picked up sat am. overheated pm!
Discussion
the deed is done. I collected my 93L Griff 500 on Saturday morning, and had a (nearly) fantastic weekend of careering around the place. It was great (and I mean GREAT) going down the M1 then M4, but after sitting in traffic for no more than 2 minutes in W.London, the temp guage went from just below the ideal temp marker, and soared into the red. I had about 1 mile to go, so sat there for a bit longer (maybe 1 minute?), nudging along in 1st / 2nd, until a little steam started coming up through the bonnet. I immediatley pulled over, and switched off. I opened the bonnet (hey, nifty runners!) and there was a lot of steam coming form the top of the expansion tank, and there was a bit coming from the fans at the front. I sat there for 25 mins or so as it gradually sent out less and less steam, then checked the level of coolant in the expansion tank - there was about 3 or 4 inches space at the top. I switched on again - all seemed fine - and limped the remaining couple of miles. Temperature started rising quite quickly though. An hour or so later, I started the car again, and drove maybe 2 miles through traffic, and exactly the same thing happened (but right outside Bluebird on the Kings Road...quite embarrassing). Parked the car round the corner overnight, and when I drove back north last night (left it late so there wouldn't be much traffic) it got very hot very quickly. Cue the same routine all over agin, but I noticed it earlier this time, so minimal steam. Once on the M-way, temp dropped down to normal all the way home. I stopped at services for some petrol and when i turned the car on again, the temp went straight into the red - but this dropped as soon as I got onto the slip road.
Am worried that I could have a major problem (have read loads of past threads about overheating), but it seems likely that the fans aren't kicking in (couldn't hear them particularly). 2 questions chaps:
1) Should I expect the garage to fix the car for me f.o.c seeing as I had only covered 50 odd miles since purchase?
2) If not, how much will it cost for a specialist to diagnose the problem and fix it for me?
And another thing, how do you put the front spots on? Should they come on automatically with the headlights? The instruction manual brilliantly fails to mention them. There is a switch immediately to the left of the sidelights and headlight switches that appears to do nothing - is this it?
Apart from that, it was great! Roof off on Saturday, and smiles and waves from everyone - definitely gets more attention than the Chimaera in my opinion.
Bouffy
Am worried that I could have a major problem (have read loads of past threads about overheating), but it seems likely that the fans aren't kicking in (couldn't hear them particularly). 2 questions chaps:
1) Should I expect the garage to fix the car for me f.o.c seeing as I had only covered 50 odd miles since purchase?
2) If not, how much will it cost for a specialist to diagnose the problem and fix it for me?
And another thing, how do you put the front spots on? Should they come on automatically with the headlights? The instruction manual brilliantly fails to mention them. There is a switch immediately to the left of the sidelights and headlight switches that appears to do nothing - is this it?
Apart from that, it was great! Roof off on Saturday, and smiles and waves from everyone - definitely gets more attention than the Chimaera in my opinion.
Bouffy
good man pete - you've reassured me. I'll speak to the garage tomorrow morning, and talk them through it. Presumably fixing it won't take more than a day or so? I'll have a dig around tonight, start her up and do what you suggested. God, the neighbours are going to love me!
And thanks for 'throwing light' on the front 'spots' / fog light issue. I did feel like a bit of an idiot asking that, but i just couldn't work it out...
Apart from this minor drama, it was pretty fantastic hooning around in it. I filled up for petrol twice (the first time I'd forgotten my wallet and only had £7 in loose change), and both petrol station people spoke to me about the car.
"It's alright for some"
&
"That's nice. What is it?" (girl asked that)
I can't get over how much more mid-range beef there is than in my 4.0 chimaera. Having read literally 100s of threads about the diffence between the 2, I didn't expect there to be such a difference, but there really is. And it's pretty effortless as well - even accelerating in gear is damned quick. I love it. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get one - but that hood is bl**dy annoying. I suppose you get used to it..?!
Bouffy
And thanks for 'throwing light' on the front 'spots' / fog light issue. I did feel like a bit of an idiot asking that, but i just couldn't work it out...
Apart from this minor drama, it was pretty fantastic hooning around in it. I filled up for petrol twice (the first time I'd forgotten my wallet and only had £7 in loose change), and both petrol station people spoke to me about the car.
"It's alright for some"
&
"That's nice. What is it?" (girl asked that)
I can't get over how much more mid-range beef there is than in my 4.0 chimaera. Having read literally 100s of threads about the diffence between the 2, I didn't expect there to be such a difference, but there really is. And it's pretty effortless as well - even accelerating in gear is damned quick. I love it. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get one - but that hood is bl**dy annoying. I suppose you get used to it..?!
Bouffy
thanks chaps - left the car running last night, and the fans definitely aren't coming on. Being a electrical disaster zone (once electrocuted myself strimming a hedge, and again changing a light switch at uni), I think I'll leave the exact diagnosis to the experts, but it seems likely to be otter switch or fuse. I bought it from a TVR specialist, so they should get to the bottom of it pretty quickly.
Mixed views on the over ride switch - some say it's a good thing, some say it's not needed. For the price mentioned, it seems like it's worth doing for the peace of mind...must admit that I'm tempted. What do you think?
And yes, I still have the grin left over from the weekend. I smoke al my ciggies near the garage now - just so that I can gawp at the car. Sad I know, but I'm guessing that you lot are in a similar boat!
Bouffy
Mixed views on the over ride switch - some say it's a good thing, some say it's not needed. For the price mentioned, it seems like it's worth doing for the peace of mind...must admit that I'm tempted. What do you think?
And yes, I still have the grin left over from the weekend. I smoke al my ciggies near the garage now - just so that I can gawp at the car. Sad I know, but I'm guessing that you lot are in a similar boat!
Bouffy
well, I've spoken to my man and he's doing the override switch for me. I'd rather have it for the peace of mind, knowing that on a hot sunny day in traffic, I can switch the fans on a little earlier than wait for them to start up automatically. I agree that the standard stuff should be sufficient, but these aren't ultra-perfect, ultra boring beemers we're talking about.
I can't wait to get the car back - it overheated within 5 minutes (2miles) of starting up last night...not good. I took it over to the specialist last night and will probably pick it up on Saturday morning. Roll on the sunshine!
Bouffy
I can't wait to get the car back - it overheated within 5 minutes (2miles) of starting up last night...not good. I took it over to the specialist last night and will probably pick it up on Saturday morning. Roll on the sunshine!
Bouffy
picked up overheating beast this morning. It turned out tbe the fuse, as most of you had correctly suggested. It had a weedy 25A one which they have replaced with a 40A job. Didn't have time to fit the override switch, but I'm going to get it done before the hot weather arrives.
The purple bomber drove like an absolute dream on the way home (avoided the A1, so i could take it the twisty way), but I was being a bit careful in this unbearably sh*te weather...don't fancy spinning off the road *rse first - especially within a week of ownership.
Was told by people at home that "it's no way near as loud as your last one" (Chimaera 4.0). Interesting.
The purple bomber drove like an absolute dream on the way home (avoided the A1, so i could take it the twisty way), but I was being a bit careful in this unbearably sh*te weather...don't fancy spinning off the road *rse first - especially within a week of ownership.
Was told by people at home that "it's no way near as loud as your last one" (Chimaera 4.0). Interesting.
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