Need advice from the forum sages

[kevtherev]

eight pages..
next one gets the scatter gun

[itchyfeet]

8 weeks ago when we first started is ran for ~1 then died.

Happened a few times before it would not catch again.

So this may be important, are you saying this has happened before but it recovered itself?

So Katie was told by the lady she brought it off

Well done for hanging in there

of course you have just started really by getting it running, it sounds like it has done this before and has done it again

you will have learnt to be methodal do one thing at a time and try not to play with things without noting how they came appart, a digital camera will help alot, had you taken pics before you removed the leads you would have saved alot of trouble

So could be flat batt but i doubt it I have started my engine with a very low batt
could be fuel blockage again, could be intemittant ignition wiring, could be two completely seperate faults

id still try the fused 12v to the coil and keep trying fuel down the carb

good luck

[itchyfeet]

eight pages..
next one gets the scatter gun

Yeh have you checked the oil level is topped up that sometimes causes this

[MarrV]

Topped oil up in case

Tried with fully charged battery & she started & ran fine.

We let her run for a few minutes then when I checked the engine the was white smoke, so we stopped her.

I feared the timing belt had gotten caught on something as I thought it smelt of rubber, but the timing belt appears to be fine, however when we took the oil cap off the was a lot of the white smoke in the cam cover.

When we tried the engine again the was a loud clunk & nothing else

Now the battery is dead again :S

**E D I T N.B. we use synthetic oil so could the oil be causing the smoke?**

[MarrV]

Quick research & possibly a bad solenoid on starter? Causes the clunk & kills the battery?

White smoke not sure on

[itchyfeet]

Need to get that batt on charge for 12 hours min
dont worry too much about smoke in the cam cover at this stage but keep an eye on it, could be just steam its not been run for a while condensation can build up, and there is supposed to be oil vapour in there
the clunk is worrying but could it have been the starter clunking with low batt?
thought it smelt of rubber is again perhaps not too worrying, if you had said it definately stank of burning rubber then id be worried.

charge it well and try again, but before that id closely inspect the belt for missing ribs and cracking, if it looks bad dont continue

[MarrV]

the battery was trickle charged for over 15 hours yday. Shall put it on trickle again for another 12 tho

[itchyfeet]

the battery was trickle charged for over 15 hours yday. Shall put it on trickle again for another 12 tho

you need a proper 4A minimum charger some trickle chargeres are just to keep the battery topped up over long periods
best getting an intellegent charger which will trickle and full charge, it decides what tge battery needs

i have one like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intelligent-1 ... 5d4ceac5c1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MarrV]

Put it on heavy duty charge then (dual option unit, just I through my father told me years ago to trickle charge if you can).

Will report back tomorrow no doubt. Had a discussion with other half and if we are still bamboozled come Monday morning will get the local mobile mechanic to come & fix it. Will let you guys know regardless.

[ghost123uk]

For it to go from full charge to dead in two starts likely knackered battery, but could it be shorting?... the neutral wire on the alternator is looking dodgy - could this be stopping the alternator charging the battery up?

The alternator doesn't have a neutral wire. It earth's through the case and has a thick, red, positive feed that goes first to the solenoid, then up to the +ve on the battery.

The is a wire running off it from the back (counter clockwise if looking at it from the back) to the -ve terminal on the battery. This shouldn't be there?

We let her run for a few minutes... I thought it smelt of rubber... When we tried the engine again the was a loud clunk & nothing else.. Now the battery is dead again

Can't believe that in my absence from this thread (been busy) this ^^^ got overlooked

**E D I T N.B. we use synthetic oil so could the oil be causing the smoke?**

NO

[ghost123uk]

MarrV, the heavier of the wires from the back of the alternator should go to the solenoid and then to the +ve of the battery! Though if someone has been re-wiring, that wire could go directly to the +ve on the battery.

If it has been connected to the -ve on the battery, goodness knows what damage will have been done. Alternator burned out, wiring burned out, battery damaged beyond recovery etc.

I think it is time you befriended a local old school mechanic to assist you. One with lots of experience, not the "I know a bit about cars" type that lives next door !

[itchyfeet]

Hang on this van ran for 600 miles wiring cant be that badly wrong to do that
get a pic up of the suspect wiring on the rear of the alternator
if you were trickle charging the battery was never fully charged, thats probably why it went flat so quick

[ghost123uk]

Hang on this van ran for 600 miles wiring cant be that badly wrong to do that

Good point (unless it has been fiddled with more recently during battery charging operations)

get a pic up of the suspect wiring on the rear of the alternator

And of where it is attached on the battery.

[itchyfeet]

From a pic on page 2 It looks like the main earth strap from the battery attaches to the engine and there is a smaller wire going somewhere, ideally you need a strap to the body too , maybe thats where the smaller one goes?

Three red from the pos, one to alt, one to starter, one to fusebox by the looks

[silverbullet]

Earth back to body is important for coil or a weak spark will result! Heavy earth direct from battery to block is best for cranking and will give max current to starter.
We may be homing in on the problem...