Vauxhal Carlton GSI starting/running problems
Discussion
I think 22 year old cars and electronic fuel injection are a bad mix! A friend and I spent all this afternoon looking under the bonnet of my Vauxhall Carlton trying to work out why it wouldn't start.
It has good compression, is getting fuel (although we couldn't work out how much) and has a spark on all 6 plugs, albeit a weak one.
But the stupid thing won't fire, even on easy start!
We thought the problem may lie with the weak spark as the plugs were wet each time we took them out, but we tried a different coil and still had no luck. Am I right in thinking the body of the coil works as the earth for the spark? We just sat the coil on the abs unit because that's what it was near so it may not have earthed sufficiently.
Any ideas from anyone? I want to avoid spending too much on it as it was only £100 and I can easily enough pick up something else similar if it's beyond repair.
It has good compression, is getting fuel (although we couldn't work out how much) and has a spark on all 6 plugs, albeit a weak one.
But the stupid thing won't fire, even on easy start!
We thought the problem may lie with the weak spark as the plugs were wet each time we took them out, but we tried a different coil and still had no luck. Am I right in thinking the body of the coil works as the earth for the spark? We just sat the coil on the abs unit because that's what it was near so it may not have earthed sufficiently.
Any ideas from anyone? I want to avoid spending too much on it as it was only £100 and I can easily enough pick up something else similar if it's beyond repair.
Take all the plugs out and spin it over, while doing this warm the plugs up with a blow torch (or a gas hob 
) keep them as warm as possible while allowing the cylinders to dry out a little. Put the warm plugs back into car and immeadiatly try to start it again.
A number of times i have done this to get a stubborn engine to fire and it has worked wonders
) keep them as warm as possible while allowing the cylinders to dry out a little. Put the warm plugs back into car and immeadiatly try to start it again. A number of times i have done this to get a stubborn engine to fire and it has worked wonders
If it won't start with easy start then it must be the sparks. If you've flooded the engine the plugs are probably stuffed and no amount of burning off with a blow torch will revive them. Just replace the the plugs, expensive yes but it's worth doing as it will probably cure your fault.
Dave Walker from Emerald told me that and he's very rarely wrong
Dave Walker from Emerald told me that and he's very rarely wrong
Cheers guys, I'll try MikeyG's method on monday and if that doesn't work I'll get me some new plugs. Didn't realise being flooded would have damaged the plugs? And they have only done about 30 miles, albeit over 2 years. I normally play with diesel engines in tractors so I don't have the joys of the igntion side of things!
busta said:
Cheers guys, I'll try MikeyG's method on monday and if that doesn't work I'll get me some new plugs. Didn't realise being flooded would have damaged the plugs? And they have only done about 30 miles, albeit over 2 years. I normally play with diesel engines in tractors so I don't have the joys of the igntion side of things!
When I was trying to get my kit car to start due to a faulty coilpack which meant I flooded cylinders 2 and 3. When I got a new coil pack It was as rough as hell and I tried burning the plugs which made little difference, in the end I bought 2 new plugs and fitted them. The engine burst into life instantly. It was expensive £12 down the toilet with zero miles but cured the fault instantly.
My mate also had the same fault on a GSi3000 which hadn't run for about 12 months we tried everything to get that bugger to start. In the end we left the bonnet open in the sun and went for a pint, came back and turned the key and the motor burst into life, beggers belief that something so simple could cure a fault.
I remember the following day when another mate was driving it and shifted into 3 at about 4500rpm and the owner looked at him and said, "what are you doing! Take it to the rev limiter!".
steve_d said:
AntMat said:
How old is the petrol in the tank?
Moreover how glued up are the injectors if the car has not run for some time.
Steve
Petrol in the tank is ancient but I thought I'd get it to fire on easy start before I worried abut that. And the injectors are probably equally glued up but again, I'll sort that when I know its got a decent spark. I'm trying to do the cheapest things first and filling up with petrol comes near the end of that list!
Here's a pic of the beast in gangsta black complete with bullet holes in the boot lid and a body in the boot (probably)
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