Why won’t the bloody thing start?!

[Andjons]

This is really frustrating. Everything was fine for about a month. Now, the car won’t start when I first try to start it. It does eventually, but there is no pattern to it. I unlock and get in as normal. The scorpion tracker unlocks (this is confirmed on the phone app) and I wait a few seconds. I press the brake (it’s an auto) and the start button. I hear a sort of hiss noise from the engine bay for about 2 seconds (like something is pressurising) but nothing happens. I turn off the ignition, and turn it on again. I lock and unlock the doors again, and go through this routine several times. I am pressing the brake nice and hard, and I am pressing the starter for varying lengths of time. Eventually, maybe after even a few minutes, it will start. But there is no apparent reason for the reluctance, and the bloody annoying wait. There is only one error code on the OBD2 - something surely unrelated, about the ABS. It is really starting to piss me off. Any thoughts?!

 

[morphious]

My 2 cents and that is all it is. I use to have this issue on my V6 M when pressing the brake to start, since then I only press the clutch to start and never had a problem. I think it is a sync issue between the brake and start system. Again, my 2 cents.

 

[Eagle7]

This is really frustrating. Everything was fine for about a month. Now, the car won’t start when I first try to start it. It does eventually, but there is no pattern to it. I unlock and get in as normal. The scorpion tracker unlocks (this is confirmed on the phone app) and I wait a few seconds. I press the brake (it’s an auto) and the start button. I hear a sort of hiss noise from the engine bay for about 2 seconds (like something is pressurising) but nothing happens. I turn off the ignition, and turn it on again. I lock and unlock the doors again, and go through this routine several times. I am pressing the brake nice and hard, and I am pressing the starter for varying lengths of time. Eventually, maybe after even a few minutes, it will start. But there is no apparent reason for the reluctance, and the bloody annoying wait. There is only one error code on the OBD2 - something surely unrelated, about the ABS. It is really starting to piss me off. Any thoughts?!

Battery? Check to make sure the cables are securely attached to the battery posts. Have the dealer do a battery health check; make sure it's charging properly and holding a charge. Could be an improper ground connection somewhere. Check the ECU (Lotus calls it the ECM) connection to the engine (which is the ground connection for the ECM). It's the orange-colored bolt in the middle of this diagram. Check to see if it's secure, and clean. If it doesn't look right, remove the bolt, clean it and the contact surfaces of the cable end and the engine, then re-install. They don't list the torque spec in the manual, but for an M6x12 I'd guess 10nm.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

It’s annoying but if you get out of the car lock and unlock it will start. My dealer was able to solve it on my previous car

Intermittent failure to start

Coming up on 500 miles, two weeks after taking delivery. One issue I've had multiple times is a failure to start - the symptoms are a bit strange. I haven't been able to figure out a complete reproduction scenario yet, but what happens intermittently is that I will go to unlock the car, get in...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[Beachbum]

Battery? Check to make sure the cables are securely attached to the battery posts. Have the dealer do a battery health check; make sure it's charging properly and holding a charge. Could be an improper ground connection somewhere. Check the ECU (Lotus calls it the ECM) connection to the engine (which is the ground connection for the ECM). It's the orange-colored bolt in the middle of this diagram. Check to see if it's secure, and clean. If it doesn't look right, remove the bolt, clean it and the contact surfaces of the cable end and the engine, then re-install. They don't list the torque spec in the manual, but for an M6x12 I'd guess 10nm.
View attachment 55926

If only the Emira had true ECM.

 

[Callabrator]

Todd from Everyday Driver had a non-starting issue during his recent road trip. Sounds like a different issue than the one Andjons was experiencing, but Todd's seemed to resolve itself after sitting for a while. Disconcerting, but glad he was able to continue his trip!

The dealership in SF did a couple of software updates for him, so maybe that'll prevent further issues...

 

[MiamiBlue]

This is now (apparently) fixed in the March 2025 update.

 

[TonyV6-UK]

This is really frustrating. Everything was fine for about a month. Now, the car won’t start when I first try to start it. It does eventually, but there is no pattern to it. I unlock and get in as normal. The scorpion tracker unlocks (this is confirmed on the phone app) and I wait a few seconds. I press the brake (it’s an auto) and the start button. I hear a sort of hiss noise from the engine bay for about 2 seconds (like something is pressurising) but nothing happens. I turn off the ignition, and turn it on again. I lock and unlock the doors again, and go through this routine several times. I am pressing the brake nice and hard, and I am pressing the starter for varying lengths of time. Eventually, maybe after even a few minutes, it will start. But there is no apparent reason for the reluctance, and the bloody annoying wait. There is only one error code on the OBD2 - something surely unrelated, about the ABS. It is really starting to piss me off. Any thoughts?!

Have had zero problems with my Sept 23 V6 manual until last weekend when without warning, it just wouldn’t start - just like Andjons, all I could hear was the hiss sound from the fuel pump, but nothing more.
Called Lotus Silverstone who took me through the lock/unlock routine but all to no avail and after checking they said there is a newer 20 mins software update (since my last one in Dec 24) which should rectify the problem.
Called Lotus Assist who sent out an AA engineer (despite me telling them that he wouldn’t be able to start the car and to go straight for a trailer) and guess what …. 4 hours later and having checked the condition of the battery and all groundings etc., he admits he can’t start the car and requests a trailer.
Two hours later, the trailer arrives and as the parking brake can’t be released, he has to use the winch to physically drag her up onto the bed of the trailer … it’s a sound you never want to hear !!
30 mins later we arrive at Silverstone and as the AA guy unstraps the car, the engineer jumps in and unbelievably, the damn thing starts up first time !!… we were both left speechless and felt like complete idiots.
It really makes no sense at all but I guess you just have to put this down as yet another strange quirk of owning one of these cars
Obviously, the update was then run and a huge thank you to Graham Kempton @ Lotus Silverstone for the immediate response and fantastic customer service and let’s just hope that it cures the problem and we don’t get any other issues arising as a result.

 

[scarzie]

Wait until android auto or carplay loads on the center screen then start. That's the only thing that consistently works for me or else it is hit or miss