Pants power...

[TVR450s]

Has anyone had issues with Stealth cam 'unhappy Idle' After spending many hours and monies on an engine rebuild, Tornado + RR with Mark the Idle is Pants. During the RR session the cam was suspected to be the culprit. I'd be curious to know what output other 450 owners are getting. Post rebuild with ACT carbon trumpets, smooth bore intake, stealth cam, Tornado chip with a RR session. I got 230 BHP

[Chuffmeister]

Who put the cam in? Is it dialed in correctly?

Edited by Chuffmeister on Wednesday 6th May 23:32

[KateV8]

You'd be looking at 270-280 for a healthy 4.5 I would have thought. That's what ours was in her pre-SC days on a very mild J.Eales can.

[Alexdaredevils]

Give it a compression test and leak down
What plugs are you running?

[spitfire4v8]

Plenty of cars running the spec you have an idling perfectly nicely.

[phazed]

Alexdaredevils said:

Give it a compression test and leak down
What plugs are you running?

This and look for other reasons at this stage.

Of course there is the possibility that the cam is dialled in wrong but in my experience the power would be down but the idle wouldn't be effected.

[Dodsy]

My 450 currently makes 231 at the wheels (I think, havent got papers in front of me so it could well be a bit less). The only mod its had is the ACT induction pipe and removal of the precats, other than that its as it came from TVR. I would suggest with that cam and those mods you'd be seeing a bit more than me although your torque curve may be significantly better than mine.

I think If I spent £££ on all that kit and a remap I'd be disappointed. I gained 9BHP just by installing the ACT pipe and removing the precats.

I will double check my BHP RR Graph when I get home as I may be totally wrong !

Edited by Dodsy on Thursday 7th May 12:30

[Mr Haribo]

Did Mark not give any other reason than the cam ?

[Mr Haribo]

sorry missed off !
Are the heads standard ? loads of power there !

[blitzracing]

The 14CUX does not work that well with a long duration cam due to the poor / contaminated airflow at low RPM and the ECU trying to keep the emissions in check. You can do a simple test- remove the tune resistor and fit a 390 ohm resistor in its place so you switch to the green map. Then reset the ECU by unplugging it for a few seconds to clear the fault codes and re-plug it. Then have a play with the adjustment on the side of the AFM to set the mixture to see if it will idle nicely- it should go from over rich like its on choke- to smooth - to lumpy as it leans out as you wind the adjustment in /out Do this on a hot engine. If you can get a smooth idle, then the basic mechanics are OK, and its down to fuelling on the white cat map.

[Mr Haribo]

Would Mark not have done that ?

[Dodsy]

ok, I got it wrong mine was 215 at the wheels not 230 so maybe your figure isnt so bad after all.

[TVR450s]

Thanks all

Ok,

1. 230 BHP at the wheels. I can't find the print out at the mo ( feeling pretty st post RR and £700 lighter)

2. The Engine rebuild was carried out by some people near Gatwick and the 1000000 Q, was the cam dialed in correctly?????

3. Mark has increased the idle to 950. it still chugs.

4. Compression test carried whilst on the RR All ok. Leak down will have to come anon.

5. Mark did ponder the injectors ( John Eales Bosch ) I've replaced them with the original lucas and worse

6. Standard heads. Not considering any mods until this anomaly is resolved.

Its really not the output that pisses me off, its the crap Idle running after a lot of time to get it right, and the fact that i've now got to unpick someone elses (possible) mistake.

It drives like a dream other than at idle.

[Alexdaredevils]

When you say crap idle is it like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nf10BnS6jU

[TVR450s]

mmmmm, not quite. I'll try and make a movie to demonstrate. It runs very rich at idle.

[QBee]

230 bhp at the wheels is around 280 at the fly. Decent for a 450. Mine is 500 cc mote, on a stealth cam with Bosch injectors, bang on 300 bhp at the fly.

[blitzracing]

Mr Haribo said:

Would Mark not have done that ?

If I was in Marks shoes and was being paid to map the car, I would not try to get to involved on a poor idle issue if it cant be sorted with mapping. Switching maps is simply a diagnosis process- not a fix, so even if the idle is sorted on the green map, you cant leave it that way as the catalysts wont work. Least you know its not mechanical then.

[SILICONEKID345HP]

Which Stealth cam is it ? there are two ! My v8D Stealth cam idles around 850rpm with a very weak 14.7afr .

[TVR450s]

Which stealth?? Absolutely no idea. I'm not sure what the consequence of a incorrectly dialed in cam is? Mark seemed happy with all other aspects of the performance apart from the idle. Oh and i forgot to mention on engine overrun the rpm drops to 500 and almost stalls. RUBISH.

[SILICONEKID345HP]

Why not give Mark a call tell him your not happy .