New Tuscan owner saga, part deux

[Nenad]

Those of you having read my previous entry - you know what to expect. For the newcomers, this is a neverending story of being mildly irritated, not to say royally p....d off, with some of Tuscan's 'peculiarities'.

Having arrived in Sweden with thoroughly wet shoes (courtesy of an anonymous TVR factory employee, specialising in making sure the Tuscan's doors are anything but waterproof), I cheerfully removed the dash pod in order to comply with the fascist Swedish authorities requiring a km/h speedo and fix a foil over the current speedo plate. Not much involved in that minor operation, is there? just unscrew it, remove the odd electric contact here and there and Bob's your uncle. Right?

WRONG!

Ever since I've been plagued by the tvr gremlins. Fault code E anyone? Fault code A? Frost warning? FROST WARNING??? OK, this may be Sweden, but in June? The Oil PSI has been erratic, anywhere from 0 to 80, regardless of the engine temp and the RPMs. Have removed the pod more times than I'd like to remember. And do I get any credit for that? NO! This morning, on my way to the Swedish MOT, the speedo just didn't want to be a team player any more. Dropped to zero and below. And stayed there. Until I decided to take the car home instead, upon which it suddenly started working.

Yes, the car did pass the MOT, but more thanks to a very understanding technician than anything else.

So, here's the question - and ideally I'd like to have the name and address of the sorry geek that was in charge of designing the Tuscan electronics, but I'm sure that anyone giving me that information, and me acting upon it, would be liable to prosecution - what can you do with this f.....g piece of s...t, i.e. the dash pod? I've removed and replaced each contact, sprayed all of them with electronic cleaner to make sure all contacts are OK. Anything else I've missed? Like praying?

I know, it's all electronic and doesn't really affect the mechanics (thank god for that), but it just p....s me off not having decent readings on the dash. So, any suggestions are truly appreciated.

yours in commiseration etc

[softtop]

2/10 for not many real swear words.

[Tuscanuwe]

Send to cath for overhaul, then it works fine
(use search function)
-or sell your TRV and buy a mass product-
A Lotus or even a old porsche can be more painful and/or expensive

you have to live with some niggles or you fix it(its possible to do),
but pls do not cry like a baby.

this is tvr world

Uwe

And you must know:
rain is not the best friend of an TVR!

[dvs_dave]

So you've taken apart and re-assembled the pod without really knowing what you were doing, and now that it's playing silly buggers, it's TVR's fault?

[BliarOut]

dvs_dave said:

So you've taken apart and re-assembled the pod without really knowing what you were doing, and now that it's playing silly buggers, it's TVR's fault?

I can remember when PH was helpful, not judgemental.

[MrChips]

BliarOut said:

I can remember when PH was helpful, not judgemental.

To be fair though, the OP has come on here, insulting the original designers/builders, calling his own car a piece of st, and generally just seems to want to moan.

OP, my advice is that there is plenty of people on here willing to help out, and listen to others problems and advise if they can. However they do this out of their own time/knowledge. Remember that many on here may well have been involved with the factory when it was still going and so insulting the brand won't get you anywhere!
Yes, many cars have faults, and TVR is no exception. The fact that you're getting multiple issues/errors all at once would indicate it's a common earth connection problem, rather than the massive conspiracy theory that the whole thing is a bodge job.

Don't get me wrong... i'm not one of these people who will say "Oh well, you need to expect these things, and accept them" just that there's much better ways of going about solving them.

Have a chat with some dealers, or get someone that is reasonably happy dealing with electrics. It's not a massively complicated car, but it will frustrate any amateur DIY mechanic... myself included!

I hope you get it resolved and start to enjoy the car, and that in 6 months time when you're still looking back at the car everytime you park up and walk away, that you'll look upon these issues with a bit more perspective.

[m3jappa]

I think hes trying to say it in jest (if thats the right word) i.e moaning but in a 'well its a tvr' sort of way.

I know when i try and open a window or open a door and it takes a couple of attempts i laugh I still laugh out loud to myself just thinking about how i took my mate out when i first got it and floored it and we were greeted with the dash flying towards us

Its not a brand new 80k german barge so it comes with the territory imo.

[truck71]

OP, I've had similar issues with mine. Dash pod kept failing/ crazing, indicators would be erratic in their function, power steering relay failed, boot solenoid failed, oil pressure sender went bananas. However all are curable- e-mail Jason at Str8six and he will likely give you some very helpful advice- not a lot he won't have heard of before. He's methodically worked through mine- it was always an intrinsically sound car but now with the gremlins fixed. Yours is likely to be the same, stick with it because the results deliver a fantastic motoring experience. Not many cars would drag you out of bed at 430am just to drive for the hell of it like mine did this morning. Good luck.

[Nenad]

if i have offended anyone with my foul language and scathing remarks about a british icon, i am truly sorry. that was certainly not my intention. in defence i can only say that i was going through a tough time in my life and was suffering from post-traumatic stress at the time of writing, having just experienced the swedish mot test.

to those of you that have kindly offered actual advice (yes, i am leaning myself towards a single intermittent earth connection fault in the pod, just need to find it), or understood the not-so-serious undercurrent in my posting, thank you. i find it easier to handle problems if i can jest about them.

as for doing what i shouldn’t be doing if i do not know what i’m doing – i do. know what i’m doing, that is, as otherwise i wouldn’t be doing what i’m doing when i’m doing it.

ps
trying to be as quiet as possible in my reply so as not to offend anyone else.

[nawarne]

Nenad said:

if i have offended anyone with my foul language and scathing remarks about a british icon, i am truly sorry. that was certainly not my intention. in defence i can only say that i was going through a tough time in my life and was suffering from post-traumatic stress at the time of writing, having just experienced the swedish mot test.

to those of you that have kindly offered actual advice (yes, i am leaning myself towards a single intermittent earth connection fault in the pod, just need to find it), or understood the not-so-serious undercurrent in my posting, thank you. i find it easier to handle problems if i can jest about them.

as for doing what i shouldn’t be doing if i do not know what i’m doing – i do. know what i’m doing, that is, as otherwise i wouldn’t be doing what i’m doing when i’m doing it.

ps
trying to be as quiet as possible in my reply so as not to offend anyone else.

Hey - don't worry too much - I guess we all can get out of bed the wrong side some days.
And - this forum tends to attract a lot of pedants.

Probably agree with the poster with regards to the dis-assembly of the pod display. I haven't tackled that yet (to cure flickering speedo lights around the 170 - 200 mph position) but I will take advice.

With regard to your wet footwells, I've just changed the door seal on my '04 'S' and this has improved the situation no end. The passenger side window was particulary bad - it's now just like a duck's bottom - tight!! I got the seal from RaceTech direct - and found it to be superior to the 'Woolies' equivalent often touted on this forum as being suitable.

Enjoy - once the niggles are sorted, you'll love it.
Nick

[Cockey]

The people who have taken the post the wrong way must've missed the first thread he started.

Anyway, had me laughing