SMP Posted October 1, 2012 Posted October 1, 2012 I'm after some advise / experience please ladies and gents, My Elise is an S2 'S' 2007 car with the Toyota lump totally standard apart from a 2Bular exhaust / TRD air box. Occasionally the engine management light comes on and the car goes into a forced idle start where the engine revs itself between 1500 - 2500 rpm irrespective of throttle input. This only seems to occur when the car has run hot - for example yesterday I got caught in a traffic jam on the A42, the temp rises, fans cut in and all appears fine. I got to destination, stopped to get something out of the boot and when I restarted the engine the above occurs. If I then wait 10 / 15 mins or so, the engine cools, turn the key and it runs fine - other than the MIL light is now on solid. This morning, I jump in, fire up and all fine - MIL now not lit. Twice, I've had the MIL read / reset by a local garage and so far the codes have pointed to a throttle body issue. Only yesterday did I realise that this only occurs after the fans etc have run from not moving. Now I'm not convinced it's a throttle body issue but maye something else - What I don't know. I know it's not related to the exhaust because it has happened both before and after changing the system. Before I dive in and replace throttle body (££), does anyone have any experience of this problem and can you offer any advice ? Thanks in advance, Simon
Chris_edeson Posted October 1, 2012 Posted October 1, 2012 that sounds worryingly like my 1st elise... a 2007 black elise..... i sold it due to the problems as the dealer couldnt fix it....
SMP Posted October 1, 2012 Author Posted October 1, 2012 Can't be yours Chris as I'm the second owner - first was called Andy ! What sort of issues did yours have ? Right, I've tried to recreate the issue in the garage - if I leave the car running until the fans cut in, the engine cuts out. Once the fans top, the engine can be restarted but not before. I've lifted the top off the throttle body and its filthy with a black grease - then I've come across this : http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f25/limp-mode-throttle-body-stuck-22639/ Anyone got any thoughts ? Currently the car isn't driveable as it appears to be in limp mode with no response from the throttle. Simon
Chris_edeson Posted October 1, 2012 Posted October 1, 2012 Can't be yours Chris as I'm the second owner - first was called Andy ! What sort of issues did yours have ? Right, I've tried to recreate the issue in the garage - if I leave the car running until the fans cut in, the engine cuts out. Once the fans top, the engine can be restarted but not before. I've lifted the top off the throttle body and its filthy with a black grease - then I've come across this : http://www.lotustalk...dy-stuck-22639/ Anyone got any thoughts ? Currently the car isn't driveable as it appears to be in limp mode with no response from the throttle. Simon mine had exactly the same problem as you have stated and as the people have stated in the link you have put up. i literally lost the love for my lotus as it couldnt be fixed... i got told it was to do the throttle body but even having them replaced didnt fix it. it made it better for a while, then the same thing kept on reoccurring. it got to the point where i couldnt trust the car to work when i needed to and it was my daily drive. i have owned 3 Elise S now touch wood apart from the 1st one none have repeated the same. but as per the above link, it has to be a known lotus error on cars of that age as it sounds like a lot have/had the same problem. afraid i dont know the solution as i sold it before it could be fixed... i hope you get it sorted though, sorry cant help more.
SMP Posted October 1, 2012 Author Posted October 1, 2012 Thanks Chris - I'll get the key stripped right back as I've got this far and give it a good clean and rebuild - Fingers crossed !
SMP Posted October 2, 2012 Author Posted October 2, 2012 Had a chat with my local mechanic and apparently this is a common failure on 2006 / 2007 Toyota Avensis / Yaris etc models. Now to get the throttle body back together tonight and convince the AA to assist in moving her . . . . . . .
John H Posted October 2, 2012 Posted October 2, 2012 I had the same problem with my 07 S2. The MIL kept coming on although it was running OK. I took the car to an independant Lotus dealer and they reset it a couple of times but it still kept coming on. In the end they contacted Lotus and were told that their was an updated version of the software which they got hold of and installed in the car. Since then it's been OK.
SMP Posted October 3, 2012 Author Posted October 3, 2012 Cheers John - I've passed this on to the garage. She was collected by the AA this morning and fingers crossed, they will be starting to strip the throttle body etc down later today. I'll report back any findings. Simon
SMP Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 Woo Hoo - Lois is back ! Throttle body removed, cleaned and replaced. ECU diagnostic tool reset all existing faults (11 in total - all throttle related) and then a full system reset. Exhaust isn't popping and banging quite so much and she seems to pull cleaner through the rev range so fingers crossed all is well. Will update this in a couple of weeks or so when I've put some miles on her. SMP
Chris_edeson Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 fingers crossed for you then, as this problem was something the dealr could never do on mine!!! :-)
hoverdonkey Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 Woo Hoo - Lois is back ! Throttle body removed, cleaned and replaced. Hello SMP. How is the car going after the throttle body clean-up? Mine has the same problem... it would be nice if this works instead of replacing it!
SMP Posted December 20, 2012 Author Posted December 20, 2012 Hi Hoverdonkey (great username by the way !!), All appears fine now - I had the MIL come on for a couple of days but put that down to the throttle body cleaner getting burnt off and triggering the lambda sensor in the exhaust system. It went off of its own accord and hasn't reappeared. I have noticed that fuel consumption appears slightly better and it doesn't 'pop and bang' on the overrun as much as it used to - I suspect it was overfuelling somewhere as the exhaust was always black rather than grey coloured. Good luck ! Simon
hoverdonkey Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 Thanks Simon, that's encouraging. I just got mine back today - it was in for a new alloy rad but they also reflashed the ECU. I will see how that goes - if problem returns then I will give the throttle body a scrub. NB for the benefit of anyone else with this problem - I had the throttle peddle sensor replaced in an attempt to solve the problem, but it didn't help.
SMP Posted December 23, 2012 Author Posted December 23, 2012 I meant to add, one of he 3 fault codes detected showed the engine as running lean (didn't make sense with the black exhaust etc) - turned out to be a spark plug breaking down. It might be worth checking your plugs ..... Si
david000 Posted July 30, 2013 Posted July 30, 2013 I've have a similar problem on my 07 'S' car. The car drops into limp mode after restarting from 'warm'. I'm sure it's temperature related as it's been much worse in recent hot weather. That said on occasion it also does it when the weather is cold, but rarely when starting from cold. It will restart back to normal but it's taking 5 or 6 attempts and the light clears after a day or 2. Do you guys reckon a throttle body replacement is the fix ?
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