Need Detailed howto or information on gearbox service.

[NickRuocco]

have a 1994 S4 and have just recently been getting a grind into only second gear. i have talked to a few
people and they are pretty sure its the 1st/2nd gear synchro. I do not have much experience working with transmissions
but i have the shop manual and have look online for help documents with limited luck.

my plan is to have a friend of mine that is experienced with transmissions (but not lotus's) assist me with the help
of some good documentation.

if anyone know of any good sourses of information please send me the link. or come help : )

thanks so much in advance,

Nick
Baltimore, MD U.S.A.
[e-mail]

[Kylie]

There are a few things you can do to check yourself and a little know how you can have a go at tackling some of these issues yourself. Go to www.lotusespritworld.com for all trouble shooting and how to guides.

Good luck.

[Stu R]

I've no experience of Lotus', but a lot of us Skyline GTR owners have synchro troubles on third gear.
A popular solution with our cars is to drop the gearbox oil and replace it with "Redline Shockproof Heavy" gearbox oil which just about everyone who's used it has praised, myself included.
Obviously it's not a "fix", but it certainly eradicated the problem for a lot of us and got rid of the crunching. It won't rebuild the box for you, but if what it does on our cars is anything to go by, it'll get you a lot longer out of the box before rebuild time comes around.
Done around 8000 miles on mine since I changed it and it's been great
Might be worth a try?

[Kylie]

Stu R said:

I've no experience of Lotus',

Sorry to rain on yr parade their is ONLY ONE gear box oil to be used in Esprits and this will not solve his problem. The one u suggested is not it!

Good place to start is replacing red hose with stainless one, check master and slave cylinders, fluid levels (bleed with fresh fluids) replace linkage parts if worn or sloppy. Failing the 10 things you can check over visually here, take it in to get properly inspected.

[Stu R]

Kylie said:

Stu R said:

I've no experience of Lotus',

Sorry to rain on yr parade their is ONLY ONE gear box oil to be used in Esprits and this will not solve his problem. The one u suggested is not it!

Good place to start is replacing red hose with stainless one, check master and slave cylinders, fluid levels (bleed with fresh fluids) replace linkage parts if worn or sloppy. Failing the 10 things you can check over visually here, take it in to get properly inspected.

Rain on my parade? perhaps not. It was merely a suggestion.
Out of sheer curiosity what's the reasoning behind only one type of gearbox oil being used? And what's the rationale behind not using a gearbox oil of the same viscosity that meets or exceeds the recommended factory standards, ratings and specs?

Cheers,
stu

[big-si]

only one oil??? first i have heard of that, lotus reccomend an oil at the time of a cars release they use what ever is best for the car at that time, oils change as time progresses so des the process of additives and molecular densities etc, how they perform under heat and load improves so the best oil for the car or trans will be the newer equivelent everytime as its a step up from the older oil, but its down to personal preference what oil you use in the transmission as other trans specialists will have preference on a newer type of oil over the older one reccomended by lotus at that time as there will be advances in its makeup for use.

my s3t has redline mt90 trans oil in due to the fact it is superb on trans with bad synchros etc , my engine has castrol edge sport in because its excellent with older/ rebuilt / upgraded engines, however i will also be moving to either royal purple or redline engine oil as its a step up again and will help the engine in the long run.

oils are about preference, prior use and good advice.

i suggest you pop into the lotus esprit forums and speak with like minded owners who can offer an unbiased opinion on oils they have used.

i used redline in my 16year old kakimoto slicktop fairlady gearbox and it was fantastic in that improved gearchanges and gear wear for the better.

[Kylie]

big-si said:

i suggest you pop into the lotus esprit forums and speak with like minded owners who can offer an unbiased opinion on oils they have used.

Sorry to come across as a little harsh, not intented, I just get frustrated. I am surprised your even asking esp if you do hang out in Lotus Esprit World Forum. If you have followed the countless threads over the last 2 years on the repeated questions asked about what oil and what Lotus now recommends, its quite clear. Its something we should be telling the wider community. Lotus have gone to great lengths testing all gear box oils for our cars only. Syncro wear is much greater if other products are used. The down side to using this is a marginly notchy shift. Its a small price to pay for more life out of the gearbox. I too used to have redline in it and the shifting was slightly better, but not much. I changed this oil twice had loads of copper/silver swirls through the oil each time. I have now changed over to Castrol TAF-X as recommended. Go to Lotusespritworld I think you find I am unbiased.
Each to their own I guess.

As for product specifications, the analytical data reported are quite different between them. Look them up.

[Oilchange]

Kylie is right chaps.

doesnt stop synchro wear but is the one Lotus tested and recommends.

(I bet if Lotus ever had a warranty issue with a (UN1) gearbox the first thing they would do would be to check the fluid!, ...not that any cars are still in warranty...)

[Oilchange]

Incidentally and purely a thought, what would happen if you put half of each in, would you get all the benefits of each or would they clog into a gear crunching emulsion?

[NickRuocco]

Sorry for taking so long to respond guys. thank you for all your responses..Kylie, your right i first did check the linkage(translator) and it looked good, at least to my untrained eyes. I just had the "c" service completed less than 250 miles age where my slave cylinder was replaced because of a small amount of fluid on the outside. Yes, i still do have the red hose which some people are very skeptical of...but on the day this problem arose i was on my way back from a 40 mile trip in 103 degree weather... so i though i would let it cool down overnight in the garage and see if the problem went away.. it did not on a very cool day.

About putting a different fluid in the trans.. i did talk to a very respected mechanic of Lotus esprit's and he said they do have some different fluid that is very slippery but does not think that would solve my problem.

he also said in the 1-2 shift it is possible for the driver to beat the syncro in aligning the gears and which with cause a grind then eventually blow the synchro. all other gears will not have this issue.

i am having another mechanic look at it this weekend, i will keep you all updated

[toyroom]

This is exactly what happened to me. Fix it for £1000, fix it with an LSD for £1700. Fix it so it works like a racing gearbox with proper ratios for £2,300 or fix it properly so it will have correct ratios, a better shift and will last forever for about £3500. Check my earlier gearbox posts for the details and send a PM if you want more details of how to avoid the DISASTER I suffered !!

[Kylie]

toyroom said:

This is exactly what happened to me. Fix it for £1000, fix it with an LSD for £1700. Fix it so it works like a racing gearbox with proper ratios for £2,300 or fix it properly so it will have correct ratios, a better shift and will last forever for about £3500. Check my earlier gearbox posts for the details and send a PM if you want more details of how to avoid the DISASTER I suffered !!

Now your just showing off I am buyung a V8 myself early next year so will be contacting ya in the future about this mod - sounds great all though thats almost $10K my money !

[NickRuocco]

UPDATE:

Took the car to a lotus dealer and service shop and they said it was the clutch...i guess that is better news, as long as my flywheel is not worn too much. weirdest thing..i accidentally shifted into second after a red light on my way to the shop and no grind...I have not got a grind since then and did not get the clutch job just yet.

although, turns out i have a leaking master brake cylinder or modulator assembly, thats a good 4 hours labor and a $870 part.

so i guess it was not the syncro after all....fingers crossed.

still keep you updated on further progress.

[toyroom]

You get what you pay for. A fifty thousand pound car with a twenty thousand pound engine deserves a five grand transmission. I know it sounds expensive but the whole point of the Esprit is the driving experience and it should be optomised, not corner cut! I think in the terms of the advice to set ten percent of your budget to pay for the cables when you buy a hi-fi. Perhaps it would be good advice to buy a twenty grand car if you have a twenty five grand budget so the other five grand would cover the first year or two of repairs etc. I would certainly think in those terms if I ever buy another exotic car like the Esprit. With the gearbox, get in touch anytime. I now have seven years of experience in Esprit frustration. (But it's worth it !)