V6 Non Starter.

[cnprior]

MOT failure on Saturday.....pleased though it only failed on a couple of electrical gremlins with the headlights.

So today I traced the indicators and headlights back to their 5 pin connectors did a bit of rewiring and then all lights and indicators were well once more.

Unfortunately, after about 4 hours rewiring I came to pull the car back into the garage and it wouldn't start. I have obviously disturbed quite a few wires, but none connected to the engine - or so I thought.

Upon turning the ignition key, the fuel pump primes, then the engine has good cranking speed but won't 'fire'. I made sure that all HT leads and ignition coil were 'tight' and that any possible disturbed wires were pushed firmly into place.

One scary thought I have is that I may have left the ignition on too long and burnt out the coil.....would this cause the car not to start? Is this likely?


I am very limited for time at the moment (aren't we all - but a baby at 7 weeks makes it tough to enjoy the TVR sufficiently !!)....so I am asking for an idiots guide to checking out the non starting engine:-

Things like, check fuse X,Y or Z.
Check coil in this way etc.
Is there a spark etc.

I am not an engine muppet - but it has been 10 years since I was last messing about with cars and babies seem to make the memory lose some aspects of time !!!!!

Many thanks - keep up the good work, I was disapointed not to be able to make it to SCH 2011.

Regards,

Chris
P.S. Does anyone have a NSF headlight for sale? as to make the day worse I managed to drop this !!

[GadgeS3C]

Brain too frazzled to provide much helpful advice on the starting at the mo (suspect it's likely to be a connection disturbed) but head lamps are easily available , just standard 7" units like these:

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/7--halogen-lens--wi...

Sure someone will be along soon on the starting but probably most recovering from S Club Heaven tonight.
Gary

[Gerald-TVR]

Sounds like it could be the dreaded yellow connectorclose to the ignition switch, they overheat and burn out



Chop it out and either hard wire or replace

[cnprior]

Gerald - Any ideas where I can get the yellow connector?

[tvrgit]

you say that when you turn on the ignition, the fuel pump primes. Do the ignition and brake warning lights come on? Do the wipers work? do the brake lights work? If so, and the engine turns over, then your problem is probably NOT the yellow connector.

If no ignition-controlled circuits (like those above) work, but the engine still turns over, then it IS the yellow connector!

Assuming it's not, what do you check next? well fundamentally, you need two things to get the bugger started - fuel and a spark. Check for a spark by removing a spark plug (or get an old one), put the lead back on, hold the metal bit of the plug against the engine USING SOMETHING THAT IS VERY WELL INSULATED, and turn her over - you'll see if there's a good spark or not - if there is, then chances are, the coil and ignition circuit is fine. If not, you know that's where you need to start looking.

In my usual "step at a time" style, try that, see what happens, and let us know - if there's a spark, we need to move to fuel system, if not, we need to diagnose the no-sparky issue.

[Gerald-TVR]

cnprior said:

Gerald - Any ideas where I can get the yellow connector?

I chopped it out and hard wired it. The connector only would be needed if you removed the steering column but and connector with the required number of connections would be fine assuming it was heav duty