Tuscan Misfire
Discussion
Afternoon all, looking for a bit of advice.
Having previously been a Chim owner some 8 years ago and upon deciding to put less miles on my Esprit I took the plunge last year and bought a 2001 4.0 Tuscan.
Obviously the intervening 8 years had meant that I had forgotten how frustrating TVR ownership can be but alas I was soon reminded when the Tuscan developed an intermittent misfire.
This first manifested itself when I got stuck in some road works last summer but soon cleared itself when back up to speed.
I thought nothing much more of it until around October/November when the misfire became so bad that it rendered the car undrivable. Interestingly this particular time the misfire started after a trip out when I returned through town and ended up getting caught on red at every traffic light. Although I assumed that the problem would have disappeared the next time I started the car this was not the case and the car kept stalling and was running on three cylinders.
I replaced the coil pack and leads myself but that made no odds. Off it went to a garage who spent a lot of time going over it and identified that it was probably caused by water in the fuel and a faulty fuel pressure regulator. Car ran sweet as a nut when I picked it up but alas, as soon as I hit town it started to miss very lightly. I thought this was maybe my mind playing tricks but surprise surprise the next time I went out in it it did the same again but was really bad this time and took a good 10 miles to clear (hope the cats are ok).
Now I’ve had the car out again this weekend, covering about 500 miles in total from Carlisle to Fort William and back. Car runs superb on the open road but as soon as it sits with the engine running for more than 10 seconds it starts to miss. Again upon starting it up the next day it was missing again.
I was therefore wondering if anybody else has encountered something similar. I am wondering if the lambda sensors are getting coked up and that’s the cause of it but the garage did check them and said they were switching ok.
Any advice would be much appreciated before I decided to chop it in for something else.
Back ground - car has done 56,400 miles, I’ve done just over 3k since I got it. Engine rebuild at str8six about 12k miles ago.
Cheers
Chris
Having previously been a Chim owner some 8 years ago and upon deciding to put less miles on my Esprit I took the plunge last year and bought a 2001 4.0 Tuscan.
Obviously the intervening 8 years had meant that I had forgotten how frustrating TVR ownership can be but alas I was soon reminded when the Tuscan developed an intermittent misfire.
This first manifested itself when I got stuck in some road works last summer but soon cleared itself when back up to speed.
I thought nothing much more of it until around October/November when the misfire became so bad that it rendered the car undrivable. Interestingly this particular time the misfire started after a trip out when I returned through town and ended up getting caught on red at every traffic light. Although I assumed that the problem would have disappeared the next time I started the car this was not the case and the car kept stalling and was running on three cylinders.
I replaced the coil pack and leads myself but that made no odds. Off it went to a garage who spent a lot of time going over it and identified that it was probably caused by water in the fuel and a faulty fuel pressure regulator. Car ran sweet as a nut when I picked it up but alas, as soon as I hit town it started to miss very lightly. I thought this was maybe my mind playing tricks but surprise surprise the next time I went out in it it did the same again but was really bad this time and took a good 10 miles to clear (hope the cats are ok).
Now I’ve had the car out again this weekend, covering about 500 miles in total from Carlisle to Fort William and back. Car runs superb on the open road but as soon as it sits with the engine running for more than 10 seconds it starts to miss. Again upon starting it up the next day it was missing again.
I was therefore wondering if anybody else has encountered something similar. I am wondering if the lambda sensors are getting coked up and that’s the cause of it but the garage did check them and said they were switching ok.
Any advice would be much appreciated before I decided to chop it in for something else.
Back ground - car has done 56,400 miles, I’ve done just over 3k since I got it. Engine rebuild at str8six about 12k miles ago.
Cheers
Chris
Edited by Chris-xzk0j on Monday 26th February 14:25
Thanks for the advice chaps, few things to consider there so first of all I think I might whip the plugs out after a spirited drive then again after I’ve left it running on the drive and see if there are any signs of them fouling up.
Will probably have to get myself the software too to read the ecu.
The car has actually been to a couple of specialists since I’ve had it and although I can’t fault either of them in any way as they have been very thorough, helpful and professional I guess my concern is throwing a lot more cash at an intermittent fault that will probably end up being something really simple.
I had similar problems with my last tvr and it took the shine off owning it. I’ve already gone through two throttle cables, the first one snapping on only my second trip out on in the car resulting in a 40mile drive home with a hand throttle! The other concern is how twitchy and unstable the car feels, especially at speed but I guess this can be sorted with more time and money. It is a glorious beast though even if I do find the Esprit a more reliable (I’ve cursed myself now) and competent vehicle.
Will probably have to get myself the software too to read the ecu.
The car has actually been to a couple of specialists since I’ve had it and although I can’t fault either of them in any way as they have been very thorough, helpful and professional I guess my concern is throwing a lot more cash at an intermittent fault that will probably end up being something really simple.
I had similar problems with my last tvr and it took the shine off owning it. I’ve already gone through two throttle cables, the first one snapping on only my second trip out on in the car resulting in a 40mile drive home with a hand throttle! The other concern is how twitchy and unstable the car feels, especially at speed but I guess this can be sorted with more time and money. It is a glorious beast though even if I do find the Esprit a more reliable (I’ve cursed myself now) and competent vehicle.
I had read about putting some spacers in the rack but didn’t realise it need quite so much of a lift.
As for shocks ie Nitrons do you think they are a waste of time them?
With regards to the Esprit I can confirm that the gear change is a dog on mine too (98 GT3) is a bit better since I had some upgraded bushes and linkages put in but still not brilliant and does almost spoil the drive. But that being said it just feels so benign compared to the TVR (lot less power and torque I know) and when you do start to press on it just seems to hunker down rather than lift like the Tuscan.
As for my favourite car to take out for a drive up Hartside...ZS 180...totally underrated machine
As for shocks ie Nitrons do you think they are a waste of time them?
With regards to the Esprit I can confirm that the gear change is a dog on mine too (98 GT3) is a bit better since I had some upgraded bushes and linkages put in but still not brilliant and does almost spoil the drive. But that being said it just feels so benign compared to the TVR (lot less power and torque I know) and when you do start to press on it just seems to hunker down rather than lift like the Tuscan.
As for my favourite car to take out for a drive up Hartside...ZS 180...totally underrated machine
Edited by Chris-xzk0j on Tuesday 27th February 20:13
Thanks for the extra info lads, I will have a look at the TPS when I get the software and the time.
Will have to give the suspension some serious thought, again once I have the time. My friend has a Chim at the minute and he ended up putting nitrons on it and said it was the best investment he had made.
Will have to give the suspension some serious thought, again once I have the time. My friend has a Chim at the minute and he ended up putting nitrons on it and said it was the best investment he had made.
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