Back Together But Not Starting - Boo Hoo - Help Please

[Jaye R]

Hi All

I'm after some ideas on why my S3 won't start please

The engine has been apart since Sept and the following has been done...

Fuel Tank emptied and new fuel hose fitted between tank and fuel pump - now re-filled (20 litres of fuel) & the pump sounds like it's working.

Coolant system drained and new silicone hoses fitted - all tightened up (complete with new swirl pot) & was due to re-fill but can't until engine starts!!

New HT leads - all checked at being connected to the correct plugs.

Engine is turning over but not firing - any ideas?????

Many thanks

Cheers
Jaye

[GreenV8S]

Why do you need to start the engine before you fill the cooling system? Traditionally you'd fill it *before* starting it.

It would seem you have either a fuel or ignition problem. The first step to find out which, is to look at the state of the plugs. If they're bone dry you probably aren't getting any fuel. If they're wet with petrol obviously you're getting fuel but maybe too much, or maybe you have an ignition fault. The rev counter is another quick and easy way to check for an ignition fault. You should see it showing somewhere in the regin of 200-300 rpm while the engine is cranking. If you see that then clearly there's at least some life in the ignition.

[Jaye R]

Peter

Thanks for the tips - will investigate the plugs, etc.

With regards to the coolant - I have refilled from the swirl pot (as per the Steve Heath bible) & it then says to start the engine - hence discovering it won't fire.

Anyhow - back to the garage...

[Jaye R]

OK - checked spark plugs and are wet - therefore fuel is getting through.

Turned ignition and the rev counter bounces up to 500 rpm easily - still turning over but not catching.

Any further suggestions welcome.

Cheers
Jaye

[Gerald-TVR]

Jaye

What sort of fuel hose did you fit it needs to be armoured and hardwalled as the pump sucks from the tank and its possible the hose will sucked flat, yu would probably get enough to wet the plugs but not enough to start

[Jaye R]

Norman

Thanks for the tip - the new hose is not armoured so that might be it.

I do have a armoured hose to try - oh hell, that means draining the fuel tank again - of 20 litres of fuel

Cheers
Jaye

[Elfit]

Even if hose was flat I'm sure that there would be enough fuel in system to start her if all else was ok.
Whilst it may be a problem in the long term I doubt if that is why it isn't starting.
If you have fuel and battery it sounds like a lack of spark.

try one of these threads
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Jaye R]

Thanks for the threads Tim - gives me some further options to investigate.

Will probably have another go tomorrow...

Will keep you updated.

Cheers
Jaye

[Barkychoc]

Jaye R said:

OK - checked spark plugs and are wet - therefore fuel is getting through.

Turned ignition and the rev counter bounces up to 500 rpm easily - still turning over but not catching.

Any further suggestions welcome.

Cheers
Jaye

If the plugs are wet it isn't going to start.
You need to dry them off - which isn't as easy as it sounds.
You need to get some serious heat in them with something like a blowlamp / paint stripper heat gun or something - they are a lot harder to dry out than you would think in order for them to spark again.

Alternatively go and get another set of plugs but they may get wet again if there's loads of petrol in there (likely). It might be worth disconnecting the fuel pump and cranking the engine with the accelerator to the floor (to let in as much air as possible) to try and dry the cylinders a bit before refreshing the plugs.

I've seen engines turned over with no plugs in to try and dry it out but it has a habit of spraying petrol everywhere so I wouldn't reccommend it.
(If you're tempted disconnect the coil, you don't want sparks!)

Then recharge the battery

ETA: You are certain that the distributor is set right - its easy to get it 180 degrees out if you're using the pulley markers.
Take No1 plug out & manually turn the engine - when you feel compression with your finger over the spark plug hole the pulley TDC mark should be heading for the timing pointer - line it up and check the rotor arm is pointing at No1 cylinder plug lead position.

Remember No1 cylinder fires every other rotation of the crankshaft pulley.

Edited by Barkychoc on Saturday 31st January 16:54

[Jaye R]

Chris

Thanks for the advice - looks like I have a few more nice hours of play in garage...

Cheers
Jaye

[T' Veteran Racer]

Jaye
Have you physically checked for a spark at the plug. (If you have then ignore the next paragraph).

To check this - take out a spark plug (one of the easy to get to ones). Connect the plug lead and then rest the plug on a part of the engine with a good earth, normally the head or block) and in a way as to see the spark gap. Get someone to turn the engine over on the starter while you check for a spark. Under no circumstances touch the plug while the engine is turning over, or you will get a surprise (hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs here). If no spark then you have found the root of the problem, then begins the frustrating bit of tracking down the fault. If you have a spark then it could be timing as Barkychoc has mentioned.

If you have had the engine out, check the earth to the engine. This can be a problem if you have not got a good earth connection.

Good Luck........Pete

Edited by T' Veteran Racer on Saturday 31st January 20:47

Edited by T' Veteran Racer on Saturday 31st January 20:47

[Jaye R]

Hi guys

Thanks for all your assistance - after much testing of sparks, swearing and generally being p*****d off we found the cause...

Someone, past owner, had moved the dizzy so that the firing order of the leads was different to what it should be - what the manual says - hence when we put the leads in the RIGHT place the timing was WAY WAY out...amazing what checking the photos I took before I took the engine apart showed us...

Now rectified and we have LIFE!!!! Just need to fine tune the timing.

Now on with the finishing touching to the cleaning up engine bay project.

Thanks again for all your help.

Cheers
Jaye

[T' Veteran Racer]

Jaye
Pleased to hear you are back on track with your project. Fault finding can be a frustrating pastime, especially in this cold weather.

Pete

[GreenV8S]

Jaye R said:

the firing order of the leads was different to what it should be

You can never trust that a distributor based system is set up according to the manual. The body of the dizzy can usually be rotated to any orientation without affecting its function, and the rotor arm can also be moved to a different orientation if the dizzy has been removed. The result is that you can't trust the #1 lead to be in the expected position relative to the engine or relative to the body of the dizzy. The only safe thing to do is make a note of where it is *on your car* so that you can always locate it. You only need to know where #1 lead is, because the firing order is always the same so you can always work out the other leads once you have found where #1 belongs.