Aerie Ti Emira exhaust installation

[lynchy73]

The I4 Ti Exhaust I have, has a different spring arrangement to this. I got a CEL first time I gave it some power/revs. It does seem I’m getting a faint rattle at tickover, noticed on left pipe.

The spring/coupling I have, would cause the valve and motor to be offset 90degs, but this new coupling aligns them. 90degs difference between the couplings is a big difference. New spring, no other change? Seems a bit strange to me.

Had a look at the standard exhaust valve. The valve is offset 45deg, the open and closed position of the valve are shown the images, there is a 90deg range of motion.

The Aerie exhaust doesn’t have this 45deg offset. The couplings are either straight, 0deg or 90deg.

How is the meant to work in the same way, same range of motion exactly? Am I missing something here, or is this just plain wrong?

 

[crashprash]

The I4 Ti Exhaust I have, has a different spring arrangement to this. I got a CEL first time I gave it some power/revs. It does seem I’m getting a faint rattle at tickover, noticed on left pipe.

The spring/coupling I have, would cause the valve and motor to be offset 90degs, but this new coupling aligns them. 90degs difference between the couplings is a big difference. New spring, no other change? Seems a bit strange to me.

The spring design that you have is what was on the Aerie v6 Ti v1 version. Guessing they change the spring design due to complaints of rattling valves for v2

 

[lynchy73]

The spring design that you have is what was on the Aerie v6 Ti v1 version. Guessing they change the spring design due to complaints of rattling valves for v2

yeah, but not sure how the new spring fixes it. It might stop the valve rattling when the valve is supposed to be closed, but does it then fully open? The range of motion of the valve is 90 degs and the v2 spring is 90deg rotated, ref the v1 spring. I mean V1 and V2 design has a different valve design, or it’s just a different spring?

Need to get my exhaust off and get a better look at the new exhaust, but it seems to me like an offset of 45 degs is required to match the OEM motor positions for full open and full closed.

 

[crashprash]

yeah, but not sure how the new spring fixes it. It might stop the valve rattling when the valve is supposed to be closed, but does it then fully open? The range of motion of the valve is 90 degs and the v2 spring is 90deg rotated, ref the v1 spring. I mean V1 and V2 design has a different valve design, or it’s just a different spring?

Need to get my exhaust off and get a better look at the new exhaust, but it seems to me like an offset of 45 degs is required to match the OEM motor positions for full open and full closed.

Need to check what offset and range of motion the OEM v6 exhaust has

 

[lynchy73]

Need to check what offset and range of motion the OEM v6 exhaust has

I did, that’s why I’ve got these comments. See these images showing the open/closed positions and see the orientation of the valve motor…. The slot in the shaft on the valve side is aligned with the motor btw, there is no coupling as such on the OEM motor to valve connection.

 

[lynchy73]

Need to check what offset and range of motion the OEM v6 exhaust has

Pretty sure the arrangement of the valve is same on the V6 exhaust, as the I4, the valve motor is the same afaik.

 

[crashprash]

Update on my issue:

Took it to the local mechanic. By the time we yanked off the decat pipe from the exhaust (the mechanic wanted to pass an inspection camera through the exhaust to make sure the valve was working), the valve was working. Not just moving but an actual sound difference when revving. I don't know if all the yankinng and hitting the exhaust with a rubber mallet to loosen it, also freed up the valve but I am honestly clueless as to what happened and so was the mechanic. Put everything back and there is a clear sound difference in the 3 modes under load. Just going to leave the valve fully open and stash the remote away to avoid encountering this "issue" again.

Have to give credit to @Aerie as they were responsive via Whatsapp, offered a free replacement and to also share the install cost should I need to swap the exhaust.

 

[Aerie]

The I4 Ti Exhaust I have, has a different spring arrangement to this. I got a CEL first time I gave it some power/revs. It does seem I’m getting a faint rattle at tickover, noticed on left pipe.

The spring/coupling I have, would cause the valve and motor to be offset 90degs, but this new coupling aligns them. 90degs difference between the couplings is a big difference. New spring, no other change? Seems a bit strange to me.

This customer recently purchased a used Emira i4 titanium alloy system. According to our understanding, this system was transferred by a familiar Emira i4 owner after selling their vehicle. In fact, we originally gifted this system to the owner about a year ago, as they lent us their vehicle for the development of a new system. Therefore, this system is not a retail version and has no resale value. I want to clarify this to prevent any misunderstanding that we are still selling problematic systems.



The system uses first-generation valves, and some customers have reported issues after use. We have fully recalled these problematic systems and are offering replacements with the new second-generation system or refunds. To date, we have sold over 20 units of the second-generation system, and several customers have reported no issues after months of use.



I hope this clarifies the situation. We are a responsible company committed to providing excellent after-sales service and support, and we certainly do not want our customers to think we are intentionally selling problematic systems in the market.



Hope you understand.

 

[Eagle7]

I've been running their Ti exhaust V2 on mine for the last 2 months with no problems whatsoever.

 

[lynchy73]

This customer recently purchased a used Emira i4 titanium alloy system. According to our understanding, this system was transferred by a familiar Emira i4 owner after selling their vehicle. In fact, we originally gifted this system to the owner about a year ago, as they lent us their vehicle for the development of a new system. Therefore, this system is not a retail version and has no resale value. I want to clarify this to prevent any misunderstanding that we are still selling problematic systems.



The system uses first-generation valves, and some customers have reported issues after use. We have fully recalled these problematic systems and are offering replacements with the new second-generation system or refunds. To date, we have sold over 20 units of the second-generation system, and several customers have reported no issues after months of use.



I hope this clarifies the situation. We are a responsible company committed to providing excellent after-sales service and support, and we certainly do not want our customers to think we are intentionally selling problematic systems in the market.



Hope you understand.

Ok. It’s a valve that rotates 90degs and a motor (OEM) that attaches to it, to turn it. So what was wrong with the V1 version and what was changed in the V2 to correct it? The only difference i can see is you used a straight through coupling on V2 and a 90deg coupler on the V1. So change the coupling on the V1 to straight through, and so far as the valve/motor is concerned, it’s the same, no?

OEM valve in open/closed position for info.

 

[crashprash]

Some suggestions for the next version (for any exhaust manufacturer really):
- Copy the exact same valve design as the OEM exhaust to avoid all these issues
- Put the valve on the smaller diameter pipe that is going into the mufflers. This way when the valve is closed, the exhaust gases only flow through the larger diameter tubing and would be a lot louder and sound better. An obvious side effect would be that it would be a lot louder in the quiet setting (the valve would actually be open in this scenario) as some of the exhaust gases would still flow through the larger straight through tubing.

 

[crashprash]

V2 exhaust with valves open in track mode

 

[lynchy73]

Ok. It’s a valve that rotates 90degs and a motor (OEM) that attaches to it, to turn it. So what was wrong with the V1 version and what was changed in the V2 to correct it? The only difference i can see is you used a straight through coupling on V2 and a 90deg coupler on the V1. So change the coupling on the V1 to straight through, and so far as the valve/motor is concerned, it’s the same, no?

OEM valve in open/closed position for info.

I managed to drop the undertray and inspect the exhaust valve over the weekend. The valve was actually offset by circa 45deg, relative to the exhaust valve motor (as it should be and my earlier assumption that it wasn’t offset, was wrong). I was getting ECL errors, so I suspect that even though an effort was made by the factory to match the original exhaust valve alignment in the design, but I suspect it might not exactly align and even a very small error can throw a code.

It wasn’t so simple, but I did manage to get my local Lotus dealer to do the exhaust valve alignment/calibration and clear the codes. Super simple job, once you find the correct screen in the diagnostics software.

Now all is working well and no more CEL

So, to reiterate, I was getting an exhaust valve error (Aerie Ti I4 Exhaust). The exhaust was actually designed with an effort to correctly align the valve, but it still threw an error. A trip to the dealer to get the valve calibrated and all is now well. Sounds pretty descent with the new exhaust and sports cat