New Chimaera owner...what does this do...?

[supadik]

Hi all.

I've just bought my 1st ever TVR, it's a 95 (M) Chimaera 4.0 I drove it home from just past birmingham to just outside beverley last night and after about 90 miles i finally managed to figure out how to turn the lights on

Now to the bones of it, there are 3 little warning lights between the speedo and rev counter, the top one is red, the middle is yellow and the bottom is red...can anybody tell me what they are for? Also when I turn the ignition on the oil pressure gauge flys over and past the 90 mark then once the engine starts and is running it's claiming i have 90lbs of oil pressure which is highly unlikely can anybody suggest what might be going on?

Any help, tips etc would be greatly appreciated

Rich

[MADMAX2]

Usually for the alarm immobiliser lights..


where/who did you buy it from nr birmingham?



the oil pressure shouldnt be that much it could be a number of factors as others will explain

[supadik]

Ebay moral of the story...look before you leap. Still no point crying over spilt milk ey?!? Not sure why the oil pressure gauge is reading so high...I'll have a look at the weekend if nobody gets back to me with any answers. I'm just a touch worried because the bottom red light glows slightly when the engine is running and I'm hoping it's not the oil pressure warning lamp I know the alarm/immobiliser has been replaced for after market alternatives perhaps this is why it is glowing?????

Thanks anyway

Rich

[V8 Animal]

supadik said:

Ebay moral of the story...look before you leap. Still no point crying over spilt milk ey?!? Not sure why the oil pressure gauge is reading so high...I'll have a look at the weekend if nobody gets back to me with any answers. I'm just a touch worried because the bottom red light glows slightly when the engine is running and I'm hoping it's not the oil pressure warning lamp I know the alarm/immobiliser has been replaced for after market alternatives perhaps this is why it is glowing?????

Thanks anyway

Rich

Orange will be oil and red charging so you might have a alternator problem does the light still flicker once travelling.
Oil guage is more likely to be a dodgy sender or dirty contacts.
V8 Animal

[jod]

The top red light is alarm.
Middle light orange is oil pressure warning light.
Bottom red is charging.
The bottom lamp glows slightly on tickover,give it a rev and the light will go out.We lived with ours for ages and the alt eventually packed up.
Replaced alt and the new one is the same,no worries.
The high oil pressure is probably a dodgy connection or sender.
Check connections etc and oil on dipstick.
A must is to purchase the Steve heath bible.(shpub)
Cheers
John

[supadik]

V8 Animal said:

supadik said:

Ebay moral of the story...look before you leap. Still no point crying over spilt milk ey?!? Not sure why the oil pressure gauge is reading so high...I'll have a look at the weekend if nobody gets back to me with any answers. I'm just a touch worried because the bottom red light glows slightly when the engine is running and I'm hoping it's not the oil pressure warning lamp I know the alarm/immobiliser has been replaced for after market alternatives perhaps this is why it is glowing?????

Thanks anyway

Rich

Orange will be oil and red charging so you might have a alternator problem does the light still flicker once travelling.
Oil guage is more likely to be a dodgy sender or dirty contacts.
V8 Animal

Cheers, a buggered alternator is fair play but low oil pressure would make me v unhappy

[supadik]

jod said:

The top red light is alarm.
Middle light orange is oil pressure warning light.
Bottom red is charging.
The bottom lamp glows slightly on tickover,give it a rev and the light will go out.We lived with ours for ages and the alt eventually packed up.
Replaced alt and the new one is the same,no worries.
The high oil pressure is probably a dodgy connection or sender.
Check connections etc and oil on dipstick.
A must is to purchase the Steve heath bible.(shpub)
Cheers
John

Well that's a weight off my mind I have got a copy of the bible but haven't found it all that useful so far. I worked in the motor trade half my life as a paint sprayer/ panel beater so although I'm not an "expert" mechanic I'm reasonably good. The trouble is I would imagine there is a lot of "TVR" specific info and knowledge that would save me a lot of time and a proper main dealer workshop manual would be v handy.

[theaxe]

This list of random Chimaera facts may be of some use.

[Vee8]

Supadik

You'll find the sender underneath the engine. It's a 5 min job to remove and replace, though a new sender unit will set you back about £60.

[supadik]

Vee8 said:

Supadik

You'll find the sender underneath the engine. It's a 5 min job to remove and replace, though a new sender unit will set you back about £60.

Ye I found it yesterday the wiring had been cut and taped up so fitted proper conectors but stil hasn't cured the problem So it looks like i'll have to fit a new sender unit.

[davidindevon]

Hi Supadick,
Don't be too disheartened. The chances are that you would have to replace the oil pressure sender unit at sometime. once done have the oil pressure relief valve and spring checked and replaced if not working as it should, also the oil filter and then have the pressure tested to see how it compares with the reading on the gauge.
You would be unlucky to have a genuine oil pressure problem.
You are also likely to need to change the water temperature sender and otter switch as these seem to fail much more frequently than on other cars. Also air filter (in front of radiator and battery in passenger footwell) as their inaccessibilty means they get overlooked at services. Do take off the wheels and check the brake pads as MOT's don't do this - my friction material fell out on three corners! reassuring in 165mph car.
finally give the stepper motor a good clean and for about £150 all done you should be safe, running smoothly and enjoying a special car.

[supadik]

If only The car seems to suffer with a few "electrically" based problems. As mentioned before the oil pressure gauge either tells lies or has been on steroids, the engine has a miss-fire (sometimes just fluffs a bit other times drops off a cylinder all together) which seems to get worse the warmer the engine gets. The MIL light never comes on, not even when you 1st switch on the ignition. There's a faint rattle that I think is coming from the exhaust probably because the miss-fire has caused un-burnt fuel to flow straight into the cat and fook it...and a few other minor probs that aren't important at the mo.

I think the last owner was one of those ppl that just canes the life out of a car and never bothers to look after it!

So far I've changed the plugs, dizzy cap and rotor arm, oil and filter. Got new HT leads and resistor plug caps on their way too. I've had the ecu and fuse box out and made sure all is well there. while I was farting about with the ecu I to readings of both lambda probes and one was running near 1.1 volts the other down at .4volts so it looks like the ect is trying to lean the fuelling off to compensate for the missfire/unburnt fuel issue.

I wipped the dash out this afternoon and check the wiring to the gauges etc and all seems ok there too. I've also check the nearside (UK) earth on top of the gearbox tunnel which was fine, gunna look at the offside (UK) one after i've finished this current keyboard masssing session (poor laptop). If that earth is good then i'm just gunna have to cross my fingers that the ht leads and resistor cap solve the missfire problem.

also think stepper valve is sticking or fooked cos the tick over is at 2000 on start up and takes far too long to settle down (to around 1000 then finally 850).

I've owned the car a week, have spent £120+ on basic service items and so far haven't been able to take it for a drive

Joy oh joy

Rich

[DHUDD]

I had the red light glowing on mine!
It was the flat blade 100amp fuse that sits along the chassis rail in a black box by the starter motor.Hope this helps

[supadik]

thanks for that I "knew" there was something I'd forgotten to do today I bet that's the cause of the missfire aswell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!