Lotus-friendly garage or mechanic on the Isle of Wight?
Discussion
hello everyone, bit of a long shot this one, do any members know of a garage or mechanic based on the Isle of Wight who would be prepared to look at my Esprit. The car is a 1986 N/A S3, it turns over but won't start. It would be great if I could avoid bringing it back to the mainland on the back of a truck. Thanks. Steve
zhastaph said:
Hi Steve
Where abouts are you on the Island? I live in Sandown and drive a yellow v8
I cant help you with a garage I'm afraid, I do all the work on mine myself, I desperately dread the day something serious happens .....
Col
hi Col, I'm in Porchfield, a couple of miles SW of Cowes. I'll keep a look out for you, will be hard to miss a yellow V8 on the IoW!
I've also got an Exige, which I'm ashamed to say is the reason that the Esprit has been a little neglected of late. Do you know of any common reasons why the car wouldn't start after being left for a couple of months? The battery is ok, and it turns over, no sign of catching though. I had a problem with the distributor once before, could that be it? Unfortunately (as you can probably guess) I'm no mechanic, car was previously based in London, so easy access to dealers and garages. Now I'm marooned.
cheers
Steve
I know zip about the 'old uns' I'm afraid.
Things I would check are;
1. Do you have a spark at the spark plugs?
You will need 2 people to test this, remove one of the sparks plugs, reattach the HT lead to it. With a good insulated pair of plyers hold the tip of the spark plug against the engine and see if you have a spark.
This will rule out the whole of the ignition system.
2. Check the fuel pump. I'm not sure on an S3 but I would expect you should hear it prime when you turn the ignition key.
You could disconnect one of the fuel hoses from your carbs and see if any fuel pisses out.
3. Any immobilser or anything interfering with it perhaps?
There's a guy up by where the council offices are in Carisbrooke that looks after a few Esprit's on the Island. I talked to him some time ago about helping with my alignment and he seemed to think that he knew a fair bit about them, but then don't they all
I cant remember the name of the firm, but I'm sure it was 3 letters and began with D. {my good ole memory}
I'll go look in a sec see if I can find out.
====
I only work down the road from you {ish} right next to Vectawarm on Dodnor Estate - u cant miss it, car's always outside. I could pop by sometime if you like, though I cant really promise much as I'm a software developer by trade
Hope that's some help,
Col
Things I would check are;
1. Do you have a spark at the spark plugs?
You will need 2 people to test this, remove one of the sparks plugs, reattach the HT lead to it. With a good insulated pair of plyers hold the tip of the spark plug against the engine and see if you have a spark.
This will rule out the whole of the ignition system.
2. Check the fuel pump. I'm not sure on an S3 but I would expect you should hear it prime when you turn the ignition key.
You could disconnect one of the fuel hoses from your carbs and see if any fuel pisses out.
3. Any immobilser or anything interfering with it perhaps?
There's a guy up by where the council offices are in Carisbrooke that looks after a few Esprit's on the Island. I talked to him some time ago about helping with my alignment and he seemed to think that he knew a fair bit about them, but then don't they all
I cant remember the name of the firm, but I'm sure it was 3 letters and began with D. {my good ole memory}
I'll go look in a sec see if I can find out. ====
I only work down the road from you {ish} right next to Vectawarm on Dodnor Estate - u cant miss it, car's always outside
. I could pop by sometime if you like, though I cant really promise much as I'm a software developer by trade Hope that's some help,
Col
zhastaph said:
Right, the firm is called DRS Recovery 539573
I'm 92% certain the bloke i spoke to is called Dave.
But then I do have memory issues
well....I gave them a try, the chap who answered the phone couldn't place a Dave. They had a Dale, which was encouraging, but alas he hadn't ever worked on Esprits.
I'll try the fuel pump / hammer trick......any tips on where to find it (again, apologies for ignorance).
Thanks anyway Col, and everyone else for the advice.
trimbo said:
They had a Dale, which was encouraging, but alas he hadn't ever worked on Esprits.
Dale, that was the guy
without a doubt, oh how he regailed me of stories of how he had a mate that had 2 of them and how he'd worked on them numerous times for him, guess he must've b.s.ing me 
lol
Good luck, if you do need a second set of eyes .......
>> Edited by zhastaph on Friday 24th March 19:31
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