elise s1 emission trouble

[matthewselise]

help!!!!! can anyone explain what could be causing my emission trouble? i took my s1 elise to the mot last week in france but it failed on emissions at the exhaust being too high ,, the mot guy suspected the lambda sensor ,, but i didnt want to just change the lambda to find out that the problem was something else ,,, is there any other reason for high emissions ?? are there other weaknesses? just to be clear , if the car was here in sheffield i would pop it over to one of the lotus guys and get it sorted ,, but as its in france its a bit of a problem ,,, and as the french only seem to like cars you can stick two sheep in the back they think im a bitofatwat oh well we cant all run around in scenics or 2cvs (with sheep) hope someone can help ,,, thanks matthew

[albutch]

Which measurements were out? The actual figures would help.

[matthewselise]

im not sure the mot guy actually gave me the test results ,, and all i can recall is that the correct reading should have been less than 0.3 and it was reading more like 8 ,,, sorry i cant be more specific,,,, i had hoped to borrow some diagnostic equipment so my local french mechanic could help me out but it seems that an elise s1 isnt compatible with the obd tester

[albutch]

Lots of things affect emmisions, here's a few:

Air filter, fuel injectors, manifold leaks, engine condition, temp sensors, oxygen (lambda) sensor at tickover - I'm sure others can add more.

[matthewselise]

ok thanks for that ,, so in which order should i try and work it all out ,, the car hasnt done a lot of miles approx 38000 and seems to run ok though hasnt run for six months or so ,, when the engine is revved it increases the engine rpm but when the pedal is released to change gear the revs dont drop as they should and take a second or two to drop off ,, is there a tester that i can connect to work out which if any faults my car has ,, is the car obd compatible?

[albutch]

The S1 is not OBD II compatible I'm afraid, you would need the Lotus scan tool to read info from the ECU.


Start by checking the easy bits first, you might as well check the air filter for clogging - its simple and costs nothing to check for clogging.

Next I would put a bottle of injector cleaner through, may be one is sticky, and take it from there.

As the car has a common Rover engine, any competent car mechanic should be able to help.

[PaulT]

Daft question but might as well ask - does it have a cat?

Whereabouts in France are you?

[matthewselise]

hi paul
im near to mont st michel in dept 50 ,, but there isnt a lotus dealer or agent for miles,,, the cat is present but i dont know what condition its in ,, how can i get hold of a lotus scan tool or is this impossible?

[albutch]

Unfortunately you'll need a dealer for the scan tool.

[Dennis]

Try some nice new petrol and make sue it is proper warmed up before testing, the cats doen'w work well until realy hot

[Simon]

Also make sure the test was done correctly, I had experience of an emissions test that wasn't done as the MOT states.. The engine should be warm and the test made at the correct rpm and distance from the tail pipe.

[Dennis]

If you have an old style exhaust (2 exits out of the box), try sticking it up the other pipe (they have different presures coming out due to routing)