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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Creaky / Loose Roof On Exige S2


Ian C

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At the risk of allowing "thread drift"... my frustrations in no particular order are:

Creaking hard top (yay!)

Soft top didn't fit (defective from factory, replaced under warranty).

Major cabin water leaks (the cabin would be dryer with no roof at all).

Rear hatch grill-fixing nuts corroding and leaching ferrous oxide wherever water runs, staining the black trim and gutters (10 nuts replaced under warranty - thrice).

Rear hatch leaking n/s gas strut (replaced under warranty).

Failed battery (replaced myself - with a better model).

Failed engine protection valve solenoid (failed and replaced twice under waranty - currently awaiting further replacement/investigation following failure for the third time).

Utterly useless auxiliary switch illimination (yes, we all know about that - and we all share in this frustration in "great design").

Poor dipped headlight illimination (Why? Same headlamp units as my previous Elise S3).

To be clear, I actually really like my Exige V6 and don't regret owning one - but, I would like it ever so much more if stupid issues didn't have it visiting the dealer for remedial work quite so often. Again, to be absolutely clear, I can't fault the dealer.

For those that have an Exige V6, in any variant, you may want to check your exhaust valving. If it doesn't open/close correctly under ECU or manual control, or sticks in either the open or closed position when the engine bay is warm, then your control solenoid may be failing or totally stuffed. Having extensively investigated the issue (as an Engieer), I have really good idea what is causing the failures; Garage Queens that only see dry fine weather are unlikely to suffer from the fault :-)

At the risk of allowing "thread drift"... my frustrations in no particular order are:

Creaking hard top (yay!)

Soft top didn't fit (defective from factory, replaced under warranty).

Major cabin water leaks (the cabin would be dryer with no roof at all).

Rear hatch grill-fixing nuts corroding and leaching ferrous oxide wherever water runs, staining the black trim and gutters (10 nuts replaced under warranty - thrice).

Rear hatch leaking n/s gas strut (replaced under warranty).

Failed battery (replaced myself - with a better model).

Failed engine protection valve solenoid (failed and replaced twice under waranty - currently awaiting further replacement/investigation following failure for the third time).

Utterly useless auxiliary switch illimination (yes, we all know about that - and we all share in this frustration in "great design").

Poor dipped headlight illimination (Why? Same headlamp units as my previous Elise S3).

To be clear, I actually really like my Exige V6 and don't regret owning one - but, I would like it ever so much more if stupid issues didn't have it visiting the dealer for remedial work quite so often. Again, to be absolutely clear, I can't fault the dealer.

For those that have an Exige V6, in any variant, you may want to check your exhaust valving. If it doesn't open/close correctly under ECU or manual control, or sticks in either the open or closed position when the engine bay is warm, then your control solenoid may be failing or totally stuffed. Having extensively investigated the issue (as an Engieer), I have really good idea what is causing the failures; Garage Queens that only see dry fine weather are unlikely to suffer from the fault :-)

Oh dear the joys of lotus ownership what do we all expect for £60k lol!!!!!!

 

I suppose we could all buy a Porsche

Oh dear the joys of lotus ownership what do we all expect for £60k lol!!!!!!

I suppose we could all buy a Porsche

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Thanks for posting. I love the way they use the word "fettling", seems more like bodging to me!

Ian

I can't believe your remotely bothered by a squeaking roof on that particular car are you??????LOL!!!laugh.png laugh.png laugh.png mmmmmmm I wonder why????

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Sunny Spring afternoon, roof off, source of my really annoying roof squeak finally traced and fixed...

 

Referring to the service note (http://www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/files/download/140-elise-exige-roof-squeakspdf/) the last drawing in section 3 shows the latch plate bracket. With the hard top removed from the car, at the exact point illustrated for an additional hole to be drilled in the edge of the plate, was evidence of rubbing on the passenger-side latch plate. Looking inside the trailing edge of the roof panel was a directly corresponding patch of aproximately 5mm diameter, with more evidence of rubbing; a small area of the surface paint had been completely rubbed away.

 

To solve the problem, I placed a thin self-adhesive felt patch over the rubbing point on the roof panel itself; for good measure, despite their being no obvious rub marks on the other side, another felt patch was paced here too. Roof panel refitted - and road tested...

 

Silence from the roof.

 

Hopefully this find might help others trace similar squeak problems.

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So if I want to remove my roof, I remove the torx drive bolts at either side of the rear of the roof. Do I also need to remove the 3 bolts at the front, or just loosen them?

 

I presume the roof then lifts out at the back and slides out at the front?

 

Mines not too bad until you get some pace on, then it starts to rattle/creek a bit. The back feels good and secure, but if you push up towards the front then there seems to be a bit of play.

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So if I want to remove my roof, I remove the torx drive bolts at either side of the rear of the roof. Do I also need to remove the 3 bolts at the front, or just loosen them?

I presume the roof then lifts out at the back and slides out at the front?

Mines not too bad until you get some pace on, then it starts to rattle/creek a bit. The back feels good and secure, but if you push up towards the front then there seems to be a bit of play.

Yes, you have to undo the three screws that hold the cover in place. Once this cover is removed, you'll see two fixing screws, one on each of the front corners of the roof panel, that engage the spigot pins in the windscreen frame. You also need to completely remove the centre-clamp (if fitted, two screws) on the inside trailing edge of the roof.

 

Only four bolts physically secure the roof panel to the car, three hold the front cover in place - and two hold the centre clamp - so nine torx bolts in total. All should be effectively "captive".

 

If you have play at the front edge, then you may need to have sleeves fitted to the front spigot pins. The are usually fitted at the factory. The service note above makes reference, but you'll also find them listed in the Deroure parts catalogue, part 16a:

http://www.deroure.com/diagrams.asp?TBL=6201&MAK=1&MDL=40&SMA=0&SMO=0&ST=&SC=0

 

This diagram is for the V6, but the roof and fixings are largely common since S2. You'll find similar pages in Deroure for the other variants.

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Took the front cover off tonight. The reason for the play along the front edge has become clear............ There's no spigot brackets fitted!!! Don't supose anyone has any kicking about?

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I had that problem on my elise when I bought it. To be honest I took the roof off on the day I bought it and very rarely put it back on again so it wasn't an issue. But I did eventually get some from elise parts.

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