Recorded mileage zeroed :(

[supadik]

Ok he's an interesting one. I went to the pub last Thursday to collect my chim which had been left in the carpark for umm 9 weeks ish lol. Put the jump leads on, turned the key and waited for the fuel pump to stop then struck her up no problems.

I had a pint while I let her warm up then headed home. While driving home I noticed the speedo's recorded mileage was 1 mile instead of 72k. Hmmm thought I, I'm bloody sure the car doesn't have a trip counter but I see no reason why the speedo would loose it's recorded mileage just cos the battery was flat for a few months. I know for a fact that people park their TVR's over winter and will surely disconnect the battery.

I took the long way home so had 3 miles on the clock when I got home. I put the battery charger on it (hopeful or what lol) and left it to charge til the middle of the next day. When I went back to the car the heat of the battery charger kinda spelt the end for the battery but ever hopeful I disconnected it and the car "just" managed to start. I noticed that the mileage had again reset to zero even tho the battery charger had been on all night and half the day so power was there.

I took her for a quick spin to the pub. Parked up and turned off. Nipped in for a pint then went to see if she'd start again...no, not enough power in the battery as expected.

It's an M plate chim 400 which seems to have been built around the start of the shift to mark2 chim. The front end is deffo mark 1 but some of the interior looks to be mark 2. The clocks are white with a black surround and the mileometer is digital. As far as I know it does not have a trip counter as I've never found a switch, button or knob to change from trip to odometer.

So.....does anybody know what's happened????????

[supadik]

Bump

[supadik]

LMAO well the landlady does like it altho' she's woman and therefore can't reverse )

[Conian]

new battery asap as it's gone into discharge

id have thought there must be a small battery in the dash some place to rememebr the milage
i guess that one has gone too

but never mind, sell it now while it's brand new & zero milage

[supadik]

Yup there may well be some sort of small battery in the dash or even the speedo itself to keep the mileage in memory although none volatile memory would have been a much better option. I've got the old MOT's that show the original mileage and the fact that I do sod all mileage a years so I guess it's not that serious an issue.

[supadik]

Ok update time. Fitted a new battery and been for a few little drives out. When ever the ignition is switched off the mileage is reset to zero again so i'm thinking there must be a back up battery in or near the speedo which is goosed.

[SpudMurphy]

Exactly the same thing happened to me about 2 weeks ago - same age Chimaera, M reg - 1994 and similar style clocks. My car was fully Accumate charged so unlikely to be related to your battery discharge. I have just done 60K miles and the odometer resets to zero every time I start up.

Called Greg Connolly of Torque-Flyte Engineering (I'm in Ireland) and he recommended calling Speedy Cables www.speedycables.com on 01639732213

Spoke to a knowledgeable sounding lady who said "That happens to those TVR clocks. Could be a chip that needs replacing - we have them in stock. Will probably cost about £80 plus shipping."

I'm going to remove mine next week and send it over - I'll post how I get on.

[Ozstyle]

a 3V battery in the speedo, last about 12 - 14 years, once failed the digital odometer zeros everytime the ignition is turned off, a few threads on this in the griff/chim forums

[markreilly]

supadik said:

Ok he's an interesting one. I went to the pub last Thursday to collect my chim which had been left in the carpark for umm 9 weeks ish lol. Put the jump leads on, turned the key and waited for the fuel pump to stop then struck her up no problems.



So.....does anybody know what's happened????????

What was the name of the pub "The Clocked Dial " ?

[Conian]

so £80 for new clocks, or £2 for a watch-battery
hmmmm

[SpudMurphy]

Conian said:

so £80 for new clocks, or £2 for a watch-battery
hmmmm

Bit of a no-brainer isn't it? Does Ozstyle know which battery is needed? No mention of this problem that I can find in The Bible.

Anyone else have a view?

[Busdriver]

Hey Supadik,

I had exactly the same prob around a month ago on a M-reg digital mileage Chimeara. The original manufacturer is ETB instruments in essex who originally manufactured these for TVR apparently. New internal battery, clean, reset to correct mileage and calibrated for £36 ish quid including post and packaging. Good quick service! Pleasantly suprised. Easy enough to remove the dial itself and replace. its a sealed unit as far as i could see so no diy battery changing im afraid. Heres there website

http://www.etbinstruments.com/

[raceboy]

Busdriver said:

Stuff

can echo Busdrivers post, I've had mine done twice now, they seem to last about 10 years.
Get the unit out, if it has ETB on the back give them a ring then pop it in the post with some sort of paperwork to substanceiate the mileage and bobs your mothers brother a week later it arrives showing what it showed before and back in it goes.

[schmokin1]

my experience was send ETB a couple of emails enquiring about the problem, get no response whatsoever,
conclude they are not really interested, then do it myself for a couple of quid, although my mileometer has not been adjusted.

I've never had a new car so I quite like it

Do a search, there was a whole thread on this about 18 months ago?

Good luck
Schmo

[Busdriver]

yeah ETB never replied to my email either.....and they're phone manner wasn't inspirational either. BUT , they did exactely what they said thy would at reasonable cost and in a timely manner. dont wait for the email just give them a bell.

[SpudMurphy]

OK - here's the update. Just got my speedo back from ETB instruments.
Not very chatty phone manner.
Sent the speedo over as requested.
Main fixing man on hols so was told there would be an extra week's delay - ie 2 weeks total.
2 weeks later got a call to say all fixed and ready to post.
Cost of repair: £25 + VAT (£29.38) plus shipping. They were going to post airmail to Ireland for about £5 but agreed to send it TNT courier as I wanted it back in a bit of a hurry. Arrived 24 hours later.
Conclusion: Did exactly what they said they would, no fuss or hassle and at a very fair price; recommended!

ETB Instruments Ltd www.etbinstruments.com Phone: [phone]

[SpudMurphy]

Seems to be a current and common problem with 94/95 Chimaeras so I/ve added a note to bring it back to the front of the threads - seems the internal battery is giving up at similar times perhaps?

[Bassfiend]

Thanks SM!

Does anyone else with this speedo find that their odometer is only readable when they first turn on the ignition and as the car has been running for a while (and I assume things get warmer) the LCD display itself just fades away?

Phil

[MisterT]

Bassfiend said:

Does anyone else with this speedo find that their odometer is only readable when they first turn on the ignition and as the car has been running for a while (and I assume things get warmer) the LCD display itself just fades away?

Phil

I also get the fading display as the car warms up, but coincidentally in just the last couple of weeks, like many others, the internal battery on my speedo has died so I also now get the zero mileage symptom.

I phoned ETB today, the chap I spoke with was very helpful and thought the fading display could be a 'dry joint' in the electronics and they would check it out whilst doing the battery, estimated turn round approx 1 week.

Judging by ETB stickers on the outer casing of my speedo it has been back to them before, in 2002, cant tell what for but if it was for a battery it would seem to have an 8 year lifespan

[mikal83]

Time to bump this up to today and 2013. Just bougfht a 94 Chim and yep, my speedo resets to zero every time. So I guess its the tiddly battery needs replacing . So my ? is.

How!

Ta

mike