First service problems arhhhh
First service problems arhhhh
Author
Discussion

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
Hello,

My chim 400 just been in for it's first service under my ownership and I have been given a small list to do so I'm looking for advise.

- Radiator the fins are shot at the bottom would it be best to replace or would anyone trust a recore.

- Running lean in fact so lean to quote the mechanic "never seen a TVR like it". Apparantly the airflow meter is faulty. Ive checked with the bible and the voltages mesured are within range but on the high side but in range. I have seen posts on the AFM's and faulty ones tend to run rich so I'm looking for an alternatives suggestions to before I purchase a new AFM.

That's all not bad considering it's done 42000

Penno

smedlen

867 posts

273 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
Does shot at the bottom mean leaking or just showing it's age? Replace or recore if leaking otherwise i'd be tempted to keep my money.

Running very weak is serious and could lead to holed pistons. Get it fixed ASAP. Which stealer are you using? What's the estimate?

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
With the radiator it's just the fins are rotton and missing it's not leaking.

I run the car on shell optimax or esso high octane stuff if this is what stealer means I'm new to this you terminology you see . I didn't get a quote cos I'm a bit pushed for cash at the moment. I'm pretty handy with the spanners so I thought I will do myself and have it proffesionally tuned later.

AlexB

317 posts

266 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
Running lean could be that the injectors are 'gummed up' and need cleaning.

Austec did this on my Chim 400 a while back (at about 42000miles) and it improved the running of the car quite a bit...It's not cheap, but might be worth looking into. They hooked the ECU up to the diagnostics on their rolling road and found that the electronics were all OK, but that there didn't seem to be enough fuel being injected...

Hope you can get it sorted without too much expense....

Alex

Edited to add that if you are handy with spanners you should be able to remove teh injectors and use a postal injector cleaning service usually £15-20 per injector - I used HGL Motors... hglmotors.com for my 205 GTI, but let Austec deal with the Chim.




>> Edited by AlexB on Tuesday 14th February 14:34

andy-w

1,987 posts

256 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
i have a spare airflow meter that is working...you are welcome to try it and see if that makes a difference before you waste money like i did getting another one!!!

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
Thanks Alex and Andy.

Andy thanks for the offer I live in Stoke which is a bit far. I'm going to the local club meeting next month to ask around. By the way Andy looked at your profile your car is very similar colour to mine I will post mine sometime.

When the car was serviced it was very cold and wet would this have made a difference?. It's just that it goes very well so I'm woundering if it's a one off.

andy-w

1,987 posts

256 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
what are you getting, roughly, MPG wise???

Mine was running unbeleivably rich a few months ago, 6-9 mpg...the ecu was shot!!!
If you are getting approx 200 miles per full tank then dont worry too much...it seems to be roughly the norm.

What condition are the plugs?
What are the emmisions like and are the lambda sensors ok???
Can you hear the fuel pump whirring away constantly?

Theres a couple of things to look at.

Failing that wait for Greenv8s, he is good at this sort of thing!!!

smedlen

867 posts

273 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
stealer = TVR dealer or specialist who charges too much. I could go on....

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
I'm getting around 200 mile on a tank it may be a bit more only use it at weekends. With the weather of late it's only done about 10 miles since the service so I'm going to give it a good run and check the colour of the plugs when I have time. The fuel pump can only be heard when I first start the engine after that its pretty quiet.

smedlen

867 posts

273 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
There doesn't sound like there is much wrong then.
You could try a bottle of fuel injector cleaning potion. Costs about £5.

andy-w

1,987 posts

256 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
clean the plugs and take it for a blast and then check the plugs again to see what colour they are...sounds like it is running fine...!!!

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Tuesday 14th February 2006
quotequote all
I will have a good look hope the weather's good this weekend. By the way it went to a independant for a service very reasonable £351 I had some other parts included to with that. Don't know if it's right thing to name them but they are in the west midlands not far from M5 JN2.

griffter

4,143 posts

285 months

Wednesday 15th February 2006
quotequote all
penno said:
I live in Stoke which is a bit far.


As in Stoke on Trent?

Give Ian at Sportmotive TVR (independent specialists) a call. He'll sort you out. Had my radiator repaired there - and an absoutely top job of a respray. 01782 333008.

penno

Original Poster:

241 posts

260 months

Wednesday 15th February 2006
quotequote all
Yep Stoke-on-Trent

Thanks for the contact I will give them a go