First drive in my Chim 450, some 'issues' I've noticed...
Discussion
Afternoon all,
Yesterday I took my Chim out for it's first ever test drive after taxing it and insuring it with Footman James as recommended by others on here...
I've owned this car since October, but wanted to get it as right as I could before driving it...
As I found out yesterday, my Chim doesn't have power steering - there's no reservoir near the coil, and a complete lack of power steering fluid on my garage floor, so that's that. My god is the steering heavy!! I was literally breaking out into a sweat manoeuvrering out of the drive - do people increase the tyre pressure a bit to make steering a bit easier?
Something else more concerning - the car drives like an absolute dog - I have cleaned the MAF, cleaned and oiled the air filter, new Lucas coil, new Lucas leads, new NGK (7) plugs, new ECU coolant sensor. When blipping the throttle stationary, there is like a small hesitation before the revs actually rise. On the road, it "kangarooed" quite badly in 1st and felt very jerky and the whole car vibrates when driving when doing 40/50mph - the gear stick vibrates and I can bearly see behind me because the rear view mirror shakes so much. As I put my foot to floor, yes it goes ok in the higher revs but I was expecting to be spat off the road by a wall of V8 torque, but the ditchfinder tyres (fitted by the previous owner) were not challenged once - I was expecting to be clinging on for dear life but was left underwhelmed apart from the noise...I am running the original extenders, should I ditch these and fit some socks (can anyone recommend any? It also wants to stall sometimes, and did actually die as I came to some traffic lights - as I put my foot on the clutch and I to neutral - luckily it was downhill so I could slip it into 2nd and let the clutch out to bump start it which worked and got it going again....Could the timing or ignition amplifier be the culprit?
Also the fans were on most of the time during my 15 mile drive - I can tell when they come on because a yellow light appears on the steering wheel cowling when the fans come on (as well as being able to hear them, obvs) the car has to be moving for the fans to stop, the moment I stop at a traffic light for more than a minute, on they come. Is this normal? It was only 22 degrees yesterday - I know there's a V8 in there, but do these old TVRs run that hot?
Any help greatly appreciated
Yesterday I took my Chim out for it's first ever test drive after taxing it and insuring it with Footman James as recommended by others on here...
I've owned this car since October, but wanted to get it as right as I could before driving it...
As I found out yesterday, my Chim doesn't have power steering - there's no reservoir near the coil, and a complete lack of power steering fluid on my garage floor, so that's that. My god is the steering heavy!! I was literally breaking out into a sweat manoeuvrering out of the drive - do people increase the tyre pressure a bit to make steering a bit easier?
Something else more concerning - the car drives like an absolute dog - I have cleaned the MAF, cleaned and oiled the air filter, new Lucas coil, new Lucas leads, new NGK (7) plugs, new ECU coolant sensor. When blipping the throttle stationary, there is like a small hesitation before the revs actually rise. On the road, it "kangarooed" quite badly in 1st and felt very jerky and the whole car vibrates when driving when doing 40/50mph - the gear stick vibrates and I can bearly see behind me because the rear view mirror shakes so much. As I put my foot to floor, yes it goes ok in the higher revs but I was expecting to be spat off the road by a wall of V8 torque, but the ditchfinder tyres (fitted by the previous owner) were not challenged once - I was expecting to be clinging on for dear life but was left underwhelmed apart from the noise...I am running the original extenders, should I ditch these and fit some socks (can anyone recommend any? It also wants to stall sometimes, and did actually die as I came to some traffic lights - as I put my foot on the clutch and I to neutral - luckily it was downhill so I could slip it into 2nd and let the clutch out to bump start it which worked and got it going again....Could the timing or ignition amplifier be the culprit?
Also the fans were on most of the time during my 15 mile drive - I can tell when they come on because a yellow light appears on the steering wheel cowling when the fans come on (as well as being able to hear them, obvs) the car has to be moving for the fans to stop, the moment I stop at a traffic light for more than a minute, on they come. Is this normal? It was only 22 degrees yesterday - I know there's a V8 in there, but do these old TVRs run that hot?
Any help greatly appreciated
I've never had a Chim but as for no power steering only try to move the steering wheel when the wheels are turning - even my 205 GTi was hefty when stationary. For the terrible running and engine vibration, have you got the plug leads on the right cylinders after your servicing?
Edited by tonyvid on Friday 26th July 16:04
I don't have power steering either and I think it's something you'll just get used to - I've only had my Chim for a couple of months but I am noticing it less and less, and actually quite like how connected I feel when driving now.
As mentioned above, it's really only at very low speed that there should be any issue, and having even a small bit of momentum makes it much more manageable.
I did do a little research into EPAS options just out of curiosity and there is a company called easysteer if you wanted a ready made solution for this.
As mentioned above, it's really only at very low speed that there should be any issue, and having even a small bit of momentum makes it much more manageable.
I did do a little research into EPAS options just out of curiosity and there is a company called easysteer if you wanted a ready made solution for this.
THEDAVINATOR said:
Afternoon all,
Yesterday I took my Chim out for it's first ever test drive after taxing it and insuring it with Footman James as recommended by others on here...
I've owned this car since October, but wanted to get it as right as I could before driving it...
As I found out yesterday, my Chim doesn't have power steering - there's no reservoir near the coil, and a complete lack of power steering fluid on my garage floor, so that's that. My god is the steering heavy!! I was literally breaking out into a sweat manoeuvrering out of the drive - do people increase the tyre pressure a bit to make steering a bit easier?
Something else more concerning - the car drives like an absolute dog - I have cleaned the MAF, cleaned and oiled the air filter, new Lucas coil, new Lucas leads, new NGK (7) plugs, new ECU coolant sensor. When blipping the throttle stationary, there is like a small hesitation before the revs actually rise. On the road, it "kangarooed" quite badly in 1st and felt very jerky and the whole car vibrates when driving when doing 40/50mph - the gear stick vibrates and I can bearly see behind me because the rear view mirror shakes so much. As I put my foot to floor, yes it goes ok in the higher revs but I was expecting to be spat off the road by a wall of V8 torque, but the ditchfinder tyres (fitted by the previous owner) were not challenged once - I was expecting to be clinging on for dear life but was left underwhelmed apart from the noise...I am running the original extenders, should I ditch these and fit some socks (can anyone recommend any? It also wants to stall sometimes, and did actually die as I came to some traffic lights - as I put my foot on the clutch and I to neutral - luckily it was downhill so I could slip it into 2nd and let the clutch out to bump start it which worked and got it going again....Could the timing or ignition amplifier be the culprit?
Also the fans were on most of the time during my 15 mile drive - I can tell when they come on because a yellow light appears on the steering wheel cowling when the fans come on (as well as being able to hear them, obvs) the car has to be moving for the fans to stop, the moment I stop at a traffic light for more than a minute, on they come. Is this normal? It was only 22 degrees yesterday - I know there's a V8 in there, but do these old TVRs run that hot?
Any help greatly appreciated
Think that you need to take the car to a Specialist TVR Garage to give it a full diagnosis on what the problems are, else you could waste a lot of time and money trying to resolve the problem yourself.Yesterday I took my Chim out for it's first ever test drive after taxing it and insuring it with Footman James as recommended by others on here...
I've owned this car since October, but wanted to get it as right as I could before driving it...
As I found out yesterday, my Chim doesn't have power steering - there's no reservoir near the coil, and a complete lack of power steering fluid on my garage floor, so that's that. My god is the steering heavy!! I was literally breaking out into a sweat manoeuvrering out of the drive - do people increase the tyre pressure a bit to make steering a bit easier?
Something else more concerning - the car drives like an absolute dog - I have cleaned the MAF, cleaned and oiled the air filter, new Lucas coil, new Lucas leads, new NGK (7) plugs, new ECU coolant sensor. When blipping the throttle stationary, there is like a small hesitation before the revs actually rise. On the road, it "kangarooed" quite badly in 1st and felt very jerky and the whole car vibrates when driving when doing 40/50mph - the gear stick vibrates and I can bearly see behind me because the rear view mirror shakes so much. As I put my foot to floor, yes it goes ok in the higher revs but I was expecting to be spat off the road by a wall of V8 torque, but the ditchfinder tyres (fitted by the previous owner) were not challenged once - I was expecting to be clinging on for dear life but was left underwhelmed apart from the noise...I am running the original extenders, should I ditch these and fit some socks (can anyone recommend any? It also wants to stall sometimes, and did actually die as I came to some traffic lights - as I put my foot on the clutch and I to neutral - luckily it was downhill so I could slip it into 2nd and let the clutch out to bump start it which worked and got it going again....Could the timing or ignition amplifier be the culprit?
Also the fans were on most of the time during my 15 mile drive - I can tell when they come on because a yellow light appears on the steering wheel cowling when the fans come on (as well as being able to hear them, obvs) the car has to be moving for the fans to stop, the moment I stop at a traffic light for more than a minute, on they come. Is this normal? It was only 22 degrees yesterday - I know there's a V8 in there, but do these old TVRs run that hot?
Any help greatly appreciated
tonyvid said:
as for no power steering only try and move the steering wheel when the wheels are turning
Wot e sed.I used to park in tight car parks and parallel park into tight spaces when I had my non-PAS Chimaera and making sure the wheels are rolling even just a tiny bit helped with turning the wheel.
citizen smith said:
Think that you need to take the car to a Specialist TVR Garage to give it a full diagnosis on what the problems are, else you could waste a lot of time and money trying to resolve the problem yourself.
It's a Rover V8. It doesn't need a specialist TVR garage. Any competent garage should be able to sort it. It isn't complicated. Sounds like a misfire to me, but impossible to tell for sure over the Internet.
tonyvid said:
I've never had a Chim but as for no power steering only try to move the steering wheel when the wheels are turning - even my 205 GTi was hefty when stationary. For the terrible running and engine vibration, have you got the plug leads on the right cylinders after your servicing?
Thanks for the tip, I actually thought the same thing myself so checked the dizzy cap and leads using this diagram at the bottom...Edited by tonyvid on Friday 26th July 16:04
But unfortunately everything is in the correct order, which means it's something else (probably more complicated) :-(
I'm not an extender-hater like many on here, but I'm not sure they do a great deal (anymore) - the one on cylinder no 6 always spins round and drop directly above the manifold, making the HT lead practically touch the manifold - can I run it without the extenders long term? (Even without heat socks?)
Something I did notice was the vacuum advance pipe to the dizzy is very loose (i.e. it doesn't look airtight and might benefit from a clamp of some sort)..
I've also checked the intake after the MAF for leaks, absolutely air tight...
Edited by THEDAVINATOR on Friday 26th July 17:36
pmc_3 said:
Whereabouts are you? It might be worth seeing if anyone local has Rovergauge so you can plug it in and see if it's reporting any faults and sensors are all in range. Even my Chimaera that needs new tappets (and cam) as it's very tappy, doesn't have the vibrations you mention.
I'm near Bromsgrove in the Midlands, south of B'rum...Lucas stuff is generally junk so i hope you have not fitted a faulty component as this can leave you chasing your tail.
If the leads will reach the plugs try removing the extenders temporarily to see if they are an issue.
The cap, rotor, coil and leads have to be good quality but the problem is you cant really buy decent stuff these days.
Id only fit an oe Bosch coil from a reputable source.
If the leads will reach the plugs try removing the extenders temporarily to see if they are an issue.
The cap, rotor, coil and leads have to be good quality but the problem is you cant really buy decent stuff these days.
Id only fit an oe Bosch coil from a reputable source.
Thanks for reply - yeah I've heard the "Lucas" stuff can be cheap Chinese garbage - I did make sure to get the leads and coil from a Land Rover parts dealer with 99.9% eBay feedback so I assumed even if not genuine, the parts of are good quality - I would say though that on close inspection both the coil and leads really do look of high quality. Guess I'll try and go for a spin without the extenders and see if that makes a difference - the HT leads reach...
I'd strongly support the above post by Belle. When I bought my car it didn't run well. Better than yours sounds but not great. I saw how poor the extenders where on my car when I opened the bonnet in the dark and saw how many where split and it had sparks earthing all over the place.
I removed them all as a test and the car was transformed. 6 of the 8 had visable cracks I the black insulation where the lead was connected. I bought a new replacement set of Beru extenders from France and they lasted a few months by all accounts if you can get a decent set of good originals they may be ok but if you can get ht leads with the right bent connector that keeps away from the manifolds then that's better.
I removed them all as a test and the car was transformed. 6 of the 8 had visable cracks I the black insulation where the lead was connected. I bought a new replacement set of Beru extenders from France and they lasted a few months by all accounts if you can get a decent set of good originals they may be ok but if you can get ht leads with the right bent connector that keeps away from the manifolds then that's better.
When I had an extender fail, it ran terrible.
I identified the failed one with a simple continuity test, it was open circuit. I run no 1 and 2 cylinders without extenders (IME not all 8 will reach without) and they have a little gap to the manifold, leaving me with a spare. Nos 7 and 8 will get very hot without extenders but for a short drive, it would be fine and help you diagnose.
The vacuum advance if not working properly will not cause lumpiness, just lack of advance for power and higher consumption. I, and several others, use NGK 6 plugs, the 7s can easily foul.
I identified the failed one with a simple continuity test, it was open circuit. I run no 1 and 2 cylinders without extenders (IME not all 8 will reach without) and they have a little gap to the manifold, leaving me with a spare. Nos 7 and 8 will get very hot without extenders but for a short drive, it would be fine and help you diagnose.
The vacuum advance if not working properly will not cause lumpiness, just lack of advance for power and higher consumption. I, and several others, use NGK 6 plugs, the 7s can easily foul.
Why did you change so much of the ignition system? What was it running like before you gave it a service?
Would be worth trying the local TVRCC facialache page to see if anyone is local with rovergauge and a laptop and willing to pop round to 'scan' the car. I'm pretty confident some one will offer help.
Do you still have the old bits you took off? If you do, then you could try swapping them back one element at a time. If that cures it, then you could start swapping the new bits back in, again, one element at a time.
Would be worth trying the local TVRCC facialache page to see if anyone is local with rovergauge and a laptop and willing to pop round to 'scan' the car. I'm pretty confident some one will offer help.
Do you still have the old bits you took off? If you do, then you could try swapping them back one element at a time. If that cures it, then you could start swapping the new bits back in, again, one element at a time.
mk1fan said:
Why did you change so much of the ignition system? What was it running like before you gave it a service?
Would be worth trying the local TVRCC facialache page to see if anyone is local with rovergauge and a laptop and willing to pop round to 'scan' the car. I'm pretty confident some one will offer help.
Do you still have the old bits you took off? If you do, then you could try swapping them back one element at a time. If that cures it, then you could start swapping the new bits back in, again, one element at a time.
I changed most of the ignition system because I'd read that old RV8 TVRs (like any car really) demand an ignition system in tip top condition to run right. The bits are cheap (20 quid for a coil, 30 quid for leads etc) so my thinking was why not just replace everything as I don't know how long it's been on the car, the bits are cheap as chips and it can't hurt to have new ignition stuff. Yes, I've kept the old stuff with a view to keeping it in the boot as spares - should ever I go on a road trip to Europe and something breaks - I'll have a selection of spares in the boot Would be worth trying the local TVRCC facialache page to see if anyone is local with rovergauge and a laptop and willing to pop round to 'scan' the car. I'm pretty confident some one will offer help.
Do you still have the old bits you took off? If you do, then you could try swapping them back one element at a time. If that cures it, then you could start swapping the new bits back in, again, one element at a time.
I actually bought a new set of HT leads because the king lead had a viable split in it, and a replacement was 20 quid - a new set of leads was 30 quid (Inc the king lead) so a bit of a no brainer really).I'll go for a short spin without the extenders keeping in mind 7 & 8 are getting very ...er... Toasty
Edited by THEDAVINATOR on Friday 26th July 19:26
I agree. There are many posts across many marques where someone has bought a new car, got it home, thought I'll give it a major service and it run like a dog afterwards.
Unfortunately, the quality of service items has declined from what they were - outside of the big manufacturers - and can introduce issues. I understand where you're coming from but you might want to consider swapping bits back one by one to see what happens.
An example of the drop off in quality of RV8 spares are the stepper motors. The original ones lasted ages even through very poor conditions and when they finally gave up the ghost the replacements would last a year or two.
I would still post up on he local TVRCC group facialbakue page for Rovergauge help.
Unfortunately, the quality of service items has declined from what they were - outside of the big manufacturers - and can introduce issues. I understand where you're coming from but you might want to consider swapping bits back one by one to see what happens.
An example of the drop off in quality of RV8 spares are the stepper motors. The original ones lasted ages even through very poor conditions and when they finally gave up the ghost the replacements would last a year or two.
I would still post up on he local TVRCC group facialbakue page for Rovergauge help.
mk1fan said:
Why did you change so much of the ignition system? What was it running like before you gave it a service?
.
I don't know how the car ran before I replaced the ignition stuff because.....I bought the car blind on eBay - I never even saw it let alone test drove it. What looked like the right car (for me) came up - starmist green, green over biscuit interior and a 450, low mileage (37k) and full MOT with no previous mention of rot in the MOT history. My thinking was it's 90s TVR, Not the starship enterprise and anything that may be broken can be repaired. .
This was the state of the coil
Now normally I'm a "if it ain't broke..." Kinda guy - I'm not sure what anyone else thinks, but to me this here coil doesn't exactly look tip top - perhaps it works better than a cheap copied part though
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