Oil Leak?

[Emira28]

Spotted this small puddle under the Emira yesterday (January build and >1,000 miles on the clock). Fluid is light brown and oily. I'm not an expert (at all), is this engine oil? How worried should I be about driving it?

Hard to say exactly where it's coming from but it's rear right under the car, just inside the right rear tyre. Some of the fluid is lighter.

I've dropped Lotus Silverstone a note and will follow up with a call later today but thought I'd seek any community thoughts.

 

[Pro-Eng]

From memory I believe the power steering lines run to the rear on the right hand side and of course there will be hard and flexi brake lines in that area so worth checking these out before you drive anywhere.

 

[NicolasB]

PS fluid was my first guess. Is it auto ?

 

[DaaS]

Assuming the setup is similar to the Evora, that’s generally where the oil filter and oil pan is located. Because the underbody is all covered up, it will be hard to tell exactly where it is coming from.

Side note: If you look at the above oil spill picture sideways, it looks like a scared dog or maybe a bear

 

[virtualmacho]

Side note: If you look at the above oil spill picture sideways, it looks like a scared dog or maybe a bear

If you rotate the picture 90 degrees counterclockwise, it looks like a bison that just pooped.

 

[Emira28]

It's a manual. I can see some on the undertray and diffuser but I can't see where it's coming from beyond that.

Waiting to hear back from Lotus Silverstone.

 

[DJManc]

It's a manual. I can see some on the undertray and diffuser but I can't see where it's coming from beyond that.

Waiting to hear back from Lotus Silverstone.

 

[EspritGuy]

If you rotate the picture 90 degrees counterclockwise, it looks like a bison that just pooped.

Emira Rorschach Edition.
#ForTheStrivers

 

[DJManc]

Just a suggestion....if you are concerned about driving the car, why don't you call Lotus roadside assistance that comes with your vehicle warranty. They can at least check the car and advise if its safe to drive and if not they will simply recover the car for you, to the dealer. Most cars have warning lights that will come on these days to advise of any significant loss of fluids that will affect driving anyway.

 

[Emira28]

Just a suggestion....if you are concerned about driving the car, why don't you call Lotus roadside assistance that comes with your vehicle warranty. They can at least check the car and advise if its safe to drive and if not they will simply recover the car for you, to the dealer. Most cars have warning lights that will come on these days to advise of any significant loss of fluids that will affect driving anyway.

Good shout, that hadn't occurred to me!

 

[Kimmax]

Good shout, that hadn't occurred to me!

Make sure to have your VIN, plates, your address and your dealers name + address ready in military alphabet and be prepared for some "english" greek edition they can’t even understand themselves

 

[Emira28]

The working assumption from Lotus Silverstone is this could be power steering related. It's a few weeks till it can be properly inspected and fixed but I will report back once resolved in case anyone else spots something similar.

 

[Aero]

Most power steering fluid looks red when new. It shouldnt be brownish unless its burning. That looks like oil to me. Not enough to be low on the dipstick unless been leaking when driving etc. I'd check the fluid levels to be sure.
Should be easy for dealer to check over quickly. A few minutes on the lift and it should be obvious.

 

[Porter]

Most power steering fluid looks red when new. It shouldnt be brownish unless its burning. That looks like oil to me. Not enough to be low on the dipstick unless been leaking when driving etc. I'd check the fluid levels to be sure.
Should be easy for dealer to check over quickly. A few minutes on the lift and it should be obvious.

Not all. There are a number of different power steering fluids that are common, and not all are red. The most common red one is Dextron III which is also an ATF fluid.

 

[Aero]

Not all. There are a number of different power steering fluids that are common, and not all are red. The most common red one is Dexron III which is also an ATF fluid.

Emira manual says Fuchs Titan ATF 3000 Dextron II which is red.

 

[Porter]

Here we go, the Emira V6 fluids list.

FYI these fluids are only for the UK spec. There may be differences in recommended fluids by region and country, based on prevailing weather conditions and also product availability.

 

[Porter]

Emira manual says Fuchs Titan ATF 3000 Dextron II which is red.

Really weird that they are using such an older fluid, I guess it had the exact viscosity properties that they needed. Thanks for the info!

 

[RO62GER]

The working assumption from Lotus Silverstone is this could be power steering related. It's a few weeks till it can be properly inspected and fixed but I will report back once resolved in case anyone else spots something similar.

The power steering fluid leaked on my Emira and the system ran dry requiring a new pump. It's a known issue and your local dealer has probably seen several. The advice I received from my dealer was to have the car recovered by Lotus as it bumps it to the top of the queue. That's what I did and it was completed within a couple of days.

 

[Emira28]

Just to close the loop on this, it was the power steering pump issue that was seen on some of the other early cars. All fixed under warranty.