Hello - and two questions

[SimonS1]

I've just signed up so I'll start by saying hello everyone.

I am the proud if occasionally frustrated owner of an S1, registered Feb 1988 and the VIN indicates a 1987 car. It's in BRG with a pale tan interior, which is a combination I like. It went through several owners in its early years before I bought it in '95. Unrestored but with a number of the usual problems fixed over the years: overheating, outriggers, rear trailing arms, steering UJs etc.

It's been in my garage on a SORN over the winter, following a sudden and complete engine cut while driving to work last year. Mr. AA gave up after about 2 hours and Relayed me home. It's this that leads to the questions.

I replaced the dodgy fuel pump relay and soldered a broken wire to the fuel pump, and there is now fuel getting to the front again. I can hear the electric pump and smell fuel after turning the engine over.
But there appears to be something wrong in the ignition. I have Steve Heath's book, which seems to be the best documentation of the wiring, and am chasing down the fault from that. With the ignition switched on there's no voltage on the LV side of the coil, although there is at the tacho. The only component between them is the ballast resistor (and maybe the immobiliser but that appears OK). But I can't find that resistor, and I've looked for ages.

Q.1) Does anyone know where TVR hid the ballast resistor on an early S1?
Q.2) Any other suggestions for related parts known to be prone to failure?

thanks in advance
Simon
Cambridge

[SimonS1]

v8s4me said:

Hi Simon and welcome.

SimonS1 said:

.........Q.1) Does anyone know where TVR hid the ballast resistor on an early S1?
......

The ballast resistor could just be a coiled length of (possibly blue) wire tucked down somewhere near the coil. Maybe zip-tied to the chassis where the heat from the manifold can cook it?

SimonS1 said:

.........Q.2) Any other suggestions for related parts known to be prone to failure?.......

In the electrical system? Everything!

It will be quite a long list but the first place to start is the yellow connector under the ignition switch.

Thank you - I'd crawled under the front and spotted the looped wire tie-wrapped to the chassis, I assumed it was just TVR's usual wiring standards. I'd not put 2+2 with the missing resistor.

And thanks Penelope for the links. I looked through the forum posts before posting this but I'd not gone back to 2014.

Anyway, I now have sparks from a spare plug attached to a couple of the plug leads in turn. Don't know what was wrong previously but I guess finger trouble on my part. It's still not firing though. I'm aware it could still be electrical in view of the various sensors that the ECU uses.

[SimonS1]

Thanks all, yes I got it going on Saturday. Penelope's suggestion about recovery from flooding worked first time. I associate flooded engines with the days of carburettors but I guess all that turning it over without firing had done the same on an injection engine.

I took it for a 10 mile run and it seemed fine except for:
a) a high idle, varied but around 1500-1800 rpm
b) when booting it up a hill (yes I know where to find one in Cambridgeshire) it started to misfire about 4500-5000rpm
Today I drove it to work and back with similar results, perhaps a slightly higher idle and lower onset of misfire. Fortunately the range in between is the usual driving range so it's still useable.
It seems like the raised idle at start-up isn't going away and is even increasing a bit, so my theory is that one of the cold start devices isn't shutting off. This could possibly be the cause of the high rev misfire as well if it's causing a rich cut.

Re the connector on the steering column, I've got a three pin plug/socket that is more a dirty white than yellow and is narrowed at one side to prevent being inserted the wrong way round. It gets warm to the touch but not alarmingly so. Thus far I've followed the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach!

Simon