Engine ticking noise
Discussion
More problems with my Tuscan Speed 6:
I have an odd ticking noise - the dealer has said that this may be a cam problem and will require an engine rebiuld (about £2500). The car is a Y plate and as far as I can see all Tuscans W, X and Y plate are basically faulty and need a rebuild - I was told that TVR look favourably on this - has anybody got any experience of this??
Help
(A very miserable) John
I have an odd ticking noise - the dealer has said that this may be a cam problem and will require an engine rebiuld (about £2500). The car is a Y plate and as far as I can see all Tuscans W, X and Y plate are basically faulty and need a rebuild - I was told that TVR look favourably on this - has anybody got any experience of this??
Help
(A very miserable) John
jkyle69 said:
More problems with my Tuscan Speed 6:
I have an odd ticking noise - the dealer has said that this may be a cam problem and will require an engine rebiuld (about £2500). The car is a Y plate and as far as I can see all Tuscans W, X and Y plate are basically faulty and need a rebuild - I was told that TVR look favourably on this - has anybody got any experience of this??
Help
(A very miserable) John
Give us some more details. Has the car had a previous rebuild (if so what mileage), and what mileage does the car have now. Who has done the diagnosis (so far) and given you the estimate?
The car has 22,000 miles on the clock - has not had a rebuild as far as I know - the quote was from an independant called APM Automotive in Hampshire as he is the nearest person to me (I'm in Portsmouth). The car has been serviced at the correct mileages etc and has never displayed any problems.
I do not have any blue smoke coming out the back or any oilresidue on the inside of the exhaust but the car is leaking oil anyway as it is dribbling out from under the engine which I have been told could be a faulty sensor under the wing which would cause oil to leak (info from a dealership). I have been on the phone to the TVR factory and the guy I spoke to has said that it could be the tappets (get sorted out at the 24000 mile service) or could be a problem with a finger follower needing replacing which at the worst will need the cylinder head off a stuff replacing (back to the £1600 sympathetic rebuild crap again).
Well I spoke to the bloke at the factory and basically I am going to get it all fixed up whatever (and apparently should be covered by the extended warranty) then its up for f^%^&ing sale and I don't think I will be buying another one. Good old British engineering - shite as usual
Well I spoke to the bloke at the factory and basically I am going to get it all fixed up whatever (and apparently should be covered by the extended warranty) then its up for f^%^&ing sale and I don't think I will be buying another one. Good old British engineering - shite as usual
Andy (APM) is usually right on the money with diagnosis. I'd trust his judgement 100%. Suggest, if you haven't already that you get it up to him to plug in fully and find out what's up.
PS Please don't start the all W/X/Y reg cars are crap, some members tend to get a little upset by these sort of statements.
>> Edited by jurdy on Friday 21st May 17:27
PS Please don't start the all W/X/Y reg cars are crap, some members tend to get a little upset by these sort of statements.
>> Edited by jurdy on Friday 21st May 17:27
jkyle69 said:
I do not have any blue smoke coming out the back or any oilresidue on the inside of the exhaust but the car is leaking oil anyway as it is dribbling out from under the engine which I have been told could be a faulty sensor under the wing which would cause oil to leak (info from a dealership). I have been on the phone to the TVR factory and the guy I spoke to has said that it could be the tappets (get sorted out at the 24000 mile service) or could be a problem with a finger follower needing replacing which at the worst will need the cylinder head off a stuff replacing (back to the £1600 sympathetic rebuild crap again).
Well I spoke to the bloke at the factory and basically I am going to get it all fixed up whatever (and apparently should be covered by the extended warranty) then its up for f^%^&ing sale and I don't think I will be buying another one. Good old British engineering - shite as usual
Give the car a break. Is this the first major fault you've had with the car? How long have you had it? You didn't expect it to run faultlessly did you? (I'm not saying you planned to spend this kind of money on repairs).
Now if you tell me you had it off the road for lots of days then fair enough, but the way you're coming across it's the first big problem in 22,000 miles??
Get it fixed, drive down the road and you'll change you mind :-)
The only issue here is that I have had the car serviced at dealers and also at APM and no one has picked up any problems including Andy who only changed the pugs and leads a couple of weeks ago. There just seems to be a general if you ignore it they will come back later with some notes attitude to most people (Andy excluded) who I have spoken to rather than trying to implement some prevetative maintenance before a ticking noise turn into a screwed engine to a nice little money spinner to someone down the line - as the engine in the W, X and Y models is flawed and even spoke to the manufacturer who told me they have sorted out all of the flaws i.e a new engine variant in the Tuscan the engine in these cars (I'm afraid to say) is crap 'cause it has a design flaw. The car is nice - goes fast great design etc - but the engine is an important component and as the design is dodgy you might as well have an old ford orion engine in instead
First things first, find out what is wrong before deciding how crap the car is - get the dealer to take the engine cover off, they can then see the cams and finger followers and tell you if they are worn - if they are then it is rebuild time, nothing else they can do - if these bits are not worn then it could just be the tappets need adjusting - they need this from time to time and should be checked every second service - if it is these then they can check and adjust them while the engine cover is off, not cheap but a lot cheaper than a rebuild!
As for everyone ignoring things and just waiting for you to come back with a hand full of notes, well what can they do? If you pay them lots of money then they will check everything at each service (and in between if you want to spend the cash) but if the followers are worn then they are worn and need replacing, and since they are no longer as big as they used to be, you need to take the engine apart to make sure the swarf has not scored anything else - oh and there is no way of telling which followers are going to wear until they start wearing, so there isnt much preventative work that can be done
I know this isnt going to make you any happier, but that is just the way it is unfortunately, if this is really more than you can bear then I think a Tuscan isnt the car for you - not trying to be rude, it is just that TVRs are not as refined as the likes of BMW or Audi etc and you will get other things that will take ages or are expensive to fix that you think should be easy and cheap
Good luck anyway, hope it is just tappet adjustment and you are back happily driving the car soon
Graham
As for everyone ignoring things and just waiting for you to come back with a hand full of notes, well what can they do? If you pay them lots of money then they will check everything at each service (and in between if you want to spend the cash) but if the followers are worn then they are worn and need replacing, and since they are no longer as big as they used to be, you need to take the engine apart to make sure the swarf has not scored anything else - oh and there is no way of telling which followers are going to wear until they start wearing, so there isnt much preventative work that can be done
I know this isnt going to make you any happier, but that is just the way it is unfortunately, if this is really more than you can bear then I think a Tuscan isnt the car for you - not trying to be rude, it is just that TVRs are not as refined as the likes of BMW or Audi etc and you will get other things that will take ages or are expensive to fix that you think should be easy and cheap
Good luck anyway, hope it is just tappet adjustment and you are back happily driving the car soon
Graham
If it is the finger followers or valve guides TVR should rebuild your engine for free. It's their fault they are faulty or worn and nobody elses. Let's not stick our heads in the sand and say 'the cars not for you' type of attitude. I'm sure everyone loves their TVR's and can handle bits and bobs going wrong but NOT the feckin engine blowin up. Lets get back into the real world here.
You've paid money for a product that has known flaws. Have you ever heard of any other company in the world getting away with this????
You've paid money for a product that has known flaws. Have you ever heard of any other company in the world getting away with this????
This is undoubtably the reason that TVR will never get away with selling to the USA - they would be broke within 12 months. It seems to be only in the UK where we will dutifully fobbed off - and for the record I only dislike the car now I feel I am having the piss taken out of me - a bit like most other people who have bough cars believing they would at least be fit for purpose
Well you say that, but how long has Microsoft been selling software that doesn't work properly? Windows 95 could never have been claimed to have been stable. 98 was better, but it was not a free upgrade.
I agree though, the situation sucks. What sucks further is warrantee companies attempting to wriggle out of paying by claiming wear and tear!
I agree though, the situation sucks. What sucks further is warrantee companies attempting to wriggle out of paying by claiming wear and tear!
The warranty company will be down the courts if they do not cough up as the car has been serviced as per their requirements in the brochure - i.e. at registered dealers so they should have informed me of the issue when serviced and told me that the car has not had an engine rebuild etc. Also with respect to accepting crap software - correct me if I'm wrong but the basic premise behind the internal combustion engine hasn't really changed much over the last 50 years and companies had race spec engines well in to figures between 300-600bhp in the 1970's (see porsche, bmw and ford touring cars) so I fail to believe what exactly TVR cannot do correctly trying to get a car to run at 380bhp on 'basically a race engine'. Lets hope TVR does get bought up by another car company - perhaps they will be able to make something that works correctly i.e a combustion engine that works is such a rarity in the 21st centuary(!)
sorry to hear of your problems John. Just out of curiosity did you do a lot of research before buying your tuscan?
the only reason I ask is that stories such as yours are not, unfortunately, uncommon. I myself have been hankering after a Tuscan for some time but the cost of a rebuild isnt something I can readily afford so I have stuck with the RV8 engines. A lot of new owners, particularly of early tuscans without rebuilds, will budget for a rebuild when purchasing the car.
Did you have any idea of the SP6 engine reliability before you bought the car? Not having any dig, just enquiring as to what you expected. I know if I bought an early tuscan i would be making sure I allowed the rebuild cost in the bank in addition purely cos it seems a not so infrequent enough scenario
the only reason I ask is that stories such as yours are not, unfortunately, uncommon. I myself have been hankering after a Tuscan for some time but the cost of a rebuild isnt something I can readily afford so I have stuck with the RV8 engines. A lot of new owners, particularly of early tuscans without rebuilds, will budget for a rebuild when purchasing the car.
Did you have any idea of the SP6 engine reliability before you bought the car? Not having any dig, just enquiring as to what you expected. I know if I bought an early tuscan i would be making sure I allowed the rebuild cost in the bank in addition purely cos it seems a not so infrequent enough scenario
Did a lot of research on cost of servicing, fuel comsumption, already had an insurance group 19 car so that was no problem - well aware of the cost and I did get a good deal (I think) in the first instance (£27995, 12000 miles, 2 years old with 18inch spider allows, full leather, aircon). The main thing is that it has been through the dealers who took pains to tell me about all of the additional things that would be a good idea to have like change the accelerator pedal mechanism as it has a design falut (another one) - but it snapped anyway and it was covered under warranty and didn't have to pay(!) - they never pointed out problems with the engine itself or any noises/issues that would wave a flag at me and say get down the dealership quick smart. All kept very, very quiet. Mind you if I was off to buy any car I wouldn't have asked the question 'by the way does this car need an engine rebuild in the next 12 months?' and I very much doubt anybody else would
i guess before I got my first TVR i was unaware of the powers of the internet and the information that you can find on there. Went to a dealership, agreed a price, off I drove.
after seeing what a minefield it can be buying any performance car, but particularly a TVR, I would always research anything I buy in future. Easy said now and only a matter of luck I didnt end up with a car prone to certain faults (or ones that I actually experienced anyway) in the past.
Unfortunately the situation with your car isn't unusual. I won't profess to being an expert on all things Tuscan but the surprise at your hasty reaction to sell the car comes from many owners on the forum who see these rebuilds on a regular basis and anticipate every owner is aware of the downfalls of the SP6 engine before they buy it. Unfortunately, you weren't aware of the potential problems.
Andy at APM is a top bloke and I am sure will sort the car for you. The price I must say seems bloody cheap compared to other rebuild costs I have heard before. But not having the car for weeks on end isnt so helpful, especially if its your fiance's only car. I stopped using even my V8 engined TVR daily and dont miss the times I cant just hop in a car when i need to..
after seeing what a minefield it can be buying any performance car, but particularly a TVR, I would always research anything I buy in future. Easy said now and only a matter of luck I didnt end up with a car prone to certain faults (or ones that I actually experienced anyway) in the past.
Unfortunately the situation with your car isn't unusual. I won't profess to being an expert on all things Tuscan but the surprise at your hasty reaction to sell the car comes from many owners on the forum who see these rebuilds on a regular basis and anticipate every owner is aware of the downfalls of the SP6 engine before they buy it. Unfortunately, you weren't aware of the potential problems.
Andy at APM is a top bloke and I am sure will sort the car for you. The price I must say seems bloody cheap compared to other rebuild costs I have heard before. But not having the car for weeks on end isnt so helpful, especially if its your fiance's only car. I stopped using even my V8 engined TVR daily and dont miss the times I cant just hop in a car when i need to..
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