Wow, 90 miles before it breaks

[Malx]

Afternoon all, well today was the greatest day of my life. I picked up a Cerb. One i have waited all my life for. Teh drive up from southern Scotland was really nice, sun was out, blue skys, You get the picture.
Turn the corner into my street to be greeted with a loud crunching sound from underneath the car and a total loss of power. So my pride and joy is now sitting up the road waiting to be recovered (

I think it's the fuel pump as when i try and turn it over there is a noise from the fuel tank area which lasts for 10 seconds or so.

<sigh>

[ireland]

Not the most impressive of starts to Cerbera ownership, eh.

Still, it can only get better from here.

Lots of smiley miles to come.

[jensena]

I don't like the sound of that "crunching sound" you described. The fuel pump will make a noise for about 10 seconds or so, that is perfect;y normal. Will the car start/turn over ?

[Malx]

Well, it ain't the fuel pump. Timing belt has snapped. So now i own a really pretty piece of scrap.

If anyone is selling an engine let me know.

I'm going to go jump of something high.

[hugepiece]

dont give up on it mate, as soon as its fixed you will be smiling again! My clutch went about 30miles after I bought it.

[jensena]

Don't jump off just yet. How do you know it's the Timing belt? Cerbs have chain driven cam shafts, are you sure its not just the alternator belt or the Air Con belt.

[Malx]

By timing belt i meant timing chain. THe breakdown guy pointed out the hole in the head and did the whole "ppfffttt, thats gonna cost"

[biker's nemesis]

Malx said:

By timing belt i meant timing chain. THe breakdown guy pointed out the hole in the head and did the whole "ppfffttt, thats gonna cost"

Holy Sh1t,hope you get it sorted.

[gazzab]

Sorry to heaar your woes?
Where did you get the car from ?
Did you get it for a good price (ie does that help cushion the blow ?)?

[_Lee_]

Did you buy from a garage or a private owner? Either way the costs should be covered (hopefully).

Bad luck but good choice of car.

Lee.

[Timmy2TARs]

Woah - that's very bad luck indeed. I presume it was private purchase?

I bought my first TVR - a 1600M - from a dealer back in 96 and it burst into flames and melted on the M40 just 44 miles into the trip home! Had the remains recovered back to the dealer's forecourt... then went back and bought another one with the insurance pay out a couple of weeks later

TVRs make you do things like that. Cerbs though - they're extra special - mine's been in a for a service since Wednesday and I'm missing it like mad. Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Malx]

Thanks for all the support

I got a good price for it and it was the colour i wanted. Called TVR power and they think 4k roughly. Just got to get it from scotland to south england now, doh.
Could be worse i suppose.... well, maybe

[gazzab]

Who inspected it ? Is it sold via here?

[Malx]

Not sure if it was on here or not to be honest. Saw it on autotrader. Inspection, i did myself which think about was dumb, so so dumb. The guy that towed it said that even an AA inspection wouldn't have done much good unless it was really making a loud noise which it didn't appear to do. Only started rattling shortly before take off.
I'm not actually as upset now as i thought i would be, it's almost a little funny. I've got a car to sell which should raise enough for the rebuild.

[gazzab]

Whereabuts are you based?
Ger yourself to a decent garage to get it sorted.
If the engine is fixable then a rebuild costs can vary a lot depending on where you go.
It also depends whether you also go for a higher state of tune.
The alternative is a 2nd hand engine or a different type of engine.
The final option is to just sell it as is.
I would go back to whoever you bought it from as you have probably been ripped off?

[itsallyellow]

Cant see tht it is the sellers fault???

O wouldnt know if my chain was going to snap in 20 miles time let alone 100?? Just really bad luck!

[gazzab]

I just find it strange that 90 miles post a purchase the engine goes bang.

[jensena]

The owner may have know the chain was damaged and decided to sell rather than pay for the repair. Sign of the times, people by Cerbs because they are cheap, cant afford to fix them, so sell them on.
hard luck though, but at least you have the right attitude for Cerb ownership

[Scrooloose]

I'm sure that there's some sort of legal thing whereby you can go back to the seller if stuff like this happens......

[Malx]

To be honest i don't think he knew about it. It has ben serviced every 6000 miles as well. Even if i went back and started kicking up a fuss there ain;t really much i can do, meh.
The roadside guy did say that no one would have known unless they stripped the engine.

Life goes on. Plan is to get it rebuilt and then i can have some fun.
It is really annoying but once it is rebuilt it *should* last a while.

The worst thing is all the people at work are expecting to see it on monday as i've been talking about it for weeks. I think i'll go for the "Hey, my car exploded, lol" option rather than moaning.