Engine cutting out at junctions????? HELP REQUIRED PLEASE

[retroptvr]

Gents,

Looking for urgent urgent help and advice here please.

Driving 100 miles to London today no problems until I took foot off the throttle, car has been impeccable for years no problems.

On the way back, now cutting out and dying away at junctions, traffic lights, roundabouts etc, having to restart many times, it then just will not idle, though runs fine under load, no missing and will over-run no problems just no idle. Having to heel and toe or engine just dies and stops.

Have a hillclimb booked at weekend and need to work on car in the morning, is cleaning the stepper motor the first thing to address, anyone have other ideas, any simple fixes?

All help appreciated. Retrop.

[GreenGriff400]

SOunds like the Stepper motor to me, I had similar problem with mine a while back and ended up replacing it .

[rigga]

Mine was due to a too tight petrol cap,so i guess the vapour breather system,releasing the cap solved my issue.

[Timja]

rigga said:

Mine was due to a too tight petrol cap,so i guess the vapour breather system,releasing the cap solved my issue.

I had this problem a few years ago, and Leven did a mod to my fuel cap to stop it happening again. (basically a small hole!)

[retroptvr]

Thanks guys,

Up early to clean stepper motor this morning then give it a run out in the sunshine, if no joy will back off petrol cap a few turns.

Though, if the stepper motor is beyond cleaning, any ideas where to get one for next day delivery, is it the same part as available from Land Rover or did TVR mod it at all?

Regards, Retro

[finestjammy]

I had a very similar problem where it would stall when coasting to a stop. I could start back up again no problem and it would idle fine.

I adjusted/raised the base idle using the Steve Heath method. Clamp the stepper air intake and then adjust the base idle speed using the adjustment screw on the plenum just above the butterfly valve. Mine was set too low and I raised it to 800rpm. All cars are different so it's a bit trial and error. Raising it slightly cured the problem for me. Might be worth cleaning the butterfly valve out too whilst your there, I use a tooth brush with some meths to poke it in the plenum air intake to scrub off the carbon build up.

Hopefully cleaning the stepper, butterfly and raising the base idle will sort it for you. If not there are a lot of posts here about the speed sensor...

PS
If you clamp the stepper air intake and it stalls this is a good sign that the base idle is set too low.

[miniman]

As a short-term fix (or a long term one actually) you can unplug the stepper altogether when the engine is idling nicely - it will be a little rough when very cold but otherwise fine.

[rigga]

Timja said:

rigga said:

Mine was due to a too tight petrol cap,so i guess the vapour breather system,releasing the cap solved my issue.

I had this problem a few years ago, and Leven did a mod to my fuel cap to stop it happening again. (basically a small hole!)

Where did they drill it? down the center of the cap i presume ... im loath to take a drill to mine and ive found if i dont fully tighten it down then it does not cause the same issue,so far at least.

[miniman]

I "fixed" mine thus:

- remove screws from underside of cap and dismantle
- cut small slot (about 2mm wide) in rubber ring bit (which is tougher than it looks)
- reassemble

HTH

[nrick]

Did this to my Tuscan as well. The new caps seem to seal too well. Need to drill a 2-3mm hole through the cap and through the rubber, the rubber will close up slightly anyway but seems to have done the trick.

Hope that helps,

[M@H]

Why not fix the problem rather than drilling the cap ? Also unless your fuel tank is clunking under compression then this probably isn't the problem (you'd hear it !)

[Hedgehopper]

Had similar problem with my car cutting out at junctions. Cleaning the stepper motor had no effect, but next day cleaning the seat in the housing cured the problem. Don't screw the stepper back too firmly as they are easy to crack and cost a lot to replace.

[Timja]

rigga said:

Where did they drill it? down the center of the cap i presume ... im loath to take a drill to mine and ive found if i dont fully tighten it down then it does not cause the same issue,so far at least.

Not sure what they did, but only visible thing is a tiny (1-2mm) hole in the centre underneath the cap - Does not go all the way through to the top.

Technically I don't think this should be done as fuel vapour can escape and it's meant to be a sealed tank so I would only suggest doing this if you know what you are doing!

[Timja]

retroptvr said:

Thanks guys,

Up early to clean stepper motor this morning then give it a run out in the sunshine, if no joy will back off petrol cap a few turns.

Though, if the stepper motor is beyond cleaning, any ideas where to get one for next day delivery, is it the same part as available from Land Rover or did TVR mod it at all?

Regards, Retro

Available here: http://www.clever-trevor.net/TVR/Parts_details/E01...

Not sure if it's the same as Land Rover... if it is, may be worth a look around but i've usually found clever-trevor to be quite good.

[darkcat]

Timja said:

Available here: http://www.clever-trevor.net/TVR/Parts_details/E01...

Not sure if it's the same as Land Rover... if it is, may be worth a look around but i've usually found clever-trevor to be quite good.

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THATS EXPENSIVE!!!

[M@H]

darkcat said:

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THATS EXPENSIVE!!!

+1

[Hedgehopper]

TVR Power are cheaper. Have heard that some are Chinese, no idea what these are.

http://www.tvrpower.co.uk/store/slug/stepper-motor...

[retroptvr]

Thank you again for all the responses, big smiles now!

It seems it was the stepper motor, gave my 32mm socket its first outing and removed it, totally blackened, cleaned in meths and contact cleaner,refitted with small amount of PTFE/liq gasket so fa,r so good back to normal running.

One thing I noticed was the range in prices for the same part.

Mine is stamped MEXICO, the country not the Ford Escort, I presume. Anyone elses stamped the same?

See you on the open road. Anyone at Prescott this weekend?

Best regards,

Retro

[Steve198207]

Hi there this is a little late but had the same problem and found this really helpfull.. I did find out what my problem was and think someone may have the same one.. Changed the fuel filter that seemed to work for a while but same thing today so drained tank then pulled the filter out and noticed only half full with fuel so thought maybe air getting in somewhere and found there was a small slit in the Manuel fuel pipe.. So threw that and replaced with a clear pipe I have around to bleed brakes and now its like new

[Steve198207]

Fuel pump not pipe sorry