Discussion
Hi just got a 500 Chimaera after selling my 400, spent most of the weekend just tightening and checking stuff as you do,it had a lady owner for four years one issue ive noticed is it pinks when flooring it after approx 2500 rpm has any one please got the ign timming data please,also as an aside is it the same job to fit a cam as in a 400 or is there something different with the cam timming proccess on a 500 (something a pal told me) thanks chaps,G
If it's proper pinking then it needs sorting ASAP - Tis possible it's another spurious noise such as exhaust manifold gasket leaking (this happens mainly under load)
You're right about the cam - or more specifically timing gear - the 500's did have a vernier wheel allowing precise adjustment of cam timing so you'll need two DTI's and a timing wheel to set it if you're changing the cam.
debaron said:
If it's proper pinking then it needs sorting ASAP - Tis possible it's another spurious noise such as exhaust manifold gasket leaking (this happens mainly under load)
You're right about the cam - or more specifically timing gear - the 500's did have a vernier wheel allowing precise adjustment of cam timing so you'll need two DTI's and a timing wheel to set it if you're changing the cam.
really strange ocassionally its fine but mostly pinks under load in lower gears when trying to ride the torque without a downshift,its worth checking timing am suspecting cam as it is idling at temp at just under 1000rpm the adjustment screw on the plenum also appear to have been twiddled with not sure what base setting is but will check mixture all these items are pointing me to a cam problem but may just be poor maintainence.You're right about the cam - or more specifically timing gear - the 500's did have a vernier wheel allowing precise adjustment of cam timing so you'll need two DTI's and a timing wheel to set it if you're changing the cam.
Quietlybonkers said:
"Pinking" couldn't be a result of four years girlie ownership? You haven't found six pairs of shoes in the boot, or a makeup bag behind the driving seat have you? 
Well Ive seen the maintence recipts and wont comment on that statement,I wont list the unbalanced wheels after £600 of new toyos ,fun at 70mph one wheel was 115 grams out,mainiflolds hanging off as was the sump!And a few other minor major items lol.
Argent said:
No expert, but I experienced the same thing going from a 400 to a 500 Griff and I understand it is something to do with the map once the ecu moves out of closed loop mode. Someone like Blitzracing will know all about this.
Hth
A.
Hi thanks for that.Have you a link please!Hth
A.
G
Edited by Gary11 on Wednesday 15th August 09:49
Firstly - do up the exhaust manifold bolts .. it's a 5 min job and they frequently come undone.
You will need to establish the timing marks ..
I would recommend getting a marked timing wheel like this .. buy one and keep it forever..
http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=73
You need to find Top Dead Centre (TDC) on Number 1 cylinder (passenger side front cylinder), now it's a 4 stroke so TDC happens twice .. so it's easy to be 180 degrees out .. so trace the plug lead back to the distributor and visually draw a verticle line down the cap to the base of the Dizzy and mark it with tipex or a permanent marker pen.
Remove the Dizzy cap and just push it aside.
Remove all the spark plugs .. quite a long winded job if you have not done it before on a V8, this will make te engine easier to turn by hand. You could use the starter to turn the engine over to close to the mark you just made but it still injects fuel so it's best to do it by hand.
You will need a long reach 24mm socket or a regular socket plus a short extension bar, you can use a breaker bar or a rachet with an extension bar as the effort need to turn an engine is quite a bit due to the pressure of the valve spring compression. Turn the engine clock wise as you look at the front of the engine. Stop when you get the rotor arm gets close to the mark you made earlier.
You should now be able to put a screw driver (I use a thin one) into the cylinder and fell the piston. Continue to turn the engine until the piston is felt at the top of the cylinder... you will actually feel it go ver TDC.
Now hopefully you can see some marks on the crank .. if you look around the 1~2 o'clock postition is where they should be with a steel prong sticking out .. clean up the area with petrol / rag / parafin / brake cleaner etc..
Now hopefully the TDC on the piston and TDC mark on the crank and the prong should all be pretty aligned - if so .. just mark the prong and TDC on the crank with Tipex, then using a degrees wheel - mark 8 degrees and 28 degrees these will both be to the Right of TDC as you look at the engine from the front.
If there are no marks on the crank then things get harder .. TDC is not a single point as you will have noticed with the screwd river on the piston .. there is actually a dwell period at TDC .. something like 6 or 8 degrees .. it does literally stop there then move on, because of this you need to establish tdc in the middle of this dwell. This is usually done using a dial guage for proper accuracy but you can best guess the TDC but dabbing the crank at start and end of TDC and TDC is the mid point of the two marks.
Now all is marked up - put all back together and time her up.
You can use 8 degrees as a base line figure if alone or 28 degrees max advance if a friend is available as a throttle man.. dont forget to clamp the advance retard pipe (mole grips or similar).
If you still have pinking then move the timing back 2 degrees to 26 degrees and try again, and again to 24 degrees if you still have the issue.
Good luck.
You will need to establish the timing marks ..
I would recommend getting a marked timing wheel like this .. buy one and keep it forever..
http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=73
You need to find Top Dead Centre (TDC) on Number 1 cylinder (passenger side front cylinder), now it's a 4 stroke so TDC happens twice .. so it's easy to be 180 degrees out .. so trace the plug lead back to the distributor and visually draw a verticle line down the cap to the base of the Dizzy and mark it with tipex or a permanent marker pen.
Remove the Dizzy cap and just push it aside.
Remove all the spark plugs .. quite a long winded job if you have not done it before on a V8, this will make te engine easier to turn by hand. You could use the starter to turn the engine over to close to the mark you just made but it still injects fuel so it's best to do it by hand.
You will need a long reach 24mm socket or a regular socket plus a short extension bar, you can use a breaker bar or a rachet with an extension bar as the effort need to turn an engine is quite a bit due to the pressure of the valve spring compression. Turn the engine clock wise as you look at the front of the engine. Stop when you get the rotor arm gets close to the mark you made earlier.
You should now be able to put a screw driver (I use a thin one) into the cylinder and fell the piston. Continue to turn the engine until the piston is felt at the top of the cylinder... you will actually feel it go ver TDC.
Now hopefully you can see some marks on the crank .. if you look around the 1~2 o'clock postition is where they should be with a steel prong sticking out .. clean up the area with petrol / rag / parafin / brake cleaner etc..
Now hopefully the TDC on the piston and TDC mark on the crank and the prong should all be pretty aligned - if so .. just mark the prong and TDC on the crank with Tipex, then using a degrees wheel - mark 8 degrees and 28 degrees these will both be to the Right of TDC as you look at the engine from the front.
If there are no marks on the crank then things get harder .. TDC is not a single point as you will have noticed with the screwd river on the piston .. there is actually a dwell period at TDC .. something like 6 or 8 degrees .. it does literally stop there then move on, because of this you need to establish tdc in the middle of this dwell. This is usually done using a dial guage for proper accuracy but you can best guess the TDC but dabbing the crank at start and end of TDC and TDC is the mid point of the two marks.
Now all is marked up - put all back together and time her up.
You can use 8 degrees as a base line figure if alone or 28 degrees max advance if a friend is available as a throttle man.. dont forget to clamp the advance retard pipe (mole grips or similar).
If you still have pinking then move the timing back 2 degrees to 26 degrees and try again, and again to 24 degrees if you still have the issue.
Good luck.
I just pinched the details below from Honestjohntoo .. which should actually help get rid of the carbon buildup in the cylinder which is the cause of the pre ingition.
Steam Clean Inside the Engine - Whilst its Running
Introduce small amounts of water continuously into the engine intake/plenum via a 1/8" dia pipe, under the influence of inlet vacuum whilst the engine is running at 1500 rpm?
The water turns to steam inside the combustion chamber and under normal compression pressures of about 120 to 160 psi the superheated steam cleans off carbon crud from everything thereabouts.
Including - Rings and Ring Grooves - Piston Crown - Combustion Chamber - Valve Heads - Exhaust Valve Seat Area - Exhaust Channels in Header/Manifold - Downpipes - Catalytic Converters.
The expelled carbon residue floods out of the tailpipe into a very large black puddle.
Keep allowing in water under the influence of vacuum until the tailpipe expels clean water. It can take as much as 20 litres.
Evidence of how clean this can be is witnessed when removing heads when investigating a water leak into combustion chambers.
Shocking? Absolutely Shocking! I know it can seem that way, but there are citations on the internet
http://www.google.co.uk/#pq=internal+steam+clean+&...
One of the anecdotal experiences I have read, introduced the water using a simple pressurised garden spray.
There is even a YouTube demo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&am...
If you google 'Seafoam', there is another process.
Steam Clean Inside the Engine - Whilst its Running
Introduce small amounts of water continuously into the engine intake/plenum via a 1/8" dia pipe, under the influence of inlet vacuum whilst the engine is running at 1500 rpm?
The water turns to steam inside the combustion chamber and under normal compression pressures of about 120 to 160 psi the superheated steam cleans off carbon crud from everything thereabouts.
Including - Rings and Ring Grooves - Piston Crown - Combustion Chamber - Valve Heads - Exhaust Valve Seat Area - Exhaust Channels in Header/Manifold - Downpipes - Catalytic Converters.
The expelled carbon residue floods out of the tailpipe into a very large black puddle.
Keep allowing in water under the influence of vacuum until the tailpipe expels clean water. It can take as much as 20 litres.
Evidence of how clean this can be is witnessed when removing heads when investigating a water leak into combustion chambers.
Shocking? Absolutely Shocking! I know it can seem that way, but there are citations on the internet
http://www.google.co.uk/#pq=internal+steam+clean+&...
One of the anecdotal experiences I have read, introduced the water using a simple pressurised garden spray.
There is even a YouTube demo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&am...
If you google 'Seafoam', there is another process.
rev-erend said:
Firstly - do up the exhaust manifold bolts .. it's a 5 min job and they frequently come undone.
You will need to establish the timing marks ..
I would recommend getting a marked timing wheel like this .. buy one and keep it forever..
http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=73
You need to find Top Dead Centre (TDC) on Number 1 cylinder (passenger side front cylinder), now it's a 4 stroke so TDC happens twice .. so it's easy to be 180 degrees out .. so trace the plug lead back to the distributor and visually draw a verticle line down the cap to the base of the Dizzy and mark it with tipex or a permanent marker pen.
Remove the Dizzy cap and just push it aside.
Remove all the spark plugs .. quite a long winded job if you have not done it before on a V8, this will make te engine easier to turn by hand. You could use the starter to turn the engine over to close to the mark you just made but it still injects fuel so it's best to do it by hand.
You will need a long reach 24mm socket or a regular socket plus a short extension bar, you can use a breaker bar or a rachet with an extension bar as the effort need to turn an engine is quite a bit due to the pressure of the valve spring compression. Turn the engine clock wise as you look at the front of the engine. Stop when you get the rotor arm gets close to the mark you made earlier.
You should now be able to put a screw driver (I use a thin one) into the cylinder and fell the piston. Continue to turn the engine until the piston is felt at the top of the cylinder... you will actually feel it go ver TDC.
Now hopefully you can see some marks on the crank .. if you look around the 1~2 o'clock postition is where they should be with a steel prong sticking out .. clean up the area with petrol / rag / parafin / brake cleaner etc..
Now hopefully the TDC on the piston and TDC mark on the crank and the prong should all be pretty aligned - if so .. just mark the prong and TDC on the crank with Tipex, then using a degrees wheel - mark 8 degrees and 28 degrees these will both be to the Right of TDC as you look at the engine from the front.
If there are no marks on the crank then things get harder .. TDC is not a single point as you will have noticed with the screwd river on the piston .. there is actually a dwell period at TDC .. something like 6 or 8 degrees .. it does literally stop there then move on, because of this you need to establish tdc in the middle of this dwell. This is usually done using a dial guage for proper accuracy but you can best guess the TDC but dabbing the crank at start and end of TDC and TDC is the mid point of the two marks.
Now all is marked up - put all back together and time her up.
You can use 8 degrees as a base line figure if alone or 28 degrees max advance if a friend is available as a throttle man.. dont forget to clamp the advance retard pipe (mole grips or similar).
If you still have pinking then move the timing back 2 degrees to 26 degrees and try again, and again to 24 degrees if you still have the issue.
Good luck.
Thanks very much for the info,the manifolds were all loose with bolts missing,will check timing tomorrow the only puzzle with the pinking is it isnt permanent,I suppose it could be atmospheric differences or engine temp affecting fuel air mix but have found some mention of replacment ign advance unit in history, bloody distributors so old fashioned make a P38 look hi tech.I do enjoy this bit though when you get a new TVR like reaquanting with an old friend rather than a new car amazing how common all the same issues are ,part of the fun I guess,the extra power is amazing though.You will need to establish the timing marks ..
I would recommend getting a marked timing wheel like this .. buy one and keep it forever..
http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=73
You need to find Top Dead Centre (TDC) on Number 1 cylinder (passenger side front cylinder), now it's a 4 stroke so TDC happens twice .. so it's easy to be 180 degrees out .. so trace the plug lead back to the distributor and visually draw a verticle line down the cap to the base of the Dizzy and mark it with tipex or a permanent marker pen.
Remove the Dizzy cap and just push it aside.
Remove all the spark plugs .. quite a long winded job if you have not done it before on a V8, this will make te engine easier to turn by hand. You could use the starter to turn the engine over to close to the mark you just made but it still injects fuel so it's best to do it by hand.
You will need a long reach 24mm socket or a regular socket plus a short extension bar, you can use a breaker bar or a rachet with an extension bar as the effort need to turn an engine is quite a bit due to the pressure of the valve spring compression. Turn the engine clock wise as you look at the front of the engine. Stop when you get the rotor arm gets close to the mark you made earlier.
You should now be able to put a screw driver (I use a thin one) into the cylinder and fell the piston. Continue to turn the engine until the piston is felt at the top of the cylinder... you will actually feel it go ver TDC.
Now hopefully you can see some marks on the crank .. if you look around the 1~2 o'clock postition is where they should be with a steel prong sticking out .. clean up the area with petrol / rag / parafin / brake cleaner etc..
Now hopefully the TDC on the piston and TDC mark on the crank and the prong should all be pretty aligned - if so .. just mark the prong and TDC on the crank with Tipex, then using a degrees wheel - mark 8 degrees and 28 degrees these will both be to the Right of TDC as you look at the engine from the front.
If there are no marks on the crank then things get harder .. TDC is not a single point as you will have noticed with the screwd river on the piston .. there is actually a dwell period at TDC .. something like 6 or 8 degrees .. it does literally stop there then move on, because of this you need to establish tdc in the middle of this dwell. This is usually done using a dial guage for proper accuracy but you can best guess the TDC but dabbing the crank at start and end of TDC and TDC is the mid point of the two marks.
Now all is marked up - put all back together and time her up.
You can use 8 degrees as a base line figure if alone or 28 degrees max advance if a friend is available as a throttle man.. dont forget to clamp the advance retard pipe (mole grips or similar).
If you still have pinking then move the timing back 2 degrees to 26 degrees and try again, and again to 24 degrees if you still have the issue.
Good luck.
Edited by Gary11 on Wednesday 15th August 12:54
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