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WARNING:
• Do not push or tow the car unless the key is first used to unlock the column and is then left in the lock. With
-
drawing the key will cause the steering to lock.
• Never remove the key from the ignition switch or turn off the ignition while the car is moving. Withdrawing the key
will cause the steering to lock and may cause an accident
resulting in serious injury or death.
• To reduce the risk of theft, or danger to a child remaining in the car, always remove the key when leaving a parked
car.
Engine Start Button An engine start button is located at the left hand end of the
dashboard, alongside the lighting switches, and is backlit when
the ignition is turned on. The button is operative only with the ignition on, and engages
the engine starter motor for as long as the button is pressed. Release the button to stop engine cranking.
For the correct engine starting procedure, refer to later sec
-
tion ‘Starting Procedure’.
NOTICE: Pressing the start button when the engine is running may damage the starter mecha
ohs147Engine start button
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Passive Ilisation: The start button will operate only when the
security tell tale in the tachometer face is out. If the tell tale is
flashing, the engine is immobilised; Press once,
and for a full second, the larger of the two buttons on the trans
-
mitter fob. The security tell tale will be extinguished. For further
information see ‘Car Security Alarm’.
WARNING ‘TELL TALE’ LAMPS A block of tell tale lamps is incorporated into the instrument
cluster to provide you with important information concerning the
operation of your Elise.
Bulb Check In order to check that the warning systems are operative, all
the tell tale lamps (except the ‘security’ tell tale; see Car Se
-
curity Alarm section) should light for about 6 seconds following ignition switch on. If any lamp should fail to light, it is possible
that the bulb or warning circuit may be faulty; see your dealer
without delay.
Turn Tell Tale
When the left hand or right hand turn indicators are operating,
this green tell tale flashes in unison. A clicking sound may also be heard. If the tell tale fails to light, or flashes at an unusual or
irregular rate, check the operation of the turn indicator lamps
immediately.
m252a
Instruments & Switches
46
TELL TALE LAMPS
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WARNING:Continuing to run the engine with the oil tell tale lit could
cause major engine damage or seizure, resulting in loss
of car control and a crash. You or others could be killed
or seriously injured.
Low Fuel Level Tell Tale
When only a single segment of the fuel gauge bar graph
remains, representing approximately 1.3 U.S. gall. (5 litres), this
amber tell tale will flash. Refuel at the next opportunity.
ABS Tell Tale
This amber tell tale should light for about four seconds follow-
ing ignition switch on, and then go out. If the lamp remains lit, or
comes on whilst driving, a fault in the anti-lock brake system is
indicated. The base brake system will continue to operate nor
-
mally, but without the anti-lock feature. The car can be driven but should be checked and repaired at the earliest opportunity.
High Beam Tell Tale
This lamp glows blue whenever the headlamp high beams
are operating.
Airbag Tell Tale
The airbag safety system has a self-diagnostic feature which
lights the red tell tale if a fault is detected. As a bulb and circuit
check, the tell tale will light for about six seconds following ig
-
nition switch on, and then go out. If the lamp remains lit, or comes on at any other time, a fault in the airbag system is indicated,
which should be rectified without delay.
WARNING: If the airbag tell tale is lit, the airbags may not inflate
correctly in a crash, or may inflate without warning. To
help avoid injury to you or others, have the airbag system repaired as soon as possible.
Battery Charging Tell Tale
This red tell tale will light whenever the ignition is on and the
engine is stopped. If it lights any time that the engine is running,
the battery is not being charged, which may be due to a broken
auxiliary drive belt, or an electrical fault. A broken drive belt
Instruments & Switches
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Air Re- circulation The air supply for the interior climate system is normally drawn
from both the car interior and from the fresh air intake duct ahead
of the engine cooling radiator. When the re-circulation button is pressed, the fresh air intake port is closed down to provide 90%
re-circulation air supply to the cabin interior. The re-circulation
facility should be used when maximum refrigeration is desired.
The tell tale in the switch button will light up blue when the
circuit is active.
Heater Temperature With the left hand rotary control turned fully counterclockwise,
no heating is provided. If cooled air is required, use this tem
-
perature position in conjunction with air conditioning. Turning the control progressively clock wise provides in
-
creasing levels of heat until at the fully clockwise position, maximum heat is supplied.
Fan Speed The centre rotary switch provides three fan speeds to boost air
circulation. Turned fully counterclockwise, the fan is off; Turning
the switch progressively clockwise operates the blower fan at increasing speed in three steps. Note that the fan operates only with the ignition switched on.
Heating, Ventilation & A.C.
62
p99
TemperatureFan SpeedDistribution
Air conditioning Air re-circulation
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Air DistributionThe right hand rotary control determines the distribution of
air flow to the various outlet vents. A few moments should be
allowed for the flaps to operate following a new selection:
Face Level: Turned fully counterclockwise, all airflow is directed to the four
face level vents, each of which may be manipulated to adjust
volume and direction.
p100
Heating, Ventilation & A.C.
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Footwell:
As the control is turned clockwise from the face level vents
symbol towards the footwell symbol, an increasing proportion
of air flow is directed towards the footwell vents.
p100
Heating, Ventilation & A.C.
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Demist:
As the control is turned clockwise from the footwell symbol
to the windscreen symbol, more air flow is directed to the wind
-
screen vents. Select a warm temperature setting and a suitable
fan speed.
Full Defrost Per formance For maximum defrost per formance, turn the distribution
knob fully clockwise and select maximum temperature and fan
speed.For optimum demisting in ambient temperatures above
38°F (+3°C), switching on the a.c. will help de-humidify the air directed to the screen.
Ventilation Shut-Off To close off the ventilation, which you may want to do in heavy
traffic to reduce fumes coming into the car, select re-circulation,
turn off the fan, turn the distribution control fully counterclock
-
wise to the face level vent position, and manually shut off each of the face level vents.
Engine Bay Ventilation The engine bay is ventilated via intake ducts in the body sides
and engine undertray, with outlet grilles provided in the engine
cover and rear valance.
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FootbrakeVentilated disc brakes are fitted to all four wheels of the
Elise. These are operated by separate front and rear hydraulic
circuits, supplied from a tandem master cylinder with vacuum
servo. Anti-lock control is provided by a microprocessor based
electro-hydraulic unit, integrated into the base braking system. The braking system is designed to provide good pedal feed
-
back, with efficient disc cooling to inhibit brake fade. With a
new car, or new brake system components, maximum braking
efficiency will be achieved if, for the first few hundred miles, needless heavy braking is avoided. Allow the brake pads and discs to ‘bed in’ fully before using the brakes to their full potential.
Pedal effort will reduce as the brakes are bedded in, and as they
are warmed from cold to normal working temperature. Note that
the hard grade pad material may give rise to a certain amount of brake noise under some conditions; such noise is not harmful
and does not affect the life or efficiency of the brakes.
WARNING:
• After driving through a ford, or a flooded road, some loss of braking response may be experienced until the brakes
have dried out. As soon as it is safe to do so after such an encounter, apply the brakes until normal operation
is restored. Failure to do so may result in an accident in
which you or others may be killed or seriously injured.
• The brake assistance servo uses vacuum supplied from the engine intake plenum, such that assistance is avail
-
able only when the engine is running. Never coast down
-
hill with the engine stopped. If this situation accidently arises, avoid repeated application of the brakes, or the
stored vacuum supply will be rapidly used up. Greater
pedal pressures will be required. This may adversely affect performance of the brakes which may result in an
accident in which you or others may be killed or seriously
injured.
Anti-lock Brake System The Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) is used to optimise brake
performance in extreme conditions and reduce the potential
for any wheel to lock up. Under most conditions, the maximum braking force is provided by a wheel which is rotating at about
90% of road speed. Apart from the likelihood of increasing the
Driving Controls
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