Wuddie

Clutch Hose (Series 1) 'Red Clutch Hose Syndrome' One of the biggest bugbears of Series 1's is the inability to select gears, particularly after long runs and/or during warmer weather. The biggest single factor for this is down to the plastic red clutch hose. The original cars were shipped with red plastic clutch hoses (if you open the front service bay and can see a red hose, then you still have one fitted!) These seem to be sensitive to softening with temperature and age, meaning that during hard runs and/or during the summer months it becomes difficult to select gears (particularly 1st and reverse). On some cars the hose is tywrapped to the coolant hose in the sill which makes the issue worse. The gear selection problem is quite subtle and is not necessarilly a gear crunching problem, but is often as if the lever is blocked from going into gear when stationary. The solution which has been carried out on the majority of cars already is to replace the red plastic hose with a braided hose. Note that some Esprits suffer the same issue!

Changing the clutch hose is not technically difficult, but is a bit of a pain in the arse to do and does require strong nerves. Basically:- Remove 2 underbody panels (diffuser and undertray) Remove shear panel (panel with large holes under fuel tank) Spring out dash inserts over heater controls and to the left of the radio Unscrew vertical dash panel (one screw hidden behind the heater control decal) and steering column shroud. Remove near-top bit of dashboard (the bit with 'Elise' written on it) and pull away the vertical bit a little to get access. The radio does not need to be fully removed but does require unclipping so it can slide in the housing. You now have access to as much of the clutch hose as is reasonably possible. It is possible to also remove the coin tray but lots of people find this un-necessary and although they're only taped on they are difficult to remove. Cut the clutch hose at the master cylinder end (yep, a definite point of no return!!) and drain off fluid from resevoir and from pipe. Cut the red clutch hose at the other (engine/clutch) end and drain remainder of fluid. Cut all ty-wraps holding red hose in place. VERY firmly attach the new hose to the clutch end of the red hose (I even wired mine together, I was so paranoid) With two people, feed/pull the new hose through to the master cylinder end. Put as much of the insulation foam back on the new hose, as the braided hose is notoriously abrasive and needs supporting away from other bits and bobs. Connect up the hose both ends and bleed using a Gunsons pressure bleeder (£15 from Halfords), remembering to pull back the lever on the clutch slave end as some air can get trapped there. Refit everything in the reverse order.