Water membrane
- Thread starter cst
- Start date
Checked mine today after washing the car and also found cracks. I believe this was factory installed.
Looking at it it seems unclear where/how exactly water is meant to drain away once it lands on the shroud. I guess in my case its going through the crack.
Will speak to dealer.
Looking at it it seems unclear where/how exactly water is meant to drain away once it lands on the shroud. I guess in my case its going through the crack.
Will speak to dealer.
Attachments
Looks like I can get access to a CO2 laser which should be able to pump out a few of these perfectly cut
Researching looks like EPDM is indeed the right choice for this, about 1.5mm thickness should do the job just fine
Anyone figured out what Lotus used to have them fail like that?
Are you guys interested in buying these instead of DIY? What would the price need to be to buy it off the shelve instead of diy?
Researching looks like EPDM is indeed the right choice for this, about 1.5mm thickness should do the job just fine
Anyone figured out what Lotus used to have them fail like that?
Are you guys interested in buying these instead of DIY? What would the price need to be to buy it off the shelve instead of diy?
i bought 1.5mm EPDM from fleabay for £17. enough for 3-4 bibs.
its easy to cut using stanley knife and scissors (10 minute job) using old one as pattern. Total job less than an hour.
Not sure why Lotus material is so prone to cracking; hope EPDM fairs better
I'm due to pick my '23 plate up from Stratton Motor Company in September. With it being a '23 plate and having read this thread, I bought a 1x1 m sheet of silicone @1.5mm thick 30 shore. Cost £70. Expensive for what it is, but better than forking out for fuse boxes etc!!
Thanks for the post with your photos. Your shroud seems to be the first one that resembles what is in my 2025, that is, there's a rounded bib in front of the cabin intake. Photos of removed shrouds have instead a straight edge.
But there's a huge discrepancy in the installation of these two shrouds. You have a RHD car, and the shroud is installed to cover the fuse box on the passenger side. But I have a LHD car and the shroud is oriented in the same manner (i.e. the "short" curved side is on the right-side of the car). So the shroud on my car does not cover the fuse box, but instead is tucked under the brake master cylinder.
So was this shroud on my 2025 LHD installed "backwards" (as if it was a RHD)? Did this happen at the factory, or somewhere else after manufacture?
Perhaps everyone (especially LHD owners) should be checking under the bonnet and these covers.
As @SJW mentioned, the different shapes for these shrouds is confusing.
Which ones were retrofits, i.e. installed as a repair?
Which ones were already installed when purchased?
If people provided dates of installation then perhaps we could construct a timeline of how the shape(s) evolved/changed?
Last edited:
Some members seem overly concerned about the shape and dimensions of the Lotus installed shroud. Imo, this is not a very technical adaptation rather, as mentioned previously, it's more of a "band aid" fix, the objective of which is simply to keep water away from the fuse box and HVAC enclosure. When I removed my shroud, I replaced it with 1/8 inch neoprene rubber and I only used the discarded one to trace and cut out the rectangular opening for the cabin filter housing. As for the rest of the shroud's shape and size, I made mine go from edge-to-edge of the windshield and as deep as I could underneath all along the length of the windshield to ensure that it covered the entirety of the fuse box's rear section and I even covered the brake fluid reservoir on the other end. For its installation, I removed all 4 plastic trim pieces, initially applied an oversized sheet, gradually trimming it using a measuring tape and strong scissors. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete the task but I'm confident that my DIY shroud now protects much better than the one installed by my dealer. Also, as some here have rightfully mentioned, besides area of coverage, it's important to ensure that it has proper drain slope/pitch to void sections that would retain water. I replaced my shroud about 2 month's ago not anticipating this post, so regretfully I didn't take pictures.
I hope (but not definitely holding my breath) that Lotus comes up with a proper permanent remedy for this which inevitably should be a redesigned waterproof fuse box and also perhaps a better sealed HVAC housing.
I hope (but not definitely holding my breath) that Lotus comes up with a proper permanent remedy for this which inevitably should be a redesigned waterproof fuse box and also perhaps a better sealed HVAC housing.
I'll buy one, my 2024 is all cracked
I would be interested. Sounds like we may want a modified design that may cover more of the area.
Follow up with conversation with dealer- I explained that my membrane shroud was cracking but not yet bad enough for water to get through and they said that I need to get in touch with lotus customer care and see if they would replace and cover the cost under warranty, LCC said I need to take it to a dealership and for them to see if it warrants replacing and then put a request into lotus for approval, I may end up paying for the dealership to check it out then if they agree it needs replacing back to lotus to authorise it, That would probably mean for me to probably take 2 trips to the dealer that’s 4 hours travelling plus waiting and if lotus doesn’t approve it then I’ll end up paying.
I’ll buy a sheet of gasket material and take the cracked one off, Trace around it and replace myself i don’t think it’s worth the hassle.
Hopefully Lotus will design a fit for purpose shroud soon or I can see people taking them to court for knowing that there’s a design flaw and not rectifying the issue
I’ll buy a sheet of gasket material and take the cracked one off, Trace around it and replace myself i don’t think it’s worth the hassle.
Hopefully Lotus will design a fit for purpose shroud soon or I can see people taking them to court for knowing that there’s a design flaw and not rectifying the issue
Send them pictures, how can they argue?
My silicone sheet arrived today. I will be making a new, hopefully longer lasting shroud on Monday.
Would be great to see some pictures when you do.
Sorry!! That post above was meant to be a 
2nd what Geoff says as I'll be doing the same when mine arrives
So…..I had a bit of spare time today, so replaced my Lotus incontinence sheet.
The Lotus rubber is around 1.3mm thick:
My silicone sheet was a little thicker at around 1.4mm thick.
The Lotus part number is this:
I removed all of the plastic shrouding on both sides and in the middle:
This is how the Lotus rubber was installed:
This is the Lotus sheet laid flat:
Mine was ‘suffering’ around the cut out for the cabin filter area:
This is the Lotus rubber laid next to my eBay silicone sheet:
The silicone sheet comes with some protective plastic backing which I removed:
I purposely made mine bigger than the Lotus sheet, so that it would extend further down the front, but more importantly further over to the drivers side (RHD car) to cover some of the electrical connections on that side:
I ended up adding an additional piece on the drivers side. Although obviously there’s a gap under the two pieces, if water goes underneath, it will still be directed away from any electrical components.
It’s pretty much impossible to get the sheet smooth, so it will always pool some water in the low points of the silicone sheet. However, when it overflows it will run away from any electrical components and crucially the fuse box and HeVAC resistor.
Overall it’s a pretty simple job, but a bit of a faff. It’s still a bodge job as is the Lotus ‘fix’, the difference now is that, iv’e covered/protected everything and hopefully the silicone should last indefinitely, rather than the 1-2 years of the Lotus rubber.
The Lotus rubber is around 1.3mm thick:
My silicone sheet was a little thicker at around 1.4mm thick.
The Lotus part number is this:
I removed all of the plastic shrouding on both sides and in the middle:
This is how the Lotus rubber was installed:
This is the Lotus sheet laid flat:
Mine was ‘suffering’ around the cut out for the cabin filter area:
This is the Lotus rubber laid next to my eBay silicone sheet:
The silicone sheet comes with some protective plastic backing which I removed:
I purposely made mine bigger than the Lotus sheet, so that it would extend further down the front, but more importantly further over to the drivers side (RHD car) to cover some of the electrical connections on that side:
I ended up adding an additional piece on the drivers side. Although obviously there’s a gap under the two pieces, if water goes underneath, it will still be directed away from any electrical components.
It’s pretty much impossible to get the sheet smooth, so it will always pool some water in the low points of the silicone sheet. However, when it overflows it will run away from any electrical components and crucially the fuse box and HeVAC resistor.
Overall it’s a pretty simple job, but a bit of a faff. It’s still a bodge job as is the Lotus ‘fix’, the difference now is that, iv’e covered/protected everything and hopefully the silicone should last indefinitely, rather than the 1-2 years of the Lotus rubber.
- Thread starter
- #60
Looks like you unscrewed the hood at the center bracket from the hood and the other end by the lower bracket .. ?
Create an account or login to comment
Join now to leave a comment enjoy browsing the site ad-free!
Create account
Create an account on our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.
Similar threads
Supporting Vendors
View all →
