Just bought my first Lotus Esprit

[BARRACUDA340S]

Hello everyone! I just bought my first Lotus. I have loved the looks of this car for years. I have owned a couple Vipers and decided to jump fence and go with a Lotus. My car is a yellow 2002 #9. I bought it with 1400 miles on it. I drove it from the east coast back here to Iowa last weekend. I'm very impressed. You can imagine the reactions I get here! LOL I'm in the S.E. section of Iowa so you don't see to many exotic cars. I don't know to much about these cars so I'm hoping you guy's can fill me in a bit. I like to work on my own cars so any suggestions on upgrades or maintenance would be appreciated.

Thanks Brett

[cnh1990]

I'm not sure if there is a Lotus club in Iowa.

There are clubs in Minneapolis, MN, Chicago, IL and St. Louis, MO. There is a National Lotus Owners Gathering in St. Louis where many on this list and from the turbo list attend. Usually 100+ cars.

[scoule]

Welcome!

BARRACUDA340S said:

I like to work on my own cars so any suggestions on upgrades or maintenance would be appreciated. Thanks Brett

There'll be plenty of opportunities :-)

Lesson 1 .. learn where the inertia switch is! It's in the front right corner of engine bay. Mine tripped when replacing the egine cover and I only realised after an hour of finding & checking fuses, relays, connecting a fault code scanner and finally digging out the circuit diagrams!

[cnh1990]

scoule said:

Welcome! Lesson 1 .. learn where the inertia switch is! It's in the front right corner of engine bay. Mine tripped when replacing the egine cover and I only realised after an hour of finding & checking fuses, relays, connecting a fault code scanner and finally digging out the circuit diagrams!

Hahaha that happened to me too. I hit the wall with my knee when sitting in the trunk fiddling with the engine.

[BARRACUDA340S]

What is that switch for?

It doesn't appear that the car is that hard to work on. I look forward to learning!

Is it normal for the engine to turn over several times before firing?

[scoule]

It's there to cut power to the fuel pumps in the case of an accident, hopefully to prevent a ruptured fuel line from p155ing fuel everywhere.

They tend to be a little sensitive and the first thing to check if the car suddenly stops or fails to start.

[feffman]

Brett:

Lotus Ltd. (www.LotusCarClub.org) is in the process of starting an affiliate club in Iowa. Give me a call at [phone].

Mark Pfeffer - Presidnet Lotus Ltd.
1999 Esprit V8

[ErnestM]

BARRACUDA340S said:

What is that switch for? It doesn't appear that the car is that hard to work on. I look forward to learning! Is it normal for the engine to turn over several times before firing?

Yes on the turning over. If you want to forgo that, turn the ignition to the halfway mark. Listen for the whining of the fuel pump charging the rails and then turn the ignition full on. Will cut down the number of turnovers before engine fires...

...my experience anyway.

ErnestM

[BARRACUDA340S]

Thanks for the info!

feffman I will get in touch with you when I get back from Florida next week.