New Battery & still no life... Help!!!

[racin jason]

Hi Folks, I'm a new member to Piston Heads, recently got my year 2000 X reg Tuscan speed six delivered (on Xmas eve) and its been sat on the drive since as not putting it on the road until March.
When I got it delivered it had a flat battery so tried to jump start it with another battery but still no luck. Although there was enough power in the battery to light up the speedo etc, just not enough to power it up. It did start when I went to look at it although it did need jump starting then.
Fitted a new identical battery yesterday to it expecting it to start straight away, but nothing at all, not even the dash lights up now...Arhhhh.
Has anyone else had this problem? is there a reset button I need to locate and reset? A fuse it could of blown? I've tried pressing the key fob and inserting the imobiliser key into the socket on the dash, but even thats not flashing!
I'm sure (and hope) this is an easy problem to solve but been new on the TVR scene I'm a little in the dark at the moment.
Any help greatly appreciated, I want to hear my baby running again!
Cheers, Jason

[T66ORA]

Do you have any power at all? Is there any power to the door solenoids(button under the door mirror)? If not it sounds like the battery may not be installed correctly, there is a 100amp fuse, IIRC this only stops the car from starting not main power supply? Do you have the TVR jump leads, you could connect them up and try that?

[basil brush]

The 100 amp fuse is between the battery and alternator, so if it fails the battery should still feed the car, but the alt will not charge it.

It does sound like a problem with the battery install/broken battery cable, or the new battery is completely dead?

[rev-erend]

Check the battery voltage on the new battery with a meter.

[Bob the Planner]

I helped Jason with the battery - location of battery, jack, axle stands that sort of thing. We checked all the connections (twice or 3 times) and checked the battery with a meter which gave 12.7V both at the terminals and the points where the feed comes into the cabin (bottom of passenger footwell.

Todays thought is the earth connection - anyone know where it is ?

[rev-erend]

Bob - I think you will have to follow the cables as best you can.

I think most cars send the positive from the battery direct to the starter motor and the send the feed into the look after that.

If you have no power in the car then you are looking for a big cable
to have become broken / disconnected. It wont be fuses etc.

Check the starter motor first.

[NCE 61]

Have a look at this Topic it mentions the earth strap from the chassis to the engine.

[F.M]

Check you have not missed any small wires connecting to battery. Sometimes even new batteries need a charge first as they have been sitting on a shelf for ages. I`ve bought new battery`s before and they came without any water in them. They have to be filled then charged for 12hrs although this is unlikely. Consult user manual for reset buttons ( quite common these days )

[G20RG B]

I would check the earth strap.
Remove front offside wheel and at the back left hand side you will see a black cable bolted to the chassis it's just below the copper brack pipes. Remove and give chassis and bolt a good clean to make sure you have a good connection.
It won't take long and doesn't cost any money so worth doing before you go throwing money at it.

George

[G20RG B]

Im sure the earth strap is the black cable on left hand side attached to chassis take this apart and clean making sure you have a good contact. Im no mechanic but If this isn't the earth stap "sorry". and Ive just wasted a afternoon cleaning up mine!!.

[basil brush]

If you have no power at all then it sounds like the main feed has come away somewhere. The main connections to the starter, alt and 100 amp fuse are all under the airbox on the drivers side. There will then be a feed from there to the fuse box.

I had charging issues with mine last year because one of the connections was coming lose. The dealer wrongly diagnosed it as a bad battery and changed it, which then went flat again.

The earth strap connects the engine to the chassis, so if bad could cause issues with power to the starter, but the rest of the car's electrics should still work.

>> Edited by basil brush on Tuesday 17th January 09:45

[racin jason]

Thanks for all this info folks, I'm going to try all of these comments/recomendations over the weekend and hopefully come up with the solution to the problem. (fingers crossed!)I will keep you informed.
I did phone the service department at Drivestyle Horseless Carriages in Harrogate (TVR Dealer) yesterday, all they could recommend was to disconnect the battery, and sand the battery terminals with some sandpaper to roughen them up and reconnect to the car. They hadn't had or heard of this problem before - Another option to try I suppose??
Keep posting any comments & recommendations, all greatly appreciated.

Many thanks again, Jason

[T66ORA]

Stick the new battery on charge for a couple of days Jason, just in case the new battery is not fully charged.

[rev-erend]

To find out if it's a earthing problem - you could connect a jump lead to the chassis and the other to the engine..

If you get dash lights when you insert the key then you have identified the problem

[basil brush]

Can you get to the wiring into the ignition switch to test? If you have volts where the feed enters the footwell then it may be the switch itself? I'm not sure if any of the fuses are supposed to be always live, as you may be able to test there too.

[racin jason]

I've taken the battery out again this afternoon, in the rain! and cleaned up all the connectors and battery terminals as suggested by Harrogate TVR and reconnected it all together very carefully - STILL nothing!!

Going back to the comment regarding the 100A fuse under the airbox on the drivers side, does anyone know which one it is on the relay panel? In the Tuscan handbook on pg 42 it states that no. 21 is the main - is this the 100A fuse?? How can I tell if this has blown as its a Yellow box with 3 or 4 lugs.
I've checked the Alarm & Immobilser IGN supply 10A fuses and these are all ok.

Whilst under the drivers side footwell looking at the fuses, I noticed a small black plug about 10mm wide connected to 3 thin wires that run along and above the relay board, but nothing attached to the end of it (just below the ignition) - what is this for? I'm trying to explore every avenue now!

Gonna have another look at it again on Saturday, hopefully it will be sunny.
Trouble is, its going to the spray shop next weekend (28th) to get some rear bodywork done to it, so need it up and running very soon

Thanks, Jason

[Bob the Planner]

The 100A fuse is not on the relay/fuse panel. Its a big fuse under the bonnet - you may have to remove half the induction if you cannot get to it underneath. Alan's (rev-erend) suggestion of a jump lead from the battery (or the bottom of the footwell) to the chassis/engine would be a good idea, if you can find a nice bit to put the lead on.

The small plug connector cable tied to the board is the ECU connector for when you need the thing reset or adjusted.

Is it raining in York ? Its clear here in Fareham.

Bob

[basil brush]

The 100 amp fuse is attached near the back of the starter motor and you have to take the airbox out to get to it, but as I said before this will not stop power getting to the car from a good battery. It will stop the alternator supplying power, and therefore charging the battery.

[justinbaker]

Sorting mine too.