not starting

Post by **chrisray** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:24

VW T25 1.9 DG petrol.

It was going to be serviced today..unfortunately the van had other plans. Turned over fine and THEN started, not perfectly but it was ok.. a few seconds later, started dying then clonked out on me.

the fuel tank is low but I know it was just less than half full, when I last used the van.

Tried to start it again, turned over ok but wouldn't fire up. Checked the oil, its half full.

Put the battery on charge, came on at 50%.. at full charge put it back in the van.

Turned over much better but still no fire up.

Renewed all the spark plugs as the 1st and 4th (i think) two nearest the front of the van, were black and charcoally. And renewed the air filter at the same time.

Seems to turn over better but still no avail. Going out to get a new dizzy cap now....

.......but any suggustions will be greatly appreciated.

The rotor arm (arm thingy inside the dizzy cap is slightly burned) should I replace it? And how..?

Chris

Post by **chrisray** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:26

ive checked the HT leads, they are all in good condition and all in the correct order.

.. oh and I was wondering if the spark plugs should be done upto a specific torque.. though I haven't a torque wrench, so this question is a little pointless.

Post by **Mocki** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:28

dont over tighten the plugs!

Firstly check the fuel filter just behind the tank, under the sill.......
also there should only be one, none in the engine bay.....

then check for sparks.......

Website · Post by **CovKid** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:32

Be absolutely certain that petrol is getting to the carb particularly if not run for a bit. Your nose is a good indicator - sniff inside the carb when the engine ISN'T running but after a couple of squirts with the accelerator.

We just rebuilt ChickenKoops but as we'd taken a couple of weekends over it, there wasn't enough petrol in the fuel pipe to run it. Sure you can crank it over on the battery but often this isn't enough to pull the fuel the length of the vehicle so we kept some paetrol back and dropped half an eggcup of petrol directly doen the carb so it would fire up long enough to really suck the fuel through. Was fine after that

You may just have been running on what was in the carb float bowl? With such hot weather lately its perfectly feasible that the main fuel line dried up.

Post by **chrisray** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:37

dumb question but how do I squirt some petrol into the carb?

Website · Post by **CovKid** » 01 Aug 2006, 15:38

chrisray wrote:dumb question but how do I squirt some petrol into the carb?

Remove the air cleaner. If she splutters into life you can rule out electrics.

Post by **chrisray** » 02 Aug 2006, 19:35

still not starting, turns over fine. though the rotor arm seems slightly damaged.. will this cause the problem>?

replaced the dizzy cap today, as contacts were pitted.

can smell fuel very rich in engine bay.

Post by **HarryMann** » 02 Aug 2006, 19:40

In that case, you've got a leak (caution) or she's flooding because your sparks are poor, non-existent or coming at the wrong tiime.

If you tipped half a capful down the carb while cranking it over and it doesn't even fire, you probably haven't got..

1) Sparks;
2) or any compression.

Post by **chrisray** » 03 Aug 2006, 23:06

"so we kept some paetrol back and dropped half an eggcup of petrol directly doen the carb so it would fire up long enough to really suck the fuel through. Was fine after that"

ill remove the air cleaner but if this doesn't work.. how do i do the above^^^

?

Many thanks for the replies so far

Post by **HarryMann** » 03 Aug 2006, 23:50

Well the age old method before electronic ignition systems was to stick your finger up the plug lead - pretty soon knew what sort of voltage and wave shape was coming down the line

Ahhh! So DON'T do that on your VW!!

Maybe an old plug and just hold it earthed against the block, in shaded light or at night, and you watch the fireworks in quite some detail - usually if it fires a nice blue fatty outside the engine it should do so inside too.

Compression? well, can't believe all 4 haven't got enough comp to run, but thats easy enough to check if you need to. Again, quick and dirty (finger over plug hole and use judgement based on experieince and common sense), but a compression tester is THE way, and they're cheap or your neighbour will have one, unless you live in an estate of Mock Georgian Mansions wiv a load a shirts

Website · Post by **CovKid** » 04 Aug 2006, 07:06

A phrase I heard many years ago was "A VW will start on the smell of an oily rag". Theres much truth in that providing all is as it should be. If theres petrol getting through Ok then spark is definately the next thing to look at.

Could be a few things in ignition cirtcuit including the coil but useful to see if you're actually getting sparks to each lead. If you remove all plugs temporarily she'll whip over faster - then with a leather glove or similar, you can hold a plug and lead against earth and see what kind of sparks you're getting - if at all.

Main thing is to do things AA style, check for fuel and spark and don't do anything drastic like mess around with timing if it ran fine before - that'll just make matters worse.