Tvr Chimaera 500 won't start

[larabr]

Hi you guys!

I have a little bit of issue with my Chimaera 500 which is in really great condition except for that it won't start at the moment . I was driving my car to a car-show when I suddenly noticed that my rev-counter was jumping unsteady and didn't really respond together with the engine speed when revving the engine. As I didn't noticed any other problems with the car except for a very unstable rev-counter I drove to the nearest gas station to have a closer look. I turned of the engine and looked under the hood to see if I could see anything unusual but everything seemed to be fine and as I was a couple of miles from home I decided to drive home to the garage. The problem was that the car wouldn't start. It didn't even try to ignite the spark plugs so I had to take it on a trailer back home. My suspicion is that it could be the speed sensor but what do you guys think? Ignition Coil is new, leads are new, distributor new etc. The car has covered under 30000 miles and is a 1997 model.

Many thanks!
//Lars

[s p a c e m a n]

Have you checked to see if the battery has voltage? First impressions are that one of the 100 amp fuses have blown and drained the battery.

[jr6yam]

Did you fit a new Ignition Amplifier when you replaced all the other ignition stuff? Possibly faulty
Obviously check battery voltage, fuses and stuff, it might be something simple
Might be worth swapping back the old coil, leads, dizzy etc (1 at a time) these things have been known to fail from new

[Aussie John]

Maybe the dizzy amplifier?

[TV8]

When you say lots of new bits, did this problem start shortly after the change over?

[QBee]

I expand on the first response - did the engine turn over fast on the key, but not fire, or was there little or no response when you turned the key to start it?
Unusual electronic responses are a sign to me that the 100 amp fuse under the car has blown, the car is running on the battery, and the battery is close to dead.

The first time mine did it my speedo was reading 65mph, but the rev counter was saying 4500 rpm in 5th gear. I was haring after a Ferrari 360 at the time, so i leave you to guess which was correct.
I parked the car some miles later, went to a concert, came back, tried to start it, alarm playing silly-buggers and battery dead. Bump started it and managed 5 miles before it died completely. 100 amp fuse (the one that is directly below the alternator, close to the starter) was in two pieces.

Helpful photo of it being fixed

[Smokey Boyer]

Not sure if all Chimaeras have a crank sensor, or if mine only has it because of the changes to the ECU and running coil packs with no dizzy, but your fault is identical to one I had which turned out to be the crank sensor.