Running in/strange noise...

[mmertens]

Just got back my RR cerbera after a 4-week vacation in Blackpool and
greater surroundings... it'd blown a gasket and the head apparently
was not well aligned/didn't fit (???) that it had to be retooled. So
now I have to run the thing in again - and it was just nicely run in
when I bought it!

Anyway, 2 questions -
- running in : below 3000 rpm for the 1st 1000 miles, as Barnet tells
me? Is that the best way? I have to drive some 600 miles next week,
should I all do that at variable speeds (as 3000 rpm=80mph in 5, that
means I'm going nowhere very quickly if I occasionally have to do 3
and 4).
- On arriving back from Barnet I noticed this weird noise (sounding a
bit like turning ungreased cogs??) coming from somewhere in front. It
seemed to disappear after a short while, but I noticed now it comes
up when driving at 2000-3000 rpm in 2 and 3. Not in 4 and 5. Does
this mean something's going wrong with the gearbox now?

Any thoughts thankfully received!

Maarten
Silver 4.5 RR - but not completely happy!

[johnmckenzie]

Hmmmm. Interesting gearbox noise. Mine does it only in 3 and 4th between 1700 and 2100 rpm.It's done it from new and has never got worse. I'm told its due to resonances from the flat plane crank finding there way through the drive train and rattling the 3/4 selector rod.This I think is an old problem that TVR were supposed to have cured but not completely. I drove one of the first 5 factory development 4.2 cars back in October 1995 at Elstree prior to production build. The zizzing noise coming up through the gearlever was earsplitting. By the time production got underway they had cured it but a mild form as described came back with the 4.5. Unless it really bugs you, forget about it.

[mmertens]

Just FYI - the noise got worse & worse. Took it to the dealer, had a testdrive with a mechanic. Result: new gearbox (whilst CR one being rebuilt;luckily fitted within a day). Apparently not an uncommon problem with the CR gearboxes in Tuscan S and RR cerbs!