I don't think I have ever seen such brilliantly structured, paced and 'to the point' videos as these 3. No trying to be endlessly funny or the focus himself, no dragging things out and going off into areas of irrelevance. Excellent work, really well done!
This was really helpful. My gear lever wasn’t centered so it was allmost so that I couldn’t get 5th gear right. Adjusted the bracket by the gearbox and now the lever points straight up and all the gears are where they should. :) Great channel and great effort btw 😊
Top man, fab videos and commentary. No reverse in my 1999 S1 111S, adjusted the cross gate bolt in from 12.5mm to 11mm, all good! If it happens again I'll get the cables and stuff upgraded, I've had the Lotus from new so I know it's all original. Thanks again fella. 👍👍👍
Thanks for the videos - Had a garage do this to mine when the bushes got worn and it wouldn't engage reverse. I'm based in Brussels with a 2002 Elise K-Series. Cheers
Possible the wrong Crossgate bold adjustment or the adjustment rod that was incorrect... was that in a Lotus garage... I also live in belgium... did it got fixed at the end ?
The Kontich lotus garage replaced the gear linkage with the new rubber bushes that were worn out. Still 1st gear is a bit rough to engage but it solved it getting into reverse and the other gears are fine. However the clutch is also a bit worn (70k) with a higher than normal engage point which is usually a sign of wear. I'm considering to change the clutch and at the same time install a lightweight flywheel from some extra oumph. What would you advise, clutch job is expensive. Cheers
Hi Christian, I am not sure which model you have, but the S2 as far as I am aware has no bushes on the linkage, unless you refer to the small inserts on the stickshift itself. But for the rest there are no bushes on the cable system. Maybe you mean something else. If 1ste and Reverse are difficult and the gearbox itself, then I really expect that the crossgate cable is badly adjusted. have look on your stick, that should be straight up when in N between 3 and 4 gear. Not leaning forward or backward, not left or right... just straight up (look below the bend), if that is not the case , thenteh cables are wrongly adjusted (see video,1,2,3). If it is straight up, then the crossbold could be wrong or an issue with the gearbox itself or the wrong cables are fitted, but the bushes still confuse me.... as to the uplift. Here is my take on it, first make sure that the clutch activator (hydrolic element) on the gearbox is not having air inside, you can bleed it through the nipple on the top of the pomp on the gearbox. It gets hydrolic fluid from the brake system, so keep filling that reservoir up while you bleed it (under quick access panel). Changing the clutch is a good move, the flywheel... hmmm you can, not sure if its going to give you that extra punch. Overall the S2 has plenty of power. Afterall power x mass is the main factor and as they are light they score ver high even better than certain Porches who have a lot more power. A light flywheel will make the rev'ing different . I have not change mine, and will not. But i did change the brake discs to liteweight saving 7.5 Kg.... So, I try to save weight versus engine tuning ( although I have the 135R sport). But you can as the flywheel saves weight as well, with the rev side effect ( engine might run less smooth on idel and low rev's, slows down faster when clutch depressed during up or down shifting and it gives a bit more punch when accelerating as the extra weight of the flywheel is gone , hence needing less power to overcome the inertia. regards Steve
Great videos , very many thanks for being so informative and for showing all your tips . I really needed this . I will seek for some more of your videos :-)
Interesting method to adjusting the cables, I was just going by feel! I don't agree with your "+8mm" and "-8mm" you put on to the measurements though. You fail to realise that the neutral point measurement is also shifted back 8mm, cancelling out the need to add or subtract the extra 8mm. If you're always measuring from the same point on the gear stick, it makes no difference!
Hi Steve, you say the rod adjustment should be 80mm. In the Lotus service manual they say 70mm? I turned my Elise 2004 111s inside out and did a conversion from RHD to LHD . I enjoy your videos Steve, great job thanks!
Thanks, you are right its 70mm.... will bring out a correction.... you converted one, that must have been one hell of a job with the dashboard and cabling.....
Hi Steve, thanks for this helpfull video as always. But I think I have a problem on my Elise, when I move the stick shift to the left or to the rignt and I remove my hand of it, he stays on the left or the right without comming back to the centre position by himself. All cables and connectors seems me visually correct and it is possible to drive like that by making the rights movements with my hand but from where do you think the problem comes from ? Thanks, David.
What about that frame assembly the shift lever and handbrake lever mounts to? It looks so flimsy. When you move the shifter or the handbrake the frame just bends where it should be rigid so that the shifter movement is transmitted to the cable. Surely that must add to the sloppy feeling of system. Are there no replacements that are more sturdy?
There are full rod based systems. This works just fine, and I pushed extra hard to show the movement , normally you don't need to.... and for the rest its all light weight. Txs for the comments
Hello Mr Steve.Nice videos and very helpfull.I have the same car and its time to change the clutch.Can you please tell me if i must take off the engine to do that? Or can i take off only the gearbox? Do you think it has enough space to get the gearbox down?Thank you,
Thanks for the comments, changing the clutch is a lot of work. You can jack-up the car and do it all from underneed the car. You will have to remove the diffuser, and the protection panel. Then disconnect cables from the gearbox. Bit most of all you will need to remove the or pop the drive shafts out of the gearbox. You will also need to remove the wheel hub at the left side so that you can move the gearbox out that way. Its a hard job,, and be carefull as you need to support the car and the gearbox /// have a look here howtune.com/articles/63-replacing-the-clutch-on-a-lotus-elise this a good write-up. I have done it once , but did not tape it at the time. Good luck
Hi Steve. Since you seem to know everything about the Elise, maybe you can help me. My RHS electric window mécanism only works very few times, once or twice per day. I checked what was accessible but didn't find anything wrong. Thanks in advance. Stephane
That is typical a bad ground, as the doors are all fibre the ground is provided through the cabling. The best way is to check the ground and all the cables out especially those that run through the door to the chassis ( where things move). When you say once or twice , under what circumstances is that ? Is it going Up or Down ... try to swing the door open en close while moving the window up and down. If that works sometimes then its a bad cable between the door and frame. In each case the best thing is to measure with a voltmeter the pins on the connector of the motor and see what you get...
Love your work mate - thank you for these guides, they are immeasurably helpful.
I don't think I have ever seen such brilliantly structured, paced and 'to the point' videos as these 3. No trying to be endlessly funny or the focus himself, no dragging things out and going off into areas of irrelevance.
Excellent work, really well done!
Thanks for the comments
This was really helpful.
My gear lever wasn’t centered so it was allmost so that I couldn’t get 5th gear right. Adjusted the bracket by the gearbox and now the lever points straight up and all the gears are where they should. :)
Great channel and great effort btw 😊
Thank you for the comments
Thanks for incredibly helpful videos
Thanks for the comments
Top man, fab videos and commentary. No reverse in my 1999 S1 111S, adjusted the cross gate bolt in from 12.5mm to 11mm, all good! If it happens again I'll get the cables and stuff upgraded, I've had the Lotus from new so I know it's all original. Thanks again fella. 👍👍👍
Thanks for the comments good luck
I need to grease my gears. Yours move a lot more freely than mine!!
Complicated job great and simple explained 👌🏼
Glad you liked it!
Thanks for the videos - Had a garage do this to mine when the bushes got worn and it wouldn't engage reverse. I'm based in Brussels with a 2002 Elise K-Series. Cheers
Possible the wrong Crossgate bold adjustment or the adjustment rod that was incorrect... was that in a Lotus garage... I also live in belgium... did it got fixed at the end ?
The Kontich lotus garage replaced the gear linkage with the new rubber bushes that were worn out. Still 1st gear is a bit rough to engage but it solved it getting into reverse and the other gears are fine.
However the clutch is also a bit worn (70k) with a higher than normal engage point which is usually a sign of wear. I'm considering to change the clutch and at the same time install a lightweight flywheel from some extra oumph. What would you advise, clutch job is expensive. Cheers
Hi Christian, I am not sure which model you have, but the S2 as far as I am aware has no bushes on the linkage, unless you refer to the small inserts on the stickshift itself. But for the rest there are no bushes on the cable system. Maybe you mean something else. If 1ste and Reverse are difficult and the gearbox itself, then I really expect that the crossgate cable is badly adjusted. have look on your stick, that should be straight up when in N between 3 and 4 gear. Not leaning forward or backward, not left or right... just straight up (look below the bend), if that is not the case , thenteh cables are wrongly adjusted (see video,1,2,3). If it is straight up, then the crossbold could be wrong or an issue with the gearbox itself or the wrong cables are fitted, but the bushes still confuse me.... as to the uplift. Here is my take on it, first make sure that the clutch activator (hydrolic element) on the gearbox is not having air inside, you can bleed it through the nipple on the top of the pomp on the gearbox. It gets hydrolic fluid from the brake system, so keep filling that reservoir up while you bleed it (under quick access panel). Changing the clutch is a good move, the flywheel... hmmm you can, not sure if its going to give you that extra punch. Overall the S2 has plenty of power. Afterall power x mass is the main factor and as they are light they score ver high even better than certain Porches who have a lot more power. A light flywheel will make the rev'ing different . I have not change mine, and will not. But i did change the brake discs to liteweight saving 7.5 Kg.... So, I try to save weight versus engine tuning ( although I have the 135R sport). But you can as the flywheel saves weight as well, with the rev side effect ( engine might run less smooth on idel and low rev's, slows down faster when clutch depressed during up or down shifting and it gives a bit more punch when accelerating as the extra weight of the flywheel is gone , hence needing less power to overcome the inertia. regards Steve
Great videos , very many thanks for being so informative and for showing all your tips . I really needed this . I will seek for some more of your videos :-)
Thanks for the comments
Interesting method to adjusting the cables, I was just going by feel! I don't agree with your "+8mm" and "-8mm" you put on to the measurements though. You fail to realise that the neutral point measurement is also shifted back 8mm, cancelling out the need to add or subtract the extra 8mm. If you're always measuring from the same point on the gear stick, it makes no difference!
Thanks for the comments, and for me it worked out just fine...
Great Tuto 🙏
Hi Steve, you say the rod adjustment should be 80mm. In the Lotus service manual they say 70mm?
I turned my Elise 2004 111s inside out and did a conversion from RHD to LHD . I enjoy your videos Steve, great job thanks!
Thanks, you are right its 70mm.... will bring out a correction.... you converted one, that must have been one hell of a job with the dashboard and cabling.....
Hi Steve, thanks for this helpfull video as always. But I think I have a problem on my Elise, when I move the stick shift to the left or to the rignt and I remove my hand of it, he stays on the left or the right without comming back to the centre position by himself. All cables and connectors seems me visually correct and it is possible to drive like that by making the rights movements with my hand but from where do you think the problem comes from ?
Thanks, David.
What about that frame assembly the shift lever and handbrake lever mounts to? It looks so flimsy. When you move the shifter or the handbrake the frame just bends where it should be rigid so that the shifter movement is transmitted to the cable. Surely that must add to the sloppy feeling of system. Are there no replacements that are more sturdy?
There are full rod based systems. This works just fine, and I pushed extra hard to show the movement , normally you don't need to.... and for the rest its all light weight. Txs for the comments
you're right about the flimsy frame ! few people have made rock solid basements, and it really improve the stick feeling ...
Hello Mr Steve.Nice videos and very helpfull.I have the same car and its time to change the clutch.Can you please tell me if i must take off the engine to do that? Or can i take off only the gearbox? Do you think it has enough space to get the gearbox down?Thank you,
Thanks for the comments, changing the clutch is a lot of work. You can jack-up the car and do it all from underneed the car. You will have to remove the diffuser, and the protection panel. Then disconnect cables from the gearbox. Bit most of all you will need to remove the or pop the drive shafts out of the gearbox. You will also need to remove the wheel hub at the left side so that you can move the gearbox out that way. Its a hard job,, and be carefull as you need to support the car and the gearbox /// have a look here howtune.com/articles/63-replacing-the-clutch-on-a-lotus-elise this a good write-up. I have done it once , but did not tape it at the time. Good luck
Thank you!We want more elise videos!
You can take off the gearbox without removing the engine,it will be a bit tight,try turning gearbox 90 degrees to remove ,and replace.
Hi Steve. Since you seem to know everything about the Elise, maybe you can help me. My RHS electric window mécanism only works very few times, once or twice per day. I checked what was accessible but didn't find anything wrong.
Thanks in advance.
Stephane
That is typical a bad ground, as the doors are all fibre the ground is provided through the cabling. The best way is to check the ground and all the cables out especially those that run through the door to the chassis ( where things move). When you say once or twice , under what circumstances is that ? Is it going Up or Down ... try to swing the door open en close while moving the window up and down. If that works sometimes then its a bad cable between the door and frame. In each case the best thing is to measure with a voltmeter the pins on the connector of the motor and see what you get...
Perhaps you have a voltage issue or a worn out motor