Autocross build 3 - Why My Lotus Engine Needs a Rebuild

Cautionary tale of building a boosted engine for my 2005 Lotus Elise that I have to rebuild again.
I share my mistakes and also point out some of Lotus design flaws that contributed to a premature death of my first build engine. With the lessons learned from that autopsy ;) I come up with the plan of how to mitigate the unfortunate problems in my future engine rebuild.

[nikoror]

Thanks for sharing. If I have to guess over the internet I’d say the break in oil used at full power accelerated cam wear (which is a known weak point of that engine) and once there was metal in the oil everything else failed. Hard to say if using regular oil would have saved it or just made it last a little longer. Good plan on new build waiting for updates

[jamespowell]

If not already a member join Lotustalk. Tons of threads and build that you can learn much from. The overcooling is a old issue and addressed in a number of ways. Common advice is waiting ten minutes past coolant coming to temp.

[tompower]

Great video. Thank you so much for sharing!

[wangyang]

Love this! Where did you get the new oil cooler that will be mounting in the back? Would be nice if you included pricing with your build. Thanks!

[dwdw]

The oil cooler system has a bypass and a thermostat. So the oil only goes through the cooling system when it reaches temp and not all the oil goes through it. My cam wiping problems ended when I increased my intake valve lash from 0.004" - 0.007" to 0.010 - 0.013". If the oil coolers have metal in them, your oil filter was in bypass.

[MossMini]

Nothing to do with Lotus. You double the stock horsepower done by an amateur builder.