Wont Fire Unless Spark Plug Removed :s

[kate205gti 4]

my 1.9 8v was working perfectly on thursday (apart from having a flat battery first thing which i swapped over then it was fine), got MOT bought it home. Today ive just put a brand new battery in it, plugged in the alternator exciter wire which had come unplugged (doh!) but now it wont fire at all

 

turns over nice and quick but not even trying to fire, I removed a spark plug and held it on the negative terminal to check for a spark and there was good spark and it then fired up into life while i was holding the plug! but now ive put the spark plug back in the hole and got the same non starting issue :s

 

Im thinking its not fuel if it fired up, ive turned it over with the injectors unplugged in case it was flooded but now plugged them back in and no go still

 

any other ideas to try please?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Have you got a decent engine to chassis and battery ground Kate?

[kate205gti 4]

yes the earth is fine, and when thats gone before its behaved as if the starter was duff - ie just clicking

this is turning over and over but not even trying to fire

[rallyman205 0]

the spark plug removed thing would just be a fluke and it fired at that point in time

you really need to find out what you have got/not got ie spark /fuel

after cranking over and it not firing are the plugs wet /if you have a spare spark plug try connecting it to a plug lead and cranking with it resting on the engine and see if it is sparking if it is then is the fuel pump running when you crank the engine you should hear it under the rear seat on the drivers side

it could be any number of things and is going to be trial and error to find the fault but if you can establish what is not operating then it will be easier to diagnose

[Roman 0]

Maibe ecu temp sensor or plug... if its not in working order you get massive overfueling....