Advice please on a high mileage elise S1 I'm thinking of buying

[Badger02]

Hi everyone,

I'm considering buying an S1 elise with a mileage of 84k.

It's not had any work done on the head gasket according to the seller, but it's had the remote thermostat system fitted.

I've had an estimate from a Lotus specialist of about £1300 to replace the head gasket, skim the head etc.

My question is whether the remote thermostat is a viable long term solution regarding the head gasket issues that the K series does suffer from.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards, Badger

[duncx]

I think you are worrying too much. The HG might fail or it might not, if it does fail you can mend it and make some improvements at the same time. Head gaskets aside (and the 'problem' is often overstated), the K series is a tough engine and will go on for a long time.

[DeanB]

I have a K series s2 elise. I bought it 10 years ago at 62k and soon after fitted the remote thermostat. The head gasket still failed a couple of years later.

Having said that, when i replaced it with a multi-layer steel gasket it was fine, until it started to blow oil through the rings at 110k. I bought a second hand engine and fitted a mls gasket as a precaution before fitting it, and it's been fine since.

I would say if the car is good in every other respect and you like it then buy it anyway - use the fact that the gasket will fail (and it will) to get a monkey or so off the price. For peace of mind then get the gasket done as a pre-emptive measure.

If it's due a c-service (cambelt) the cost of that will offset the work, and beware they need the cambelt doing every four years irrespective of mileage according to Lotus.

Also, try Gav at Unit 4 Vehicle Services at Burton. He won't charge you anywhere near £1300. And he's ace - he has looked after my car for 10 years.

 

[MrWill]

Ditto all of the above. Your piston rings are as likely to go from normal wear and tear as sudden HGF.  My understanding is that the k series weakpoint was often humans (of the bean counter, mechanic and driver variety) not the engine.  There is a basic flaw in that the engine was designed to be in the front of a rover not the back of an Elise.  As a result the thermostat is fundamentally on the wrong side of the engine and does not respond in timely manner to rises in engine temp: Your remote thermostat system will definitely mitigate that.  I would also advise slightly larger  alloy radiator if not already fitted...it'll need replacing at some point and is another weak point in your cooling system - the plastic end caps eventually leaking.

(Not essential but if you wanted to go the whole hog, an electric  water pump)

Head gasket wise, I've been advised to use the n series multi layer gasket which addresses the weakness in the original hasket design around the piston rings.  When doing it make sure the plastic  locating dowels are replaced with metal ones.  The other big issue with early  k series engines was failure to torque the head correctly which won't be an issue when you use Unit 4 or PJS etc. 

Lastly the old advice of warm up to temp for fifteen minutes before going above 3k to 3.5k revs applies very much to the k series in the elise if longevity and reliability is desired.

I think that's your lot 🤔

Good luck!

MrWill 

  

[Mutley00]

£1300 is on the very high/extortionate side for replacing a head gasket!! Keep an eye on the temp gauge and filler a cap and at the first sign of suspected HGF, ask us for recommendations on replacement. If its 'nipped in the bud , you shouldn't need a re-skim.

[Broadside]

It's the best part of owning an Elise, worrying about the head gasket! 😂 It's probably been done and just not recorded, if it hasn't and needs to be done it's easy. I've got 2 spare heads in my workshop from donor engines so there's no shortage there.

If you buy a Toyota engined one the gearbox will eventually go anyway 🤣

If it's good underneath buy it and enjoy it!