Rob's 2001 TVR Tuscan

[Rob-c33sg]

And before I forget, a weird noise has appeared.

This is key in, electrics on. Fuel pump primes, then stops and this noise starts. What is it? Seems to just keep going! Any thoughts?

https://vimeo.com/422559755

[Speed 3]

Are you sure the fuel pump is stopping the priming ? It's located on a chassis rail adjacent (or in front of) the nearside rear wheel. Put your hand on it and see if it's running when that noise happens.

Probably best to post tech questions on the TVR part of the forum, you'll get a much better feedback on there than in Readers Cars.

[so called]

Rob-c33sg said:

And before I forget, a weird noise has appeared.

This is key in, electrics on. Fuel pump primes, then stops and this noise starts. What is it? Seems to just keep going! Any thoughts?

https://vimeo.com/422559755

First, congrats on a great looking Tuscan.

Second, sounds like the ventilation fan to me.

I bought my first Tuscan, a year 2000, in 2006.
I wrote it off in 2009.
I bought my current a month later and she is still sat on my drive 11 years and many miles later.
Lots of trips to southern Europe.

[Rob-c33sg]

so called said:

First, congrats on a great looking Tuscan.

Second, sounds like the ventilation fan to me.

I bought my first Tuscan, a year 2000, in 2006.
I wrote it off in 2009.
I bought my current a month later and she is still sat on my drive 11 years and many miles later.
Lots of trips to southern Europe.

That's a cracking looking car.

And ventilation fan - spot on! I just got in to check it out and remembered I was checking out the fans and air con on my last drive (cold...ish) and switched the air con off and left the fan on one green light. Switch it off and the sound went away, Back on, returned. Thank you sir - not weird at all. Maybe a bit loud but that could be 'TVR' I guess and with the engine on you wouldn't have a chance of hearing it I imagine. We'll see next drive.

[so called]

Rob-c33sg said:

so called said:

First, congrats on a great looking Tuscan.

Second, sounds like the ventilation fan to me.

I bought my first Tuscan, a year 2000, in 2006.
I wrote it off in 2009.
I bought my current a month later and she is still sat on my drive 11 years and many miles later.
Lots of trips to southern Europe.

That's a cracking looking car.

And ventilation fan - spot on! I just got in to check it out and remembered I was checking out the fans and air con on my last drive (cold...ish) and switched the air con off and left the fan on one green light. Switch it off and the sound went away, Back on, returned. Thank you sir - not weird at all. Maybe a bit loud but that could be 'TVR' I guess and with the engine on you wouldn't have a chance of hearing it I imagine. We'll see next drive.

Good, hope all of your jobs are that easy.
I've just brought mine out of an overrunning hibernation to find I have a fault on my LCD dash display.

[Rob-c33sg]

so called said:

Good, hope all of your jobs are that easy.
I've just brought mine out of an overrunning hibernation to find I have a fault on my LCD dash display.

From all I have read weekly driving is almost a necessity!

[so called]

Rob-c33sg said:

so called said:

Good, hope all of your jobs are that easy.
I've just brought mine out of an overrunning hibernation to find I have a fault on my LCD dash display.

From all I have read weekly driving is almost a necessity!

I agree with that.
I've used all of my TVR's as my daily drivers.
My current Tuscan is on 86k miles no rebuild and has been great.
As mentioned, lots of continental trips as well as commutes.
Back in 2017 my contract in Germany finished and so then, returning to a UK job I bought an EV for commuting.
Since then I've had a few small electrical issues due to corrosion.

Use your Tuscan, they don't like sitting about.

[Rob-c33sg]

Done a bit more driving today. Having a bit of a 'mare with the oil level (see https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... for that one).

Also the doors wouldn't unlock from the inside just after starting, but then decided to start working by the time I got back from a 45 minute or so drive through some nice lanes. Not booting it much, more just cruising today and trying to get to the know the car more. Confidence is building as miles continue, which is good!

Also took a few pictures just before getting back:




The boot badge is a little hard to push so I'll have a go at having that off so I can get another washer or similar in there to try and push the microswitch sooner for an easier opening time.

Next steps are to book it in (probably at Powers Performance) for it's 12k service and some waxoil.

[Greenbot35]

I saw a tuscan tonight out in my mg, sounded awesome. Such a rare sight these days.

[ColdoRS]

Looks great. I’ve a Mk1 Tuscan too, my first TVR and every drive is still as much fun as the last.

Someone correctly identified the noise as the cabin fan, I often leave it on and then the next startup I get a fright at the new noise!

I don’t think weekly driving is essential as such - mine is only on the road April - October and the rest of the year sits on a trickle charger with a handful of runs around the block (500 yards or so).
I think the key is regular maintenance from a trusted/experienced TVR mechanic and some mechanical sympathy when you use it - let it heat up, cool down, check the levels, address any issues ASAP.

Enjoy it!

[MB140]

OP,

Depending on where your based. I know you mentioned Milton Keynes earlier in the thread. There is a member on here who does leather care and restoration on here. Offers free advice etc. Helped a guy out with a white m5 interior.

Goes by the name of Kermit the frog or Kermit and sexy Sarah I think. Posts quite often so should be easy to find. Think he is Mansfiel based. Might be worth messaging him. (PS I don’t know him or have any financial link to his business, I just know he offers good free advice to fellow PH).

PS lovely car. I’m just not brave enough to run a TVR as I don’t have the mechanical know how. Good look with your TVR. I look forward to following your thread.

[keith2.2]

Fantastic looking car! Congrats!

I had a Chimaera - and was contemplating swapping it for a Tuscan, but then wrote the bloody thing off. Unfortunately as time has worn on (5 years ago now!) the great memories have receeded and I'm left only with the abject torment of owning one of the older TVR's. I'd love to think I'll get a Tuscan at some point but in all liklehood it'll be a *whispers* 911.

Kudos to you!

[Andy665]

Looks really great in that colour.

Apparently the boot badge utilises two little springs, one on each of the spindles. The owner of mine replaced them with some squishy rubber grommets that seem to do a really good job of making the action a little more precise. My boot badge also has a washer glued to the back to make a better connection with the microswitch but you may be able to sort it simply by winding on a bit more of the nut, really quick and simple job

[Rob-c33sg]

Greenbot35 said:

I saw a tuscan tonight out in my mg, sounded awesome. Such a rare sight these days.

I did have an MGB once - it didn't get very far due to time, had to sell it on in the end as I was paying for a lockup to store some old metal with a seized engine!

MB140 said:

OP,

Depending on where your based. I know you mentioned Milton Keynes earlier in the thread. There is a member on here who does leather care and restoration on here. Offers free advice etc. Helped a guy out with a white m5 interior.

Goes by the name of Kermit the frog or Kermit and sexy Sarah I think. Posts quite often so should be easy to find. Think he is Mansfiel based. Might be worth messaging him. (PS I don’t know him or have any financial link to his business, I just know he offers good free advice to fellow PH).

PS lovely car. I’m just not brave enough to run a TVR as I don’t have the mechanical know how. Good look with your TVR. I look forward to following your thread.

Thanks will have a look around based on that. I'm in Staffordshire but it's not far to anywhere really.

keith2.2 said:

Fantastic looking car! Congrats!

I had a Chimaera - and was contemplating swapping it for a Tuscan, but then wrote the bloody thing off. Unfortunately as time has worn on (5 years ago now!) the great memories have receeded and I'm left only with the abject torment of owning one of the older TVR's. I'd love to think I'll get a Tuscan at some point but in all liklehood it'll be a *whispers* 911.

Kudos to you!

I had a Boxster and Cayman (same generations) and they were very capable. But not exciting. I may have gone too far the other way here!

Andy665 said:

Looks really great in that colour.

Apparently the boot badge utilises two little springs, one on each of the spindles. The owner of mine replaced them with some squishy rubber grommets that seem to do a really good job of making the action a little more precise. My boot badge also has a washer glued to the back to make a better connection with the microswitch but you may be able to sort it simply by winding on a bit more of the nut, really quick and simple job

Good info Andy thanks, I like the idea of squishy grommets sounds about right. Will take it apart and have a gander. The light has come for the boot anyway to make it white and LED.

[Rob-c33sg]

A care package arrived for the Tuscan today from the previous owner, who found some bits lying around his garage / lockup!

First, I replaced the boot light with a nicer LED white one, less drain if the boot ever goes wrong:



Anyway the care package. A TVR tool box, most the tools, some more spare bulbs, a new door micro switch, a boot strut and the nuts replaced by lockers.




Does anyone know what tools are missing in the lid, the tools at the bottom? I know one is an adjustable spanner of course. I'm not sure the tyre pressure tool is original doesn't quite 'fit'.

The box responded to a good clean up too

[Andy665]

I will check the toolkit tomorrow, mine came with a totally unused one

[Rob-c33sg]

Andy665 said:

I will check the toolkit tomorrow, mine came with a totally unused one

Did you find out what mine's missing?

[Rob-c33sg]

Dodging the rain this weekend, I thought it was time to get the charging sorted. As many will know, the Tuscan's battery is situated behind the passenger front wheel. It's not the most accessible place on earth should it go flat, or have issues. TVR fitted an Anderson Power connector that could be used to start the car in such an event. Sadly, from a lot of my reading, these are prone to shorting out because they get full of road debris due to their position (pointing at the road). This can lead to engine bay fire. Here's mine:



As you can see, it is indeed covered in road debris. The previous owner thought this had been removed / disconnected, but it's still there. It soon became:



I've opted to go for an Accumate solution. They have a lot of good reviews and are a bit cheaper than a CTEK. I went for the unit itself, a 4m extension lead and a weatherproof eyelet connector.

To fit the eyelet connector means working with the battery posts. You can see here the current M8 bolts and nuts were pretty corroded. One also had a square bolt head, not a hex, which was slightly harder to persuade.



You can also see in that picture several holes for retaining screws to keep the battery cover on. This is because one of the proper retaining bolts had sheared off at some point in it's life (3rd from the left), and no one had removed it yet. That's a job for another day!

You can also see to the left of the battery some heat shielding. This is due to the exhaust manifold / exhaust running right next to the battery, on it's way to the back of the car. Poor battery.

Still, after a bit of cleaning, the battery was ready to go back in. I also flattened out the second positive eyelet (with pliers) that comes from the car body as it was a bit twisted. It was also dirty so gave it a scrub, to try and ensure a good connection.

Popped to Screwfix for some M6 bolts. These are narrower than the M8s that came off, but the M8s wouldn't go through the Accumate eyelets, plus they were rusted to death. Some stainless bolts and nuts went on, to try and stave off the corrosion.



The Accumate is now busy conditioning the battery, with the garage door shut. I've not seen it go green yet, and have seen a couple of warnings on the dash about voltage so hopefully we'll see success. Or maybe the battery is on it's way out. At least it'll be easy to replace after all this!

Went for a drive when all was done and it started fine (though the fuel pump priming sounds very different now - much noisier) and all was working inside.

The general condition of the frame / suspension looks OK considering the mileage and confirmed it's got the Gaz Mono shocks:



Next jobs are to (in no order):

• Further clean the interior
• Look at that boot switch for easier operation.
• The speedo is also still nuts so need to look at the speed sensor. That's probably the next job. The digital readout is half what the analog readout is. Analog, when working (most the time!) seems correct. Might mean the pod is shot but we shall see. It sure does vibrate a lot over the bumps.
• Scrub the rust off the rear disc hubs and paint them black
• Get some PS4s for the rear

I have also seen code E on startup (but it starts fine) and code K very occasionally too (seems to be fuel level sensor but seems to be reading OK).

Any feedback welcome!

[Speed 3]

Rob-c33sg said:

I have also seen code E on startup (but it starts fine) and code K very occasionally too (seems to be fuel level sensor but seems to be reading OK).

Any feedback welcome!

Code E (&C) are common faults that don't really mean anything. The pod does a cross check at start-up between the digital sensing and the mechanical "shutters" that show fuel and temp levels. There are little microswitches inside the pod with fine arms that fail easily. I've done them a couple of times on mine and now given up. Whole thread about it here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not sure what code K indicates.

[Rob-c33sg]

Speed 3 said:

Code E (&C) are common faults that don't really mean anything. The pod does a cross check at start-up between the digital sensing and the mechanical "shutters" that show fuel and temp levels. There are little microswitches inside the pod with fine arms that fail easily. I've done them a couple of times on mine and now given up. Whole thread about it here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Not sure what code K indicates.

Much appreciated. They all do that, sir