help!!!!

[SMITHY1963]

Hi hope someone out there can help,I own a 1988 tvr s1 2.8 v6, which has now been in the garage since NOVEMBER, ok here goes I bought the car last summer and had no problems with it, left it standing outside for about 4 weeks, it starts first time and revs fairly freely, until you try n drive it, once under load it cough n splutters and eventually dies, just before it dies there is a whining noise from the fuel pump, its starts again first time. So far the garage has replaced fuel pump, fuel filters, drained and cleaned the fuel tank, new fuel injectors, new cold star injector, new ht leads etc, new distributer, rocker covers and gaskets, collected the car 4 weeks ago for it to breakdown with the same fault 200 yards down the road,please help they are now wanting me to replace the fuel pressure regulator (£450) just want to drive the car before the summer ends.

[phillpot]

Not familiar with the 2.8 engine myself but if you have no joy on here might be worth finding a Sierra or Capri owners website / forum ?

Sounds a lot for a fuel regulator, complete engines on Ebay for far less! (ok, not new I accept).

Those engines are "old school" stuff, sounds like your garage don't really know what they're doing with it, just keep throwing parts at it till they hit lucky?

Hope you get it sorted soon

[ESDavey]

I have a similar sounding issue with a V8 which turned out to be the air flow meter (AFM) messing with the fueling. On a V8, you can disconnect the AFM so worth a try.

[v8s4me]

I’ve got a V8S and so not familiar with your engine but I’d agree with the comments above. I certainly wouldn’t give that garage any more money as they obviously don’t seem to know what the problem is and just keep throwing parts and your money at it. If there are any S owners local to you with some spare components I’d suggest you try swapping a few parts to see if you can cure the problem eg the AFM. There are some stupid things to check eg the wiring around the AFM, the fuel pump and injector relays and the fuses for those components. Any loose connections in those areas might cause your problem. Have you checked the air filter and the pipes to the plenum to see if there is any blockage? It wouldn’t cause the fuel pump to whine but it would cause some of the symptoms you mention. Unlikely to be this, but worth eliminating anyway. If it does turn out to be something stupid you’re probably within your rights to claim the labour back from that garage on the grounds that they should have spotted it, seeing as how they’re “experts” .

Good luck with it.

[techbotics]

Hello

Sorry to hear of your problems. I am no expert but assuming the engine is ok, good compression etc.. and you don't have air leaks and have good fuel pressure then this sounds like electrics to me..

Have the checked for ECU fault codes.. some one on this site has a code reader he is kind enough to lend out. Or is this possible a TPS sensor wiring fault.? if this has been replaced (you didn't mention it) then the wiring needs to be modified to work properly with the new sensors. IIRC old ones have silver contacts and new ones have gold.

These are pretty simple engines so it shouldn't be too hard.. there is a 2.9 diagnostics pdf available (PM me I will send it to you) that may help.

Also £450 for a fuel pressure regulator sounds a lot the part should be around £50 and I don't think it should take 4 - 6 hours depending upon labour rate and VAT to fit.

I would try to find a good auto electrical place to check it over.. on my 90's S3 some of the wiring / earths etc were truly shockingly poor quality.

Good luck with this. Once she works properly you will forgive her.

Cheers

Damian S3

[Gerald-TVR]

techbotics said:

some one on this site has a code reader he is kind enough to lend out. Or is this possible a TPS sensor wiring fault.? if this has been replaced (you didn't mention it) then the wiring needs to be modified to work properly with the new sensors. IIRC old ones have silver contacts and new ones have gold.

These are pretty simple engines so it shouldn't be too hard.. there is a 2.9 diagnostics pdf available (PM me I will send it to you) that may help.

My tester willonly work with the 2.9 cologne not the 2.8 kent and I think the TPs will be different BUT the diagnostics pdf shold help at least in pointing you in the correct direction

[techbotics]

Gerald-TVR said:

My tester willonly work with the 2.9 cologne not the 2.8 kent and I think the TPs will be different BUT the diagnostics pdf shold help at least in pointing you in the correct direction

Doh!!! good catch.. totally forgot it was a 2.8.. I wonder if by fuel pressure regulator they are referring to the metering head..?

Cheers

Damian

[philbrooker]

Simple test for the metering head is to crack off the unions on the head and look for the spray of fuel , overall the system is pretty simple and there is little that can go wrong electrical wise, is the pipe from the intake to the plenum ok ? My one was crumbling , that made in run awful .

[mikel003003]

Have you checked the fuel pump relay in the passenger football fusebox ?mine is bright purple so easy to spot

[mikel003003]

Would also agree that a once over by an auto electrician may be worthwhile I recon its probably an earth problem but I am no expert good luck