This Gorgeous Lotus Evora Has SEVERE Toyota Issues 

If anyone might know, it’s you. You taught me TONS about my Toyotas. Thanks AMD, and a happy & healthy new year to you and yours.

I second that!

A crossover episode between these two channels, especially on a car like an evora, might actually make my brain explode.

TCCN and Daniel-san teaming up?!! THAT would be supercool!

It's a lovely car indeed, I've driven a couple of Evoras on the track and they are fantastic - BUT - who specs one with an automatic? An American I who can't drive a manual I guess? That just ruins it for me sorry.

I came here to say this. Had the same issue.

Sounds legit'. No experience with the Evora but I DO have quite a bit of experience with V6 conversions (using the Camry V6) for the Toyota MR2 and problems with those - everything from non-starts to misfires - would often end up being a bad earth. Due to the nature of an engine-swap, people would test-fit things and then, if everything looked okay, they'd tighten up all the bolts and that's when earths get missed or just nipped up with a pair of pliers. You could check continuity with a multimeter and it'd give a reasonable reading so you'd assume the earth was okay but then you'd undo the bolt, give the various crimps and post a rub with wire wool, put it back together and tighten the nut up with a socket and the fault would be gone.

Yep grounds bad grounds can wreak havoc, especially on Bonded chassis cars like the Evora. and cars that have long distances between the Battery and low voltage equipment (basically all the power train controls) and high amperage equipment too. Many cars have had issues simply because of bad grounds and many have burnt to the ground too because of bad grounds, especially MR2's as SiCrewe probably knows.

@@CJ-ty8sv Good point regarding the bonded chassis. Presumably, Lotus fitted earth-straps to link various parts of the chassis and ensure there's a good earth all around the vehicle? Just to add to my previous post, you CAN'T just rely on a multimeter to test earths. When the car's parked a loose earth can be making good contact and you'd never know there's a problem but when the car's moving there'll be vibrations which cause intermittent faults and causes chaos for the electronics. I guess, on the Evora, it might be a good idea to (temporarily) run lengths of wire directly from the -ve battery terminal to various earth points, take the car for a test-drive and if the problem doesn't appear you know there's an earth fault somewhere between the battery and wherever you've got the temporary wire connected.

@@SiCrewe Yes, it is likely that Lotus does have straps to link sections together but they are still at the disadvantage with the Aluminum chassis though. While aluminum, generally speaking is a pretty good conductor (though not as good as steel), Aluminum oxide is an insulator and being that exposed raw aluminum starts to form an oxide layer within minutes of being exposed to oxygen, surface contact linking straps have their limits. Now I'm sure that they likely used straps that have some sort of teeth that bite into the material that break through the oxide layer that forms but if the fastener attaching the link becomes lose enough at any point that can allow air to get down in where the teeth bit in, an oxide layer will start to form, thus rendering that strap basically ineffective. And yes, I 100% agree, running temporary wires to ground (earth) components can be a good way to determine any issues in regards to grounding / earthing.

Shame TOyota never fully bought Lotus.

Toyota using Yamaha engines wasn't a bad move, either.

and yet the Toyota parts are the problem with the Lotus...

@@-ac-8296 Computer controls are Lotus

@@Milkmans_Son did you watch the video?

I worked in the fork truck industry for a while, and the tech's I worked with always said "oh, it's the battery causing this issues." 1 out of 20 times they may have been right. Reality was they were just to lazy to properly diag something. Drove me crazy because working for a large plant, you'd get the same trucks back every week or even the next day for the exact same issue.

How does the wiz ever find such talented people?

@@safffff1000 IIRC, in all 3 cases they contacted him and wanted to join his shop.

​@safffff1000 He's the Wizard. After so many years working in an industry, I'm sure it's combination of knowing what to look for and getting a good feel for their personality and problem solving skills.

@@safffff1000Maybe they find him because of his reputation!

Ok

And drunk. Guaranteed.

And making love to a 1994 Celica

@@joshuagibson2520 you're drunk

@@VincentVader naaah. But I am fixin to smoke one. Scotty is a drunk. Literally, a drunk.

@@joshuagibson2520dont forget crack. That man has definitely has to be high on something

My money is on it being a ground issue. Grounds can wreak havoc on any car but its especially true on Bonded chassis cars and cars where the battery is rather far from ground sensitive equipment (two things the Evora has working against it).

I agree, they are doing a better job at repairing and fixing cars than many shops out here, especially car dealership service shops.

Automotive engineers realized simply having CAN was not enough so most modern cars have LIN, Ethernet, CAN-FD, MOST as well as CAN..

I am sorry, but the CAN bus actually makes the system significantly more simple. If you understand how it works, and how to diagnose it, the system is far more reliable than older systems. But the "it needs points and a carburetor" crowd is never gonna be happy...sorry boomer, but the world has moved on.

If you think can bus causes issues imagine the fun it would be to have 6x the wiring

@@stephenfazekas5054that's what all of the "carb and points" boomers don't understand. CAN bus makes the system drastically more simple. But they don't understand how it works, and they aren't willing to learn. I actually first encountered it flying long range fixed wing RC planes. The modern flight controllers use CAN to communicate with all of the sensors used to fly the plane. The previous generation of electronics used analog signals and weighed 10X.

@@jacktheaviator4938 exactly and many of the issues are due to the manufacturer and not the can bus. All modules have a range of voltage/ signal pattern range thats within spec, they should program module’s to ignore out of range signals instead of going crazy. Of course a module thats hard grounding out the entire wire run will prevent every module on that wire run from communicating. People dont realize that before can bus something as simple as the tail lights required hundreds of feet of wire , relays and flashers.And now a tail light only needs power and signal and let the microcontroller figure it out. And on the same signal cable you can also run the trunk release and back up sensors

FWIW at least it’s a GOOD looking pile of scrap iron…

I came REALLY close to buying a Lotus Esprit back in the 1990s, when they were pretty cheap. Put down a deposit on the car after work one night, went out for lunch the next day and on the way back to work I realised I was following "my" Lotus along the road (turned out they'd taken it to a local detailing place to get it cleaned for me) when it slowed down for a junction, the reversing light came on momentarily, the car skidded sideways and then coasted to a stop. Bye bye gearbox and/or differential. Gave the mechanic a ride back to the dealership and he swore he didn't select reverse but he DID notice that he had to help the shifter move from 5th to 4th gear so it might've been that the linkage broke so gearbox couldn't move across the gate, thus selecting reverse (straight back from 5th) instead of 4th (across and back from 5th). Offered to buy the car at a reduced price but the dealership refused. Later on, I heard that they scrapped the car and parted it out instead of repairing it. 😞 On the bright side, I ended up buying an E39 BMW 540 and that car was a TANK. One of the nicest, most reliable, most capable cars I've ever owned.

An alternative when discussing what can break on a Lotus: Lots Of Things, Unusually Serious.

FORD: fix or repair daily..lol

@@mrlong6267 DODGE; Dad’s Old Dead Garage Experiment 🤣

Yum yum!

Why would you want a Lotus with any other transmission?

This Toyota issue is the main reason why I'd be better off with a MANUAL TRANSMISSION, above all else! 💯

@@mescko - I've had tons of sports cars with manuals (Miata, Corvette, 911, 928S, MX-6, BMWs, etc) and I'm tired of shifting, that's why. Dream car right now is a new 911 C4S with PDK and PTS.

Poor friends who had to get in the back. There is so little space in there, you have to chop of your legs to sit there. 😂

Yeah, when I think of practical, the first vehicle that comes to mind is a Lotus.

Well, compared to an Elise it is@@OMGWTFLOLSMH , my Dad brain can justify it as a "family vehicle" 😁

Also the first Toyota twin cams were copied from Lotus.

Yeah, you're getting Japanese replacement costs though, luckily.

@@unclefista not entirely true. Drivetrain pieces are going to be Toyota obviously, but Lotus developed their own engine management. Sensors, coils, etc. are cheap if you can get the equivalent Toyota part, things like an engine harness or an ECM are going to be $$$. I had a friend with an Elise. He ended up selling it after 6 months or so because of all the electrical issues he was running into.

@@unclefista Partially true . if you ask Wizard , I bet he will charge European exotic car labour rates instead of Japanese/American cars.

They should have done what Toyota did and use BMW parts...

@@butt_cheeks269 Out of the frying pan into the fire.

The Toyota 4cy allowed you all those miles

@@franklast7955 sorry, should have said mine is an S1 so it’s got a Rover K Series engine. Never sold in the US, notorious for HGF but mine has mods to reduce risk and is 160 spec.

@@franklast7955K series is Rover engine.

Someone else mentioned it being the ABS module taking down the CAN bus. I would not be at all surprised if both of these had the same ABS module in them (likely different part numbers though if the mounting/connector is different).

Maybe a bad cap in the transmission module ?

Her plate.

@@SquiggyWigginz - thanks, corrected it.

Some early spy shots of that MR2 were at Lotus (presume they were doing some development work). There were a few theories that it was a new Lotus.

Sadly even Toyotas have issues - one being the dreaded variable valve timing VVT gear on some Camrys and Corollas - which needless to say - is pain to replace.

BMW = hold my electronic....

They're fantastic, too. Read EVO Car of the Year 2009 to see what it beat. Hint: amazing cars were bested.

The parts bin. Right. 3 years ago, I was getting into my mail truck at the post office when I saw something 'odd'. I was thinking "Naw. That can't be. The odds of a match are just incredible..." So I took out my ring of keys, selected the key to the ignition on my 2006 Dodge Cummins truck and slipped it in. I did not even have to 'jiggle' the key. It turned with 'ordinary' resistance, an EXACT match. A Chrysler ignition switch in an S10 derivative GM sourced truck. And so amazing that my truck key matched it. Now, what are the odds on that?

😂 AMC=all makes combined

If I had my way most cars would have manual transmission with only '' special editions" using automatic. I think the recent extensive manufacture of cars with automatic transmission is to have EASY built in OBSOLESCENCE.

Have you seen the clutch replacement job?

@@kelechithots Better to have built in obsolescence in the future then to buy a new car with a transmission thats already obsolete. Thats what manuals are in 2023/2024; antiquated and obsolete. You cannot outshift a computer.

​@MikeL-FL that's not the point for many of us. My tacoma takes a good amount of time between shifts especially with the 2TR rev hang and a tired clunky R155F. BUT, I LOVE driving it. It's like a tractor. Dependable and stout. Auto scum!

@@MikeL-FL Nah. 5 speed 1994 Toyota Pickup. Much more fun to drive.

Less issues *

​@@604h22a manuals are far less failure prone, as long as you can use a clutch properly.

Many don’t want the expensive clutch replacement. The auto isn’t bad in the evora .

It's also a Lexus engine.

Dude.... This is lotus.... Sure that thing use Toyota engine but another part take from another manufacturers..... Owned by Geely company...

The problem is that mechanics fully know the problems, and they aren't honest and will tell you lies just so the bill goes up .

Even better to drive.