trix2702 23 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 I have had the mk3 off the road for about 6 weeks just working on it a bit at a time, been starting it every few days and letting it warm up as usual, Few days ago it stuttered then died, thought it was out of petrol as gauge was off the scale. After putting a couple of gallons in tried to start it with no success. have since replaced plugs and leads and fuel filter without any results, it seems to be trying to start but just wont fire. There has been no warning of this car has been perfect up till now, I am deffo getting a spark, fuel is getting in (loads of pressure at rail and wet plugs) but it just wont run.. HELP!!!??? Link to post Share on other sites
Karr-Man 0 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 if u definately have fuel and spark then maybe the crankshaft sensor??? have u tried getting it on VAGCOM?? Link to post Share on other sites
Smuggler 0 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 how long did you crank it for? if you ran the engine empty of fuel then it would of drawn a lot of air in through thr fuel lines and can take a while to start. Over 20 seconds cranking is not uncommon, so make sure you've given it a good go before looking at other things first. Link to post Share on other sites
Smuggler 0 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 Doh, nevermind that post, just saw you said your plugs were wet lol. Link to post Share on other sites
rodney 17 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 have you seen the spark? otherwise you are gonna have to get the technology out. Are you an AA or an RAC guy??? Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Did a compression check last night and its got perfect in 2 and 3 but nearly nothing in the other 4!! so head off today hope to find something obvious as is supposed to be going to paintshop at weekend. Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Heads off and guess what? Nothing absolutley nowt gasket looked fine valves are carboned up big style but apart from that looks mint, no scoring in block, bores all look good and turns freely, Finishing rebuilding head tomorrow so fingers crossed will have it running... Link to post Share on other sites
Wideopentuning 0 Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 If the cylinders are washed down with fuel when you check compression you will get very skewed (low) results. You may have not needed a rebuild. Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Yeh I had heard that, but gave me a good excuse to do it, valve stem seals were starting to show signs of wear Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 still no joy with this, even after rebuilding the head etc, still seems to want to start but just wont fire up.. Any ideas??? Link to post Share on other sites
ip 0 Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 You need to get it on a diagnostic. You've got fuel and sparks so really suggests a sensor issue. Plus, sudden failures are often related to the fuel management system since sensors tend to fail or at least drop out of spec suddenly.Out of curiosity, does it start to run then stall or simply never start at all? Just after I bought mine the ignition switch failed. This meant that it would turn over and fire fine but then stall as I released the key. Depending how the switch has failed, it can allow the engine to turn over (one circuit of the switch) but not give the ignition a proper supply (another circuit on the switch). Alt, you've got yje classic ECU relay failure.The switch is easily tested. Just buy one from a factors for about £7 and plug it into the lead from the back of the exisintg switch (just pops out). You can then start the car using a screwdriver (provided the real key is in the barrel to defeat the immob and stearing lock).I spent weeks trying tto work out what was wrong with mine before reading that the ignition switches tend to fail.Hope that helps.ip Link to post Share on other sites
gtijames 0 Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 is it obd 1 0r 2? Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Got the car fired up but wasn't right although it reved smoothly without missing, it wouldn't idle, thought it may have been all the build up from turning it over. as there was loads of smoke to start with which soon cleared, anyhoo took it for a wee blast up the road first and second felt as normall until I put it in third and checked my mirror, imagine my surprise when I could see nothing at all, smoke was belching out of the back of it and wasn't clearing!, got it back to the workshop and removed inlet again, only to find the inlet side was full of oil. safe to say its pumped then!!! lol Link to post Share on other sites
trix2702 23 Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 bought another engine off the bay, and began stripping car on Sunday morning, 6 hours later new engine was in and runs sweet as, Found the initial problem aswell, was about to transfer my freshly powder coated inlet but though I'd wash it out due to oil etc in it, To say I was peed off was an understatement when red blasting sand starts coming off the inside of it when washed out with brake cleaner.. So in short engine + sand = dead!!. Spoke to the powdercoater today and I think he is going to contribute towards the repair so not all bad, at least I will make it to e38 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts