New owner questions, please can someone help? :)

[neeko99]

Hi was wondering if I could get some advice? I recently bought my first TVR, she’s a 2003 Tamora and I'm absolutely in love! But I have a few questions, I had her serviced when I bought her (1000 miles ago) and there were no problems according to Fernhurst (where I bought her from) but:

When I'm in traffic for more than 10 mins or so I get an oil pressure warning light because it’s dropping lower than 4 psi, is this normal? If not what could the problem be and what should the pressure be stabilising at? There’s plenty of oil in her and she doesn’t seem to have any leaks.

Again when I'm in traffic the engine heat gets up to 96 degrees, is this normal or could this be what’s causing the oil pressure to drop? And what should the temp be stabilising at?

Finally, I keep getting a rattling/grating noise that sounds like its coming from underneath the car but when I try to locate it outside the car I can't hear it, it doesn't sound like its the engine any ideas?

I'll probably take her for a check up at the garage anyway but any help from people in the know would be greatly appreciated, on that note can any one recomend a specialist near to docklands in London?

[Far Eastender]

I have an S6 Cerb and had similar problems, until I changed to a digital dial. On start up, I have oil pressure of 55-56 PSi, when warm at 4,000 revs it's 44-45 PSi and warm idle around 12-13 PSi, so I suspect you have an inaccurate reading.

Normal driving temp is 68-70C, in traffic can go upto 93-94C. My old analog dial showed 110C!, so I would not worry too much. Just make sure you check the oil levels at the end of every days drive (engine has to be hot for an accurate check),

The rattling could be one of two things. 1. If you have steel cable (fuel, oil etc) they can rattle against the engine or chassis. 2. Your exhaust could be resting against the chassis or body. Best to take a look underneath, but nothing major to resolve

Edited by Far Eastender on Friday 19th October 15:41

Edited by Far Eastender on Friday 19th October 15:42

Edited by Far Eastender on Sunday 21st October 12:33

[neeko99]

Cheers for the reply I don't suppose you have any advice on cold starting? The salesman at the garage told me that its easy to flood the engine if you don't keep the throttle well pumped and he also said once it fires to give it a blast of high revs. Then I heard today that under no circumstances should the engine be rev'd above 2000 rpm until the oil reaches 60 degrees! I'd never drive hard until the engines warm but I wasn't aware of this theory, any ideas?

[NTEL]

neeko99 said:

Cheers for the reply I don't suppose you have any advice on cold starting? The salesman at the garage told me that its easy to flood the engine if you don't keep the throttle well pumped and he also said once it fires to give it a blast of high revs. Then I heard today that under no circumstances should the engine be rev'd above 2000 rpm until the oil reaches 60 degrees! I'd never drive hard until the engines warm but I wasn't aware of this theory, any ideas?

You shouldn't need to give it much gas at all when starting. When it does catch then just hold it at about 1200rpm for a few seconds or until it settles down. Then just drive off. I never take the engine over 2500rpm until it reaches 60 degC. If the engine is still cold but I'm stuck in traffic I tend to increase the idle to 1100 rpm just to make sure there is sufficient oil flow around the engine. Seems to work for me, but everybody will do it differently. One thing for such though, NEVER rev it hard until it is up to temperature.

Oh, and regarding the grating noise. Have the near side engine mount checked. When they go, the engine drops slightly causing the cat to sit on the under plate. the rest of the exhaust system will also be slightly lower.

Edited by NTEL on Friday 19th October 16:19

[Far Eastender]

I agree with NTEL regarding starting. I never use any pedal, just turn her over and she starts almost immediately at about 1000 revs when cold and down to 800 when warm. Also, I keep her under 3,000 revs until the water temp is 60+ (usually 10 minutes or so),

[S5TVR]

neeko99 said:

Cheers for the reply I don't suppose you have any advice on cold starting?

My start up routine is to fire up the engine, followed by a couple of quick blips of the throttle (these blips are less than 3,000 revs) and then I keep it below 3,000 revs until the oil temp reaches 70 degrees - after that its party time !.

[YI8TVR]

[quoute=Far Eastender] I keep her under 3,000 revs until the water temp is 60+ (usually 10 minutes or so),
[/quote]


Another engine about to bite the dust

[kevin63]

A guy in our region made a clear top for the engine and found out that when started up from cold there was no oil reached the top of the engine for around 10-12seconds, just think about that when you start your SP6 engine, I would do as NTEL does personally as far as starting your car.

[L1OFF]

kevin63 said:

A guy in our region made a clear top for the engine and found out that when started up from cold there was no oil reached the top of the engine for around 10-12seconds, just think about that when you start your SP6 engine, I would do as NTEL does personally as far as starting your car.

a pre oiler would make a lot of sense then

[rebelstar]

YI8TVR said:

Far Eastender said:

I keep her under 3,000 revs until the water temp is 60+ (usually 10 minutes or so),

Another engine about to bite the dust

Hopefully, he meant to say oil temp.

[Far Eastender]

Sorry, oil not water temp.

[andyoleary]

L1OFF said:

kevin63 said:

A guy in our region made a clear top for the engine and found out that when started up from cold there was no oil reached the top of the engine for around 10-12seconds, just think about that when you start your SP6 engine, I would do as NTEL does personally as far as starting your car.

a pre oiler would make a lot of sense then

Raceproved have one you can buy from CT...bit pricey though...

I pretty much do as Dave (NTEL) has said, the oil wont lift up the followers etc unless you rev over around 1300rpm's (as far as I understand, could be wrong I spose..) so I do this for 10 seconds or so after starting up (with no throttle and foot on clutch) before driving away and keeping below 2500rpms before the OIL temp (when standing or less than, say, 40mph) reaches 50C, below 3000rpm before 60C. And try not to labour/load the engine in a high gear at less than 1700rpm when not warmed up.

Andy

[FrancoTam]

I don't take mine above 2k until 50c then up to 3k until 70c then party time as one of you rightly said.
The rattling could well be the engine mount causing the exaust to lower slightly and hit the under tray. Nothing to worry about to much, it happened on mine. They fixed the rattle by adjusting the exhaust and said next time it was in they would do the engine mount.
My water temps will reach 98 or some times 100 but never had a problem. If it gets up around 100 hold the revs at about 2k and it will kick the water pump into life(Iv'e been told the water pump dosn't kick in till 1.5k) and bring the water temp back down to low 90's.
Your oil might be a false reading, but 4psi is getting too low, get it checked asap as oil is vitle to life of these engies. Mine will sit at 10/11psi when the oil temp is 70 and sit at as low as 7psi when the oil is at 90(hotter the oil is the thinner it is and will give less pressure).
How are you checking your oil?

[scooterscot]

On start up dont let the engine idle to long, give it a minute for the oil to get round the engine then drive it gently until it has reached normal running temp, this will let the engine heat up much quicker. The oil pressure senders are poor and often dont read properly, have the pressure checked with a good hydraulic gauge. All the gauges and senders on TVR's can be as much as 20% out due to production tolerances.It is very rare for the straight six to lose oil pressure, the most common fault is the pressure relief valve spring breaking or the gauze filter in the oil tank to getting blocked with silicon (both easy to check and repair).

[sikent]

What i was told is a bit different to everyone else but seems to make some sense. I will probably get laughed at now by more experienced owners. I was told that for every 10 degrees of temperature you can use 1000 rpm. So i leave the car ticking over on the drive until the oil temp gets to 30 degrees or so. Then drive it using the above rule, not pushing it until the Oil is really warmed up. Am i doing the wrong thing?

[S1MMA]

Interestingly - the technical expert at Evo (Daniels?) wrote an article about revving engines from cold - as F1 cars and other race cars seem to do this when starting up (i.e. they blip the throttle immediately after starting). He said that it's not damaging to blip the revs on an unloaded engine, and that F1 teams etc... do it to "splash" the oil around in the engine after starting up (or something to that effect).

He said that you could damage an engine when using high revs when there's a load on it (i.e. it's in gear driving the car), but it's unlikely when unloaded. I don't have a SP6, just saw this thread in passing.....

[Nafem]

Apparently it is best to drive after about 30 seconds of starting rather than to let it sit idling. I think it is something to do with revving the engine small amounts to get the oil pressure up. Also it is good to warm up the whole drive train rather than just the engine.

[tobeee]

sikent said:

...So i leave the car ticking over on the drive until the oil temp gets to 30 degrees or so. Then drive it using the above rule, not pushing it until the Oil is really warmed up. Am i doing the wrong thing?

Yes. At idle there's not enough pressure to spread the oil around. You should drive off fairly soon after starting. I give it a couple of small 1200 rev blips while I'm doing up the seabelt etc. before driving off. Then, as said, low revs til up to temp, but not too low as to labour the engine. Seems too much to think about at first, but after a couple of days it's all natural.

[KillerJim]

tobeee said:

sikent said:

...So i leave the car ticking over on the drive until the oil temp gets to 30 degrees or so. Then drive it using the above rule, not pushing it until the Oil is really warmed up. Am i doing the wrong thing?

Yes. At idle there's not enough pressure to spread the oil around. You should drive off fairly soon after starting. I give it a couple of small 1200 rev blips while I'm doing up the seabelt etc. before driving off. Then, as said, low revs til up to temp, but not too low as to labour the engine. Seems too much to think about at first, but after a couple of days it's all natural.

I thought when the engine is cold the oil pressure is much higher(>50psi). Surely with the higher pressure when cold then engine will be prefectly safe to idle for a few minutes.

Starting a very hot engine and letting it idle might be a different issue.

[boardinscotland]

Hi there.
I have recently bought an early Tuscan. I have the same problem. I have just set the idle to 900 rpm but my oil pressure is still low. With the speed six from reading a lot of the forums and speaking to a few people there is a problem with the speed six engine from oil starvation at the top end especially when hot. I get similar oil pressures when cold as yours. My old man is a mechanic and owns a plethora of cars ( Aston martin DB7, AC cobra with 5 litre V8 and Jag Mk2) and so has experience with cars and has suggested heavier oil. I have started using heavy oil (15/50) but am very careful on intial start up as the oil is so thick. Many people dont think this is a good idea( although I have read that fernhurst use this on early speed sixes) but when your car is hot especialy with the speed six I think it helps. I have similar pressures to yours when hot. Also when hot 94 - 96 deg is fine. Water should be about the same when in traffic. Your fans will kick in at 94 deg anyway. If it suddenly jumps then keep an eye on it. Also if u dont have italready get the newer oil pressure sender.

Sorry for the essay but am also trying to get a lot info back.
Greig

Edited by boardinscotland on Thursday 7th February 22:36