Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Just started my Lotus again after fitting new fuel lines and investing some money in an extinguisher. Remember the car has only ran for 2 minutes the last 10 years. The engine runs smoothly but the fumes it produces are everything but nice. It is kind of like a smelly white cluod that comes out of the exhaust. But I am quite sure that I haven't blown the head gasket or bent the top. Is this a normal thing to happen with a car that has stood still for ten years? And is it wise to pour internal engine cleaner into the old oil before changing it?

//Jens - happy as ever.... :ph34r:

Jens,
Glad to hear its running ok. Forget the engine cleaner and simply change the oil. The oil is the cleaning agent. Then let it run long enough to heat up and stabilize, like a half hour or so. You want to get the oil at operating temp. It'll take longer than getting the coolant to operating temp. If the car's not drivable, do this several times, then change the oil again (filter, too, of course).

White smoke usually indicates burning coolant. Be sure to take a compression check.

Greg Z.
'72 Sprint

Hi Jens

If the cloud looks like a jet on reheat are you losing brake fluid (if you have a servo fitted that is). This happened to me once when I was using the . Produced some nice effects behind- actually it was a still day and I managed to completely obscure one side of a dual carriageway

John

After sitting for 2-3 years my Elan smoked a lot on start up. Once warmed up the smoke would stop but this phenomenon lasted for about a month. It has now stopped. I assume that the long period of sitting with little running led to a gummed up oil ring which gradually fixed itself. Oil running down the seal-less valve guides also cause smoke on starting after sitting.

Jens,

If you really want to clean the inside of your engine, drain the oil and put in a gallon of Keroscene. Run the car for a few minutes and drain. Then install new oil and a filter.

Frank Howard
'71 S4 SE
Minnesota

A friend of mine bought a Ferrari 512BB that had sat in a museum for 5 years and it smoked like this the first few tanks worth. It was the remains of 5 year old gas that caused it. It stunk like nothing else I've smelled coming out of the exhaust.