Non starter

[UKAuto]

Hi there, Rob here in Canada, questions regarding my 94 Griffith 500.

The car runs nicely when it goes, however near the end of last season I ran in to an issue. The car fired and stopped, and then wouldn't fire, seems there is no spark. I tried changing the ignition amplifier with a new one, but that didn't resolve the issue. I checked the air gap in the distributor and it was fine (no reason it should have changed). I gave up and brought it to the mechanic; after some time he found that the centre lead from the coil to the distributor was open, and changed it. Picked the car up, and it ran ok.

Within a very few days - and a very few miles - the car wouldn't start. I can't recall if it fired just once, or a couple of times, but effectively there is no life. I am able to crank it over fine, but it no longer fires.

I am wondering if the imobilizer allows the starter to go but cuts the fuel and/or spark? (would seem odd).

Any common issues to investigate when trying to diagnose the issue?

• ALSO*

I have two other issues, although they aren't as important is it not running! If you have any great advice or information for these it would also be appreciated:

1. Starter motor doesn't like to turn when it is hot, should I add a heat shield?, new starter?, different starter?
2. The car overheats in slow traffic; fans come on but it simply can't stay cool, and fairly quickly overheats even when the weather is only warm. It can go from fine operating temperature to overheat in under five minutes, and the only way to resolve it is let it sit and cool, or ease it up to a high rate of speed, but light throttle.

Cheers,

Rob.

[jeboa]

Hi Rob - have you still got the original Alarm/Immobiliser? (If it's a rectangular fob with a single button - it'll be the Gemini unit).

This unit only has one immobiliser circuit, which is wired into a set of relays behind the dash (if you look behind the stereo, they are up and to the left mounted on an old style relay board).

I would definately check these as the first port of call.

1. Hot start - lots of known issues, have a quick search, but most likely to be an earthing or battery cable problem.

2. I'm guessing you have a pre-serp, sounds simple - but hows your battery charging? Have you checked the belt tension? Try taking the belt off and turning you water pump. Other than that, thermostat may not be opening fully, or your radiator core could be blocked?

Hope this helps a little.

Edited by jeboa on Wednesday 28th March 23:13

[Loubaruch]

If your immobiliser is made by Meta it does indeed have 3 separate circuits that each have to be mobilised before the car will start.

1. The starter motor (yours is turning the engine) so thats OK

2. Fuel pump, also controlled by the ECU and a relay. You should hear the pump prime for about a second then stop, if it does not prime then could be the relay, immobiliser or wiring/connectors

3. the Ignition circuit. (you can test for sparks at the plugs with one of those cheap neon testers. If no spark then could be the coil, ignition amp, immobiliser or wiring/connector

Send me a personal mail and I can give you more info on the immobiliser connections

[jeboa]

Ooops..hope I'm not giving too much away about the old Sigma units, but I'd be surprised if there are many still alive!! They were never CAT 1 compliant in the UK anyway.

[carsy]

As Jeboa says above.

If your radiator is old, flow through it could be affected. Well worth fitting an uprated one. A recore with a more efficient core is probably the cheapest way to go.

Have a read of this re the hot start issue.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Cable (How Long?)

[UKAuto]

@ Jeboa -

Yes, the unit is Gemin.

I have not considered the possibility of it being one of the cables - easy enough for me to check that one out.

And you are correct, pre-serp. Battery charges well, I am half tempted to just go ahead and do the thermostat, pump, and radiator before the season starts. The car only has about 25,000 miles on it, but some times it's the low miles and sitting that get you.


@ Loubaruch -

Thanks for the offer on the personal mail for the immobiliser connections, I assume your information was on the Meta unit, not mine. I will get in and have a good look at things - hopefully this weekend.

@ Carsy -

Thanks, good link. And as noted above I am tempted to just go for the new rad, and would be going to either an aluminium one, or a larger core.



Cheers everyone, appreciate the guidance. I will hopefully get a bit of time away from home renovations on the weekend and get a start on the Griffith.

Rob.

[David Beer]

Do not replace the main starter cable for a hot start issue, attend to the solenoid feed only. As for cooling, it's just about ok as standard, but you can improve the fans speed, try running an additional supply to the positive and hear the fans increase in speed when they are on.

[UKAuto]

David Beer said:

Do not replace the main starter cable for a hot start issue, attend to the solenoid feed only. As for cooling, it's just about ok as standard, but you can improve the fans speed, try running an additional supply to the positive and hear the fans increase in speed when they are on.

Thanks you David, I will have to get it started before I have these two issues - but hope the other advise on this thread helps me over that hurdle!

I also must say thanks for not using this as a mod-wise sales opportunity; now that I have looked at your profile I see the connection. I may well be in touch on that front as your solutions seem to get good press around the forums.

[UKAuto]

With three TVRs all needing attention it took some time to get this taken care of. I pulled the cap, rotor and wires from my 350i and tried them; new plugs; checked relays; fiddled every connection on the fuse panel; swore; did it all again putting the old cap, rotor and wires back....

suddenly life.

No idea what one thing did it, maybe it was more than one thing, but all along spark was there, but maybe a little weak; petrol seemed to be getting injected as you could smell it and the plugs did get a bit wet and needed cleaning up between attempts.

Hope I fixed it and it doesn't resurface on an outing - time will tell.

Thanks for the advice as always!