Who are the v8 gurus
Discussion
Jools at kits n classics in chesterfield I'm told is the V8 guru - it's a track for you but would be well worth it from what I hear.
I'm heading there soon but luckily he's just a mile down the road from me.
Not sure of more southern based folks, although Richard Kitchen at Southways (Southampton ish I believe) has a good reputation and owns an S (2.8) and is a thoroughly nice bloke too.
I'm heading there soon but luckily he's just a mile down the road from me.
Not sure of more southern based folks, although Richard Kitchen at Southways (Southampton ish I believe) has a good reputation and owns an S (2.8) and is a thoroughly nice bloke too.
Classic Chim said:
I'm surprised your using CUX on that lovely motor. Get rid and install something far more reliable,,, like MBE 
While it most certainly isn't the most efficient or up to date system, I think its important to make it clear there's actually fundamentally nothing wrong with the 14CUX & distributor and if everything is working correctly the car will run very well indeed. It's always worth reminding ourselves TVR wouldn't have sold many Chimaeras or Griffiths back in the day if they ran like ship from the factory, these weren't inexpensive cars in their day and while it was always a left field performance car choice buyers still expected them to drive and run properly.I've been watching the forum comments on Chimaera & Griffith running issues for the last couple of years, following the emergence of the Rover Gauge there seems to be an over enthusiasm to miss out all the first base checks we should be making in favor of reaching straight for the laptop. This reminds me of what happened in the early 1990's, as soon as diagnostic ports started to become available lots of ignorant professionals assumed they could locate problems by simply plugging in
Lets be 100% clear here.... code readers, laptops and software don't fix running problems, such issues can only be resolved by a good mechanic skilled in traditional engine diagnostics. Code readers can be a useful tool further down the line but that's all they are, a useful tool.
Before people reach for their laptops or pay a professional with 14CUX tuning experience to look at their car, they should do what any good traditional mechanic would do, start with the basics! A traditional old school pre fuel injection/engine management type approach to diagnostics is where it should all start.
1. The use of a vacuum gauge can tell you many things about engine condition
2. A compression test helps further and confirms any anomalies you may have observed during your vacuum gauge tests
3. Check & adjust ignition timing
4. Conduct a full appraisal of the entire ignition system replacing any suspect components (HT leads, plug extenders ect ect)
5. Identify and eliminate all vacuum leaks - vac leaks are very common on these cars, for example the factory PCV system is already a poorly managed vacuum leak and if you think about it the idle valve (stepper motor) is just an ECU managed vacuum leak too
6. Check for an exhaust restriction (catalytic converter breakdown - I recommend complete removal irrespective of their condition)
7. Follow the factory base idle setting procedure
None of this is rocket science, it's just good old fashioned diagnostics and back to basics engine tuning, you will also notice none of the above involves plugging in a laptop or opening up Rover Gauge. In 98% of all cases if the seven steps are followed you won't even need to open Rover Gauge anyway, because you would have made the car run beautifully.... just as it did when it left the factory
Put your laptops and Rover Gauge away chaps, start with your basic fundamental engine function and ignition system health checks first
Trial and error is usually the way. You've got an air flow meter, throttle pot, stepper motor, rotor, cap, coil, dizzy sensor, amp and plug extenders, plus a load of other sensors and bits attached to a 20 year old wiring loom.
Another joolz fan here - got my Griff running right after he instantly diagnosed a duff air flow meter that two local 'specialists' couldn't spot. He also set the timing to where it should be, rather than relying on the random and wrong timing marks that the previous specialists had set it to. That and swapping in a used genuine meter that cost £50 sorted it. He can also remap the Lucas - definitely worth considering.
I went back to him again and he's fitted the emerald system as despite the car running pretty good I had a couple of non-ignition 'moments' that frankly scared the crap out of me - possibly duff wiring, possibly not. Best money I've spent - smoother running, new loom, vastly reduced parts count.
As above, no substitute for solid old school fault finding and checking the base idle but it is literally needles in a haystack with the Lucas system as there's so many different bits to it - it's a clever system but complex - compound that with the chinese replacement parts that can cause more problems than they solve and it can get expensive.
Another joolz fan here - got my Griff running right after he instantly diagnosed a duff air flow meter that two local 'specialists' couldn't spot. He also set the timing to where it should be, rather than relying on the random and wrong timing marks that the previous specialists had set it to. That and swapping in a used genuine meter that cost £50 sorted it. He can also remap the Lucas - definitely worth considering.
I went back to him again and he's fitted the emerald system as despite the car running pretty good I had a couple of non-ignition 'moments' that frankly scared the crap out of me - possibly duff wiring, possibly not. Best money I've spent - smoother running, new loom, vastly reduced parts count.
As above, no substitute for solid old school fault finding and checking the base idle but it is literally needles in a haystack with the Lucas system as there's so many different bits to it - it's a clever system but complex - compound that with the chinese replacement parts that can cause more problems than they solve and it can get expensive.
ChimpOnGas said:
....Put your laptops and Rover Gauge away chaps, start with your basic fundamental engine function and ignition system health checks first
I'm afraid I usually plug in the RoverGauge first now because I've found it can very quickly eliminate any fault caused by one of the sensors. Before I got the RG I always worked through problems in a methodical sequence and usually got there in the end but one issue really converted me. I spent weeks and weeks trying to solve an issue eventually tracking the problem(s) down to a faulty permanent live feed to the ECU and a tune resistor issue (faulty connector as it turned out). The RG would have thrown up error codes which would have helped me find these faults much, much more quickly. On getting the car out for its first run this year there was a misfire. RG showed no error codes so it had to be something not ECU related. Turned out to be a burnt HT lead. Yes, I would have found that just as quickly by going the T&E route first but the RG check only took 5 minutes to hook up and so I knew the HT lead was likely to be the only problem and so I stopped looking after I found it.
Horses for courses.
Most garage mechanics use a T&E method, it's just they have the experience to know where to start the process depending on the problem. Where T&E gets a bad name is when less reputable places just swap out parts until the problem appears to go away and then charge for replacing perfectly good parts.
The number of wiring faults I've come across while working on Wendy - 4CU system - which range from cooked wires, broken connections and split insulation. I've decided to replace the lot with Megasquirt.
New loom, sensors and programmable. Budget around £1,200. Although it can be done a lot cheaper.
New loom, sensors and programmable. Budget around £1,200. Although it can be done a lot cheaper.
Gassing Station | S Series | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff