Van just won't start

[petefelstead]

Hi all,

I have been a member for a while but this is my first post!

Our van is called Losty and he is a Holdsworth villa deluxe auto trans with a replacement 1.9 DG engine.
We live in St Austell in Cornwall and like going on local and not so local adventures.


Ok, here goes, I really hope that the kind and knowledgeable people of this forum can throw some light on my perplexing problem.
I have looked at the posts and forums but need some insight on this.

I can’t get the van to run at all! It was running very badly but now nothing let me fill you in on the events (bit like a detective story this!)

Had a great trip to Wales recently the only issue being blue smoke on over run. So after going down a steep hill upon using the accelerator cloud of blue smoke.

The van has been like this for at least a year and we are working towards getting a recon engine. No problems or smoke under acceleration uphill or on a level road.

Did have starting problems but this was a faulty starter and sorted.

Occasionally due to the less than efficient valve stem seal on no 2 cyl the plug gets fouled and needs cleaning. This is obvious as the van is only firing on 3 cyls.

So a couple of weeks back this happened and I duly whipped out no 2 plug, which did look fouled, and thought job done! While I was at it I cleaned up and the contact area of the distributor and rotor arm.

Boxed it all up and did a quick test ride and thought everything was fine (in hindsight did seem to be running a little sluggish but no missing).

A few days later used the van and it was terrible! Barely moving I had to put in neutral and rev fully then engage drive just to get up a slight incline. Terrible missing and no power.

So I investigated and noticed that the carbon bush from the distributor cap was missing.
My thoughts were that it had fallen out when I had looked at it previously but would the van actually start if it was missing and only the spring was present?

So took off the cap and went to the factors to get a replacement thinking it would be a nice easy fix.

Got back and got completely confused about lead and firing order.
By trial and error managed to get it started briefly but with terrible missing and popping before dieing.

Have now got the leads and firing order sorted to the right configuration. Rotor arm is pointing to the right place.

Ok, disconnected LT connectors to coil and may have initially connected them up in the wrong order and tried to start the van before realising my error. Connected them up right but still nothing. Read something here that doing this can knacker the distributor.

Could this be the case and how do I test?

Have spark to each plug but not sure of quality of spark again can I test?

Is it possible to check static timing , if so can someone please describe how?

Seemed to be an awful lot of fuel residue around carb intake.

Plugs appeared to have fuel to them but not particularly wet.

Worth trying Easystart?

Please please can anyone give me some pointers?

Many thanks!

Pete

[tonytech]

I doubt trying to start with the HT leads disconnected would damage the distributor, but it can damage the ignition amplifier ( Matchbox sized black box on the LHS of the engine bay)
If you have spark this is unlikey, they usually fail completely (or at least temperature sensitive)

It sounds like you still have the Plug leads on wrong.
Firing order is 1432.
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... ring_order
It is possible that a previous owner has installed the distributor 180 degrees out though.

T

[T25Convert]

If you have sparks its unlikely anything is broken, as said above more likely order is wrong!

In terms of the firing order:

First pick a cylinder, doesn't matter which one. Spark plug out, rotate it until it is on the compression stroke (check by using thumb over the hole as you turn - you should feel the compression. Check its at the top of the stroke (using a thin screwdriver). Your rotor arm will be point somewhere.

The rotor arm should point at the plug lead of the cylinder you have just been poking, so its a case of putting the dizzy cap back on, marking up where the 4 leads sit and then twiddling the dizzy body until the rotor arm lines up with one of the marks you made. Make sure this plug lead is the right one for that cylinder, then work round from there making sure each plug lead is in the right place to match the firing order.

You can do this using a small mark on the dizzy body and number one cylinder (as per the Haynes manual) but if you are not sure its not 180 degrees out this way you will make sure that the dizzy is with a couple of degrees of where it needs to be so that it is providing a spark on the compression stroke.

Good luck,

Alex

[kevtherev]

There are no valve stem seals on WBX engines.
If the valve guide is worn then it will need to be replaced.