Resurrecting an unloved S1.5
Discussion
Hello all,
I have just bought my first TVR. A bright red S1.5 which I still have not had the pleasure of driving.
It has been unused for the best part of 18 months and I am trying to get it through its MOT.
In the cars previous life it has been fully serviced by a TVR main dealer but the last owner bought it and left it in his garage unused.
I am having problems with getting the engine to run correctly. I had to get a new fuel pump and an electrician checked over the system to ensure the correct supply was getting to the right place. The car will start easily and idle nicely but when the accelerator is depressed, the car struggles to get up to 2500 revs unless you wind it up really slowly. It won't go over 2500 revs without dying.
The plugs are really black and dry and the car backfires at when trying to increase the revs. The HT leads look new and the rotor looks fine. I have put in 3 gallons of fresh fuel on top of the 18 month old 1 gallon. The fuel pump works and is sending fuel at a good pressure.
Is this a problem with the fuel management system or does anyone have any other ideas? I am wary of the electrician diagnosis. It seems that the engine is not being told to send more fuel when it needs it.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
I have just bought my first TVR. A bright red S1.5 which I still have not had the pleasure of driving.
It has been unused for the best part of 18 months and I am trying to get it through its MOT.
In the cars previous life it has been fully serviced by a TVR main dealer but the last owner bought it and left it in his garage unused.
I am having problems with getting the engine to run correctly. I had to get a new fuel pump and an electrician checked over the system to ensure the correct supply was getting to the right place. The car will start easily and idle nicely but when the accelerator is depressed, the car struggles to get up to 2500 revs unless you wind it up really slowly. It won't go over 2500 revs without dying.
The plugs are really black and dry and the car backfires at when trying to increase the revs. The HT leads look new and the rotor looks fine. I have put in 3 gallons of fresh fuel on top of the 18 month old 1 gallon. The fuel pump works and is sending fuel at a good pressure.
Is this a problem with the fuel management system or does anyone have any other ideas? I am wary of the electrician diagnosis. It seems that the engine is not being told to send more fuel when it needs it.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
quote:
Hello all,
I have just bought my first TVR. A bright red S1.5 which I still have not had the pleasure of driving.
It has been unused for the best part of 18 months and I am trying to get it through its MOT.
In the cars previous life it has been fully serviced by a TVR main dealer but the last owner bought it and left it in his garage unused.
I am having problems with getting the engine to run correctly. I had to get a new fuel pump and an electrician checked over the system to ensure the correct supply was getting to the right place. The car will start easily and idle nicely but when the accelerator is depressed, the car struggles to get up to 2500 revs unless you wind it up really slowly. It won't go over 2500 revs without dying.
The plugs are really black and dry and the car backfires at when trying to increase the revs. The HT leads look new and the rotor looks fine. I have put in 3 gallons of fresh fuel on top of the 18 month old 1 gallon. The fuel pump works and is sending fuel at a good pressure.
Is this a problem with the fuel management system or does anyone have any other ideas? I am wary of the electrician diagnosis. It seems that the engine is not being told to send more fuel when it needs it.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Cheers.
Electrical problem would be favorite if it's been left standing. I'd get a colourtune kit which will probably confirm it's running lean when you try to rev it. In which case, check the operation of the throttle pot and air flow meters to see if they're giving reasonable signals as you open the throttle. If that doesn't show a duff sensor, I'd think about checking the fuel pressure and take it from there.
BTW depending how mechnically minded you are, consider geting a mobile mechanic to come out and sort it. It sounds like a fairly straightforward problem.
Hope this helps,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
I am still having problems with my S1.5. The car is now in a garage and the guy there reckons that I have to replace both my Air Flow Meter Assemblies. I have read the 'bible' and it states that for the symptoms I am experiencing ie revs up to 2500 rpm the dies for 3-5 seconds before cutting in again, that it is a Throttle Pot problem. Steve Heath does not mention that it is the Air Flow Meters. A pot is a bucket load cheaper than the meters and I don't want to spend money on something that will not cure the problem. Anyone got any ideas?
This is difficult. The throttle pot is a known weakness but it could be a lot of other problems as well including the air flow meters. The air flow meters are expensive and I would ask the question why does the garage think they are faulty.
They can be tested and should even come up on the diagnostics.
You don't say which garage you have used but if they have little experience with these cars, they could be guessing!
Steve
They can be tested and should even come up on the diagnostics.
You don't say which garage you have used but if they have little experience with these cars, they could be guessing!
Steve
Well guess what!! I managed to get a pair of secondhand Air Flow Meters, fitted them and the problem is exactly the same. I read the resistance across the Throttle Pot and it was 3 KOhms across B and C. I then read across A and B and it read smoothly from zero up to 3.7 KOhms. I have also tried another pot from a wrecked car at the garage my car is in and the symptoms were the same.
My plan of action tomorrow is to try the little diagnostic box I bought from Halfords and if I have no joy then I will book it into a Ford main dealer. The garage my car is in is not experienced with TVR's but surely Ford Cologne 2.9 V6's are the same in a TVR as they are in a Granada?
Are S's always this frustrating?
My plan of action tomorrow is to try the little diagnostic box I bought from Halfords and if I have no joy then I will book it into a Ford main dealer. The garage my car is in is not experienced with TVR's but surely Ford Cologne 2.9 V6's are the same in a TVR as they are in a Granada?
Are S's always this frustrating?
I've got this problem on mine as well. If you slowly press the throttle it will rise ok but if you dab it it dies a bit before reving up. Having replaced the throttle pot ( with the gold contacts) as you have found the problem still persists. This problem will be found on a rolling road.
A bit of advice on this matter would consist of me saying forget about it for now, and concentrate on all the other things first. I assume you need to check all the chassis, suspension, electrics, roof, and everything else thats needs looking at after the car has been layed up for so long.
If you give us a run down of what you need to do to the car we can put your mind at rest on the throttle problem until you go on a rolling road for a complete tune up, but don't do this until you know all is ok first.
You will find that all the other work will affect the cars running as you correct any minor faults. the ideal thing for you to do would be for someone to have a look at the car who knows what they are doing to advise you on you course of action.
Let us all know how you intend to proceed.
gadgit.
A bit of advice on this matter would consist of me saying forget about it for now, and concentrate on all the other things first. I assume you need to check all the chassis, suspension, electrics, roof, and everything else thats needs looking at after the car has been layed up for so long.
If you give us a run down of what you need to do to the car we can put your mind at rest on the throttle problem until you go on a rolling road for a complete tune up, but don't do this until you know all is ok first.
You will find that all the other work will affect the cars running as you correct any minor faults. the ideal thing for you to do would be for someone to have a look at the car who knows what they are doing to advise you on you course of action.
Let us all know how you intend to proceed.
gadgit.
Thanks to all of you for your advice.
I brought my car back home on Friday (on he back of a lorry) and after a very long weekend under my bonnet I have fixed my problem.
I used a fault finder (£19 from Halfords) and it showed 3 faults - low voltages on the Throttle Pot and both Air Flow Meters. I had already changed the Meters so I changed the Pot and added the gold connector. The problem remained so I took to trying to decipher the wiring diagrams to see a common link between the three items. Hey presto, the Brown and Black wire is common to the three and meets at the ECU on pin 26. I had an open circuit between all three wires. On further investigation I found that the wires, starting at all three plugs, all the way to about 2 cm's from pin 26 were totally corroded as if they had been soaked in a bucket of water for a few years. I can't see capilliary action working over that distance on just them 3 wires. All the other wiring is sound. I reckon it was a duff batch of wire. Anyway the engine roared into life and I managed to take the car for it's first spin in a long while.
Now the work starts! As the car warmed up it got harder to get into gear and the clutch seemed to stay engaged even with the pedal right down. The brakes are not as powerful as you would expect. Other than that I need to replace the front roof tabs, start to clean up and preserve the chassis, replace all the rusty jubilee clips, re-upholster the drivers seat base as the car has obviously got wet and the underside of the seat has rusted and collapsed. I need to get the engined tuned as it pops a bit and falters slightly initially when you accelerate.
Thats all that I have found this weekend, can't wait until next weekend!
Oh yes, the stereo doesn't work.
I brought my car back home on Friday (on he back of a lorry) and after a very long weekend under my bonnet I have fixed my problem.
I used a fault finder (£19 from Halfords) and it showed 3 faults - low voltages on the Throttle Pot and both Air Flow Meters. I had already changed the Meters so I changed the Pot and added the gold connector. The problem remained so I took to trying to decipher the wiring diagrams to see a common link between the three items. Hey presto, the Brown and Black wire is common to the three and meets at the ECU on pin 26. I had an open circuit between all three wires. On further investigation I found that the wires, starting at all three plugs, all the way to about 2 cm's from pin 26 were totally corroded as if they had been soaked in a bucket of water for a few years. I can't see capilliary action working over that distance on just them 3 wires. All the other wiring is sound. I reckon it was a duff batch of wire. Anyway the engine roared into life and I managed to take the car for it's first spin in a long while.
Now the work starts! As the car warmed up it got harder to get into gear and the clutch seemed to stay engaged even with the pedal right down. The brakes are not as powerful as you would expect. Other than that I need to replace the front roof tabs, start to clean up and preserve the chassis, replace all the rusty jubilee clips, re-upholster the drivers seat base as the car has obviously got wet and the underside of the seat has rusted and collapsed. I need to get the engined tuned as it pops a bit and falters slightly initially when you accelerate.
Thats all that I have found this weekend, can't wait until next weekend!
Oh yes, the stereo doesn't work.
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