Guides

Practical how-to articles and documentation, troubleshooting, and setup procedures based on real experience. Clear explanations intended to help you diagnose problems, perform repairs, and understand why the solution works.

Lotus Elise Jack Stand Guide (The “Step” Method)

This guide is a prerequisite for many of the Lotus tutorials on this site. Placing the Lotus Elise on jack stands is a little trickier than most production cars. Due to the Elise’s design and flat underbody there are really…

Lotus Elise Engine Oil and Filter Change

Changing the oil in the Lotus Elise is a relatively simple proceedure but first you will have to remove the rear undertray. Also, you can skip to the bottom for my recommendations on oil type and change intervals. Tools and…

Lotus Elise Rear Undertray / Rear Splitter Removal

The Lotus Elise is one of the few production cars that comes with a full body undertray. So when you look under the Elise, instead of seeing exposed lines and pipes (fuel/coolant/brake/exhaust) what you are met with is a flat…

The new solid bushings installed.

MR2 Spyder Speed Source Solid Shift Cable Bushings

Introduction After installing the Speed Source shifter bushings it is time to tackle the other end of the shifter mechanism. Namely, the rubber bushings at the end of the shifter cables. By replacing the rubber cable ends with solid bushings,…

MR2 Spyder Speed Source Solid Shifter Bushing Install

Introduction What Speed Source offers with their solid aluminum shifter bushings is nothing short of amazing when you realize just how profoundly these bushings alter the feel of the Spyder. By replacing the factory rubber bushings with solid aluminum units,…

MR2 Spyder Transmission Fluid Change

Introduction Let’s start with semantics. With the mid-engined, transversely mounted Spyder, you basically have a fwd Corolla engine sitting behind the passenger compartment driving the rear wheels. This means the transmission and differential are part of the same unit and…

MR2 Spyder- Permanently Mounting the ScanGaugeII

The ScanGaugeII is a small automotive computer that interfaces with the OBDII port of the MR2 Spyder.  It contains a small LCD screen that can be used to display the motor’s factory sensors in realtime.  Although the ScanGaugeII is a…

CA18DET Timing Belt Install (Part 1: The Factory Way)

(NOTE: A lot of this information is covered in the FSM. You can download the CA18DET FSM here and check out the engine mechanical section. Background Replacing the timing belt on the CA18DET is a simple, though somewhat labor intensive…

CA18DET Dual Stage Oil Cooler

Related Articles CA18DET Inline Oil Cooler (UK Factory Oil Cooler) Preface As I mentioned in the Inline Oil Cooler Guide the inline cooler leaves room for the addition of a thermostatic switch style oil sender that can be used to…