Please help. Close to giving up.........

[mjh500]

I am the not so proud owner of a chim500 on an L plate. I have owned the car for about 5 months, The first 3 or so having much fun with minor problems. I then took the car in for a velet including minor cleaning of the engine bay. When i went to pick the car up i was told that the engine had been steam cleaned which i was a little concerned about. On the way home i had some expected cutting out which turned in to total no go. Towed home ect.Bugger. Did all the usuall things with WD40 ect and all seemed well for a couple of weeks with the od backfire here and there. Since then i have had major running problems, the car just permanantly kangaroos when driven which gets much worse as it warms up. When started from cold it ticks over ok most of the time but lately has started running up-down and then cutting out but allways re-starting. Cleaned stepper, new plugs/leads,checked fuses/relays,Disconnected ECU ect but no change. Went in for M.O.T today and failed on emissions, they said the COs and hidro carbons were all over the place and to high. Could this be part of the problem. Would take it somewhere to get sorted but dont know of anyone in the portsmouth area that can help. Hope someone can help.At my whitts end now. Thanks.

[Incorrigible]

Get it to the car doctor

Nearest to you would be David Batty (there may be closer ones I don't know about)

Austec seem to be getting a pretty good name for themselves too (Gatwick)

Don't expect a small bill though, if emissions are out, you could need new cats on top of everything else

[T88CAN]

Sorry to here about your proplems My Chim failed it`s mot on emmissions last year this was just after it started to run a little rough and the odd cutting out, the diagnoisis ONE of the lamda sensors, now if both of the lamda sensors had gone AWOL because the sensor wiring had got soaked then surly the proplem would be magnified to the level you are at? Either way a trip to your dealer is in order unless you want to gamble on doing the Lamda your self? I hope this helps Tony

[HarryW]

Good point tony, I would be inclined to trace the lambda wires back a bit first, they have a plastic connector about level with the front of the engine, it may pay to disconnect these and dry/wd40 these out. Could even be the ignition amp got wet/cooked, agian dry out the connector to it.
Failing that if its that bad it should show a good hard fault on a fault code reader, again borrow one or take it along to a local specialist.
Best of luck......

Harry

[joospeed]

my first thoughts too .. worth a quick look.

[Wacky Racer]

Lovely car Martin....

Don't think it will be anything TOO serious...

Cheer up, Summers on the way...........

[jessica]

nope Chim Owners do not give up!!NEVER.....
if u do u will be destined to drive a boring car forever...

[SGirl]

Talk to Mark Adams.... His details are on here somewhere if you do a search.

[caro]

Don't give up, whatever you do! Talk to one or more of the independents mentioned above (there are links on the PH main page to tvr specialists details), and/or Peninsula (Devon, helpful on the phone and they have a trailer to collect if necessary) also you could try going on the PH regions forum which covers your area to ask for local specialists? good luck.

[apprentice]

You're in Portsmouth - so if you need a first class specialist then use Andy at APM Automotive, Liphook, Hants. - probably closest and his TVR engine diagnostic skills are second to none!

He may be contacted on 07740 723673.

apprentice

[chim 500]

what about fernhurst, not that far from you tel no 01428656377 best off luck, they are worth it in the end, and don't give up

[Big Simp]

Good Luck Martin, you could always just go out and look at your Duke to keep your spirits up,,,,,,,,,,,lol

[cosmoschick]

jessica said:

nope Chim Owners do not give up!!NEVER..... if u do u will be destined to drive a boring car forever...

Ooh I nearly did...I soooooo very nearly did give up on Trev after some recent mechanical problems put me in some potentially dangerous situations. But I forced myself to get back in the saddle (so to speak) because I'm totally awestruck and passionate about the Chim and personally no other car could ever come close to it. I remember wanting a TVR as a little girl It's worth holding on to your dreams cos one day they might come true and in this case the reality has more than lived up to the fantasy!!

So, as Jess said, hang on in there and may all your problems be little ones!

Hmm, I wouldn't say a Porsche is a boring car tho'

[Mark Adams]

MJH500 - do you have access to a digital multimeter? If so then I can give you some diagnostics to do yourself.

Can you post the emissions results please? It sounds like you may have Oxygen sensor or airflow meter problems.

If you can post tonight then I can respond. I'm at Power Engineering (Uxbridge) tomorrow so if you need help then, use the Moby (07798 582 390).

This is no use to you, but for anyone else I have just had a cancellation for tomorrow afternoon (13:30 hrs). It seems a pity to waste it since I will have driven 200 miles and 3 hours each way to be there!

Regards - Mark

[HarryW]

Mark Adams said:

..... If you can post tonight then I can respond. I'm at Power Engineering (Uxbridge) tomorrow so if you need help then, use the Moby (07798 582 390). This is no use to you, but for anyone else I have just had a cancellation for tomorrow afternoon (13:30 hrs). It seems a pity to waste it since I will have driven 200 miles and 3 hours each way to be there! Regards - Mark

Bumped

Surprised no-ones taken you up on the offer yet Mark, it is normally a right pain to get a slot with you, I know I've tried enough times. Wonder if Tims got anyone in the wings .

Harry

[mjh500]

Thanks for all of your replies, you have been a lot of help. I think i have sorted my problem. I spent all last night in the garage fiddling and found that one of the lambda sensor multiplugs next to the injectors on the N/S was coming apart. As i touched the multiplug it came apart,which made me smile alot because i knew that this could be the cause. I have driven the car for a couple of hours and it feels like a monster so fingers crossed the problems sorted. I have taken the car back for the M.O.T tonight so i will find out tomorrow if it passes the emissions. Thanks again for all your help...

[M@H]

Winner.. great news

[HarryW]

Result

[T88CAN]

The power of pistonheads?? Did it pass the emmissions test? Tony

[mjh500]

Picked the old gal up from M.O.T today and all was well.The co's and hidro-carbons are back to normal and she is running better than ever. Im thinking about selling her soonish due to some money problems so if anyone out there wants a nice example then let me know. Got full TVR history,52900 miles 3 owners. Be more than happy to post some pics if anyone wants. Cheers all...