Desperate Newbie

[Mr Grumpy]

AARGH - I am adesparately in need of help and advice. Last week I finally took the plung and purchased my first TVR - a chim 400HC. When driving it home it ran a little rough at idle and below about 2000 to 3000 rpm. It sat in my drive for about a week doing nothing whilst I sorted tax etc. Then yesterday I though I would take it for my first real outing. The car started fine (no problems) but again the idle was rough and needed the throttle blipping. As I pulled out of the drive the engine died and would not restart at all - even after several attempts over the course or the day. Hence I turned to pistonheads. Today I tried a few things with no joy:-

I can hear the fuel pump whiring.
I have replace the Ignition amp
I have replaced the coil (the spark looked weak hence these two items)
I have cleaned the stepper motor.

When I took the plugs out they were very damp (fuel) - so dried them out. At least I know its getting fuel.

Have WD40'ed the distributor and the rotor arm is in good condition.

What else can be preventing it starting????

I am a little frustrated to say the least. Any ideas PLEEEASE

If not can anyone recommend a good specialist in the North Hampshire (Farnborough) area - and what are their labour rates like?

[the jiffle king]

I am certainly nowhere near knowledgable enough on this, but it might be a relay. Mine had a similar issue about 6 months ago, and I bought a Bosch relay which solved the problem. It was a 100, and there are only about 3 on the loom.

Just an idea

T-J-K

By the sounds of it, your wiring loom is damp, so look under the battery box to make sure it is screwed in and water cannot get up through the hole

>> Edited by the jiffle king on Sunday 21st November 17:15

[chimalsu]

check your plug leads point up away from the manifolds ,i moved mine the other day to tighten manifold bolts forgot to move them back and chim missfired for england lifted bonnet with engine running and could see leads earthing out on manifold twisted leads back away from mannifold and she runs as good as gold

[Big Al.]

For a TVR garage in the North Hant area try Racing Green.

www.racinggreentvr.com/

[shpub]

If the plugs are damp/wet with fuel, you might as well throw them away as even drying them in an oven is no guarentee it will revive them. Speak from experience. Actually my7 ol;d one get thrown into a drawer and I sort them out a bit later . Section in the bible on some revival techniques.

Worth chceking that yopu are getting a spark at each one by removing the spark plug and turning the engine over after disconnecting the fuel pump fuse so that the engine won't fuel.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[geoffcraig]

I had a similar problem. The immobiliser had a lose connection. The car would run fine, but then completely cut out. It spent about a week in the garage, but they finally found it and fixed it.