electrical hum

[tj500]

Done it! After many years of longing, finally acquired my dream machine, 97 Griff 500 Ocean Haze. (Actually I 'did'it' 2 months ago but have been too busy blasting around having fun to sign up & share my joy with the ph community). It's everything & more I hoped for. So far have completed around 900 miles of completely niggle-free fun & giggles.

Am based in Spain, where I bought the car, & since there is nothing resembling an official (or unofficial) TVR service outpost here, will be bringing the beast over to the UK this month for a full service, the first longish trip to be undertaken. Taking all reasonable precautions I can think of (for which there's much useful info from previous posts on ph) but had one little doubt I've been unable to get any info on from earlier threads, or from the bible. Turning on the ignition, there are two principal sounds: i) fuel pump, lasting about 3 seconds; ii) electrical hum from the battery area, which does not disappear once engine is running (although once running you can't hear it unless you put your ear very close to the battery area). What is it & is it normal? Would appreciate any feedback.

PS Any other Spain-based Griff/TVR owners?

[davidn]

Hello Tj500, sounds like you're having fun in the sun, you lucky sod. Anyway, I had the same problem, traced it (with the help of alot of useful advice from the blokes on here) to a loose motor controling the heater valve. Tightened it up on the bracket and all sorted. Pain in the arse to get at though. good luck and think of us in sub zero Blighty on your next blast.
David

[Leadfoot]

Hum from the battery area - could be the ventilation fan? have you tried turning it (the fan) on/off, up/down to see if it makes a difference?

[tj500]

Thanx for feedback. It's not ventilation fan, that's more of a whirr than a hum & seems to function fine. Sounds highly likely davidn's put his finger on pulse with heater valve motor diagnosis. I will investigate....

[gdonjones]

I have just had a problem with this, I thought the hum was the fuel pump, but thats another story. The heater water valve above and to the side of the glove box and behind the air vent piping, has a feedback rheostat which had popped out of its housing. The valve motor just kept on running as it never got to its desired position (or so it thought). I just popped the thing back in its slot and lo and behold the motor stops, and the heater controls work again. Must think of a way to stop it happening again.
Hope this helps.