Needless scaremongering??

[R7EBO]

I know these engines have a reputation for being rubbish, but I do wonder how many of the people that are telling potential buyers to beware of or avoid cars without a rebuild have actually had an engine go on them? Or are they also victims of scaremongering and had a rebuild done anyway 'just in case'?? Yes I have only been part of this TVR family for just over a year so I'm not very knowledgeable about the ins & outs of it, but my car is a very early Tuscan speed six on a 'W' & gets used every single day.

It's my only car on the road & I go absolutely everywhere in it including a 3000 mile trip around Europe, been all over England and I go to work and back in it every day. I've added 10K miles since last August, AND it was parked up from October to March. The only thing that has proven to be reliable is the engine & before I bought it (very cheaply) it was sat for nearly 7 years!!

I could well be setting myself up for a massive fall here and my engine could go pop tomorrow, but not all of us are blessed with a large income and simply cannot afford to have a rebuild done. The repairs to the rest of the car, of which there are many, are crippling me financially and should the time come where I can no longer afford to keep it going and I have to sell it, all this talk of avoiding the early ones etc is going to really hurt the chances of people like me being able to sell and also is going to hurt the value. Especially as there is absolutley nothing wrong with the engine and virtually the rest of the car is brand new!!

Unless you have had an engine failure (which then obviously you have every right to be upset!) please stop slagging the older cars off. It really winds me up.

Thank you!

[RedSpike66]

R7EBO said:

It's my only car on the road & I go absolutely everywhere in it including a 3000 mile trip around Europe, been all over England and I go to work and back in it every day.

Well done. Good post. Put 50k miles on my T350C in 4 years, and yes the engine went after about 20 of them, and no it wasn't a chocolate finger or cam but a bearing on the crank...

I don't know whether things changed in the first few years between the engine being launched and the start of all the failures, but I'm thinking initially engines were sound, then cost cutting and cheaper component manufacture crept in, along with sh*t loads of failures, so maybe you'll be ok !!

[alex_gray255]

Hmm, who knows?

I did have a very early Speed six Tuscan (2000 red-rose spec.) that has done up to 30k without any issues.

That being said however, plenty of cases where the early ones have gone for rebuild. I've had chats with Joe & Ben (@ Castle) and Martin (@ Bespoke) about this over the years and it got to a point where it was getting to be a joke with the failures they had and the number of cars going back for rebuilds.

Let's just say it is a luck of the draw.

[Zippee]

OK - my T350 had a late 2004 engine in it and that was perfect, great compression, 265bhp at the fly, needed next to no shim adjustment at each service and I now have a 4.3 rebuild. Why? Because the damned half time bearing failed on me which pretty much lunched the rest of the engine.
It is a lottery with these cars and the rebuilds will ensure that all the internals, including the sodding bearing, are updated with decent parts!
It sounds like you're really enjoying your car but they can cost the earth so just be aware.
I don't think it's needless scaremongering at all - more just warning potential buyers that they can and do let go and sometimes theres just no way of telling.

[Walford]

Ok am won over LSx going in the skip speed6 going back in,

[Don1]

Walford said:

Ok am won over LSx going in the skip speed6 going back in,

Is there any reason for you coming in this forum?

[Walford]

Don1 said:

Walford said:

Ok am won over LSx going in the skip speed6 going back in,

Is there any reason for you coming in this forum?

1 am am ex speed six owner

2 like to think i have a right to free speech

3 am English and feel humour is part of our culture

4 I think the speed6 finished TVR ( hope they come back with a crate)

5 no body shares any speed6 tech info on here its a joke thread

,

[Don1]

Walford said:

Don1 said:

Walford said:

Ok am won over LSx going in the skip speed6 going back in,

Is there any reason for you coming in this forum?

1 am am ex speed six owner

2 like to think i have a right to free speech

3 am English and feel humour is part of our culture

4 I think the speed6 finished TVR ( hope they come back with a crate)

5 no body shares any speed6 tech info on here its a joke thread

,

6 Obviously doesn't get the concept of (gentle) sarcasm using emoticons. That little thing?

All of the above is true IMHO, except maybe 5 - others like myself have passed on costs, tips and the like. You do seem to be very down on the S6 in all of your posts here - not an insult, just an observation.

[Walford]

any normal forum for an automotive engine would have a few wiki/stickies at the top to cover the basic stuff, engine service, ecu comms, setting throttles and cam drive chain, torque setting and the forum would discuss more detailed stuff like using performance and aftermarket components, what works well with what

am down on the speed six secret service not the engine


Have to admit don't really understand the little faces, were they something to do with rod stewart

[Don1]

Yep, that covers it. Now you come to mention it, I see what you mean about the lack of freely available knowledge (apart from Graham V's pages).

[m4tti]

Walford said:

any normal forum for an automotive engine would have a few wiki/stickies at the top to cover the basic stuff, engine service, ecu comms, setting throttles and cam drive chain, torque setting and the forum would discuss more detailed stuff like using performance and aftermarket components, what works well with what

am down on the speed six secret service not the engine


Have to admit don't really understand the little faces, were they something to do with rod stewart

To be honest there is a fair bit of info if you search for it for, stuff like setting throttle bodies etc. Part of the reason its difficult to find is the shambolic nature of piston heads vs a dedicated brand specific forum, which like you say seem to work better.

[Basil Brush]

I understand where you're coming from Ryan but if you'd been around here in 99/00/01, in the dark days of the speed 6 you'd understand where all this comes from. Mine had 2 rebuilds before it got to 16k miles and quite a few early engines had more.

Things improved massively late 2002 but odds for the early engines were probably 50:50.

[Frenchda]

Bloody speed six engines!




Although to be fair mine went because of the block, very rare I'm told, so could have been any engine. On the plus side what an engine!!!

Edited by Frenchda on Monday 12th August 08:59

[lawtoni]

All S6 engines come fall into 2 categories:

1. Those that have been rebuilt

2. Those that will need rebuilding at some point in the future

I'm sorry but this is the case apart from a small number of exceptions.

[ray von]

lawtoni said:

All S6 engines come fall into 2 categories:

1. Those that have been rebuilt

2. Those that will need rebuilding at some point in the future

I'm sorry but this is the case apart from a small number of exceptions.

So not all then

[Walford]

lawtoni said:

All S6 engines come fall into 2 categories:

1. Those that have been rebuilt

2. Those that will need rebuilding at some point in the future

I'm sorry but this is the case apart from a small number of exceptions.

3 Those that have been rebuilt and have a trusted warranty

[jr6yam]

lawtoni said:

All S6 engines come fall into 2 categories:

1. Those that have been rebuilt

2. Those that will need rebuilding at some point in the future

I'm sorry but this is the case apart from a small number of exceptions.

You could say that about any engine that's ever been built!
I suppose with the speed six the issue is the low mileages attained before they pop (allegedly)

[PascalBuyens]

Walford said:

Ok am won over LSx going in the skip speed6 going back in,

DO tell which skip I would need to plunder when it happens

[tvrdavid]

I have heard of people getting reasonable mileages out of even the early speed 6 engines, unfortunately my 2001 Tuscan had got through 2 rebuilds by 50000 miles, despite being treated with mechanical sympathy throughout. It's a lottery really with an early engine and you may get lucky - if you do - great, but I don't think it's scaremongering to suggest there are reliability issues out there. I personally would not buy another SP6 engined car without a rebuild/warranty but each to their own!

[Sevenman]

lawtoni said:

All S6 engines come fall into 2 categories:

1. Those that have been rebuilt

2. Those that will need rebuilding at some point in the future

I'm sorry but this is the case apart from a small number of exceptions.

As jr6yam said, that applies to all engines.

My suggestion is:

All engines from every manufacturer fall into 1 category:

1. Those that will need rebuilding in the future.

(assuming the car is driven a few miles / year).


I hope the Speed 6 is getting to a point where engines either have good rebuilds, or aren't from a faulty batch. A few low mileage cars might be waiting.

When looking for my Tamora (bought in late 2011) there was always the advice to go for a rebuilt engine, but very few of the classified had rebuilds, and that included cars on 40k or 60k miles.

I have a vested interest as the owner of a 20k miles 3.6 from 2002 that is going strong. I hope that if serviced properly and warmed-up carefully it will keep going for some years to come.

But if it does fail, then I know where I am going for a rebuild