[xain]

Not on a Chimaera, but I removed the starter on my trusty Hearing-aid-beige Triumph Acclaim and shortly afterwards the starter locked up. Check that the starter is bolted on straight and true. Even give it a tap with a soft hammer. In my case the starter was *slightly* loose, and therefore at an angle where it couldn't turn. I simply reseated and tightened it. Good luck.

[philr]

Sounds like a starter moter problem. I had this for a week or two and then finally it failed to start at all ! This is apparently not an expensive job (mine was covered by warantee) and is suposedly easy to get to. TVR reckon that it is easy to bump start your Chimp, but mine nearly killed me - maybe I'm just un fit !

[Saturn 5]

This may seem like a silly question but are you sure the imobilizer is turning off

[Jason F]

If you don`t start a car within about 30 seconds of de-activating the alarm as a rule the immobilisor(sp) comes on to stop some git nicking it while you are putting shopping in the boot or something... Isn`t there an LED that flashes when the Alarm is on ? That`ll start flashing with the immob on too I`d hope..

[Graham B]

See comments in the 'Not starting' topic, may be a similar thing... Cheers, Graham

[Graham B]

Sorry didn't read the bit that said 'the engine was cold'. As I said in the other topic and as suggested by Thames Racing Services when I couldn't start my car, it may be worth holding the ignition on until it starts (normally about 60secs for me). I have had this a couple of times when the engine is hot however the other day it did it after the car had been sitting in the carpark at work all day (ie cold). Will get the starter looked at when it goes into its next service, however as I have a 'workaround' I'm not too worried. Cheers, Graham PS. You should be tell if the imobiliser has switched off because the fuel pump will prime (should hear it). Edited by Graham B on Friday 13th July 17:43

[xain]

I think I had this happen this morning. It started fine, then I stalled pulling out of the space (or maybe it died, I'm not ashamed :-) ) Anyway, it would turn over but not fire and I was half in half out of my parking space on a busy road cursing away. First thing I checked was fuel pump noise, and there wasn't any. Nor was the MIL light coming on. More cursing. Then after a few seconds pause and clicks on the fob, I got the MIL light and pump sound. It started, just, and ran very rough for a second, while I revved it. It hasn't skipped a beat since. Very very odd and not a little alarming. I suspect (Colonel Mustard...) ECU/immobiliser things, but the starter did turn, so I'm not sure. On my old Integra the ECU had an error reporting LED, where you counted the flashes. Does ours have the same?

[ohidunno]

Graham your 'work around' didn't work for me, but thanks for the suggestion. The RAC man gave the starter a few clouts last night before condeming it. Got it bump started and parked at the top of a steep quiet road near me. The local cheapo garage have promised me it will be fixed by Friday night. Hope so or no Duxford for me.

[xain]

I thought bump starting was "banned" for cat cars, as it dumps fuel into the cats which can damage them when it starts?

[ohidunno]

cripes, I think you are right about damaging the cats. According to the bible 'bump starting is inherently dangerous and is detrimental to any catalytic converter that may be fitted'. Bit miffed that the RAC mechanic recommended that we bump start the car. Does anyone know how much damage bump starting can cause, should i risk one more or get a tow to the garage?

[GreenV8S]

This thing about not bump starting cat cars is massively overplayed. There is absolutely no problem pushing the car twenty yards down the road to bump start it. The problem comes if you have a car that *won't* start when you bump it, and you end up dragging it round the block trying to get it to fire up. That can dump a lot of fuel into the cats, and they will not be hot enough to catalyse it. You'll also flood the engine so the chances of it actually firing up are pretty low, but that's another matter. Go with the RAC mechanic's recomendations. Cheers, Peter Humphries (temporarily without green V8S)

quote:cripes, I think you are right about damaging the cats. According to the bible 'bump starting is inherently dangerous and is detrimental to any catalytic converter that may be fitted'. Bit miffed that the RAC mechanic recommended that we bump start the car. Does anyone know how much damage bump starting can cause, should i risk one more or get a tow to the garage?

[Midnight Blue]

I entirely agree with Peter, after all, all the starter motor does is turn the engine over with the ignition switched on! ps Peter, what have you broken this time? How long will you be without the legendary Green V8S?

[GreenV8S]

quote:ps Peter, what have you broken this time? How long will you be without the legendary Green V8S?

Rear trailing arm let go at Hethel. Damned shame because it was going well in practice, even on three wheels it was the fastest TVR and the time would have been quick enough to get second in class if I'd made a competitive run. Cheers, Peter Humphries (temporarily without Green V8S)

[Midnight Blue]

Another suspension/drivetrain component that's been sacrificed to the great God of Horsepower!