leaving it to idle from cold...

[Tuscan_RR]

On a previous thread I read that leaving a SP6 to warm up from cold by ticking over is the worst thing to do. Is this true?

I know I always leave the car to get to running temp before setting off.

D.

[W 4.O TUS]

It is the worse thing to due this is because your not getting enough oil pressure from tick over to circulate around the engine also alot of heat build up is produced.Your best bet is to start her up and just drive off keeping below 3000rpm untill oil temp has reached 65.

[jvr]

W 4.O TUS said:

It is the worse thing to due this is because your not getting enough oil pressure from tick over to circulate around the engine also alot of heat build up is produced.Your best bet is to start her up and just drive off keeping below 3000rpm untill oil temp has reached 65.

thats what i tend to do but how long/mileage should it take to stop sounding like a diesel/tracter from cold start?

[Tuska]

Best advise is to drive carefully and without over revving until the oil temperature reaches 65 degrees.
I agree with previous posters that warming up on the driveway is potentially bad for the engine due to low oil pressure.
There is not a great mystery surrounding the SP6 anymore. The common fault is oil starvation to the cam followers. This is more likley to happen at times of low oil pressure and when starting from cold. The combination of the two is therefore V bad. IMHO.

[FLAT 6]

Hello to all,

I picked this comment up last night and was going to post on it since it seems fairly important. This morning I spoke to the independent TVR service guys here in N.Ireland - proper 'old-style' greasy engineers, not the usual main dealer incompetents.

Advice was definitely not to allow the car to warm up at idle but neither to take off immediately. Best approach is to run the car at a 'fast-idle' - about 1800 revs, for about five minutes and then it's OK to drive to complete the rest of the warm-up process.

So, plan five mins into the start of any trip for that warm-up!

Glad the Tuscan isn't my daily driver. The way I am in the mornings 5 minutes is a long time!!

Happy Tuscaning.

Al

[andyvdg]

How many times!

Start the car, get in it, and warm it up by driving it so it's under load. Keep revs down below 2500rpm until warm as per John Ravenscroft's guidance.

Any engine should be warmed by best driving not idling.

[anonymous-user]

W 4.O TUS said:

It is the worse thing to due this is because your not getting enough oil pressure from tick over to circulate around the engine also alot of heat build up is produced.Your best bet is to start her up and just drive off keeping below 3000rpm untill oil temp has reached 65.

If you do that in cold weather you will never go above 3000 revs.

This is what John Ravenscroft said;


FROM COLD

When starting, please be careful not to let it rev straight up so please make sure that you do not give it anything more than a tiny bit of throttle while cranking it over and then lift off as soon as it catches.

Then try to avoid more than 3,000 rpm until the oil (not water) temperature has exceeded 40°C, 4,000 rpm until 60°C and 7,000 rpm until 80°C. If it climbs above 110°C, please keep the revs below 5,000 rpm until the oil temperature returns to normal.

[russian rocket]

My oil temp never gets above 65 in normal running, I have to stand in a traffic queue for ages to get it to 80 and it will fall back to 65 when driving again????

[Tuska]

russian rocket said:

My oil temp never gets above 65 in normal running, I have to stand in a traffic queue for ages to get it to 80 and it will fall back to 65 when driving again????

Faulty gauge or sender perhaps?? This low IMHO.
Mine runs in the mid eighties during normal driving.

[FLAT 6]

For us Tuscan newbies...who's John Ravenscroft? and what other advice does he give to get long-life from a sp6 4.0???

Edited by FLAT 6 on Wednesday 21st March 21:17

[Mustang Baz]

FLAT 6 said:

For us Tuscan newbies...who's John Ravenscroft? and what other advice does he give to get long-life from a sp6 4.0???

Try - www.petrolheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=334597&f=152&h=0 & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVR which should give you some background. Very simply, I think you could summarise by saying John Ravenscroft could be considered the "father" of certain TVR engine designs.

The recommendations from John on running engines in was often given as a supplemental one page guide to new owners, and I received mine when first getting the car serviced at Racing Green. That said, I probably err on the side of caution, driving off very shortly after starting the car and not exceeding 2500 revs until the oil temp reaches 60c. This can take some time in winter!

Edited by Mustang Baz on Wednesday 21st March 22:53

[scooterscot]

As with all engines you should heat it up as quickly as possible without putting the engine under undue load, start it up and drive it away keeping it below 2500 rpm until it is up to temp. The gauges and senders on TVR cars are not the most accurate, they can be up to 20% out, the water temp gauge is the most accurate. 15 psi is enough to protect the engine it is not the pressure that protects the bearings but the oil film in them, the pressure is needed to push enough oil through the engine fast enough to remove the heat in the bearing surfaces,a big part of the oils job is to remove heat from the high friction surfaces.