Damp S1 elise wouldn't start

[Badger02]

My S1 elise started fine on Saturday in the garage.

Took it out of garage on sat afternoon and put on drive as had an early start on Sunday.

wouldn't start on Sunday morning, it had rained heavily durring the night.

Ended up getting a tow from RAC to PJS who checked it out and advised that on the elise S1, the vents on the engine lid allow water to drop directly onto the leads, plugs and dizzy cap. Not that rare that after rain the series 1 can struggle to start. They have blown out and dried everything they could, have applied silicon grease in various areas and it starts every single time. They say next time you leave outside, try to protect from rain getting onto the engine and apply silicone grease every so often. It would explain why it started fine on Sat when in the garage, but not on Sunday morning

[Lithopsian]

You can protect the plugs and leads with silicone grease as a last ditch defense, but really want to stop water getting under the spark plug cover.  Clean up the edges, add nylon washers and maybe some vaseline to the screws, then check after rain to see if any water is getting under.  If it is wet under there, you might need to seal the edges with silicone.  A nuisance when you need to change the plugs, but it will keep it dry.  All the grease in the world won't help if enough rain gets in to fill up the spark plug wells with water.  You might want to pull the plugs before you seal them in, to check if they are badly rusted.

Then check the distributor which is also exposed to the elements.  You don't really want silicone grease in there, but a coating of vaseline around the rim should keep most water out.  Some people have gone to the extent of putting a plastic bag over the whole thing.

[Broadside]

Ah happy memories of the 70's taking my Marina dizzy cap and leads off and putting them under the grill with the toast in a morning! 🤣