Major problem 4L Chimmie

[jagdpanther]

A good friend of mine is having some serious running issues with his much loved Chimaera

Its currently in the garage, but he has had no reports as yet so I thought I would throw this into the knowledge pot for you chaps to ponder over in the hope that you can shed some light on the mystery

I'll cut and paste his comments and edit for size:




"I just picked the TVR up but the bugger is running horrible again.

It was doing this before, a bit, at low revs and a tiny bit on idle. But now it's full-on lumpy tw@t all the way through the box. Very bad at 50 in 5th. Stuttered a bit under some high loading, although generally is better when accelerating hard.

It has been standing for nearly 6 weeks.

ALSO~ Rev-counter is erratic as hell......

I had the ECU reset, new plugs and leads, and a new air-flow meter and ingnition coil just before Christmas.

Any ideas?

ECU ?
Fuel pump...?"



Any help appreciated

[V8 Animal]

I might be wrong bit is'nt the rev counter got something to do with the coil.
So my choice is a new coil.
V8 Animal

[sparkythecat]

I'd start by looking at the cheapest part first - the rotor arm.

[grahamw48]

Stale fuel ?

Distributor ?

Timing ?

Had similar issues when I first bought the 400SE in 2006.
Timing was way out, and distributor was worn.
Worth checking before playing with EFI and pulling ECU to pieces.

[tvrbob]

jagdpanther said:

ALSO~ Rev-counter is erratic as hell......

new plugs and leads,

Both of these comments lead me to possible causes. The coil itself (internal shorting) or the low tension and high tension wiring including the plug leads could do with a check over. Rev counter goes erratic if there's a short to earth. Make sure none of the coil wiring or plug leads are damaged or resting on the engine or other sources of earth

[grahamw48]

A quick look under the bonnet in the dark, with engine running will show if sparks are where they are supposed to be.

[jagdpanther]

Thanks chaps, all information has been passed on and hopefully we shall see another noisey Chim running healthy again shortly

[Cider Andy]

Check if the rev counter has been ok since he fitted the new coil and plug leads.

The rev counter is driven by the output of the ignition amp (as is the coil, of course). Does he know anyone he could swap it with to eliminate it (as new ones can cost up to £65)?