See Doors for door mirrors
Having various friends with TVRs as well as my own, a rucurring problem has been corrosion of the electrical terminals in the engine bay, especially low down at the front for the lighting. With this in mind I visited a local electronics component supplier and purchased "Electrolube" for �1.40 and have coated all the connector terminals. Hopefully this will solve one lot of problems.
Available from Maplins, tel. 0172 554000, part no. FM80B.The Griffith headlight pods appear to be sealed into the car at manufacture. However, it is possible to access the interior arrangement for bulb replacement and alignment. To access the headlight fixtures, you will need a jack, wheel brace, stanley knife, phillips screwdriver, a tube of black mastic (can get this from any hardware outlet), masking tape and a torch.
- Loosen wheel nuts on front wheel behind offfending headlight
- Jack up car and remove wheel
- Look inside wheel arch at the back of the headlight for a small inspection hatch sealed with black rubber
- Run knife around the edge of the rubber too break seal
- Unscrew 4 screws and lever the fibreglass hatch cover off
- This will reveal the rear of the headlightt assembly
- The rubber boot can be removed to access tthe bulb fixings, remove the cable connector first.
Note the three wing nuts. These can be used to alter the alignment of the headlight. This is a trial and error game, best done at dusk in front of a barn door [is this a TVR special tool?]. Position the car about 10-20 yards from the door, switch on the dipped lights and fiddle with the wing nuts until the alignment appears correct. There are legal guidelines for the height and spread of dipped headlights - check local garage for details.
If the pod has come loose within the body of the Griffith nose, check the single nut at the bottom of the fixing strut. A strip of aluminium has been fashioned (in typical TVR style) to hold the whole pod arrangement in place. This strip can be found directly below the inspection boot at the rear of the headlight. The headlight pod is also kept in postion by the sealant between itself and the recess in the nose.
If the sealant has perished or the pod has shaken loose it will need re-sealing. This is a time consuming job (about 45 mins per light), but is ncessary if the pod is moving around as headlight re-alignment is impossible otherwise.
Loosten the single nut mentioned above to allow greater movement of the pod and scrape out the existing sealant. Use something soft (like the handle of an artists paint brush) so you don't scratch the paintwork or the pod. It is better to remove all the old sealant as it is not easy to merge old with new. Re-position the pod by hand and tighten the nut at the rear to hold the unit in place. Unless your arms are 5 foot long you might seek some assistance here!
Tear off strips of masking tape and work your way around the outside edge of the pod recess. Position each strip of tape to cover all of the paintwork up to the lip of the hole. Then repeat the exercise with a line of masking tape on the edge of the pod (about 3-4mm from the other circle of tape). Ensure the pod hasn't moved since you set the position correctly last, then load the mastic tube into one of those gun frames that can be found on the shelf below at B&Q.
Shape the nossle of the mastic tube to offer the smallest aperture
and fill the gap between the two circles of tape. Try to get as
much into the gap as possible as the sealant is used to hold the
pod in place, not to just act as a water seal. When finished,
run your finger lightly around the whole edge to give a smooth
finish. Leave for 1-2 hours, then peel off the tape. To finish,
replace the inspection hatch and re-seal the edge of this with
sealant also.
Mark Elliott
1. On main beam the grille mounted main beam lights only are on.
2. On dipped position the main beam and faired in driving lights are on. It is not possible to just have only the dipped beam on.
3. With the side lights only on, and pull the headlamp flash stalk, with the ignition off, the ignition lights and gauges come on as long as the flash position is maintained!
I had suspected an earth fault for the front lights and found a bunch of earth wires grounded to one of the steering rack mounting bolts. I checked the earth with an ohm meter betweem the chassis and piercing the insulation of one of the earth wires with a probe needle. resitance was less than 10 ohms, so I assume no problem there. I have also removed and refitted the relays for the headlights, the terminals all seemed free of corrosion etc.
I have noticed one other thing, when the lights are flashed, with all light switches off, the main beam blue dash indicator lamp does light up. However when the lights are on, it does not work in either dippped or main beam stalk positions.
All other lights and electrics are working fine, which I am sure
is a novelty in itself! I suspect backfeeding due to a poor earth
as the most likely cause but do not know where to look next. I
have checked the resitance between the neg terminal of the battery
and the chassis, again less than 10 ohms. Could it be a faulty
indicator/light stalk switch assy? Could it be that one of the
relays is faulty or has been replaced with an incorrect type?
I do not really want to contemplate a loom fault/damage, as it
is so inaccessible!
Peter Faulkner (1992 4.3 Griffith)
Peter,
I am utterly USELESS with electrics! However, I do have a slightly
spotty photocopy of the 1992 Griff 4.0/4.3 wiring diagram which
I can send you if it helps. Failing that, if you need to test
particular circuits I can look them up for you and email a description
of the route and colours. The diagram is a bit schematic and looks
sort of vague about relays. I believe the whole column assembly
is from Vauxhall, so maybe one of their dealers could give you
some help on fault finding in that area.
If it's any help at this stage, the heater fans, horn, radiator fans, washer pump and all front lights seem to share the same earthing point. Main beam wiring is:
Brown feed from dashboard panel pin 79 to pin 56 on main/dip switch.
Brown/red feed from dashboard panel pin 28 to:
pin 56b (I think - photocopy is bad here) on dip switch and
pin 86n on fuse panel block G, which goes to a diode then brown/white wires to:
pin 85m on fuseboard block A and
pin 30 on dashboard panel and
pin 56a (I think) on dip switch
Brown/white wires from pin 87m on fuseboard block A to driving lamps.
Green wire from dip switch pin 30 goes to wash/wipe switch and
to fuseboard block M whereyou will also find a red to the ignition
switch, a green to the brake light switch, a purple to block A
and the courtesy light and (nearby if not on it) browns from the
battery.
Peter Beech
(not every story has a neat ending - I've no idea how Peter got on with this)
I would strongly advice using some sealent when replacing the
panel to make sure that no water or spray from the wheel can get
into the compartment.
Steve Heath
Internet Mailing List
The lights are the same as those used as driving lights on the
E30 series BMW (the old shape 318 etc.). Strangely the local BMW
dealer is only asking £35 and not £78 as Kerridges are.
Steve Marriot
Letter Sep 96
. . . Having heard of the prices quoted for replacement driving
lights on Griffs I have fitted mine with a pair of rather neat
plastic protectors from Carnoisseur (01582 471700) £21.95
a pair, part number 3100830. These are unobtrusive, removable
for cleaning and don't interfere with the light output.
Simon Cockle
Letter Sep 97
Having smashed four headlights in under two years, I was keen
to get hold of the protective covers mentioned. I contacted the
company mentioned [above] and the covers arrived the next
day. As both headlights were cracked, I tried to get hold of
the suggested BMW substitutes. However, these don't fit mine.
My car is now 22 months old by the way. I seem to have "Cibie
SC" lights fitted. The number on the glass is 0488047. It
also says E2 & 30, & HR. I've tried to contact Cibie UK,
but have had no luck. Has anyone any ideas? By the way I'm not
being tight, just resentful at having to pay through the nose.
Given the vulnerable position of these lights, I reckon TVR should
fit protectors as standard.
Tony Miller
Internet Mailing List Oct 96
When I switch to main beam on the Griff the driving lamps come
on but the main headlamps stay on dip, is this normal ? If so
why, and is it possible to change this so the main headlamps give
main beam also ?
David Donnan
Internet Mailing List Oct 96
As far as I know the driving lights are the main beam on the Griff.
When I got mine the garage said that since the lights are faired
in they would get too hot on main beam and hence the driving lights.
The chim' and cerb' lights are not faired in, hence no supplemental
lamps.
Andrew
It's connected to the interior light circuit. In my case, it was
switched off so that was why I didn't notice it. Maybe it was
an optional extra... mne's a late '95 Griff... if that makes any
difference.
Steve Heath
Internet Mailing List Apr 97
There is a light in my [K Reg Giffith] footwell - same place.
I discovered it about a year after getting the car - not in the
manual at all(no surprise there). My passenger was grovelling
about trying to turn on the warm air (for what it's worth). It
is useful 'cos you can then see the fuses - assuming you have
some power.
Steve Marriott
If this does not fix the problem, the fault may be in the park switch on the wiper motor. This is located under the motor unit next to the multi-plug on the wiring harness and can be reached by taking off the motor bracket and twisting it upwards. The park switch is held on by a spring clip and is a standard Lucas part. The switch and the multi-plug are prone to corrosion, and an occassional squirt of WD40 should prevent this problem occurring.
Internet Mailing List
The reason for the air vents in the rear bulkhead of Griffs is
to allow airflow through the car. Without them, when you turn
the fan on to blow air in, the car gets pressurised, not much
air comes in or goes out, and what does go out is forced out through
the gaps at the tops of the windows and makes a whistling noise
sometimes. That's why TVR put the vents there. They are slightly
less conspicuous in the Chimaera, a slight protrusion of the leather
on the upper lip of the bulkhead giving away the fact that vents
are there. You can shove speakers in here, but then your airflow
is disturbed and won't work well with the windows up. Fan never
was any good anyway so I don't suppose it matters.
What I reckon you should do with regards to fitting a stereo is
this. Get a custom made box for the boot that houses your 18-disc
multichanger and 400W amp and doubles up as an acoustically tuned
box for a couple of 15" subs. Then, up front, mount tweeters
in the side pods of the doors (where the ashtrays are) and your
midrangers in the doors. Simply port the acoustic box in the boot
through one of the air vents (if you have a Griff) or bash a hole
through the bulkhead and port it in if you have a Chimi. If you
have a Cerb, you're lucky - you can take up the whole of the back
seats for amps and subs too because they're damn all use for anything
else!
Rupert Kent
After numerous complaints to my dealer, they made a significant
improvement by enhancing the earthing with heavy straps to the
chassis and direct to the battery terminal. They also suggested
fitting an aerial laying horizontally across the recess in the
boot by the petrol cap. I baulked at this as they wanted £50
for correcting what I see as a basic design fault and opted instead
to get a car audio specialist to check it out. So, a visit to
Milton Keynes Car Alarm and Radio produced an amplified sceen
aerial (Radiornobile) fitted not on the screen, but tucked away
behind the dashboard. They also fitted a suppressor to the second
live power feed as TVR see fit to only put one on the switched
feed. This has fixed 95% of the problem and the remaining interference
will probably succumb to libral application of suppressors to
all fans, wiper motors and the alternator, but that will need
a second visit. Meanwhile a big thanks to MK Alarms (01908220337)
and a total bill of £20.
Simon Cockle
Internet Mailing List Dec 96
Yes! Just shows how much I have been under the car already. It is a little 2-terminal device that looks like a ceramic capacitor
attached at the end of a wiring harness, which I found hanging inside the left-front of the car near the front indicator lights.
Its not attached to anything in particular but just hangs in the lower part of the bodyshell. If you put your head under the car
from the front, and look around you should find it. I found the device by accident and was not really looking for it. I also don't
know if it works because it never gets lower than 21 deg here, so its a superfluous feature for me!
Kenny Heng