Lotus issue safety recall for 340R and Exige
We reproduce below the text of recent correspondence sent to owners :
CODE
OF PRACTICE VEHICLE SAFETY RECALL - LOTUS 340R/EXIGE V.1.N.
SCCGA1119YHC69766
Dear
Customer
This letter concerns some safety measures affecting
your Lotus 340R or Exige and asks you to arrange with your dealer for a
safety check to be performed and for the engine management ECM to be
re-programmed. This action is
being taken to ensure the highest level of safety.
Some vehicles have been found to exhibit an
intermittent high speed engine misfire, which, with continued operation in
this manner could result in overheating of the catalytic converter.
Until this rectification work has been carried out, there
is a chance that a fire could result from
sustained driving with a severe misfire.
The engine management re-programming addresses the cause of the
high speed misfire, and also allows the car, should a significant misfire
occur, to be safely driven (with reduced performance), to a repair garage.
Included in this campaign is an additional safety check relating to
the brake pipe routing.
Lotus sales records, or data provided by the
Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) indicate that you are the
registered keeper of a Lotus 340R/Exige, the Vehicle Identification Number
(V.1.N.) of which is shown above.
These checks and modifications will be carried
out entirely free of charge, and should take approximately 2 hours to
complete. Please contact our
Service Manager to arrange an appointment to have this work performed at
your earliest convenience.
This recall is carried out under the terms of
the Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects and with the authority of the
Vehicle Inspectorate.
Yours sincerely,
Lotus Dealer
We also reproduce below comments made by Lotus Development Engineer Nick Adams about the new mapping :
"Hi All,
Yep, we've finally got there. What we are doing is issuing a Class1 Recall for all Exiges and 340R's during which your ECM will either be replaced with a re-programmed unit or re-programmed itself, depending on when we are able to get re-programming gear out to the dealer network.
Cars done in the next
two or three weeks will have exchange ECU's, after that the
existing ones will be re-flashed.
The revised programme eliminates the infamous 5400rpm stutter, cleans up a couple of other areas of the calibration and also includes a built in misfire detection system. This will monitor a combination of crankshaft acceleration and exhaust oxygen content, and in the event of it sensing a severe misfire it will impose a 5500rpm rev limiter and cut the fuel supply to the offending cylinders to prevent the catalyst from overheating. Switching the engine off for a few seconds and restarting will clear the rev-limit and fuel cut-off, but as soon as it senses a misfire again it will re-engage.
If once equipped
with the revised calibration your car suffers from this then it needs to
be taken to a dealer for investigation. The car can be driven safely while
the rev limiter and fuel cut-off is engaged, but it isn't much fun, so
you'll want to get to a
dealer as soon as possible.
The sensitivity of the system has been carefully set to avoid nuisance false detections caused by momentary misfires or stutters. The system uses, amongst other inputs, the ECM wheel speed sensor so that it knows when the vehicle is stationary. If you have disconnected this sensor (RH rear wheel) to get lots of popping and banging from your exhaust on overrun you will I'm afraid have to reconnect it.
You should all receive a letter
describing this recall in the near future.
If you do not then contact any Lotus dealer for information and an
appointment to have it fitted.
Cheers
Nick "
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