2005 Lotus — shift this!
Well, I’ve owned my Ardent Red 2005 Lotus Elise for almost a year and a half. Short of the engine issue right after I purchased it, nothing major has gone wrong with it. This past weekend was a different story.
I decided to take it out for a short spin. Several friends of mine were going to be down town having a beer or two and I was invited. So, I figured, I don’t drive the little guy much so off I went. I was running a bit early and not in any big hurry. Sitting in the fast lane on I-25 right around 144th, I down shifted from 5th to 6th to over take a car and found a loose shifter in my hand. Basically during the shift, something had come loose at 75mph and now I found myself with the car coasting in neutral. Fortunately, I was right at 144th exit and took it to coast as far as possible, hoping to at least get close to the Lowes.
Since I had no tools, my plan was to purchase a screw drive at Lowes and take off the cover to see what was up. I wasn’t able to coast the entire way, so after stopping in the slow lane and putting on the emergency blinkers I was about to set off on foot when a passerby stopped to give me a push. That push turned out to be several blocks due to the entrance to the Lowes parking lot not being on the main road. He was kind enough to get me all the way to a location with a light so I could see.
About an hour later and two purchases, screw driver and a flash light to see with, I found the metal (aluminum) rod had actually broken in two. With just the main shifter housing, I was able to shift enough to catch 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Enough to get home.
Next day, I tore into the shifter to see what happened. Photos are more informative than anything.
Long story short, I started doing some research, initially thinking I’d get an after market shifter. Well, turns out, the only shifters available are “performance” shifters and it requires replacing the entire housing and to the tune of $2,500 plus. After more research, I discovered this was a recall item and called Ferrari of Denver.
I’m now there awaiting them to install the replacement kit. Getting down here was interesting. Since it’s nearly an hour drive and using what’s left of the shifter would have resulted in gouging out my palm, I decided to try the ole “vice-grip” shifter method. Worked great. Now, it’s not something I’d recommend for “spirited” shifting, but it worked great for taking it “nice-and-easy”.
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