Ok so I took my car to the 6 months service. And they found out all the 4 ball joints of the suspension had leaks and thus had to be replaced. It didn't cost me a penny since they're covered by the warranty but I was told at the front desk that it was uncommon. He had no idea what could be the cause of this but that it could be a defect with the joints... what's your vin? Mine was diagnozed with leaking tie rod end ball joint on left front so I need to schedule time to replace. My car is Jan 2005 build with 8200 miles.
Wow, all 4 balljoints bad! When was you car made David?

Incidentally, I was going through my Elise papers and dicovered my title listed mileage as 47860miles on a brand new car I bought last March! While in fact, the transfer form shows only 16. Looks like our CA DMV screwed up and some clerk looked at price and put that down as mileage. I'm going to SVAG tomorrow so they can prepare new papaer to fix this error.


Ok so I took my car to the 6 months service. And they found out all the 4 ball joints of the suspension had leaks and thus had to be replaced. It didn't cost me a penny since they're covered by the warranty but I was told at the front desk that it was uncommon. He had no idea what could be the cause of this but that it could be a defect with the joints... For those of us newbies and/or less versed in auto mechanics, can someone please explain what to watch for? Is the ball-joint ball-joint showing in this photo? Is there a way to tell if it's leaking? Thanks... On that picture you can see upper a-arm and tie rod end ball joints.
Lower A-arm ball joint is under. Look for fresh grease coming out of rubber boots.

Here is article explaining what ball joint is.

Lotus techincal publication calls these upper/lower swivel joints.

For those of us newbies and/or less versed in auto mechanics, can someone please explain what to watch for? Is the ball-joint ball-joint showing in this photo? Is there a way to tell if it's leaking? Thanks... does this hurt performance? I have one leaking from the tie rod It may be ok right now (mine is still tight) but will likely soon get loose and then it will hurt not only performance but will be unsafe to drive. I suggest you bring the car to your dealer for warranty work (which covers following the replacement alignment as well - I've asked already). I'll schedule time to bring mine to my dealer in two weeks. I only drive on some weekends and to/from autocrosses so I'm not in a hurry and hope to receive shifter recall letter from Lotus by then so they do all at once.

does this hurt performance? I have one leaking from the tie rod I don't remember exactly when the car was built but since I took delivery in April 04, it must have been built around February 04. I forgot to mention that I've driven approximately 3500 miles. Ok so I took my car to the 6 months service. And they found out all the 4 ball joints of the suspension had leaks and thus had to be replaced.
Hmm?

Well.. 'all 4' is not correct as there are 8 main balljoints on the A-arms (2 for each wheel, 1 upper, 1 lower)

Then there are the balljoints on the steering rack ends (2 of those) and the ones for the rear track rods (4 of those, 2 on each side)

*which* exactly are giving problem?

Also not sure what is meant by 'leaking'? They are filled with a thick grease like the kind used for ball-bearings.

The only way the main balljoints could 'leak' is if the rubber seals are damaged/punctured. This usually does not happen with normal use unless somebody has been poking around with a screwdriver or something similar, or has pulled something (cable, wire) along them.

If the main balljoint rubber boots are damaged, then it sounds awfully like a screw-up at the dealer or something like that where someone may have 'checked for play' in the balljoints by sticking a pointy/sharp object between the A-arm and the upright/hub-carrier and tried to lever on ti to see if it was tight ot not. IN the process the boots got cut/punctured.

The rear track rod balljoints can 'leak' (esp. the inner ones), but this is quite normal. They are close to the exhaust. They heat up, the grease gets thin and it runs out.

Many Elises in europe suffer from 'creaking track rods' at hot summer days. Lifting the rubber boots covering the balljoint and injecting some new (moly)grease fixes that for a while.

The front track rod ends are unlikely to show any of these problems, but then there are only 2..

Oh.. Main lower balljoints *are* pretty much a 'consumable' item on the Elise because of the way they are used (under tension all the time, unlike their original use in a McPherson strut suspension). Do not expect them to last for 100.000 miles esp. on cars that are tracked.

Bye, Arno. I don't remember exactly when the car was built but since I took delivery in April 04, it must have been built around February 04. I forgot to mention that I've driven approximately 3500 miles.
Weren't the very first ones delivered only in the summer of 2004?
Can we ask what your serial number is? Mine is 2575, built in Feb 2005. Ok my mistake I meant 2005 not 2004
I got it in April 05, so it was probably built in February 05...

The ones leaking were the 4 lower ones (front and rear). My old car has a big squeek when I go over bumps. I'll have my dealer find it before I sell it.