Mi16 Not Starting And Dangling Wire.

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

Hi, bit of help needed.

 

My car died the other day and I borrowed a coil (thanks Flyfisher) to get it going. Although it now started, it wouldn't rev without missing.

 

Anyway, had a day of work so decided to replace the coil with a new one, but now it won't start at all.

 

It may be unrelated, but there is a dangling wire with a grey, 2 slot pink connector on the end. Should this go somewhere?

 

I've had a good look around, but can't find any spare pins for it to go on.

 

Any help gratefully received.

 

Cheers,

 

Antony

[Anthony 1,003]

Whereabouts roughly on the car/loom is the dangling wire in question, as I can't immediately think of a grey and pink 2 pin plug anywhere?

 

With regards not starting since changing the coil - obvious question is do you have a spark, and does it start still with the old coil?

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

The dangling wire is dangling onto the gearbox. On closer investigation one of the wires to it is broken and I wonder if its just a leftover from the conversion and somewhat of a red herring.

 

The car doesn't work with the old, borrowed or brand new coil.

 

Now this is odd; when the car initially conked out, it had fuel but no spark which is how I ended up at the coil, via the ignition module. Now it has spark, but no fuel!

 

I now suspect the tachymetric relay, one of which I have but I just cannot locate it on the car!!

 

Its not by the ecu as far as I can see, nor on the drivers side inner wing. Any idea where it would be on that loom Anthony?

[Anthony 1,003]

Ummm... the two relays for the Mi loom will normally be down near the drivers inner wing, but I can't remember the details of that particular loom now I'm afraid.

 

Remember that Mi16's use a normal 4 pin relay (the green ones in the glovebox fusebox are fine) and not the black9(?) pin tachymetric relay like an 8v uses.

[Mikey S 29 1 Cars]

The dangling wire is dangling onto the gearbox. On closer investigation one of the wires to it is broken and I wonder if its just a leftover from the conversion and somewhat of a red herring.

 

The car doesn't work with the old, borrowed or brand new coil.

 

Now this is odd; when the car initially conked out, it had fuel but no spark which is how I ended up at the coil, via the ignition module. Now it has spark, but no fuel!

 

I now suspect the tachymetric relay, one of which I have but I just cannot locate it on the car!!

 

Its not by the ecu as far as I can see, nor on the drivers side inner wing. Any idea where it would be on that loom Anthony?

 

on my mi16 loom, (2 row ecu) there are two fuses by my relays which i think are ecu and fuel pump fuses. have you tried living the fuel pump direct under the rear seats to see if it will fire up?

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

"Remember that Mi16's use a normal 4 pin relay"

 

Ha, I don't think I ever knew that!

 

OK, so there are 2 relays on the passenger side bulkhead, but one of them is for the airhorn (not my fault!!) as I have just replaced it.

I tried that known working relay in the other one, but still no start.

 

I'll keep looking.

 

I haven't tried a live feed yet, but that would be a good diagnostic. I'll give it a go later.

 

I'll try the easy stuff first!

 

Cheers,

 

Antony

[Anthony 1,003]

Ignore the two on the passenger side bulkhead - they're nothing to do with the engine management.

 

The relays that go in them are the same as the ones needed for the Mi16 ECU and fuel pump relays though, but I wouldn't suggest actually using the ones from there as they're typically pretty knackered from living in the hostile environment of the engine bay for the last 20 odd years. Those 4 pin green relays are very common though.

 

The two relays for the Mi16 loom should normally be behind the drivers side headlight, but sometimes the wiring is extended to move them inside the car where they're not as exposed to the elements. Follow the loom back from under the inlet manifold, round the cambelt end of the engine and through the bulkhead, then from the drivers footwell up and to the ECU - they must be there somewhere!

 

As above, there's usually a fuse for the fuel pump (atleast on 405 sourced looms - can't remember about BX) next to the relays that's worth double-checking as it's usually 10A odd compared to the one in the 205 fusebox that's 15A, and hence the loom one goes pop first and leaves you scratching your head if you don't know it's there.

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

Thanks for the help Anthony, I'll seek out those pesky relays!

 

Anyway, it is running now, somehow.

 

I unplugged the injection rail return pipe and span the starter - dry.

I hardwired the Alfa battery to the fuel pump and it span. I then cranked the engine and sprayed fuel all over the new drive (can't wait for the wife to come home!).

 

So I still suspected the fuel pump relay. I put it all back together and span it hoping it would run for a bit with some fuel present, and it started and ran!

 

There was a tappet ticking, for some reason, so I took it for a spin and it still coughed and spluttered when revved but I kept going and it all cleared itself out.

 

It now runs beautifully with no ticking and a rock solid idle again.

 

So, I have no idea what was really wrong, it definitely needed a coil and there was no fuel, but there is now.

 

I'll try again later tonight to see if it properly sorted, but for now, I have mi16 power again!

 

Thanks for all your help guys which is, as usual, invaluable.

 

Cheers,

 

Antony

[welshpug 1,657]

do your reversing light/s work?

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

No, they never have aren't are even plugged in.

 

In fact it is just the reversing light switch that this dangling wire was resting. I thought at first it was for the reversing lights.

 

Why do you ask sir? You been watching me going in and out of my drive??

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

A cheeky update.

 

It wouldn't start again today, so I tried the direct feed to the fuel pump trick, to no avail.

 

I then swapped the fuel pump and ecu relays round (Yes, I found them!) and it started.

Thing is, it runs fine up to about 3000rpm and then coughs its way round further.

The performance is fine, its just quite jerky.

 

I will get replacement relays when I can, but would they cause the coughing and spluttering?

 

This car was perfect for about 9 months, since the the conversion, and now its being a pain.