Air con known issue -no fix yet [EDIT: now with official fix]

[JimH]

When I collected my car (ex-dealer demo car 3 months old and only 250 recorded miles with working HVAC) my 200 mile journey home was mostly in pouring rain and heavy road spray. The fan resistor pack gave up within a few days of that…..

 

[Raskits]

Lotus boardwalk currently has 16 Emira delivered to them. More than half of them they found out has issues with AC only blowing hot air. They ordered 20 resistors from Lotus to have them all replaced. They said only an hour fix.

 

[seriously]

Lotus boardwalk currently has 16 Emira delivered to them. More than half of them they found out has issues with AC only blowing hot air. They ordered 20 resistors from Lotus to have them all replaced. They said only an hour fix.

I think you need the new cover though. Else new resistor in the future…

 

[Racer X]

Yep, my car is affected, which is why I have not been able to go pick it up. I am glad Lotus of NJ did a thorough inspection of the car instead of delivering it with problems. I hope the parts come soon so they can fix my car.

My sales guy has been keeping me up to date. Makes all the difference in the world while I wait.

Oh, my car also has non functional power steering, but that's a different thread…

I hope Lotus of North Jersey gives my car the once-over for the a/c issue and the brake issue before I pick up (hopefully) next week.

 

[Nova]

I hope Lotus of North Jersey gives my car the once-over for the a/c issue and the brake issue before I pick up (hopefully) next week.

Oh mighty 10 Millimeter, the one true socket, guardian of gears and patron of pistons, we call upon your grace. Bless the path of Racer X’s Lotus Emira, that it may glide smoothly on its journey. Shield it from the scourge of defects and the snare of malfunctions. May every component align in perfect harmony, every bolt be steadfast in its duty. Let your benevolence guide it to Racer X's hands without delay or dismay, that they may revel in the joy of flawless machinery. In your mechanical mercy, we trust. Amen.

 

[JimH]

Lotus boardwalk currently has 16 Emira delivered to them. More than half of them they found out has issues with AC only blowing hot air. They ordered 20 resistors from Lotus to have them all replaced. They said only an hour fix.

8-10 hour fix - see my earlier post #55 in this thread…… The dealer techs do get quicker with practice…..

 

[Nova]

It maybe that the earlier cars mostly had the white covers on, which protected them from most rain. The latest shipments to the US may have had a significant number of cars that gad been stored outside without covers. So they were exposed to all the rain.

 

[KCMO68_510]

It maybe that the earlier cars mostly had the white covers on, which protected them from most rain. The latest shipments to the US may have had a significant number of cars that gad been stored outside without covers. So they were exposed to all the rain.

That's an interesting thought. My car hasn't had the issue, but was kept indoors the entire time we waited for CARB. I don't really intend to drive it in the rain, but I do plan on washing the car, so I'd prefer that Lotus just have this fix performed on all vehicles.

 

[Go Kart]

This has to be considered a safety issue when driving the car in colder temperatures, so triggering a recall will be inevitable imo. There’s no way they can just ignore it forever with the amount of cars they’ve pumped out for NA. There’s just too much liability there for them.

 

[Racer X]

Oh mighty 10 Millimeter, the one true socket, guardian of gears and patron of pistons, we call upon your grace. Bless the path of Racer X’s Lotus Emira, that it may glide smoothly on its journey. Shield it from the scourge of defects and the snare of malfunctions. May every component align in perfect harmony, every bolt be steadfast in its duty. Let your benevolence guide it to Racer X's hands without delay or dismay, that they may revel in the joy of flawless machinery. In your mechanical mercy, we trust. Amen.

Amen!

 

[freefall_junkie]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I can't imagine Lotus are going to recall thousands of cars to fit an improved resistor pack if it takes 10 hrs labour to fit. Geely would surely be wielding an axe at Hethel due to the eye watering costs involved. Perhaps they will just do a recall to fit the new under screen cover, which must only take a few minutes, in the hope that stems the number of larger warranty claims. Then again, this is Lotus we are talking about, so they may just do nothing and annoy a large number of customers as more and more HVAC units inevitably fail.

The frustrating thing is this issue has been known about for a long time. I drove the Lotus Glasgow demo car way back in November 2022, and not long afterwards that car was off the road for several weeks with a failed HVAC. How many thousands of cars have Lotus delivered since then with this potential fault?

 

[Porter]

The frustrating thing is this issue has been known about for a long time. I drove the Lotus Glasgow demo car way back in November 2022, and not long afterwards that car was off the road for several weeks with a failed HVAC. How many thousands of cars have Lotus delivered since then with this potential fault?

This is exactly the kind of thing that a Quality Engineer should have figured out within a few weeks of the very first or second car being reported with the issue, including the source of the water and an appropriate shield or diversion mechanism for the water.

The fact that they went through multiple revisions of the resistor pack itself to do waterproofing tells me that they were working on it, but the problem is that whoever was doing the fix development didn't have their head screwed on straight, so they didn't do proper root cause analysis. They were working on the symptoms rather than the cause of the issue. That's just unacceptable in a company as well known for their engineering acumen as Lotus. Shocking.

 

[Porter]

The above list is a summary of the service notes that are available for download here for a small charge if you need more details :

Welcome | VSI

vsic.lotuscars.com

When I pull up the Emira by type or by VIN, there is a Service Notes PDF available but that's just the factory shop manual, I believe, with a publication date of Jan 2023.

I don't see any Technical Service Bulletins published to VSIC for the Emira at all, which I find absolutely unacceptable considering the number of different known issues that are at play with this car. The dealer network and the owner community deserve more information about the technical detail of each fix, and the VIN ranges that Lotus believe are affected by each problem. Every other manufacturer makes this sort of information available through some method.

 

[Cwolf]

Well, have to drop mine off for the fan issue. Could be two weeks at least for a replacement resistor....sigh.

 

[tnbuilder]

8-10 hour fix - see my earlier post #55 in this thread…… The dealer techs do get quicker with practice…..

Seems the LHD version is easier to fix. As I understand through the communications person at dealer...the technician said the front clip does not have to be removed on LHD cars. It is the RHD that does. I don't know how intensive it is but sounds much better.

Also on the new water diverter, I was told that is also for RHD cars. Guess we will see what happens in the future or if anyone else any other info, but that is what I was told today.

 

[Cwolf]

Seems the LHD version is easier to fix. As I understand through the communications person at dealer...the technician said the front clip does not have to be removed on LHD cars. It is the RHD that does. I don't know how intensive it is but sounds much better.

Also on the new water diverter, I was told that is also for RHD cars. Guess we will see what happens in the future or if anyone else any other info, but that is what I was told today.

I have no faith Lotus will fix this correctly on my car. When the do replace the part, I will change how I wash the car. I don't drive it in the rain. I will do the windshield with glass cleaner and wedge towels below the windshield wiper just in case any cleaner/water get there, but I plan to hose from the hood down and from the roof to the back of the car. Again, I have zero faith it will be a long term fix so I will just make sure water doesn't get in there.

 

[brainf18]

If the resistor is a unit, then a permanent fix would be to seal it in epoxy. weatherproof forever!

 

[Nova]

Some good news. My car is fixed. So they were able to do the AC and steering pump in one day. That means perhaps they don't need the full 10 hours? The dealer didn't have the updated water protection panel so that should be a future enhancement. I am just glad that the car is ready for me.

 

[nelly111s]

This is exactly the kind of thing that a Quality Engineer should have figured out within a few weeks of the very first or second car being reported with the issue, including the source of the water and an appropriate shield or diversion mechanism for the water.

The fact that they went through multiple revisions of the resistor pack itself to do waterproofing tells me that they were working on it, but the problem is that whoever was doing the fix development didn't have their head screwed on straight, so they didn't do proper root cause analysis. They were working on the symptoms rather than the cause of the issue. That's just unacceptable in a company as well known for their engineering acumen as Lotus. Shocking.

Also interesting that S2 Elises also had resistor pack issues due to the location under the front clam and water ingress- you’d think they’d learn.

 

[KCMO68_510]

Some good news. My car is fixed. So they were able to do the AC and steering pump in one day. That means perhaps they don't need the full 10 hours? The dealer didn't have the updated water protection panel so that should be a future enhancement. I am just glad that the car is ready for me.

Did they say you could get the panel in the future? Because if you can get it post-fix I’d argue that any owner should be able to get it done.