Interior Exterior
Q:
Ok, I just got my car Saturday and noticed a few things that seem, er, rather unusual for this car. I have spent a few hours reading this forum and didn't see the answers.
- interior light. I went to drive at night and finally figured out which knob was the light knob. They daytime running lights come on at night and I'm assuming you still need to put on the light knob to get the rear tail lights (and of course dash lights) on. But, when I open the door, there is no other light. Argh! And the light that is there is way in the back making it hard to find where to put the key not to mention just a tad dark. Even my Lotus Elan (M100) had a couple of nice lights under the mirror. Seems they could have done this. Anyone have a solution for better lighting?
- sun visors. The manual says that they should flip up. Mine are glued on and I gather most people take them off. Are there UK or other versions that flip up? Again, why couldn't they just do this?
- idle. The car seems to be a bit rough at idle. It does seem to settle down but I am just wondering if this is normal or not.
- headlight pattern. I think my driver's side needs adjusting. The overall pattern seems to mimic the hood (both lights are high and cross down lower in the middle) - is this right?
- tires. Ok, I am spoiled as my Elan has a spare. What do you do if you get a flat? My Ferrari came with a bottle of fix-a-flat (well, Ferrari's version of this). I just read the owner's manual and maybe I missed it but I didn't see any mention of this. The can of fix-a-flat I have does seem to mention that it can't be used in just any car. I did get a flat in my Elan once and had to use the spare as my wheel got bent (so no fix-a-flat would work anyway).
Thanks!
Scott
A:
Ok, I just got my car Saturday and noticed a few things that seem, er, rather unusual for this car. I have spent a few hours reading this forum and didn't see the answers.
My keys are the early ones with lights, so I use that when I'm going to start it in the dark. (Not that I do that often in Alaska. )
I took my sunvisors off, they weren't glued on, maybe they are doing that now.
Let the car idle when you start it and before you shut it off. The early ones needed to get a memory for idle, other wise they'd die when you stopped for more than a few seconds. I don't know if that's been fixed either, but I'm sure that people with newer cars can tell you.
The biggest complaint with the headlights is that they are aimed too low. I adjusted mine higher, but since my Elise is hibernating, I have a few months to wait before I find out if the adjustment is good.
There should be a can of fix-a-flat type stuff in the boot clamped above the right rear wheel well.
A:
mine idled really rough (lots of stalling) for the first 800-1000 miles or so. it should go away in time.
glued on sun visors?? mine flip up/down.
A:
The light between the seats on the bulkhead has 3 positions. Tilted up is off. Tilted down will have the light come on when the doors are open and when the face of the light is vertical it is on full time. However, even when it's on it's not too bright.
The sunvisors flip up against the windshield and sometimes when the car is new they stick to the windshield. They don't flip up toward the driver like most visors. They flip down toward the driver. You might have to peel them away from the windshield the first time.
The headlight aim from the factory is not good. There are several threads about aiming the headlights for best effect. It makes a huge difference. Sandsmuseum.com probably has the best explanation for aiming the lights. There are also some HID lights available.