Konking out at lights and occasionally difficult to start
Konking out at lights and occasionally difficult to start
Author
Discussion

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Found that when I am travelling in a built up area and I stop at the lights it sometimes idles badly then dies. Girlfriend (who know wants to sell my pride and joy) fired it up was manouvering and then it konked out in the middle of the road) and had loads of diffcultyt restarting, which she eventually did.

Other points:

Just had air intake rebuilt under warranty;
starter motor is working;
fuel pump is wiring before start;

Is it a case of new plugs and magnecor leads(have factory standard ones, please help so I am not forced to get eurobox!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

chassis 33

6,194 posts

312 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Cleaned the stepper recently? See www.car1.clara.co.uk/tvr/stepper.htm


Could be any number of things exacerbating the problem, old leads etc may well not help, neither will poor quality dizzy caps and rotors, the coolant temp sensor could be faulty...about £5-10 to replace, Intermotor part number is 55128 - this replaces the Lucas SNB802 part.

Regards
Iain

mongoose

4,360 posts

285 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
You might have an air leak from the work you've had done if it's only happened scince you got the car back?It also could be the stepper motor needs a clean,theres loads in the archives about how to do this.I certainly wouldn't start spending mone on new leads etc just yet(missfires are more common with bad leads).For what its worth,i've always found std leads to work just fine,and last a long time,even on the modded griff



>> Edited by mongoose on Wednesday 1st February 12:48

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Air intake was rebuilt to rectify this problem, took it to austec for waxoyl and this problem had just started, they said that it wasnt the stepper motor but an air leak.

Car has worked fine for a couple of months and has just started up again in last couple of days.....

greenv8s

31,019 posts

314 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Talk to the people who just 'rebuilt' (whatever that means?) your intake, the only reason I can imagine for doing that is to cure an air leak which would have symptoms just like this.

tvr keith

1,908 posts

252 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
What petrol are you using?
If I run mine on 95 it gets very bad tempered in traffic, Optimax better, Tesco 99 excellent. Could be your plugs are getting fouled up in traffic slow running conditions

MarkX

6 posts

260 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Sounds like my problem on my Tamora (2004 model) when I was on a long run. If I pulled up or went very slow walking pace in traffic she'd cut out. This went on for around 30 mins, as I arrived at my destination she cut out totally. I had a flight to catch and did'nt get chance to sart her for an hour at which she started first time. However half a mile down the road she cut out again. Faulty alternator diagnosed by the AA and new fitted under warranty and all's well. :-)

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
I always run on optimax, I bought it about 5 months ago and get the feeling that while it was nice and shiny the basics havent been looked after to well.

Am starting to think that an investment in new bosch coil, plugs, magnecor leads etc might be money well spent.

Chris Smith

287 posts

256 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Try the airflow meter itself or, as most people have said, clean the stepper motor.

Parrot of Doom

23,075 posts

264 months

Thursday 2nd February 2006
quotequote all
Noodle30 said:
Am starting to think that an investment in new bosch coil, plugs, magnecor leads etc might be money well spent.


I wouldn't bother with Magnecors, the standard Lucas leads are more than capable and a bit cheaper

rfisher

5,064 posts

313 months

Thursday 2nd February 2006
quotequote all
Tried to email Mr Noodle via his profile but he doesn't accept emails (we not good enough for you eh?)

Anyway, as I'm sure regular PH readers know, I hire out fault code readers for Chims and Griffs.

May save you a few bob in the end to ask youe ECU if it's happy or not.

noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Thursday 2nd February 2006
quotequote all
Have just tried to clean stepper motor as am due to drive Newcastle on Saturday. As it was getting a bit too dark decided against taking the job on.

Thought I would fire it up anyway to see how it was running - with the bonnet open could here a sucking sound coming from the area around the stepper motor - so reckon this probably explains the problem.


In the dark couldnt see much, think I could feel the air leak. Questions are as follows:

1) Could the stepper motor have been overtightened and cracked the plenum or the threading in the plenum causing the leak?

2) Is this less likely as when I got the car back from the garage the problem wasnt occuring, meaning that it has just loosened off?

3) How tight should it be and is it worth running some kind of sealant around the stepper?

PS I dont profess to know anything about cars, which is why I work in an office....although I think I could start to enjoy getting my hands dirty (subject to not killing the car)

mongoose

4,360 posts

285 months

Thursday 2nd February 2006
quotequote all
You could definately cause problems by overtightening or leeving the stepper loose.There should also be a fibre sealing washer for it to seal properly when tightened,if this is missing it could also be your problem.

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
Had a look at this morning and tried to tighten it, with no effort at all the thread sheared, now I willing to admit my errors but I am pretty sure this had already happened hence the leak.....

Whats involved in getting this fixed?

Will the plenum have to come off or can it be fixed it situe by removing the backplate on the plenum?

Also how much will a new stepper be, I have been quoted £97?

llanelli-rob

533 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
Washer on my stepper motor was cracked when i removed to clean it....

Use PTFE tape to create a good seal.

Good luck!

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
The sensor part has been sheared off from the plastic thread that goes into the plenum?

I can just tape this up, although my bank balance is screaming for me to super glue the fecker back in until I recover from Christmas.....

Ballistic Banana

14,706 posts

297 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
Yep unfortuantly they are around the £80 - £100 mark.

Can be changed very easily. See the chassis33 comment earlier with a link to cleaning the stepper, basically you can use the same instructions to change the stepper.
Plenum stays wher it is so it really is just unplug, Unscrew stepper ( clean where it went into and check the thread is ok in there) PFtape the new ones thread and screw in.I realy do hand tight then just nip it p very carefully with a large spanner.Plug back in.

BB

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
Thing is as it has sheared off with the thread of the old one inside the plenum....

How the hell am I going to get this out?

llanelli-rob

533 posts

254 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
Try getting it to turn with the blade of a sharp chisel!

Noodle30

Original Poster:

46 posts

252 months

Friday 3rd February 2006
quotequote all
what about supergluing thread back to stepper motor and seeing if that will turn it or is that a really stupid idea?