Recent Cerb SP6 Purchase - Few Niggles, Any Advice?...

[tfnash]

Hi All,

Very recently made my long awaited and desired purchase of my first TVR, went for a '99 4.0 SP6 with lots of proven history and in quite good condition from a TVR specialist in St.Neots (Cambs).

Car is amazing and every thing I'd ever wanted it to be but ask ways there were and are a few little niggles that are coming to light and wanted to ask your expertise and advice on a few aspects. Or alternatively if there are any Cerb owners on here located near Bedford I can come to you for some first hand advice if possible...

Firstly the starter. Had the car a week and upon stopping by the dealership by chance the car decided not to start at all and was the starter. They replaced it free of charge of course but had a few intermittent issues with it since from either stone cold start or warm start. First 1 or 2 times you hear the started click but not turn, usually on the 2nd or 3rd attempt it turns and starts instantly. Is this normal? Should I take it back again for a new starter?

Secondly, when accelorating either hard or gradually but in only 2nd or 4th gear there is what sounds like a blowing (exhaust/manifold was my first though but not that) that sounds like it's coming from the back of the engine near the cockpit. Maybe a lose heat shield or something simple but just wondered if common fault.

Apart from that it's all good and loving my new dream car.

Thanks all

Tom

[Jhonno]

Sounds like it might need a helper relay for the starter..

[tfnash]

Cheers Jhonno, will be getting that looked at this weekend for sure.

There was a 3rd issue that arose only tonight actually... Wiper! We're working fine on all settings. Rain stopped on drive home so switched them, rain started again and now no wipers on any setting or with screen washer button either. Fluid for screen wash coming through but no actual wiper action happening now. Have switched car off and restarted to test if it was just one off but complete failure on all wiper related action now....

[ukkid35]

tfnash said:

Cheers Jhonno, will be getting that looked at this weekend for sure.

There was a 3rd issue that arose only tonight actually... Wiper! We're working fine on all settings. Rain stopped on drive home so switched them, rain started again and now no wipers on any setting or with screen washer button either. Fluid for screen wash coming through but no actual wiper action happening now. Have switched car off and restarted to test if it was just one off but complete failure on all wiper related action now....

Wipers can stall in any position, manually move them and they may magically reanimate.

[CerbWill]

Check the fuse incase it's blown. Mine blew when I switched the wipers on when I returned to the car after leaving it in the rain, so your wiper motor plug might have got a bit of water in it. As a precautionary measure I covered the wiper motor power plug in lithium grease to hopefully increase its waterproofing after that.

[Jubag]

The wiping system can be a PITA. There is an amazing amount of drag created when the wipers get near the corners of the screen. To help the motor deal with this you can fit shorter landrover Defender wiper blades so there is afectivly less drag on on window. I also found softening the springs off a bit that hold the wiper blades down onto the glass. Try and be sympathetic to the motor as it is under immense strain. You can quite essay burn them out if your not careful. Hopefully you may have just a blown fuse.

[tfnash]

Thanks ukkid & CerbWill, all good advice and much appreciated. Tried moving the wiper arms a little when it first happen to see if they were stuck or the motor was locked or something but so far no joy. Fuse check was next on my list but just haven't had the chance/time to check it yet but will do tonight when I get home.

Thanks all for your help

[msmith0592]

I've found that pressing the horn will then make the wiper buttons start working.

If you see a Yellow Cerb beeping in the rain you now know why.

[TVR8BLACK]

My wipers only worked on full left lock so I could go out in the rain driving in circles but got boring so fitted a new ribbon able and boom it all works great and can now drive in straight lines in the wet

[FUBAR]

msmith0592 said:

I've found that pressing the horn will then make the wiper buttons start working.

If you see a Yellow Cerb beeping in the rain you now know why.

Mine does that! Must be a yellow thing

[tfnash]

Great and very welcome advice everyone, appreciated.... Let's hope it works on Silver ones as well...

[Brummmie]

FUBAR said:

Mine does that! Must be a yellow thing

steering wheel ribbon issue..

[FUBAR]

although for a numpty like me its easier to peep the horn

[FarmyardPants]

Re the steering wheel button weirdness, sometimes the wires in the hub of the steering wheel can chafe. Remove the wheel (6 hex bolts) and have a look. Looks like a nice car, congrats!

[Willtl]

Doesn't the click on starting suggest a solenoid problem, in which case the starter motor will need replacing?

[Englishman]

When I bought my S6 Cerb I found someone had managed to squash the wires from the steering wheel buttons onto the boss, breaking the insulation, meaning intermittent shorts for all buttons on the steering wheel! Also had dicky connections at both ends of the ribbon cable. Frustrating at the time, but fine once sorted out. You can sort TVR's out, just takes time, patience and sometimes, money.

[tfnash]

Yep my worry was it was a solenoid issue (sounds exactly the same as the constant problem I had on my S1 RS Turbo 15 years ago in my blue oval badged boy-racer days!). It only had a new starter on it very recently so was hoping this was just a common issue. Its not every time but probably 50% of the time I need to push the start button on 2 or 3 attempts for her to start, the rest of the time she fires up first time.

Steering wheel will be coming off this weekend when I get a moment to tinker with it and check the connections, etc.

Thanks everyone for all your help, nice to know there is help and good advice out there without having to make trips back and forth to the dealer or my local specialist! Thanks all

[Willtl]

I guess the question is whether it really was a new starter, a reconditioned one or just one they had laying around. Solenoid click takes me back to my Ford Capri days!

[Jhonno]

Mine had the "click" no start issue.. Just before I bought it, it has had 2 new starters, I replaced the alarm system and it still did it..! It can simply be a case of the wiring not quite allowing 12v to the solonoid.. I have since fitted a 4 pin relay to give 12v straight off the battery and it starts on the button every time now.

[ukkid35]

Jhonno said:

It can simply be a case of the wiring not quite allowing 12v to the solonoid.. I have since fitted a 4 pin relay to give 12v straight off the battery and it starts on the button every time now.

This how I did mine too, taking the positive feed off the big fuse to minimise the cable run. However it might be worth simply replacing the starter motor relay on the fuseboard first, as that has cured the issue for at least one PHer.