problem with my electrics - help
Discussion
I wonder if someone could point me in the right direction
Recently fitted a stealth camshaft change on my 500 and have clocked up 100 miles, I'm still experiencing some shunting that was there before the cam change, but also now a flat spot on acceleration.
Went to take the car for a run today and experiencing the following:
turn ignition on - ignition light between speedo and rev counter not illuminating
start engine - ignition\charging light in speedo glows, rev counter indicates 100rpm although engine idle sounds to be its normal 900rpm
Engine stops when dipping the clutch coming to a stop at a junction, although engine can be restarted immediately
no other gauges are working
boot release not working
side, dip and main lights not working
The following are working ok:
central locking, indicators,hazards and their warning lights, windscreen wipe and wash
Battery voltage is 12.78V and with engine running 13.8V
I'm wondering if I've disturbed some wiring when I did the cam change.
Would be grateful for your thoughts
Recently fitted a stealth camshaft change on my 500 and have clocked up 100 miles, I'm still experiencing some shunting that was there before the cam change, but also now a flat spot on acceleration.
Went to take the car for a run today and experiencing the following:
turn ignition on - ignition light between speedo and rev counter not illuminating
start engine - ignition\charging light in speedo glows, rev counter indicates 100rpm although engine idle sounds to be its normal 900rpm
Engine stops when dipping the clutch coming to a stop at a junction, although engine can be restarted immediately
no other gauges are working
boot release not working
side, dip and main lights not working
The following are working ok:
central locking, indicators,hazards and their warning lights, windscreen wipe and wash
Battery voltage is 12.78V and with engine running 13.8V
I'm wondering if I've disturbed some wiring when I did the cam change.
Would be grateful for your thoughts
Battery voltages are normal.
The stalling at junctions sounds like stepper motor to me - been there, had that, my stepper was temperature sensitive. Why it has occurred now is beyond me.
I have a stealth cam in a 500 engine - no flat spots, no shunting. Could it be a mapping issue? I don't know, but mine ran better after mapping. You need someone who know to advise on that.
The rest seems a bit random to me. It does sound like disturbed/destroyed wiring under the dash to me.
Do you live in the country?
Do you have horses or other farm animals at home?
Daft questions....unless you knew me in autumn 2012, when I was listing similar issues with my car - loads of utterly random electrical faults, including no speedo, all lights failed, electric windows failed, indicators but no hazards, etc etc. Yours are random, and not ignition/non-ignition related.
Mine turned out to be mice in the car.
Destructive buggers had got in through the gear lever gaiter and the handbrake gaiter (both are rubber under the leather, and both had perished) and had chewed loads of centre console and lower dash wiring (mine's a Chimaera), including all the lighting ribbon cables that run behind the panel to the control units (you can get replacements from TVR Power)
The stalling at junctions sounds like stepper motor to me - been there, had that, my stepper was temperature sensitive. Why it has occurred now is beyond me.
I have a stealth cam in a 500 engine - no flat spots, no shunting. Could it be a mapping issue? I don't know, but mine ran better after mapping. You need someone who know to advise on that.
The rest seems a bit random to me. It does sound like disturbed/destroyed wiring under the dash to me.
Do you live in the country?
Do you have horses or other farm animals at home?
Daft questions....unless you knew me in autumn 2012, when I was listing similar issues with my car - loads of utterly random electrical faults, including no speedo, all lights failed, electric windows failed, indicators but no hazards, etc etc. Yours are random, and not ignition/non-ignition related.
Mine turned out to be mice in the car.
Destructive buggers had got in through the gear lever gaiter and the handbrake gaiter (both are rubber under the leather, and both had perished) and had chewed loads of centre console and lower dash wiring (mine's a Chimaera), including all the lighting ribbon cables that run behind the panel to the control units (you can get replacements from TVR Power)
Hi QBee
Re the cam change, like you, i was wondering whether I may have a mapping problem, I will talk to V8D, who sorted your mapping out?
I agree could be a stepper motor issue causing the engine to stall, I believe there is a way of de energising it and some owners run their cars without it working, another search on the forum I think.
As for the electrical problems, I do live in a rural area, however I've had a good look around the car, removed the dash air vents and radio, looked at the jungle in there as best I can but can't see any evidence of damage. Don't really want to remove the dash unless I really have to. I wondered whether I've disturbed some of the wiring round the coil and alternator that would create the problem.
Thinking more on the symptoms, although the alternator is definitely charging the battery, I seem to remember having a car in the past with a diode down which caused the ign/charge light to come on but the alternator was still charging the battery. However this doesn't explain why the gauges are not working. Is there a common +ve feed or earth wire to all the gauges?
Re the cam change, like you, i was wondering whether I may have a mapping problem, I will talk to V8D, who sorted your mapping out?
I agree could be a stepper motor issue causing the engine to stall, I believe there is a way of de energising it and some owners run their cars without it working, another search on the forum I think.
As for the electrical problems, I do live in a rural area, however I've had a good look around the car, removed the dash air vents and radio, looked at the jungle in there as best I can but can't see any evidence of damage. Don't really want to remove the dash unless I really have to. I wondered whether I've disturbed some of the wiring round the coil and alternator that would create the problem.
Thinking more on the symptoms, although the alternator is definitely charging the battery, I seem to remember having a car in the past with a diode down which caused the ign/charge light to come on but the alternator was still charging the battery. However this doesn't explain why the gauges are not working. Is there a common +ve feed or earth wire to all the gauges?
I am assuming you have the standard ECU.
Mark Adams mapped mine. He's based near Shrewsbury. You can google him. Or his PH name is Mark Adams. Use the search to find a post by him and email him through PH. Mark is a loely guy and will happily give phone advice.
I also understand that a guy called Jools can map the 14CUX. He's based near Chesterfield. His PH name is spitfire4V8 and his website is kitsandclassics.co.uk
The stepper was my problem when the car simply wouldn't hold an idle when warm. It had become heat sensitive. Rare fault and it had to be diagnosed by eliminating everything else.
But a dirty stepper will just stick and cause the same effect, as it needs to work quickly to grab the idle when you dip the clutch.
I don't know enough about the electrics to answer the rest, now that more is working than we thought. But there are loads of experts on here, so hang on for an answer. It does sound like a bad earth, you are right.
Mark Adams mapped mine. He's based near Shrewsbury. You can google him. Or his PH name is Mark Adams. Use the search to find a post by him and email him through PH. Mark is a loely guy and will happily give phone advice.
I also understand that a guy called Jools can map the 14CUX. He's based near Chesterfield. His PH name is spitfire4V8 and his website is kitsandclassics.co.uk
The stepper was my problem when the car simply wouldn't hold an idle when warm. It had become heat sensitive. Rare fault and it had to be diagnosed by eliminating everything else.
But a dirty stepper will just stick and cause the same effect, as it needs to work quickly to grab the idle when you dip the clutch.
I don't know enough about the electrics to answer the rest, now that more is working than we thought. But there are loads of experts on here, so hang on for an answer. It does sound like a bad earth, you are right.
Quinny said:
IainGriff said:
Anyone else have any ideas on the electrical problem?
I'd be checking the 100amp fuse first
..... I'd even go as far as replacing it, and it's holder even if it looks okHi, I had same problem with electrics after removing dash, the engine cutting out when stopping is caused by a small box behind dash that tells the ECU whether your moving or not. When you slow down and your speed goes below 7mph the box signals the ECU to raise rpm to stop engine stalling. I also had the dials stop working intermittently. I traced the fault to a bad earth located behind drivers door release under centre console. Also check the engine earth behind offside front wheel .
The shunting could be the Cam Timing, I fitted a Typhoon cam a few years ago and had to alter the cam timing quite a lot from original setup. 1-2 degs out can cause rough running with shunting and flat spots. I had to redo mine after fitting and thought it was spot on first time round but was 2 degs out when I recheched it.
Car ran perfect after re-adjusting...
Good luck
The shunting could be the Cam Timing, I fitted a Typhoon cam a few years ago and had to alter the cam timing quite a lot from original setup. 1-2 degs out can cause rough running with shunting and flat spots. I had to redo mine after fitting and thought it was spot on first time round but was 2 degs out when I recheched it.
Car ran perfect after re-adjusting...
Good luck
Edited by waggy on Monday 6th October 07:43
Thanks guys, a few things for me to try out next weekend, I think I will check out the earthing and 100 amp fuse first.
Then maybe try and find this mysterious black box behind the dash.
Regarding the cam, it's a stealth from V8D and comes with a Cloyes three way crank sprocket which I fitted in accordance to Ray at v8D instruction. With this set up you have a choice of 2 deg retard (increases high rpm horsepower), 0 deg factory setting and 2 deg advance (increase low end torque). Mine as advised by Ray is at Factory setting.
I'll report back my findings
Then maybe try and find this mysterious black box behind the dash.
Regarding the cam, it's a stealth from V8D and comes with a Cloyes three way crank sprocket which I fitted in accordance to Ray at v8D instruction. With this set up you have a choice of 2 deg retard (increases high rpm horsepower), 0 deg factory setting and 2 deg advance (increase low end torque). Mine as advised by Ray is at Factory setting.
I'll report back my findings
Found a fuse diagram for a 97 Griff 500 on rv8r.co.uk and although I had already visually checked all the fuses I decided to check with my multimeter.
I found fuse 9 ‘Dashboard Ignition Feed’ indicated a high resistance (can’t remember the value). Changed the fuse and magic! I now have all gauges working, rev counter now indicating the correct rpm at idle and the charge light in the rev counter no longer glows. So thankfully nothing to do with rodents or disturbed/damaged wiring from the cam change after all.
Lesson learnt – don’t rely solely on a visual check of fuses
Hopefully weather permitting I will go for a drive tomorrow and see if I still have the stalling problem
Then I can look into sorting the acceleration flat spot
Thanks for the input everyone
I found fuse 9 ‘Dashboard Ignition Feed’ indicated a high resistance (can’t remember the value). Changed the fuse and magic! I now have all gauges working, rev counter now indicating the correct rpm at idle and the charge light in the rev counter no longer glows. So thankfully nothing to do with rodents or disturbed/damaged wiring from the cam change after all.
Lesson learnt – don’t rely solely on a visual check of fuses
Hopefully weather permitting I will go for a drive tomorrow and see if I still have the stalling problem
Then I can look into sorting the acceleration flat spot
Thanks for the input everyone
Forums | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff