stalled and won't start/run smoothly

[nordin450]

Hi,
After having done some work to the car today I've messed something up. The car is currently standing on the street 20 minutes on away from my house, so urgent advice needed.

When the car was cold tickover wasn't as smooth as usuall but once warm it sounded ok and kept at 900rpm on tickover.
So I decided to go for a spin...

In the beginning (first 10-15 minutes) I noticed that the power wasn't 100% but rather 60-75% of the usuall..
When stopping at red light, tickover, the engine suddenly died. It started again and I managed to pull over, but it died again soon after. Managed to start it a few times and the engine sounds fine with throttle (2000-3000rpm), but as soon as I leave it for tickover it struggle and dies shortly after..

The work I completed earlier today involved taking off the dist. cap. I'm pretty sure this is now causing my problem
Have tried cleaning the connectors inside the cap .. after this the car doesn't start at all

I got a spare rotor arm so will try this tonight. Maybe I need a new Dist. cap?
Anyone near richmond/surrey that got a spare dist cap?
Any other ideas?

[dingg]

I reckon you've answered your own question really - check your dizzy cap is clipped in place correctly and that all ht leads are seated firmly - just sounds as if you've not put things back together too well IMO

good luck

[nordin450]

Tried the new rotor arm. Car started and ran for about 5-10 minutes.
Again it died and wouldn't restart.
Sneaky suspicion that one or a few plugs get flooded causing the engine to stall and not restart.

Managed to get the car onto a side street so will be safe there until 10am Monday morning (resident p. only during the week).

Anyone that got a spare dist cap. that I could pickup tomorrow(sunday)?

[nordin450]

Update.

The car (450 -98 33k miles) is now with Peter at TVR Fix, he quickly sorted the starting problem. A temp sensor unit had gone faulty that caused flooding of the spark plugs.

The reduction in power on the road is still there - and has turned out to be a costly issue. Having checked all electrical bits Peter reckons it's a mechanical problem.
Have been suggested that the following should remedy this issue:
. Change of camshaft
. Exhaust manifolds needs fixing because they've become coroded
. With this, normal service stuff like, change of oil, spark plugs etc..

Have seen a number of good comments about TVR Fix on the forum in the past, but considering this is going be £1.500-2.000 (~£1k just for the camshaft)....

Please can a few people re-assure me they are the right people for the job and that the price is about right.


Ps! Been TVR owner for about 2 months now still hoping for a summer of

>> Edited by nordin450 on Friday 17th March 18:29

[v8 racing]

whoa slow down and give some imformation from the start! when did you lose the power? was it before the dizzy cap change or after? if it ran fine before with good power untill you changed stuff there is no way that the cam has suddenly gone?

[nordin450]

v8 racing said:

whoa slow down and give some imformation from the start! when did you lose the power? was it before the dizzy cap change or after? if it ran fine before with good power untill you changed stuff there is no way that the cam has suddenly gone?

I also thought the power loss due to a worn cam would be gradual rather than sudden.
Took the car out for road test on Sat and it was very lumpy and didn't pull. Was about 60-70% of the normal power there.
This was not the case before I did tried to change the thermostat, it pulled and ran really good ~2 weeks ago.
The problem doesn't seem to be electrical as sparks are generated correctly, and got new spark plugs fitted.
The car Revs fine when standing still, but on the road the lumpiness is there.

Both breakdown guy and Peter (TVRFix) believe it to be a air<>fuel mix issue.


(Sorry for late reply, just moved house and they take bxxxx 2 weeks to re-connect adsl)

[Nuggs]

nordin450 said:

Both breakdown guy and Peter (TVRFix) believe it to be a air<>fuel mix issue.

Which would mean that the cam is now less of a suspect? Also seems unlikely that the manifolds would cause those problems.

If it is an air/fuel mixture problem, it could be an issue with the ECU/AFM...

Also, have the plugs been replaced? If you've dragged a load of crap in there, then that might be worth doing. Also, the injectors may be caked in crud, and may need an ultrasonic clean. Is the car missing at idle at all?

[rfisher]

Stop messing about and try this

www.pistonheads.com/sales/69759.htm

[nordin450]

Nuggs said:

Also, have the plugs been replaced?

yes

Nuggs said:

Is the car missing at idle at all?

Kind off, it doesn't stop completely but goes down to about 200rpm then struggles back to 900-1000 in about 10 seconds..

[leadfootlydon]

xx said:

... it doesn't stop completely but goes down to about 200rpm then struggles back to 900-1000 in about 10 seconds..

Mine does this when starting from cold. I have learned to let the car warm itself up without touching the throttle. Sometimes I think it is just about to die, but then it pulls itself together and eventually settles down to its normal 1000rpm idle. I learned early on that if I press the throttle to stop it dying (as per my youth), then it gets confused and won't idle properly on its own. Once in that mode, I am forced to rev the engine like I'm on a starting grid which is most embarrasing in a quiet residential neighbourhood.

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that the ECU is a strange beastie and easily confused. Your problem does not sound like a camshaft issue. That still leaves a heap of other possabilities, particularly the various sensors (airflow, lambda, temp, etc).

Get a second opinion from a specialist.