TVR S1 cuts out when hot

TVR S1 cuts out when hot

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Discussion

cupraturbofan

Original Poster:

6 posts

23 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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Evening all. This is my first post and so I apologise if this has been covered elsewhere. I have recently purchased a 1988 S1 2.8 and I admit I have not serviced it nor know the service history of the vehicle. The car starts and runs well but always cuts out when the engine is up to normal temperature which is making town driving very frustrating. I will of course be carrying out a major service soon but I just wondered if this is a common issue and what the resolution might be. Many thanks.

phillpot

17,279 posts

190 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
quotequote all


Bit of a change from a Cupra Turbo wink

Not familiar with the 2.8 engine and it's injection system but hopefully someone wil be along shortly with some advice.


Might also be worth joining the FaceBook group, be you a fan of FB or not that is where most of the "action" is these days although a few of us old die hards still check in here once in a while.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tvrsseries

NDA

22,334 posts

232 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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Could it be fuel starvation due to evaporation?

See if you see where the fuel line goes into the engine... if you can identify it, it's worth wrapping it in tin foil and see if it still does it.

Just a thought.


cupraturbofan

Original Poster:

6 posts

23 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
quotequote all
Hi phillpot. Yeah sold the Leon Cupra R recently to finance the TVR. Now my little work in progress and occasional transport to work. Thanks for the info. Good to hear from you.

Adrian@

4,386 posts

289 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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I would do your searches ask questions over on the TVR Wedge forum where there are many more cars running the 2.8...but, it is important that the metering head to butterfly pipe is 100% sealed. I used this as a start point on my 280DH
https://www.zeepoort.nl/jetronic/K-Jetronic-troubl...
A@

Edited by Adrian@ on Sunday 29th January 08:30

cupraturbofan

Original Poster:

6 posts

23 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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Hi NDA. Thanks for your reply. Never thought of that. Anything is worth a shot though.

v8s4me

7,264 posts

226 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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That could just as easily be an electrical fault but if you want to check the fuel system have a look at THIS.
Also check out the Useful Links WIKI
FB is OK for banter, chit-chat and buying/selling stuff but if you want proper technical info in a format you can follow easily with big photos stick to PH thumbup



Edited by v8s4me on Saturday 28th January 23:44

GreenV8S

30,479 posts

291 months

Sunday 29th January 2023
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Check whether it's losing fuel or spark when it dies.

v8s4me

7,264 posts

226 months

Sunday 29th January 2023
quotequote all
Another component worth checking is the ignition module. There's one on eBay at the moment HERE .

If you have another 2.8 owner locally it would be worth swapping the units over just to check yours is OK. There's no point in buying a unit of unknown quality unless it's for beer money. Mind you, that one on eBay is the equivalent to a round of 6 pints down south frown

NZDave

91 posts

257 months

Sunday 29th January 2023
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If it cuts out when you come to a stop and restarts again it is most likely an air leak after the metering unit. It could be a leak in the hose connecting to the throttle body or even a leak into the plenum chamber. With the car idling try spraying engine start around anywhere there could be a leak. If the engine speeds up you have a leak. I have had this problem a few times and on one occasion I had to tighten the bolts holding the plenum down.
Dave

v8s4me

7,264 posts

226 months

Sunday 29th January 2023
quotequote all
Check the area shown in the photo (this is on a Tasmin)...


The rubber cover is prone to cracking here and causing an air leak. On the Tasmin the tube shown in the photo goes to the breather on oil filler cap. Air leaks here cause issues as well.

LLantrisant

1,002 posts

166 months

Monday 30th January 2023
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i had a similar issue with one of my Tasmins:
i started well...i drove it several miles...and the engine died on traffic-light...and i could not start anymore. 15min later it started again.

everbody is thinking now: it must be fuel related...nope it wasnt: the ignition amplifier, which sits at the Tasmin front-left in enginebay, had a corroded connector...sounds im-plausible, but it was true.


Fefeu52

199 posts

73 months

Wednesday 1st February 2023
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It could be everything and nothing in the same time. It's very hard to find a failure when you don't have the history of the car. It could be the fuel system, or the ignition system. For example, last week, one of my mate has similar troubles on his 90's fuel ignition car. The engine was starting well, running well until the engine is warm. The engine start to struggle more and more at low rev and finish to stall. Pretty impossible to restart. In fact, the problem was just outdated spark plugs ....

It could be plugs, leads, ignition module etc. For the fuel system, other member proposals are good, look at the lines and accumulator. But on the K-JETRONIC there is a dedicated circuit for cold start and cold running. This circuit is cut off when the engine is warm. So if your injection system just need to be tuned, it's possible the engine is running fine when cold, and has troubles when warm.

blaze_away

1,555 posts

220 months

Wednesday 1st February 2023
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Those symptoms shout ignition amp or coil falling over when hot. I'd start by looking at spark quality cold vs hot.

ie See how far you can get the spark to jump to earth.

1 Engine cold. Pull the king lead off the distributor cap and hold it close to the engine (use rubber pliers and gloves)
2. Get someone to crank the engine then observe the spark whilst slowly making the gap bigger until it no longer jumps. Make a note how big that gap is.
3. Warm engine up to point where its hot and fault occurs (ie it stops)
4 Repeat step 2. If the gap is smaller then its either the amp or the coil.

cupraturbofan

Original Poster:

6 posts

23 months

Saturday 4th February 2023
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Thank you to all who have posted a reply. You have come up with some very useful information which I have taken on board. I just need the Scottish rain to stop and then I can investigate further. Thank you all once again.

greymrj

3,317 posts

211 months

Friday 24th February 2023
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Sorry to come in late, I confess I don't visit the site that often anymore as there is far more action on our FB page now.

However I have had a 2.8S1 for about 15 years now and have learnt a fair bit about them as I do most of the work myself.

Do we a quick test please. About how long from cold does this happen? If you run the car up to temperature while standing at home does it do it? Now try running it up to temperature with the bonnet wide open, does it still do it?
What I am trying to do is test the ignition module, normally on the nearside inner bulkhead. They do start to break down over time and if it is original it could well be the cause. As the module starts to heat up it fails, often quite suddenly, the car cools and it mysteriously works OK again. Bonnet up it stays cooler and runs for longer, probably doesn't fail.

Test that and come back to me, then we can progress further. (I will put a tag on this post to notify me if there is a response)

Air leaks are a big issue with the K Jetronic but they cause various running problems rather than the engine cutting out when warm.