Flat battery - yet more help please....
Discussion
Had this problem last week, its that relay that you have fitted....
When you turn the car off the circuit still stays open.
Pop down to your official tvr garage and get a TVR approved relay.
Also anither tell sign is that when the engine is cold the car will try to cut out when idling.
Hope this helps.
When you turn the car off the circuit still stays open.
Pop down to your official tvr garage and get a TVR approved relay.
Also anither tell sign is that when the engine is cold the car will try to cut out when idling.
Hope this helps.
If it's not the relay (which is something you've changed recently, thus could well be the cause IYKWIM), then it could be the battery. Have you ever changed the battery, if not for 60odd pounds it's worth getting a new one now. It'll only play up even more come the winter.
I'd consider getting an electric line to the garage so you can trickle charge the car whenever it's not in use.
T/.
I'd consider getting an electric line to the garage so you can trickle charge the car whenever it's not in use.
T/.
Thanks Guys
Bling - good point. Hadn't considered the poss of the relay being the source of the drain. Stupid really as, as you say, the relay is the only thing that's changed and the problems occured since. I didn't realise a relay could stay open !!
Tref - I'll try a new TVR relay first (d'ohhh - there was me thinking I'd saved a few quid) and maybe a battery later.
Ahhhh - TVR's - don't you just love 'em !!!!
Dex
>> Edited by dexdringle on Monday 9th September 14:54
Bling - good point. Hadn't considered the poss of the relay being the source of the drain. Stupid really as, as you say, the relay is the only thing that's changed and the problems occured since. I didn't realise a relay could stay open !!
Tref - I'll try a new TVR relay first (d'ohhh - there was me thinking I'd saved a few quid) and maybe a battery later.
Ahhhh - TVR's - don't you just love 'em !!!!
Dex
>> Edited by dexdringle on Monday 9th September 14:54
Definitely recommend you get a battery conditioner. It's not a full-blown charger or even trickle charger, but just sits plugged into cig socket and puts in a few milliamps when needed. Mine's an Airflow.
Eventually of course your battery will die, conditioner or not. When it does, call out the AA and bribe the nice man to change the battery for you. Worked for me!
Eventually of course your battery will die, conditioner or not. When it does, call out the AA and bribe the nice man to change the battery for you. Worked for me!
Dex,
I think your car has a brother (aka my 5.0 tiv).
Every problem you've had, i've had also.
For the diff, i had mine replaced recently - at a cost of £585 + vat from TMS in the midlands. They operate on an exchange basis, but do a good job. Since i've had mine back i've had no noises.
there are several reasons for the noise
1 there is a crushable washer in the diff somewhere, and if this wears, can cause excessive backlash
2 oil worn
3 diff is knackered (which was my problem). Due to the power transfer everything wears at a great rate of knots.
There are 2 diff types. One is from a sierra cosworth i believe and the other is a Masarati diff (which is expensive, and yes, that ws the one i had. Apparantly the factory changed to the sierra diff on the 5.0 in 1998, but i'm not sure about the other chim's.
My advice, use it till it becomes unbearable
In terms of your battery problem, if you leave them for more than 2 weeks, the factory fitted alarm does drain enough power to flatten the battery (maybe it's worth fitting a trickle charger kit if you have a garage, just plug in and leave. (unless you have one already)
Also, i've had my alternator pack up on the M4 whilst trying to overtake an M3 (very embarrasing when you can't overtake and your engine packs up due to 0 power. Check the alternator is charging (could be on it's way out)
Alternatively, go to church and pray for the lottery
Hope this helps
Bandit
Also
I think your car has a brother (aka my 5.0 tiv).
Every problem you've had, i've had also.
For the diff, i had mine replaced recently - at a cost of £585 + vat from TMS in the midlands. They operate on an exchange basis, but do a good job. Since i've had mine back i've had no noises.
there are several reasons for the noise
1 there is a crushable washer in the diff somewhere, and if this wears, can cause excessive backlash
2 oil worn
3 diff is knackered (which was my problem). Due to the power transfer everything wears at a great rate of knots.
There are 2 diff types. One is from a sierra cosworth i believe and the other is a Masarati diff (which is expensive, and yes, that ws the one i had. Apparantly the factory changed to the sierra diff on the 5.0 in 1998, but i'm not sure about the other chim's.
My advice, use it till it becomes unbearable
In terms of your battery problem, if you leave them for more than 2 weeks, the factory fitted alarm does drain enough power to flatten the battery (maybe it's worth fitting a trickle charger kit if you have a garage, just plug in and leave. (unless you have one already)
Also, i've had my alternator pack up on the M4 whilst trying to overtake an M3 (very embarrasing when you can't overtake and your engine packs up due to 0 power. Check the alternator is charging (could be on it's way out)
Alternatively, go to church and pray for the lottery
Hope this helps
Bandit
Also
Dex,
I think your car has a brother (aka my 5.0 tiv).
Every problem you've had, i've had also.
For the diff, i had mine replaced recently - at a cost of £585 + vat from TMS in the midlands. They operate on an exchange basis, but do a good job. Since i've had mine back i've had no noises.
there are several reasons for the noise
1 there is a crushable washer in the diff somewhere, and if this wears, can cause excessive backlash
2 oil worn
3 diff is knackered (which was my problem). Due to the power transfer everything wears at a great rate of knots.
There are 2 diff types. One is from a sierra cosworth i believe and the other is a Masarati diff (which is expensive, and yes, that ws the one i had. Apparantly the factory changed to the sierra diff on the 5.0 in 1998, but i'm not sure about the other chim's.
My advice, use it till it becomes unbearable
In terms of your battery problem, if you leave them for more than 2 weeks, the factory fitted alarm does drain enough power to flatten the battery (maybe it's worth fitting a trickle charger kit if you have a garage, just plug in and leave. (unless you have one already)
Also, i've had my alternator pack up on the M4 whilst trying to overtake an M3 (very embarrasing when you can't overtake and your engine packs up due to 0 power. Check the alternator is charging (could be on it's way out)
Alternatively, go to church and pray for the lottery
Hope this helps
Bandit
Also
I think your car has a brother (aka my 5.0 tiv).
Every problem you've had, i've had also.
For the diff, i had mine replaced recently - at a cost of £585 + vat from TMS in the midlands. They operate on an exchange basis, but do a good job. Since i've had mine back i've had no noises.
there are several reasons for the noise
1 there is a crushable washer in the diff somewhere, and if this wears, can cause excessive backlash
2 oil worn
3 diff is knackered (which was my problem). Due to the power transfer everything wears at a great rate of knots.
There are 2 diff types. One is from a sierra cosworth i believe and the other is a Masarati diff (which is expensive, and yes, that ws the one i had. Apparantly the factory changed to the sierra diff on the 5.0 in 1998, but i'm not sure about the other chim's.
My advice, use it till it becomes unbearable
In terms of your battery problem, if you leave them for more than 2 weeks, the factory fitted alarm does drain enough power to flatten the battery (maybe it's worth fitting a trickle charger kit if you have a garage, just plug in and leave. (unless you have one already)
Also, i've had my alternator pack up on the M4 whilst trying to overtake an M3 (very embarrasing when you can't overtake and your engine packs up due to 0 power. Check the alternator is charging (could be on it's way out)
Alternatively, go to church and pray for the lottery
Hope this helps
Bandit
Also
I had an alternator go whilst overtaking someone on the M1 a couple of years ago. Once the new one was fitted the battery was still going flat - when checked it appeared as if the alternator was working OK. The problem turned out to be a fuse underneath the car - follow the lead from the alternator. It is in a small black plastic box. Mine had almost melted, the fuse was nearly broken and looking very sorry for its self. A new 100A fuse got everything back to normal.
I had an alternator go whilst overtaking someone on the M1 a couple of years ago. Once the new one was fitted the battery was still going flat - when checked it appeared as if the alternator was working OK. The problem turned out to be a fuse underneath the car - follow the lead from the alternator. It is in a small black plastic box. Mine had almost melted, the fuse was nearly broken and looking very sorry for its self. A new 100A fuse got everything back to normal.
I had to leave my TVR for nearly 3 weeks unattended and the battery did NOT go flat. Mind you, it was a new battery in January this year! If a battery goes flat in 2 weeks, I'd assume either some other current drain or a duff battery.
I had the same incident as dexdringle in replacing the relay as a quick fix and ended up with a flat battery! Didn't have to get one from TVR though. For everyone's reference, I got a replacement from an auto-electricians and a relay with the part no. SRB521 did the trick. (has to be an electronic one as an electro-mechanical one provides a current path when de-energised, as noted by bling).
Worth carrying one as a spare 'cos they're only about £7.
I had the same incident as dexdringle in replacing the relay as a quick fix and ended up with a flat battery! Didn't have to get one from TVR though. For everyone's reference, I got a replacement from an auto-electricians and a relay with the part no. SRB521 did the trick. (has to be an electronic one as an electro-mechanical one provides a current path when de-energised, as noted by bling).
Worth carrying one as a spare 'cos they're only about £7.
quote:Lucas SRB521 looks like one that Demon Tweeks do - part LMA799 for £3.05 (plus P&P) (Not on the online catalogue, only paper)
For everyone's reference, I got a replacement from an auto-electricians and a relay with the part no. SRB521 did the trick. (has to be an electronic one as an electro-mechanical one provides a current path when de-energised, as noted by bling).
Worth carrying one as a spare 'cos they're only about £7.
cheers,
Craig
Hello all,
I'm another "new boy" and I have had a flat battery problem this weekend.
In my passenger footwell just above the black kick plate at the end of the well is what appears to be a wingnut with a screw thread in the centre. This turns out to be a dead switch or circuit breaker for the battery. If the wingnut is horizontal the ignition etc comes on. If you turn it through 90% it cuts off all power. Turn it back to the horizontal and the imobiliser , ignition and fuel pump etc comes back on. You then have to de-activate the alarm system and she fires up!! I have a reasonable battery charger with the croc style connecters , but how would I fit it to charge the battery (The Battery is in an awkward location, im lead to believe)?
This is a great site and a wonderful find for us amateurs.
Regards
Steve
I'm another "new boy" and I have had a flat battery problem this weekend.
In my passenger footwell just above the black kick plate at the end of the well is what appears to be a wingnut with a screw thread in the centre. This turns out to be a dead switch or circuit breaker for the battery. If the wingnut is horizontal the ignition etc comes on. If you turn it through 90% it cuts off all power. Turn it back to the horizontal and the imobiliser , ignition and fuel pump etc comes back on. You then have to de-activate the alarm system and she fires up!! I have a reasonable battery charger with the croc style connecters , but how would I fit it to charge the battery (The Battery is in an awkward location, im lead to believe)?
This is a great site and a wonderful find for us amateurs.
Regards
Steve
This sound like an aftermarket add on. For other battery information goto www.tvrbooks.co.uk and download the Griff/Chimaera sample chapter.... which is all about the battery and charging.
steve
steve
SRB521 is the correct item (Lucas equivalent).
Here's the odd thing about EFI relays. On a normal relay, the centre terminal is the normally closed contact, marked 87a. However on an EFI relay the centre terminal is a normally open contact marked 87. So the EFI relay actually has two terminal 87 contacts.
If you fit an ordinary relay in a cat car in the fuel pump (blue base) position, then the Oxygen sensor heaters are powered while the engine is switched off!!! This is a drain of 2 Amps each which is plenty to kill your battery.
This is all assuming you have a cat car of course....
Additionally your mixture control will be pretty slow when the ignition is switched on.
>> Edited by Mark Adams on Sunday 25th August 14:35
Here's the odd thing about EFI relays. On a normal relay, the centre terminal is the normally closed contact, marked 87a. However on an EFI relay the centre terminal is a normally open contact marked 87. So the EFI relay actually has two terminal 87 contacts.
If you fit an ordinary relay in a cat car in the fuel pump (blue base) position, then the Oxygen sensor heaters are powered while the engine is switched off!!! This is a drain of 2 Amps each which is plenty to kill your battery.
This is all assuming you have a cat car of course....
Additionally your mixture control will be pretty slow when the ignition is switched on.
>> Edited by Mark Adams on Sunday 25th August 14:35
Can't say this is the best one since I haven't tried all the others! www.leventechnology.co.uk/tvr_misc.htm#charger
I just got back from 3 week holiday and although I left my 450 without the charger attached (parked off-site at the airport) it throbbed into life instantly. What a great relief - for me and the RAC! After it warmed up, I re-instituted the tiv-grin that had been absent while away driving rentals
Hutch
I just got back from 3 week holiday and although I left my 450 without the charger attached (parked off-site at the airport) it throbbed into life instantly. What a great relief - for me and the RAC! After it warmed up, I re-instituted the tiv-grin that had been absent while away driving rentals
Hutch
quote:
I'm having the same trouble currently... and have been informed that it is the Fuse lead mentioned.
Be interested to know if it is something i can fix my self?
___________________________________________
I imagine you mean the fuse link between the alternator and battery.
You really need to get under the car to do it, it is a black box that pops open and there is a fuse in it.
It is under the drivers side, mounted on the chassis, near the starter.
You may just be able to see it if you you don't jack it up by laying on the floor and looking underneath behind the front wheel.
I took mine down to a local garage and got them to put it up on their 4 poster to change it, only took them 5 mins at the most.
Lee.
>> Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 30th August 11:02
- I have a Draper Battery-Mate (Halfords £20) which I used successfully for years on my wedge. It comes with crocodile clips so I have connected them to the Alternator big terminal and stud (earth) on my Chim. 
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