Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

My van (1.9DG) has been off the road for a month now! (mainly due to me needing to save up money!)

Anyhoo, I've replaced the starter motor (and bush), changed the fuel filter (twas full of crap), changed the dizzy cap, rotor arm, ht leads and ignition coil... and still it won't start. It turns over but just won't fire...

I'm completely clueless as to what to do now! I've been reading old posts for similar problems but it's just confusing me even more!

Anyone have any ideas?

Back to basics!!

have you got a spark at the plugs?- take a lead off and put a plug in it and ground it to engine on outer.
have you got fuel at carb ? - take pipe off carb, spin engine, is fuel coming out of pipe into jug you put the to catch it?
how old is the fuel? old fuel dont explode very well, old is more than 6 weeks.
if you have all of the above sorted, then its either timing or induction leakage.

just because you have replaced for new dont mean they are ok, or infact the old ones were not ok.

Sounds crude, but if it won't kick into life with a tiny splash of meths down the inlet, suspect spark. Used that technique numerous times to isolate where the problem might be.

Cheers for the replies... I'll give a splash of meths in the inlet a try...

It might sound a stupid question... but how do I do that? I'm very much a newbie when it comes to this sort of stuff...

I suspected it might be low on fuel, so topped it up with 5 litres of new on Saturday.

"ground it to engine on outer" - what does mean? Sorry... you'll have to treat me like a child! ha ha...

I had similar problems - turned over but wouldn't start. Turned out to be a faulty TCI unit.

y30man5 wrote:
"ground it to engine on outer" - what does mean? .

1. take out a plug
2. reconnect the plug to lead
3. hold the plug against a metal bit of the engine the engine.
4. get some one to turn the engine over
3. watch for a blue spark at the plug.

re: meths
Well if it ran out of fuel it may struggle to pump fuel all the way to the engine - tis a long way from the tank. If the engine compartment doesn' smell of petrol when you pump the accelerator pedal a few times, it may be bone dry. You need to remove the flexible inlet elbow to the carb and just tip a capful of petrol (cap off an oil can ideal) straight down the carb inlet. Try and start it. It may splutter, try to run, then die as the fuel runs out but usually a few goes like that turns the engine fast enough to suck fresh fuel through. Works on bugs too when the petrol line is dry. It is a crude method but tells you much. Heck I'm a Midlander, we go for the jugular here. Place is full of back street mmechanics and engineers disowned by dead car factories

If it won't fire into life with meths, theres no spark, thats why I suggested that one.

Might be a stupid point but if you've replaced the HT leads did you put them back on in the right order? If your dizzy-plug sequence is out she'll turn over but won't fire in a month of sundays...

ajp wrote:Might be a stupid point but if you've replaced the HT leads did you put them back on in the right order? If your dizzy-plug sequence is out she'll turn over but won't fire in a month of sundays...

I'm 98% sure I did but how do I check?

Thanks kevtherev and CovKid. I will give those a try tomorrow I think. Sorry for being such a thicko!

y30man5 wrote:

ajp wrote:Might be a stupid point but if you've replaced the HT leads did you put them back on in the right order? If your dizzy-plug sequence is out she'll turn over but won't fire in a month of sundays...

I'm 98% sure I did but how do I check?

Kev you sure ? I thought it was 1 and 2 leads that crossed over ?

Ian.

unless mr haynes is wrong then yes I'm sure

kevtherev wrote:unless mr haynes is wrong then yes I'm sure

Final answer ?

Ian

yes chris final answer

(it's gone orange)