A very dead chim (sob)
Discussion
Left my 4.0l parked off-street on Friday night (@ home)
Then went out with some mates for the evening, which turned into a 2 day experirence. Anyway, got back to the car this afternoon, turned the key and nothing but a clonk noise. Went to have a look at the battery and Horror, I had a swimming pool in my passenger foot-well.
About 3in high.
AA guy comes out to me with a new battery, installed battery, cleaned all fuses, but still nothing.
Removed the ecu (with had been submerged as well), and try seeing if the car would behave defferently.
Just the same clonk noise.
I am now starting to sweat fear. Is the ECU on a 4.0l Chim exacly the same as the Land Rover item ?
The Number listed on the box is AMR2942 14COX.
With a date code of 1793.
Any ideas ?
Will a Land Rover breakers yard stock this ?
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:17
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:17
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:18
Then went out with some mates for the evening, which turned into a 2 day experirence. Anyway, got back to the car this afternoon, turned the key and nothing but a clonk noise. Went to have a look at the battery and Horror, I had a swimming pool in my passenger foot-well.
About 3in high.
AA guy comes out to me with a new battery, installed battery, cleaned all fuses, but still nothing.
Removed the ecu (with had been submerged as well), and try seeing if the car would behave defferently.
Just the same clonk noise.
I am now starting to sweat fear. Is the ECU on a 4.0l Chim exacly the same as the Land Rover item ?
The Number listed on the box is AMR2942 14COX.
With a date code of 1793.
Any ideas ?
Will a Land Rover breakers yard stock this ?
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:17
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:17
>>> Edited by pena on Sunday 23 November 17:18
Hi Pena,
Sorry top hear the tale of woe.
I doubt very much that the L/Rover one will be any good, the Bible sorta-says-so. I would take the ECU to a warm room and open it, drying it all out and then put it back in if that is possible. I would also check the relays that can lie in a heap around the battery. They are not water-proof either. Shake them out as well.
You said that even with a new battery it just went "clunk" - does that mean the engine didn't turn over ?? The starter motor should spin-up the engine regardless of whether the ECU is good or not !! It may not if the starter relay (near the battery?) is full of water !!
I wouldn't buy a new ECU just yet.
Trev McM
Sorry top hear the tale of woe.
I doubt very much that the L/Rover one will be any good, the Bible sorta-says-so. I would take the ECU to a warm room and open it, drying it all out and then put it back in if that is possible. I would also check the relays that can lie in a heap around the battery. They are not water-proof either. Shake them out as well.
You said that even with a new battery it just went "clunk" - does that mean the engine didn't turn over ?? The starter motor should spin-up the engine regardless of whether the ECU is good or not !! It may not if the starter relay (near the battery?) is full of water !!
I wouldn't buy a new ECU just yet.
Trev McM
Speaking as somneone who once dropped £6K-sworth of microwave gear into a lake from 40 feet, a hair-dryer can help... However, the problems happen when you put electricity through wet circuits - things can short-circuit. By trying to start the engine you might have put 600 amps through things that don't like it - there may be just one component fried. All you have to do is find it.
Sorry not more helpful but hope it's cheap to fix.
Sorry not more helpful but hope it's cheap to fix.
If its a 4.0 and not a 4.0HC or 4.5 then the ECU is a Land Rover part..... BUT - when BMW took over Rover they had the foresight to cancel / not renew the contracts with a number of third-party suppliers such as Lucas. As a result the parts supply for some items from Rover derived cars is drying up quickly....
Getting an ECU might be pretty easy and chances are a dealer will get you one - but you might have to wait. That said, you arent looking at loads-a-money here - about £450 will get you a new one. However, if you want to save cash look at the breakers and see if you can get a recon unit - essentially the same, from the savings you can get a Mark Adams chip and rolling road tune.... must be worth it....
BUT do check the chip and make sure its not unique.... the ECU itself is a direct replacement, but the chip might not be (but chances are it is just a standard one on a 4.0).
Getting an ECU might be pretty easy and chances are a dealer will get you one - but you might have to wait. That said, you arent looking at loads-a-money here - about £450 will get you a new one. However, if you want to save cash look at the breakers and see if you can get a recon unit - essentially the same, from the savings you can get a Mark Adams chip and rolling road tune.... must be worth it....
BUT do check the chip and make sure its not unique.... the ECU itself is a direct replacement, but the chip might not be (but chances are it is just a standard one on a 4.0).
I thought the ECU is a Land Rover part but modified by TVR to adjust things like the fuel mapping, rev limiter, also the ECU needs to know it's a manual apparently. I'm sure there are more differences to.
Maybe your best bet would be to try and find one from a breakers, there are a few breakers who specialise in TVRs around.
www.douglasvalley.co.uk/
www.bellhillgarage.co.uk/
These are the only ones i found after a quick search but I'm sure there are more.
Good luck and hope you get it sorted.
Maybe your best bet would be to try and find one from a breakers, there are a few breakers who specialise in TVRs around.
www.douglasvalley.co.uk/
www.bellhillgarage.co.uk/
These are the only ones i found after a quick search but I'm sure there are more.
Good luck and hope you get it sorted.
I would connect a long piece of wire from the solenoid on the starter(the small terminal with the thinnest wire on it) and flash(not connect) it on to the positive side of the battery. This will completely do away with the car's cranking electrics and will rule out a few things in one go. With the ignition on if you are really lucky the car will start as it should. If the car still does not crank check the battery connections and engine earth then starter.
Very worrying that the AA bloke stopped short of this point! If it turns out the battery was not the problem in the first place the AA may well refund you the money.
Ivan
Very worrying that the AA bloke stopped short of this point! If it turns out the battery was not the problem in the first place the AA may well refund you the money.
Ivan
Oh, didnt read the post in detail - Steve is right above - if you cant crank the engine its not necessarily the ECU. The ECU housing is semi-water proof anyway, so it should / could / might survive a dip anyway.
I had an ECU go, which we think was caused by something going wrong with the lambda sensors (they have power I believe and a feed back into the ECU - hence short out and blow the ECU - well we think anyway). The symptoms of this were that the engine would crank, fuel pump would prime and fire and you get a couple of fire's on the engine (usually due to compression and fuel mixture) but no start. The ECU controls the firing of the spark plugs and this just wasnt happening with mine.... hence the fuel was going into the cylinders, but just not igniting....
However, the important aspect was that the engine would turn, the immobiliser would work and the fuel pump prime.... but just wouldnt start.... sounds like a different electrical problem here...
I had an ECU go, which we think was caused by something going wrong with the lambda sensors (they have power I believe and a feed back into the ECU - hence short out and blow the ECU - well we think anyway). The symptoms of this were that the engine would crank, fuel pump would prime and fire and you get a couple of fire's on the engine (usually due to compression and fuel mixture) but no start. The ECU controls the firing of the spark plugs and this just wasnt happening with mine.... hence the fuel was going into the cylinders, but just not igniting....
However, the important aspect was that the engine would turn, the immobiliser would work and the fuel pump prime.... but just wouldnt start.... sounds like a different electrical problem here...
Dannyboyo, thanks for that breakers link.
Just been on the blower to them...
ECU for 4.0ltr comes in @ £275.00 + P/P
Also went to ask for some advise at my local TVR Garage, they think its the 3 relays that control the fuel pump & start ignitions that are buggered...
So I have ordered some relays.
Just been on the blower to them...
ECU for 4.0ltr comes in @ £275.00 + P/P
Also went to ask for some advise at my local TVR Garage, they think its the 3 relays that control the fuel pump & start ignitions that are buggered...
So I have ordered some relays.
pbrettle said:
The ECU controls the firing of the spark plugs and this just wasnt happening with mine.... hence the fuel was going into the cylinders, but just not igniting....
No, the ECU doesn't do anything to control the ignition. The only link between them is that the LT ignition signal is fed to the ECU to tell it how fast the engine is going round (the ECU uses this to control the fuelling, and also to drive the 'engine running' output).
I have one of those wonderfull auto wind up window machines....
I guess it forgot to auto wind up all the way to the top... It left a 1/2 inch gap on the passenger side window, and with all the rain over the weekend !
The fuel pump is priming, but when I switched the relays around it did not, so my guess is that the relays are knacked. Hope thats the fault....
I guess it forgot to auto wind up all the way to the top... It left a 1/2 inch gap on the passenger side window, and with all the rain over the weekend !
The fuel pump is priming, but when I switched the relays around it did not, so my guess is that the relays are knacked. Hope thats the fault....
david beer said:
There is also the immobiliser "final connections" in the footwell. It carries the three circuits, ignition, fuel pump and the starter motor circuit. I will not say how you can test here though!
David, On the early Chim (93/94), believe that ignition and fuel pump are "immobilsed" - where and how, are not an issue. The Third circuit was the fuel guage, not starter motor. This was to "fool" wannabe tealeaves that Chim didn't have any fuel !!
I say "believe" 'cause I've had my fill of my '93 Chim and its "standard" alarm and what it immobilises for "real". The starter motor is not part of the standard alarm circuit.
Trev McM
>> Edited by k4trv on Monday 24th November 20:17
pbrettle said:
BUT do check the chip and make sure its not unique.... the ECU itself is a direct replacement, but the chip might not be (but chances are it is just a standard one on a 4.0).
I had the ECU replaced with a new one but TVR (inadvertently) sent the unit incorrectly chipped for an automatic and not a manual
It continued to have the same problems as before (losing power/cutting out) until I sought advice from Austec (Crawley) where they diagnosed the above oversight straight away.
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