Fuel gauge and battery heating

[tony19locke]

Help had my chimy about 3 month having a TVR is great but i bought the car to drive not work on, the fuel gauge has power to it but it moves about 3mm towards the E from Full when empty new sender fitted by main dealer still no better also sometimes when i have been driving the car switch off go to start it again, it turns over like the battery is flat once it does start it ok again. mines an early 93. Been out this weekend and the temp gauges reads 95 is this normal as yet the car has not over heated but im dreading getting stuck in a traffic jam

Tony

[tahiti450]

Hi Tony. Sorry to hear your frustrations... Some (hopefully) helpful tips:

1) Fuel gauge: If the sender is new and therefore unlikely to be the problem, that would suggest that there is a problem with the gauge ( possibly a mechanical problem such as a sticking mechanism, also need ot confirm electrical continuity in the relevant circuits.

2) Starter: see recent thread "Is my starter about to call it quits?". Seems likley to be the commmon hot start problem, which may well respond to a low cost improvement to the wiring rather than replacing the starter.

3) Water temp: Are / is the fans / fan, cutting in (should be at around 85-90 tops).
((Sorry you've already said its a '93)) If its a later car with twin fans, then provided the rad isnt blocked, [either externally (check its not clogged with gubbins) or internally (not so easy to check), that the fins aren't disintegrating, system full, thermostat operating and correct heat value, correct fan switch closing temp etc] then temps shouldn't really rise above 90'ish at any time.
If its an earlier car with single fan then these can be prone to overheating through inability to dump heat quickly enough. There are various modifications that go some way towards dealing with this , such as a manual fan override switch. Obviously all the other considerations still apply equally. These cars' cooling capacity is marginal in high ambient temps, I believe conversion to the twin fan set up is relatively straight forward - for the ultimate solution. Also the use of an uprated rad (with more rows of fins / waterways, 3 instead of 2, I think) however, when stationary or crawling the fan's rating will still have a major impact on the ability to get rid of heat.

Should be something to be getting on with, or have all these things been checked already?


>> Edited by tahiti450 on Sunday 8th August 20:05

>> Edited by Big Al. on Sunday 8th August 20:39

[chris43]

I thought all Chimaera's had two fans!
mines a 1993 and has two or is this a mod?

[david beer]

Big Al
you have edited this, does the guy know why ? Im sure it was just purely a spelling mistake.

[tahiti450]

david beer said:

Big Al you have edited this, does the guy know why ? Im sure it was just purely a spelling mistake.

yes, please elucidate, what did I get wrong / mistype??...
Alan.