anyone know any more about this?
I certaily do know about the bolts. 1st weekend out ever and I spent 2 hours on Brighton see front in the rain and a whole evening getting a toe home because my cam bolts came loose. No long term damage, but got new cambelt anyway. My RAC chap said it was not uncommon if they were not tighted sufficiently, (I had just had the C service) although if over tourqued they could fail. Mine had just worked loose.
Had no problems since.
sirlaughalot said:
I certaily do know about the bolts. 1st weekend out ever and I spent 2 hours on Brighton see front in the rain and a whole evening getting a toe home because my cam bolts came loose. No long term damage, but got new cambelt anyway. My RAC chap said it was not uncommon if they were not tighted sufficiently, (I had just had the C service) although if over tourqued they could fail. Mine had just worked loose.
Had no problems since.
What were the warning signs? Cheers for the note BTW!
As for the charging stuff guys & gals - there's absolutely NO chance that this little beastie's not getting driven at least every few days
[quote=aromaT]what does havin just had a C service and you cam olts have to do with each other? [quote]
Your knee bones conected to your thigh bone, your. ......
I don't know, just what I was told. I just drive the thing me.
I thought the com bolts were the things that held the cam shaft drive for teh cam belt in place. But as my old maths teacher used to say "Thought thought wrong laughalot". She never did say Sir!
Your knee bones conected to your thigh bone, your. ......
I don't know, just what I was told. I just drive the thing me.
I thought the com bolts were the things that held the cam shaft drive for teh cam belt in place. But as my old maths teacher used to say "Thought thought wrong laughalot". She never did say Sir!
S Works said:
What were the warning signs? Cheers for the note BTW!
A small rattle when accelerating then.........
Battery light came on and you could her a loud rattle just to the right behind your head. Reaching into engine bay I could wobble the drive for the cam belt at the right hand base of the engine block.
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