New 350i owner

New 350i owner

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ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
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phantom wedge said:
Hi Ralph where in Surrey are you,Im in Shepperton,it would be nice to see another Wedge local,Crawford.
Hi Phantom
Yeah your not to far from me, i am in Purley, Surrey and would be more than happy to meet up when the car is sorted
thumbup

Cheers

Ralph

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
quotequote all
Evening Guys
Upon a little more investigation i found this block connector, any ideas what its for please



Regards


Ralph

combine

3,114 posts

228 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
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ralph350i said:
Evening guys
well after a hard day the car bit back with a rounded starter motor bolt which stopped me installing a new one, however i took a chance and replaced the soleinoid and it works but is cranking slowly and the earth wire was getting warm ( see my question regarding this), so just need to sort out a new battery and we should be ready to find out what is causing the non starting, i have a few question i hope you guys can answer for me, sorry but new to TVR's

Earth leads at back of engine block
Is it correct that they are mounted on top of the engine lift brackets? or should they be directly fitted to the heads as i feel the earthing is bad.

Down to the right of the dzzy is a hole in the head which has a thread, any ideas on what this is please

Dials
i have no fuel gauge or any gauges working when the ignition is on??? could this be poor earthing???

Start procedure
Is there one on cold start or should it be twist and go???

Many thanks for you help and here a couple of photo's of the car, hope you like






Edited by ralph350i on Sunday 29th January 19:43
Looks a very nice looking wedge , nice colour - micra red ?

mrzigazaga

18,534 posts

164 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
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Sheesh is that a scotch lock i can see there...eek

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
quotequote all
combine said:
ralph350i said:
Evening guys
well after a hard day the car bit back with a rounded starter motor bolt which stopped me installing a new one, however i took a chance and replaced the soleinoid and it works but is cranking slowly and the earth wire was getting warm ( see my question regarding this), so just need to sort out a new battery and we should be ready to find out what is causing the non starting, i have a few question i hope you guys can answer for me, sorry but new to TVR's

Earth leads at back of engine block
Is it correct that they are mounted on top of the engine lift brackets? or should they be directly fitted to the heads as i feel the earthing is bad.

Down to the right of the dzzy is a hole in the head which has a thread, any ideas on what this is please

Dials
i have no fuel gauge or any gauges working when the ignition is on??? could this be poor earthing???

Start procedure
Is there one on cold start or should it be twist and go???

Many thanks for you help and here a couple of photo's of the car, hope you like






Edited by ralph350i on Sunday 29th January 19:43
Looks a very nice looking wedge , nice colour - micra red ?
Cheers conbine, not sure on the colour names, but it is a deep met red

Cheers

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
quotequote all
mrzigazaga said:
Sheesh is that a scotch lock i can see there...eek
Hi Ziga
Yeah there everywhereredface i have 2 wires under the steering colum that have these connectors and the wires are just left hanging and not connected?????? so only god knows what they are, i am starting to think ( not blaming you Ian) that i may have to take the car to Elmwood Tvr to have it rewired or looked at, as at the monment am finding it hard to make any sense of what has been done correctly and what has been not, the engine loom and efi i can sort, but these internal wires are bloody live and am worried, never mind hopefully i,ll get it sorted asap as really want this car to run.

Cheers

maston

872 posts

151 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
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Ralph,

The red wire that has been cut and is dangling by the steering column was like that when I bought it so that will not affect the running. The multiplug/scotch connection you circled was already disconnected too (I remember noticing that when I looked at the ecu) so that should not make a difference. I'm pretty sure it is for an alarm that was connected at some point prior to me ownership.
To help you too mate I know my mechanic altered the mixture screw on the air flow meter so that will need resetting.
I know you will get it running mate. smile
Ian


maston

872 posts

151 months

Tuesday 31st January 2012
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I'll also look for the dizzy bracket, I think it is in the boot of my beamer smile


ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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maston said:
Ralph,

The red wire that has been cut and is dangling by the steering column was like that when I bought it so that will not affect the running. The multiplug/scotch connection you circled was already disconnected too (I remember noticing that when I looked at the ecu) so that should not make a difference. I'm pretty sure it is for an alarm that was connected at some point prior to me ownership.
To help you too mate I know my mechanic altered the mixture screw on the air flow meter so that will need resetting.
I know you will get it running mate. smile
Ian
Hi Ian
Thats a great help and many thanks hope the 390 back soon matethumbup

cheers

ralph

honestjohntoo

576 posts

215 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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ralph350i said:
2 wires under the steering column that have these connectors and the wires are just left hanging and not connected

these internal wires are bloody live and am worried
Red wires and scotch-lock connectors suggest an aftermarket alarm/immobilizer has been removed.

If the car is not affected by these loose wires, then either

1 tape up the bare ends and tuck the wires up out of the the way.

or

2 trace them back to where they have been grafted into the loom and/or fuse-box, undo them or cut them off and forget.

Best to disconnect the battery before surgery.

If and when you decide to have an alarm/immobilizer refitted then the tekky who does that will start afresh. No need to worry!

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Saturday 4th February 2012
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Well another bloody cold day without any joymad
So i found that the excisting battery was u/s, so took the one off my transit and started testing, i have 12v at injectors, coil, dizzy, ingition module and ecu, fuel is being pumped, spark plugs are firing but look weak, so god knows, the only thing i cant do is adjust the distributor as am on my own when trying to start the car, which is a problem, the car is still killing the battery very quickly, which i put down to the starter motor, so i think i,ll just replace and i am not getting to much output out of the cold start injector, but i think thats a wiring issue, never mind back to the drawing board.

Wedg1e

26,760 posts

264 months

Saturday 4th February 2012
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Don't worry about the cold start injector, most V8s will fire up quie happily without it (and if you have another fuelling issue it can make things worse).

You certainly do need a fat spark, not least because the ECU uses the ignition amp output to the coil to tell it when to fire the injectors. If the amp is dying (or the coil is shot) it can lower the pulse amplitude to the point where the ECU can't see it.

I'd pull the plugs out and see if they're wet. If they are, the injectors are probably firing OK but maybe the sparks aren't strong enough.
If the plugs are dry and the CSI isn't doing much then the injectors aren't firing and it'll never start. You could tip a capful of petrol into the plenum chamber and see if that kicks it off even for a few seconds - that'll prove the sparks are doing something, and maybe you have an ECU fault.
Have you checked to see if there's a bullet connector somewhere around the airfilter, in the (White/Black) wire from the ignition amp to the injection loom? That can corrode or get pulled off accidentally, stopping the ECU from seeing the trigger pulses. You could chop it out anyway and solder the wire ends together, that removes one point of unreliability.

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Saturday 4th February 2012
quotequote all
Wedg1e said:
Don't worry about the cold start injector, most V8s will fire up quie happily without it (and if you have another fuelling issue it can make things worse).

You certainly do need a fat spark, not least because the ECU uses the ignition amp output to the coil to tell it when to fire the injectors. If the amp is dying (or the coil is shot) it can lower the pulse amplitude to the point where the ECU can't see it.

I'd pull the plugs out and see if they're wet. If they are, the injectors are probably firing OK but maybe the sparks aren't strong enough.
If the plugs are dry and the CSI isn't doing much then the injectors aren't firing and it'll never start. You could tip a capful of petrol into the plenum chamber and see if that kicks it off even for a few seconds - that'll prove the sparks are doing something, and maybe you have an ECU fault.
Have you checked to see if there's a bullet connector somewhere around the airfilter, in the (White/Black) wire from the ignition amp to the injection loom? That can corrode or get pulled off accidentally, stopping the ECU from seeing the trigger pulses. You could chop it out anyway and solder the wire ends together, that removes one point of unreliability.
Cheers Wedg1e
I,ll check again mate, was gonna get a can of easy start this morning, but got side tracked with another car lol as i needed a daily runner, the air flow metre did back fire, so am asuming the timing is well out, but as i say i cant complete 2 tasks at once, so i,ll have to get a mate around to help

Many Thanks

Ralph


Wedg1e

26,760 posts

264 months

Sunday 5th February 2012
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ralph350i said:
Cheers Wedg1e
I,ll check again mate, was gonna get a can of easy start this morning, but got side tracked with another car lol as i needed a daily runner, the air flow metre did back fire, so am asuming the timing is well out, but as i say i cant complete 2 tasks at once, so i,ll have to get a mate around to help

Many Thanks

Ralph
Ah well, a V8 classic is to have the crank 180 degrees out when installing the distributor...

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
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Small update Guys
I have booked a guy to come and help me on the 18th as he reacons he can sort the EFI problem if thats it, well we will see, fingers crossed, i may get to drive my wedge for the first time hopefullybounce

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Saturday 11th February 2012
quotequote all
Right at last we have some progress, but still not starting
So after 4 bloody cold hours i managed with my clarkes drimel to grind of the bolt for the starter and fit the new one which has made a massive difference to the cranking, this was also help by the £100.00 72AH Bosch battery i brought this morning, ITS A MONSTER LOL

So after testing for spark which was good, out came the easy start which produced massive back firing, so am think the timing is way out, so i may re-time the engine in the morning if i dont have to go to work, as i cant be far off starting the bloody thing headache



Thanks

Edited by ralph350i on Saturday 11th February 21:58


Edited by ralph350i on Saturday 11th February 21:58

Mike Brewer

612 posts

235 months

Sunday 12th February 2012
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Good on you .Hope you have it started soon .As you said cold....Cheers Mike

The Hatter

988 posts

169 months

Sunday 12th February 2012
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It's been said before but it sounds like your timing might be 180 Deg out, I've known professional engine builders do this...

You could lift the RH rocker cover and turn the engine over by hand to confirm which cylinder the valves are closed, then check the rotor arm position to confirm the rotor arm is delivering the spark to the correct cylinder.

Good luck!

ralph350i

Original Poster:

791 posts

146 months

Sunday 12th February 2012
quotequote all
The Hatter said:
It's been said before but it sounds like your timing might be 180 Deg out, I've known professional engine builders do this...

You could lift the RH rocker cover and turn the engine over by hand to confirm which cylinder the valves are closed, then check the rotor arm position to confirm the rotor arm is delivering the spark to the correct cylinder.

Good luck!
Morning Hatter
i think your right, am going to try and re-set the timing this morning, bare with me i am not a mechinic, so i could be wrong, but if i remove the distributor and set cylinder 1 to TDC and then re install the distributor back the rotor arm facing lead 1, i think that should do the trick????

The Hatter

988 posts

169 months

Sunday 12th February 2012
quotequote all
Not necessarily, no. At TDC cylinder 1 is either rocking it's valves from exhaust open to intake open or it's holding both valves shut for compression/combustion. This is always the case for a four stroke engine; suck/squeeze/bang/blow and all that. If the engine is timed 180 Deg out (on the camshaft, which only turns 180 Deg per 360 Deg rotation of the crank) then you're trying to ignite fuel with the valves open, hence the backfire. I hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs!

That's why you need to know the valve positions, and the reason for removing the rocker cover. It's actually easier to observe when the valves are rocking from exhaust to intake; you can then rotate the crank 1 revolution to get the firing position.