Crystal ball readers and magicians - can you help?

[Blues]

After 3 1/2 years and 34k fun miles, i finally had the trip home on a low loader in the early hours of this morning. Whilst having a blast through London's tunnels with some like-minded chums, my engine came to a stuttering halt in Rotherhithe Tunnel.

Symptoms:
The engine revs died to a tick over, and did not initially respond to the throttle. It then started to "hunt" from 600 to 2,000 revs. Any application of thottle resulted in the engine cutting out - occasionally with a single "click" noise, coming from somewhere around the side of the plenum. Quite strangley, the "hunting" stopped, and the tickover was steady when the coooling fans cut in.

There is plenty of fuel
I disconnected the battery to reset the ECU
The Stepper Motor is clean
I have checked that all hoses and leads are connected.
The car was serviced 10 days ago.

I have tried again just now, and the symptoms remain the same.

I will be getting it transported back to my servicing garage tomorrow, but wonder whether it might be something relatively simple.

Given the above, and the little matter of the engine being supercharged, has anyone got any bright ideas?

Many thanks
David

[Macey]

David,

I can't help with the symptoms but gutted that you've got problems. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Steve

[Fex2005]

i had similar symptoms when my fuel pump died. might be worth a check.

[GreenV8S]

I would guess a sensor/wiring fault, and the engine not responding to the throttle could be caused either (transiently) by a failed throttle pot or (steady state) a failed AFM.

[Blues]

Macey said:

David,

I can't help with the symptoms but gutted that you've got problems. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Steve

Thanks Steve, i've comitted to do a charity show next weekend, so don't want to disappoint them. I really will be drawing a salary from RG at this rate.

Fex2005 said:

i had similar symptoms when my fuel pump died. might be worth a check.

Thanks for that. I can hear the pump priming, but it is a little like fuel starvation. How do i "check" the fuel pump?

GreenV8S said:

I would guess a sensor/wiring fault, and the engine not responding to the throttle could be caused either (transiently) by a failed throttle pot or (steady state) a failed AFM.

Yes, i fear that it may be electrical/electronic. These don't sound like things i can check at home, so perhaps best left to the experts

[cookie450]

I'm no TVR expert but I had very similar symptoms with my Alfa V6 a while back. Turned out to be the AFM (notorious for issues on these). Think it was originally caused by me hitting the limiter at speed - subsequent symptons when starting the car were similar to what you're experiencing.

[plumAJP]

crank shaft sensor dirty? or wires shorting