Chim 450 not starting! Help me please, lovely people!
Discussion
CaterhamJoy said:
I changed them as I had issues with the car running slightly rough on occasion, changing the rotor arm and dizzy which were both worn fixed the issue.
I checked the rotor arm and dizzy yesterday and they both looked fine.
Popped home just now at lunch, took one of the old plugs I removed yesterday, attached it to one of the ht leads from the dizzy, wedged by the head and turned the car over while a buddy of mine looked for a spark. None!
Replaced the king lead with one of the HT leads directly onto a plug and again wedged it by the head, again no spark. So spark seems to be the issue.
I changed the coil last night, and it wasn't working with the old one or the new one, so pretty sure its not that. So I suppose I could be looking at a blown fuse somewhere or maybe the ignition amplifier?
I also considered the batter might not be at full strength (I have tried starting it a good number of times now), but the car still tries to start and the lights work etc, so I would have though even if it was low, if it has enough juice to turn the starter motor and power the lights, it would have enough to generate a spark?
Thanks
Have you tried the king lead direct from the coil to the head with no spark plug attached? Don't wedge it against the head but get your mate to hold it - with a pair of insulated pliers - a little way off the head to give it a gap for the spark to jump.I checked the rotor arm and dizzy yesterday and they both looked fine.
Popped home just now at lunch, took one of the old plugs I removed yesterday, attached it to one of the ht leads from the dizzy, wedged by the head and turned the car over while a buddy of mine looked for a spark. None!
Replaced the king lead with one of the HT leads directly onto a plug and again wedged it by the head, again no spark. So spark seems to be the issue.
I changed the coil last night, and it wasn't working with the old one or the new one, so pretty sure its not that. So I suppose I could be looking at a blown fuse somewhere or maybe the ignition amplifier?
I also considered the batter might not be at full strength (I have tried starting it a good number of times now), but the car still tries to start and the lights work etc, so I would have though even if it was low, if it has enough juice to turn the starter motor and power the lights, it would have enough to generate a spark?
Thanks
Have a new ignition amplifier/module on its way to me now, will try that this evening.
I haven't tried just a wire from the coil on the head, will try that if this fails.
Phazed, no I am Hampshire based. The username is CaterhamJoy becuase at the time I signed up I had just done a few caterham driving courses and was looking to buy one. I didn't! The username has remained the same however.
I haven't tried just a wire from the coil on the head, will try that if this fails.
Phazed, no I am Hampshire based. The username is CaterhamJoy becuase at the time I signed up I had just done a few caterham driving courses and was looking to buy one. I didn't! The username has remained the same however.
Hi, referring back to the original description of the fault. There are 2 fuel pump relays. One of them is controlled from turning on the ignition to give 3s of prime, the other from the ECU during normal running. This is at least my understanding. The dying after a few seconds is because the inital prime pressure has gone and not been replaced.
A suggestion, get both relays on the bench and test them with a 12v battery (plus a fuse ideally) and a multimeter. Connect 12V to the coil side and check resistance between other 2 terminals goes to zero or max couple of ohms. This operation is a lot easier with some crock clips, but 4 hands also works, or even paper clips.
I would do this relay check before anything else. I would also clean and tighten the connections on the fuel pump. Perhaps a shaking car loosens a connection.....
Given that it was starting, then it would imply you had a spark at the time.
Since then something else may have gone wrong. Do you have a multimeter? If not go and buy one - you will wonder what you ever did without it :-). Check for 12 V at coil positive with ignition on.
Any good with a soldering iron? Even if you are not this is not going to tax you. Get an LED and a 100 Ohm resistor from maplins, solder them together - or even twist and tape - and attach some wire. Then attach this to the coil negative while cranking - the other end to earth. It should flash. If it does not try it the other way round, if still no flash, then its your ignition amp or the pickup in the dizzy. The ignition amp interrupts the coil negative supply to stimulate the spark voltage in the coil. The ignition amp takes its input from the dizzy as a small voltaage change caused by a magnet passing a hall effect device.
To check that you need to find out where you can intercept the dizzy pickup, don't have manual with me right now (in train passing under channel) but should be one of the wires into the amp. If no flash at the dizzy pickup then depending on model it can be changed, or posibly new dizzy, if pickup OK most likely the Ignition amp.
If you did get a flash, but no spark, and you have confirmed the coil is good, then suspect a fault from the coil towards its supply. A high resistance connection somewhere. Just been working on an S2 and found it was getting its power from the wrong place meaning a spark that could only be detected with a spark tester. You can run a connection directly from the battery (via a fuse) to the coil positive to eliminate this. In this line are the ignition switch, immobilizer, and fuse(s).
A suggestion, get both relays on the bench and test them with a 12v battery (plus a fuse ideally) and a multimeter. Connect 12V to the coil side and check resistance between other 2 terminals goes to zero or max couple of ohms. This operation is a lot easier with some crock clips, but 4 hands also works, or even paper clips.
I would do this relay check before anything else. I would also clean and tighten the connections on the fuel pump. Perhaps a shaking car loosens a connection.....
Given that it was starting, then it would imply you had a spark at the time.
Since then something else may have gone wrong. Do you have a multimeter? If not go and buy one - you will wonder what you ever did without it :-). Check for 12 V at coil positive with ignition on.
Any good with a soldering iron? Even if you are not this is not going to tax you. Get an LED and a 100 Ohm resistor from maplins, solder them together - or even twist and tape - and attach some wire. Then attach this to the coil negative while cranking - the other end to earth. It should flash. If it does not try it the other way round, if still no flash, then its your ignition amp or the pickup in the dizzy. The ignition amp interrupts the coil negative supply to stimulate the spark voltage in the coil. The ignition amp takes its input from the dizzy as a small voltaage change caused by a magnet passing a hall effect device.
To check that you need to find out where you can intercept the dizzy pickup, don't have manual with me right now (in train passing under channel) but should be one of the wires into the amp. If no flash at the dizzy pickup then depending on model it can be changed, or posibly new dizzy, if pickup OK most likely the Ignition amp.
If you did get a flash, but no spark, and you have confirmed the coil is good, then suspect a fault from the coil towards its supply. A high resistance connection somewhere. Just been working on an S2 and found it was getting its power from the wrong place meaning a spark that could only be detected with a spark tester. You can run a connection directly from the battery (via a fuse) to the coil positive to eliminate this. In this line are the ignition switch, immobilizer, and fuse(s).
Hi All!
Thanks so much for all the advice, the issue is now resolved.
I put in a new ignition module amplifier last night and it fired straight up, the battery didn't even need a boost, which is impressive since it had been cranked about 15/20 times!
I am not sold 100% on the quality of the replacement item that my local factors provided (its the best quality they had in stock), so I shall purhcase a replacement lucas item and fit over the holidays.
Once again, thanks to everyone who put forward their thoughts and suggestions!
Thanks
Anton
Thanks so much for all the advice, the issue is now resolved.
I put in a new ignition module amplifier last night and it fired straight up, the battery didn't even need a boost, which is impressive since it had been cranked about 15/20 times!
I am not sold 100% on the quality of the replacement item that my local factors provided (its the best quality they had in stock), so I shall purhcase a replacement lucas item and fit over the holidays.
Once again, thanks to everyone who put forward their thoughts and suggestions!
Thanks
Anton
CaterhamJoy said:
Hi All!
Thanks so much for all the advice, the issue is now resolved.
I put in a new ignition module amplifier last night and it fired straight up, the battery didn't even need a boost, which is impressive since it had been cranked about 15/20 times!
I am not sold 100% on the quality of the replacement item that my local factors provided (its the best quality they had in stock), so I shall purhcase a replacement lucas item and fit over the holidays.
Once again, thanks to everyone who put forward their thoughts and suggestions!
Thanks
Anton
Sweeeet.Thanks so much for all the advice, the issue is now resolved.
I put in a new ignition module amplifier last night and it fired straight up, the battery didn't even need a boost, which is impressive since it had been cranked about 15/20 times!
I am not sold 100% on the quality of the replacement item that my local factors provided (its the best quality they had in stock), so I shall purhcase a replacement lucas item and fit over the holidays.
Once again, thanks to everyone who put forward their thoughts and suggestions!
Thanks
Anton
It just goes to show how starting from the basics and working through in a methodical manner can save you both time and money.
As an aside, I am not convinced that current Lucas parts are up to the same consistent reliability as when our cars were built - that's just my opinion.
Has your alarm settled down now?
Ged
Hello to All,
I'm new to both forums and TVRs and have just brought a 1999 Chimaera 500 back from Scotland, to the middle of Spain, its new home and have a couple of questions for anyone who may be in the know:
Although the car was serviced just before the journey back, there is an oil leak from the sump, not critical, but which decorates the garage floor.
Do I need to worry about priming the oil pump once the sump is back together if the oil filer is not touched?
Also, I've found that under hard acceleration in low gears the engine stops revving at around 5500 rpm. Am I hitting red line and the guage is inaccurate or should I suspect something else?
Thanks in advance
I'm new to both forums and TVRs and have just brought a 1999 Chimaera 500 back from Scotland, to the middle of Spain, its new home and have a couple of questions for anyone who may be in the know:
Although the car was serviced just before the journey back, there is an oil leak from the sump, not critical, but which decorates the garage floor.
Do I need to worry about priming the oil pump once the sump is back together if the oil filer is not touched?
Also, I've found that under hard acceleration in low gears the engine stops revving at around 5500 rpm. Am I hitting red line and the guage is inaccurate or should I suspect something else?
Thanks in advance
Retocar said:
OK, thanks. I'll get ordering a sump gasket
don't bother with a gasket, engine builders don't.use a good quality sump sealer like Wynnes, Dirkoseal or similar.
super clean both surfaces and run a bead all round.
lift sump, place accurately and tighten bolts loosely.
allow mastic to set and tighten further but not too tight.
job done.
phazed said:
don't bother with a gasket, engine builders don't.
use a good quality sump sealer like Wynnes, Dirkoseal or similar.
super clean both surfaces and run a bead all round.
lift sump, place accurately and tighten bolts loosely.
allow mastic to set and tighten further but not too tight.
job done.
I used Loctite 5980 which I puchased from Halfrauds. As phazed said, clean everything so its spotless. Xylene/ meths will help remove any traces of grease. Unfortunately I had to have the sump removed again for work, but it took over 5 minutes of prying and using a rubber hammer for Dan Taylor to remove it. Dan actually used the same method as above, but used a cork gasket as well. Has remained drip free. More than one method I guess.use a good quality sump sealer like Wynnes, Dirkoseal or similar.
super clean both surfaces and run a bead all round.
lift sump, place accurately and tighten bolts loosely.
allow mastic to set and tighten further but not too tight.
job done.
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