A few little niggles Help required
A few little niggles Help required
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chris52

Original Poster:

1,560 posts

213 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
Well the first thing I have to say is WOW these cars are just awesome. Although I had drive the car 200 miles back to my house the other weekend i didn't realy get a good feel for it as it was raining hard and night time so i was being very careful especially with it being new to me.But today the sun was shinning and although the roads were damp i still managed put the loud peddle down a bit and have a feel of what she could do @@@ck me these cars are fast but the biggest buzz in the power and the noise.
Anyway back on topic
I have 3 things that need attention one is the idle (already posted about this) most of the time its perfect then all of a sudden it will start hunting up and down until it eventually stalls I have tried cleaning the stepper motor and also checked to make sure it is winding in and out freely and it is, the only thing i did notice was when it wound fully in it would start clicking and try winding itself in even further, is this correct?

next up is i have a rattle going over bumps on the n/s front sound a bit like an anti roll bar link on a normal car, this isn't a problem it just needs investigating, finding the fault and replacing whatever bush/link it requires.

The last one has baffled me completely I am getting a loud hum/whistle from somewhere under the the front of the engine, its not the belts or the fan, it will come and go but does not increase with revs just a constant hum if i blip the throttle it goes for a few seconds but always comes back. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

Thought i would give some info on the car to help with any ideas that people have. its a 1995 Griffith 500 its done 68000 miles and had a new engine block fitted and top end reconditioned at a TVR garage 2 years ago ( bill for £5kfor this job WTF) since then the car has only done 2000 miles the oil pressure according to the gauge is 35lb cold on idle and just under 30lb hot.

Thanks in advance

Chris

sumoone

352 posts

259 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
i am no mechanic but your oil pressure gauge looks low to me.......

what do others think?

my recently recond griff 500 engine shows 85 to 90 lbs under power

you may want to get your engine or gauge checked.

mark




2 sMoKiN bArReLs

32,020 posts

265 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
sumoone said:
my recently recond griff 500 engine shows 85 to 90 lbs under power
yikes are you sure?


sumoone

352 posts

259 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
perhaps its my engine i ought to get checked!

m

Colin RedGriff

2,541 posts

287 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
35 - 40 cold (at idle) is fine.

Hot idle it could go as low as 10-15

Don't forget though that the gauges are not known for their accuracy.

chris52

Original Poster:

1,560 posts

213 months

Saturday 24th January 2009
quotequote all
Ye i thought the pressure reading was OK at about 3krpm it will be somewhere near 60lb.
Anybody got any ideas on the other issues i am having.
cheers
Chris

Simon.b

1,230 posts

312 months

Sunday 25th January 2009
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Idle hunting, mine does this sometimes over a short period and then doesn’t do it again for months, in fact now I think about it, maybe a year or more since it did it last, I seem to think mine may have been linked to cold damp weather. I’ve cleaned all the engine electrics and replace all the HT and LT elements over the last year so that could be it. I found switching off the ignition and re-started more often that not seamed to reset things.

The rattle over bumps will almost certainly be the anti-role bar drop links, if you’ve got the original rubber ball end type. They can be a mere to get lined up correctly and so when nipped up they really aren’t and soon work loose, jack the car and the suspension separately to the get the alignment right.

Oil pressure, I’m with Colin RedGriff.

Cheers,

Simon.

mcosh

289 posts

276 months

Sunday 25th January 2009
quotequote all
Check the brake server pipe coming off the engine and going into the wing buy the clutch cover. Mine turned out to be cracked from heat over exhaust and was letting air in. Result, a whistle and erratic tick over.

Mark

chris52

Original Poster:

1,560 posts

213 months

Sunday 25th January 2009
quotequote all
thanks for the info. yes you will be right about the antiroll link.
the hum/whistle though is not the servo pipe as i have already checked this and is all ok bt thanks for the help anyway.
Don't know if this could contribute to anything but i have a massive battery drain on the car battery i thought it was the battery so changed it to a new one yesterday, but this morning it was flat again so it must be a fairly big one to drain a fully charged battery overnight.

Chris

Uncle Fester

3,114 posts

238 months

Sunday 25th January 2009
quotequote all
As a guide, my oil pressure gauge reads 60, Hot or cold, whatever the rpm.

The engine was rebuilt about 1500 miles ago by V8 Developments. I have no idea how accurate the gauge itself is, but they fitted a new oil pressure sender so that should be right.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

32,020 posts

265 months

Sunday 25th January 2009
quotequote all
Uncle Fester said:
As a guide, my oil pressure gauge reads 60, Hot or cold, whatever the rpm.
Are you sure it's not a photograph? hehe

FlipFlopGriff

7,144 posts

277 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Mine is around 30 at tickover and 45+ under load. The guages aren't accurate so maybe that's the reason.
FFG

chris52

Original Poster:

1,560 posts

213 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Had some time today to try sort out the problems. Pulled my multimeter out to start checking for the battery drain but unfortunatley for some reason it wouldn't work so went for the trusty old bulb route lol. Anyway took the battery out charged it and stuck some jump leads on the the battery terminals so i could have the battery out of the car to give me more room to start unplugging fuses and relay's. with everything turned off the bulb was glowing like blackpool illuminations, so i tried the fuel pump relay first and the bulb went pracically out just a faint glimmer and that was it. so replaced it with a new relay (Euro car parts 450110050 Thanks to PH alternative parts thread).
What i find strange though, and i'm sure somebody on here will be able to help me here is that this has also cured the hunting problem i had and the whiring noise that was coming from under the bonnet.

Anywy the sun is shinning at the moment so gonna take for a quick drive to see how things go so will update latter.

Cheers for the help not only on this thread but on all the others i searched to help solve the problem. looking forward to seeing some of you guys at the growl later this year.

Chris

Slacey

1,113 posts

244 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
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The humming noise is probably the idle screw on the plenum wound out a bit too far. Take it out, clean it, apply a little PTFE and put back. Screw all the way down and back it out 2.5 turns as a baseline. It may well be causing the idle hunting if it's really loose.

Ballistic Banana

14,706 posts

297 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Slacey said:
The humming noise is probably the idle screw on the plenum wound out a bit too far. Take it out, clean it, apply a little PTFE and put back. Screw all the way down and back it out 2.5 turns as a baseline. It may well be causing the idle hunting if it's really loose.
thumbup at that, also I put a dab of silicone sealant on top just to make sure smile

chris52

Original Poster:

1,560 posts

213 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
well the hunting has gone away but the noise is still there.
its like it has a noisey fuel pump but the noise is only coming from the front. anyway i will get it on the ramps at work tomorrow and see if i can work it out. will also check out the front knocking.

Chris

Pasco

6,652 posts

258 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
If the noise is reminiscent of a noisy fuel pump it could be relays yes

Have a listen in the passenger foot well mate smile

fastandcurious

437 posts

238 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
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I had a similar noise with mine last year. I noticed that it went away when I turned off the heater motor (press top right button on heater control panel). I can only put this down to a noisy heater fan motor. Mine still does it now and again. Lack of use I suppose. It usually goes when I reduce the fan speed (same button anti-clockwise) and then increase it again. Sorry if I'm being over discriptive of the heater contol but I know you've only just got your car and It took me ages to work out what they all do. If it's not this then Pasco may well have the answer with relays.

Ballistic Banana

14,706 posts

297 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
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May worth looking to see if the exhaust is fouling the chassis as it can and does get close right underneath. Maybe get a large screw driver and put your ear and the handle and the other end on the engine in various places and see if you can pin point it that way. Check the engine mounts, and maybe the ignition amp seem to remember someone saying there's made a noise....

BB

spend

12,581 posts

281 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
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It's quite possible that the stepper motor etal could have been cycling if that was the main relay not the pump relay that you replaced?. It would be like turning the ign off/on in an instant. Do make sure the contacts on the flying leads of the 2 relays & fuses are clean they may be part/root of the problem. TVR's are notorious for having had water ingress in that area occasionally.