help....wouldnt start...

[n9jof]

am fairly new to tvr,s but have picked up a lot from reading through your forums.had a problem sunday with my 4.0 serp eng 1995.had been driving the tvr all day and it had been running lovely until i decided to a have a cuppa at a mates,when i went to start the car 5 minutes later it just kept cranking,after 30 seconds it fired up but it had no throttle response and stalled if you pushed the accelerator as if out of fuel.i could hear the electric fuel pump running all the time it did this.after some swearing and another cuppa i tried the car and it started and ran perfectly.have just had a run in it this evening and it is fine.do you think this is a one off or has anyone else had a problem like this.would appreciate some help...........

[M@H]

...sounds like the traditional "hot start" problem.. have a quick search on that and you'll find a lot of info.

Cheers,
Matt.

[paul (93 Chim)]

Not the "Hot Start" problem or it wouldn't turn over.

[n9jof]

i fitted the hot start mod when i did a dash conversion on it recently.i wonder wether it is a timing problem or something like that,just seems strange that it ran fine after this problem.

[Mad Mitch]

Sounds like fuel pump relay. Located behind battery in N/S front footwell. There are two identical relays. Only cost about £4.00 each so replace both and see if all ok.

[GreenV8S]

Since the engine was cranking over OK it is definitely not the normal 'hot start' problem. Since you heard the fuel pump running you can rule out anything to do with the fuel pump electrics. Which is a shame, because other wise these symptoms (starting but dying as soon as you touch the throttle) sounds exactly like a fuel pump electrical problem. Definitely sure the pump was running? Check again, because this would be a very convenient explanation and cheap to fix.

Assuming the pump was definitely running, then since the engine did actually fire and run, you can eliminate the common heat-related ignition problems. The only suspects I can think of that fit those symptoms are a dead air flow meter, or a faulty ECU. Very occasionaly my old ECU went a bit bonkers when I turned the ignition on, it ran the fuel pump continuously and didn't fire the injectors. Switch the ignition off and on and it was fine. Maybe you have suffered something similar to this? The AFM fault can lead to the engine leaning out as soon as you open the throttle. When this happened on mine the engine would keep running but didn't produce any power at all (a 400 lb-ft engine on full throttle and full boost producing barely enough torque to keep running at 1000 rpm).

See if you can get it to happen again and get more details about the symptoms. Very hard to diagnose without seeing it in the flesh, it could be some complicated electronic fault, but it could be something as simple as fuel vaporisation in the fuel rail.

[n9jof]

thanks for your help,i am going to take tvr on a good long run today,have just had stepper motor out and cleaned it up(was not to bad).had a friend round at weekend who has had a lot to do with v8's,we struck the car up and it was very lumpy for a good 2 or 3 minutes,i assumed this was normal as it has always done this on first start up.he said i should be able to drive it instantly it starts but this has never been the case.i have always had to leave it 2 or 3 mins before i can touch throttle or else it stalls,also the exhaust fumes are lethal in the garage when it is warming up.
i have had the car since april but only use it as a sunday toy,thanks again for replys any more advice would be great.i have read through bible but it can only tell you so much.....