Corroded footwells

[Mark H]

 

I think I must have got off the lightest of most people

 

 

 

Footwell

[Wuddie]

Mines a lot worse than that... but still not as bad as some, you can see my photos HERE

[strees]

Not too bad ... lets see what lotus come up with!

[Dave, man]

Mine is not pretty . The passenger side was virtually untouched.

[Lee]

Not sure if I want to lift my mats.

 

Any news from Lotus?

[Mark H]

This is the latest from Lotus:

 

Gentlemen/Ladies,

 

Lotus has recently become aware that some Elise vehicles have suffered cosmetic corrosion of the top surface of the footwell floor panels when floor mats have been fitted. Note that the footwell floors are not part of the primary load bearing structure, and that the integrity of the chassis is not considered to be compromised by this condition.

 

 

Our engineers are currently working in conjunction with the chassis manufacturer to identify the causes of this concern and formulate any necessary preventative and remedial measures.

 

 

In the meantime, for any car found to be affected, the following cleaning procedure is advised:

 

 

 

Remove any footwell floor covering to reveal the alloy surface.

 

 

 

Wash the footwell floor and underside of the mat using a nylon brush and clean water (do not use soap solutions as these often have a high salt content).

 

 

 

Allow the floor and mat to dry thoroughly before refitting the mat.

 

 

 

Retain the mat using a 25 mm wide strip of double sided tape only along the rear edge.

 

 

 

It is important to lift the mat periodically and wipe the floor and mat underside to ensure the area is kept dry.

 

 

 

No other action should be taken at this time in order to protect against possible interference with any future recommended treatment.

 

 

 

 

Further advice will be issued shortly.

 

[Lee]

Cheers Beefcake,

 

Might have a look at the weekend

[inferno]

I'm going to wait until after le mans and then sort them out, when it gets the big clean. Not looking forward to seeing whats underneath...

[KiwiPete]

Just Waiting to see what solution Lotus come up with as the corrosion is almost through the floor in 3-4 places

 

Peter

 

Photo's can be seen at:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/kiwipeters

[s00ty]

im tooo worried to buy an s1 at the mo. with this going on :-(

[JohnnyM]

mine looked like this...

 

http://www.btinternet.com/~johnnymiller/co...corrosion02.jpg

 

http://www.btinternet.com/~johnnymiller/co...corrosion03.jpg

 

this was before i cleaned it, most of it was powder and no holes.

 

I wouldnt let it stop me buying one, and i may even get another elise based car, i assume this affects Exiges as well or do they not have the mats ?

[Mark H]

I might take some pictures since I have cleaned it up, not half as bad as some of the original pictures can make out.

 

Certainly wouldnt not buy an Elise because of it, Lotus are working on a resolution as we speak. Its not like your foot is gonna go through the floor!

[Mark H]

Spotted this by Tony on the BCBBS

 

Tony C, Fakenham Norfolk UK, [email protected] 

Dont know if you missed this but I posted it about 2-3 weeks ago.

 

Update

 

I am only now able to give you all an update as the factory had asked me to keep to myself what has been happening of late but I am now in posession of a car with the footwell repaired.

I must stress that this has been done to evaluate one of a number of proposed remedial measures which are at present being evaluated and developed at the factory.

I am personally, very satisfied with the result and Lotus are happy for me to show people the repair and get some feedback. Like I said it is not the final refined fix and is intended for the most severely affected cars, but is indicative of one of the avenues that the factory are investigating.

As you probably recall our car was the first to be shown to Lotus and was one of the worst effected so I leant them the car for a week in order for them to take their time to fit the new floor panels and discuss this experimental repair.

There are still a large number of experimental accelerated corrosion tests being undertaken as Lotus' records indicate a potentialy massive number of combinations of floor coverings and carpets which have been fitted to the Elise model during its SI and SII production runs. This has given rise to the huge number of combinations of materials which are still being tested. The good news is that the original suspect (crevice corrosion) has been identified as the prime cause of the problem and a number of other possibilities have been ruled out.

I have been asked to give the factory feedback on the acceptability and general impressions of the fix and can assure everyone it will get a thorough testing during the 4000+ miles of Stelvio this year.

In effect what has been done is that the floor has been cleaned and pre-treated and a new (higher quality aluminium) panel has been applied using a combination of adhesives in the centre and sealant at the edges to achieve a aluminium adhesive aluminium sandwich.

The issue as to what to replace the rubber (they were PVC actually) mats with, is still ongoing as there is a need to find a carpet/floor covering which works from an owners perspective but breaths to allow moisture to dissipate. There is also a need to finalise all repair methods and ensure that they can be implemented just as efficiently in Singapore as in Hethel (wet dry, hot, cold, you name it)

So a bit more time will have to pass before you hear anything about the final official fix but at least you know progress is being made. Be aware that Lotus do not want to tell everyone that the fix is available only for owners to find their agents have not got the parts yet or that their staff have not been trained in the new repairs.

You would not believe how much effort has gone and is continueing to go into this problem. Believe me they are determined to get the thing right!

TC

[malbon]

Just bury your head in the sand

 

 

i.e. Fit some carpets and hope it will go away on its own (if there is anything there in the first place!)

[malbon]

Does anyone know if there is a year of car that has not been affected? Or does it apply to all S1's

 

Mines a late 2000, so i'd like to know if anyone with a similiar age car has checked and found nothing. Will save me pulling my carpets up...soundproof etc for no reason.

 

thanks,

 

Jon