HELP. Wont start

[ben420se]

Hoping for some magic..
1st good weather of the year and took the wedge for a run. Started no problem, drove into work this morning. Went back out this afternoon looking forward to a good hoon home. (The long way).
Wouldn't start!!
Turns over ok but no life at all. I can hear the injectors clicking but nothing. Checked for a spark on all leads, ok. Not brilliant but there. Fuel getting through to the rail.
Any ideas what I can try next? Got a new dizzy cap and coil on order as they are not in the best condition.
Could it be the fuel pressure regulator not holding pressure in the rail?
She did fire a bit after much trying but nothing really.
Was lumpy on the drive in this morning but been stood for a while and I thought she just needed a good run to warm up and clear out.
Cheers Ben

[The Hatter]

How long's it been standing? It could be as simple as 'gone off' fuel; upsetting the engine tune and perhaps allowing it to flood. If you're lucky it may sort itself out with time and a well charged battery.

[ben420se]

Thanks for the quick reply.
It's been standing a couple of months due to the weather. Put some fuel in on the drive to work this morning.
I have started her and let it warm up on a weekend though even though been stood with no problems.
Checked the plugs and they were dry even after trying to start her for an hour or so.
Loads of fuel getting to the rail etc.
Battery ok, had it charging while trying to solve it.

[al 350i]

poor spark is normally a good culprit, decent leads is the trick (magnecor)

you've got spark and fuel but what about air! does the air flow meter look ok? could also be a lose wire or dodgy connection/poor earth, Temp sensor.........etc.

i'd luv to be more help but i've been hunting a poor cold starting wedge for a month now and still not cracked it!!

[Wedg1e]

Could be that bullet connector in the white/black wire from the ignition amplifier to the ECU - usually found somewhere under the airflow meter. Change of temperature or humidity causes it to crust up; no signal from the ignition means no fuelling.

[ben420se]

Thanks for the replies chaps.
Will have another go at it today. Typical the weather is good!!
Hopefully get her going again from the points mentioned.
Thanks again guys

[ben420se]

Just thought. Should the plugs be wet if I have been trying to start it for a while?

[pwd95]

Hi Ben. It flooded once or twice with me. Keep the throttle floored & crank it for ages & ages. She will go.

[ben420se]

Cheers wyn ur a superstar. The trick worked and she spluttered into life
Managed to get her home. Running ok but splutters under acceleration and struggles to tick over when the fan comes on. Something is not right but at least I got her home. Time for some more thinking.

[NaCl]

Is it kicking out a bit of black smoke - particularly when warm?
I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and I ended up changing a whole list of things...
(In no particular order)
Plugs
Leads
Coil
Dizzy amp
Fuel pressure regulator
Resister pack
Coolant temp sensor
Throttle position sensor
Fuel filter
Fuel pump
Wiring
And more...
Someone (Adam Quantrill, I think it was) suggested it could be the ECU. It turned out to be a dry or cracked solder joint on one of the ECU PCB's. A cheap and careful reflow of solder sorted it out. (Adam actually did one PCB as a demo at the BBWF and I did the other later the same day at home)
I could have saved a bloody fortune, but at least there are new components on the car that probably would have needed doing soon anyway.
Even if its not blowing black smoke due to a rich mixture, it might be that the ECU is making it run weak, so you wouldn't get the black smoke. Either way, it might be the ECU. Maybe someone could lend you a good one to see if it sorts the problem before taking yours apart or sending it away to be fixed.
Hope that helps,
Andy

[pwd95]

[Danny Hoffman]

If you did flood it and the plugs got soaked they may need a really good clean or replacing.

[honestjohntoo]

ben420se said:

Running ok but splutters under acceleration and struggles to tick over when the fan comes on. Something is not right but at least I got her home. Time for some more thinking.

Assuming you have a Flapper Efi system, your thinking time might be directed towards the plenum chamber, in particular the probability that you have a rogue air leak thereabouts, weakening the fuel/air mixture and killing the available torque at idle speed. It would also account for the spluttering performance.

If you want to cut to the chase then go to the 3rd page of my PDF linked from this page:

http://www.vintagemodelairplane.com/pages/Rover_Te...

And follow the Dynamic air leak testing instructions to the letter.

On the other hand you may want to take a longer view and perform my 15 point health check as detailed here:

http://www.vintagemodelairplane.com/pages/Snippets...

Should you have to venture into the ignition system for a solution then you'll find a jolly good read about your sparking system here:

http://www.vintagemodelairplane.com/pages/Download...

and here:

http://www.vintagemodelairplane.com/pages/Download...

the second article contains all you need to test the whole system and/or its individual components.

You'll have gathered, after studying the suggested material, that it gives you the opportunity to learn loads more stuff about the Flapper system by linking to the Efi system component archive and its vast range of associated articles depicted here.



Good Luck.

Edited by honestjohntoo on Saturday 16th February 20:35