Another Non Starter

[bigsuv 0]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster, I’ve found this forum incredibly helpful over the years. Hopefully you can help me again as I’m really stumped...

 

Last year I sent my 1990 1.9GTi off to Miles at PugRacing for an extensive refurb/restoration including full engine rebuild, wiring etc. Naturally, when I got it back it was like a new car! I’d been happily driving it around since, until a couple of months ago when on a drive I found myself with smoke pouring out the engine bay, through the cabin and out the back of the car.

 

I pulled over and cut the engine immediately. When I checked under the bonnet I found oil all over my shiny new engine bay - the oil breather had come off the cam cover! Luckily I had some old rags and mopped up all the oil I could by the side of the road, popped the breather back on, and cautiously returned home, where I then attempted to mop up the rest of the oil, where I could reach. And then topped the lost oil. There was some oil in the spark plug holes which I mostly managed to get out, but some presumably got through to the cylinders.

 

Everything seemed fine a few days later when I got back in the car to meet up with some friends. Started up no problem, drove for about 30mins, pulled up at some lights, idling perfectly as usual, then when I went to pull away it cut out, and I couldn’t get it restarted. Pushed myself into a petrol station out of harms way and then had another look under the bonnet, couldn’t see anything untoward. Eventually after about 30mins of trying it burst into life, and I decided to try and get back home. I experienced a couple of misfires and loss of power on the journey home until it eventually cut out completely. I couldn’t get the car restarted after that so admitted defeat and got towed the rest of the way home. I haven’t been able to get it started since. Apart from the occasional pop/bang when cranking there has been no sign of life.

 

Here’s everything I’ve tried since:

New dizzy cap, rotor arm, leads, plugs.

New Coil, and another blue Bosch ign amp.

Distributor refurbished by H&H.

Checked timing - Rotor arm pointing to cylinder 1 lead at TDC. 

Checked and cleaned earths, they seem ok. 

 

After finding a loose connector in the ign amp plug Ive got a spark, and getting strong smell of petrol when cranking with spark plugs out, but can’t really hear the fuel pump with ignition on or when cranking. Fuel pump itself was replaced by Miles, as was the water temp sensor. AFM was also replaced, along with most other things during the restoration. 

 

If anyone has any suggestions as to what it could be and things to try I’m all ears! I’ve read through so many posts about non starting issues and have tried to work through the various other suggestions. Miles is also aware of my problems and I’m waiting for him to become available to do some other work but I really would rather the car got down to his under it’s own steam than on a flat bed. Please help!

 

Thanks in advance,

Adam

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

I presume its a standard 8V with no modifications?

 

[jackherer 543]

It sounds like it might be over fuelling so I'd check the ECU temp sensor and AFM, also their electrical connectors, the terminals can get pushed back into the housings sometimes. New parts can fail so you need to test them just the same as old parts.

 

As a test you can pull the fuel pump fuse while cranking it, if it briefly fires up as the fuel pressure drops then this points to over fuelling.

[bigsuv 0]

Sorry I should have said. It is. Standard 8V non cat, early ph2

[bigsuv 0]

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check the temp sensor. Connectors have been checked and cleaned, but will check again. I have already tried pulling the fuel pump fuse and cranking it as I suspected I’d flooded the engine. While I got a brief murmur from the engine it didn’t actually catch and I’ve had nothing since. 

[jackherer 543]

To fully check the temp sensor and its wiring you need to measure the resistance on the sensor itself and check it is correct for the temperature the coolant is at. Then identify the relevant pins on the ECU connector and check the resistance is the same there.

 

These are the resistances vs temperature:

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

So it's cranking and you have fuel and a spark ? Correct?

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Does it have an immobilizer of any sort fitted?

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Sorry reread yes you have fuel and spark...it sounds very similar to when mine had a slipped timing belt. It was 2 teeth out. It stank of fuel and would crank and not start. 

 

Have you pinned the cam and crank to see if they can be pinned together?

 

Mine slipped after a few 1000 miles from a new fitment. It actually got progressively worse. Misfires, over fueling and then complete failure

[bigsuv 0]

Yes I have spark and fuel. No immobiliser fitted. Good point re. timing belt. I wonder if the oil spill has caused the timing belt to slip? I made sure the distributor was pointing at cylinder 1 when at TDC, but didn’t think about the cam timing being out. I will take a look and see if I can pin them together. 

Thanks!