Coil Problem

[frubes]

Went to have some fun this avo and Trevor wouldnt start. He turned over ok, but wouldnt actually fire up, not even a half start...

I figured no spark or no fuel getting through. So I checked all the connections etc still no joy. I was on my own and managed to prop one of the leads near the block. Turned it over, and there was a spark however looked erratic. (not sure if because I had to lean it near block rather than hold carefully)

Went off and bought a new coil. Fitted it. The spark seemed a bit more regular on teh block, but car still wouldn't start. The coil actually had the wrong connection (no screw thread on one side) so took it bak on the basis it didnt help. However thought later, engine may be flooded now...??!!!

Also he has been misfiring on short runs causing stalls teh last few weeks, however on my long run last week was fine after an inital bout of teh misses. Have heard the coil can overheat and stop sparking. Wonder if was doing that and now dead, and flooded engine didnt help the new one? Was told it was no more than 2 years old by previous owner so would have thought last longer than that.

Anyway on refitting the old coil, I suddenly realised i didnt know which way round it went back in. Does it matter? I.e. + one side - the other?

Does anyone know how I can easily see if fuel is getting through?

[chedder]

Hi Frubes, try this, open bonnet, switch ignition to on, quickly open the throttle fully, all the injectors should fire at the same time and you will hear a click, if that happens then it is more that likely an ignition fault, the usual suspect is the ignition amplifier on the side of the dizzy, this sends the signal to the coil and also to the ecu for the injectors, when they fail you sometimes get a weak eratic spark but the injectors dont fire.
Cheapo ones (intermotor) are around £20 but dont last long, Lucas ones last much longer but expect to pay £30-£40

[frubes]

I definately heard a click when I did that earlier.

So is that saying the injector fire and therefore fuel is definately going through? Therefore more like problem with spark (ignition)?

The thing on the side of the dissy what does that look like?

Also do you know the answer to my, which way round does the coil go question???

[chedder]

frubes said:

I definately heard a click when I did that earlier.

So is that saying the injector fire and therefore fuel is definately going through? Therefore more like problem with spark (ignition)?

The thing on the side of the dissy what does that look like?

Also do you know the answer to my, which way round does the coil go question???

Coil + should be a white wire with a black stripe, the ignition module is on the side of the dizzy with two wires coming from a connector on the top, two screws hold the unit onto the dizzy.

You can check the operation of the fuel pump by removing the air filter to give access to the front of the air flow meter, inside there is an oblong 'flap, turn ignition to 'on' use a pencil or similar to move the flap, you will then hear the fuel pump start to run, hope that helps

[honestjohntoo]

frubes said:

I definately heard a click when I did that earlier.

So is that saying the injector fire and therefore fuel is definately going through? Therefore more like problem with spark (ignition)?

The thing on the side of the dissy what does that look like?

Also do you know the answer to my, which way round does the coil go question???

Last things first. the white wire goes to coil positive and the White/Black wire goes to Coil negative.

Here is a generic circuit diagram of the typical Rover ignition system



I'm not too keen on the assumption you made from prior description of events.

Basically, snapping the throttle open with ignition switched on but engine not running, will fire the injectors, to be heard audibly and inject fuel providing the fuel pump is running and has generated the required fuel pressure.

As to whether fuel is being injected, you may be able to smell the unburned fuel or you can release one of the hose clips connected to the filter to see if the fuel is indeed being pressurised or you can put a pressure gauge on the cold start injector fuel feed to measure the pressure.

For location of the dizzy mounted amplifier its position shown here with two wires going to it.



and here mounted



Some cars however may have the amplifier module mounted behind the coil in something like this:



Moving back to the Efi system, if you need any reading material as to how the Efi system and its components work, check out this index and other stuff on the same website:

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

[GV]

Carbs...

[ed_crouch]

I had a funny one - it turned out to be the fuel pump fuse. One of the (fuel pump) wires in the fuse block was a smidge too short, and the terminal had pulled halfway out of the back of the fuse block in the glovebox.

This menant that the car started to misfire when giving it the beans (fuel pump operating erratically because of road vibration etc making and breaking connection rapidly, PWM-like for the sparkies amongst us), eventually it wouldnt start at all as the terminal pulled completely clear of the back of the fuse block, effectively switching the fuel pump off.

Edited by ed_crouch on Monday 23 March 16:47

[B-Reight]

If you have one fitted, it might be worth temporarily bypassing/removing your imobiliser. They imobilise either by cutting fuel or spark.

My imobiliser was dicking about with my spark and once removed cured the problem. They are usually quite easy to remove as long as you are armed with a multimeter.

[GV]

Carbs with a Mallory Unilite and HYFire Ignition...then forget about such EFi Gremlins as these...