Motor turns over,but dont fire,any charecteristic prob?

[chubbybrown 0]

Hi all,the 1.8 16v came home the other night as normal,was put in garage overnight,wife came out to start it and well it cranks over with lots of zest but wont fire.

I checked the spark and there isnt one,I got a new coil from halfords tonight and theres still no spark.

apart from buying a naff coil what do you corrado hexperts think !

opinions and help please.

also in the fuse box area theres 3 loose cables

1)a all green one with black end.

2)red and white cable with black end.

3)cant remember as Ive seen enough fo the fusebox tonight with a yellow end.

also theres a black cable with a black rubber end someone has attached a ignition live to that goes to nothing too,thoughts and opinions please.

Thanks again to posters

chubbY

:-( :?

[vr6storm 0]

immobiliser problem perhaps????

[Joe M 0]

Hall sender in the distributor is a pretty common fault that causes no spark.

[chubbybrown 0]

I dont think it has an imobiliser as shes a 1989

I thought it might have been the fuel pump or relay

but I get the buzz from the back and relay clicks so...........

 

are these hall senders readily available ?

 

nice one chubbles

Hall sender in the distributor is a pretty common fault that causes no spark

[Joe M 0]

are these hall senders readily available ?

 

 

I think they can be replaced on the 1.8 16v but I had the 2.0 16v model and I had to replace the whole distributor. :mad:

[chubbybrown 0]

kin ell

I blame the mudflaps !

 

any idea the dolllars involved ?

[stevemac 0]

I thought it might have been the fuel pump or relay

but I get the buzz from the back and relay clicks so...........

 

Definitely not fuel related - you have an electrical problem of some kind

 

Have you checked each individual plug for a spark ??

Dizzy cap & rotor condition ??

[chubbybrown 0]

whats that thign that buzzes its sort of above the distributor ?

its conencted to the airbox ?

it has a conenctor attached to it

 

?

[Joe M 0]

That'll be the idle stabilisation valve, shouldnt affect starting and is supposed to buzz.

[chubbybrown 0]

Thanks Joe !

its a right learning factory tonight !

[chubbybrown 0]

Dizzy rotor turns

so no broken a belt !

just lifted off lead from coil to dizzy,nothing nada F.all !

no spark from coil down the way,its the old coil type !

none of this fancy stuff ! ;-)

[stevemac 0]

Next thing would be to check/replace both LT leads - they're the thin ones which connect to the coil. They can become very fragile with age.

 

Maybe possible to check them using a bulb - they only carry the standard 12v

[Henny 0]

I find faults like these are a swine to diagnose without actually being able to look around the engine and work it out with the car there... :? I hope this lot helps... 8)

 

If you've no spark, use a digital multimeter to check for Voltage across the coil on the low tension side of it (the thin wires, not the thick one that goes to the dizzy! :? ) both when you turn the ignition lights on and then while you crank the engine over.

 

You should get a pulse reading around 6V when you first turn the ignition on, and then a constant reading of between 0.5 and 2V when the engine is cranking... (This is what my Golf does as I just tested it! :roll: :lol: )

 

If there's volts there on turning on the ignition but 0V when cranking:

 

1) it's possible that your starter switch has died... (Yeah, I know it's one of my "cures all electrical problems" suggestions, but it's worth testing! :lol:) Turn the ignition on, and then, with a THICK bit of wire, touch between the LIVE of the battery, and the live of the solenoid on the starter motor. This by-passes the starter position on the switch so if the car fires up and runs then you know that it's the switch...

2) There's a problem with the wiring from the fusebox, check that all of the multiplugs are in properly and look for broken / disconnected wires

 

If there's 0V when turning on the ignition AND when cranking then you've:

 

1) blown a fuse

2) got a wire that has broken or fallen off

3) got a dead coil (although you've changed this and it's unlikely to be this now.

4) got a multiplug that's fallen off the back of the fusebox

5) you're testing in the wrong place! :roll: :lol: sorry, couldn't resist that

6) got a dead ignition amplifier / ECU

 

If there's voltage both when turning on the ignition and while cranking then you've:

 

1) got a dead hall sender

2) got a dead dizzy cap or rotor arm

3) got a dead HT lead between coil and dizzy

 

I think this covers just about everything I'd test for... :? Good luck, and I hope you find out what it is and that it's a simple fix! 8)

[vr6storm 0]

I dont think it has an imobiliser as shes a 1989

I thought it might have been the fuel pump or relay

but I get the buzz from the back and relay clicks so...........

 

not meaning a factory one Roy :wink: as i thought that most if not all 16v's have to have at least CAT2 minimum security fitted.........can't remember if yours(or rather Mrs Roy's :wink: ) had anything fitted when you bought it :wink:

[chubbybrown 0]

Well we got the local specialsit around tonight for a quick look b4 the footie,he didnt miss much (6 goals so far EEK ) 8)

we had spare ht leads but he checked and no spark from COIL !

after about 5 minutes hes narrowed it down to a wafer like thing that sites behind/below the scuttle panel.

he has a 2nd hand one for me to try tommorow hes certain that will be it as the cars 'pretty low tech' and I think you get 5 and 7 pin ones if that helps you techies narrow it down a bit.

he said something about converting to digital signal or summit,Ive been ont he go since 4.30am so wasnt quite with it !

car comes with guard dog m8,you gotta get past her to drive her Baby ;-)

just dont say I called her that ! lol

he reckons its that as its been laid up for so long,so will let you all know tommorow

If not Im gonna print off hennys list !

cheers

[Henny 0]

chubbybrown, that "wafer like thing" is the bit I listed as

6) got a dead ignition amplifier / ECU

It'll be your electronic ignition amplifier that's gone belly up then... Not normally expensive to replace and stupidly easy to change too! :D

[chubbybrown 0]

VW/Audi man reckons its that,he reckoned I could do it to save him any hassle in coming back so the squwaw is picking it up this salvo.

how much are they new ?

he reckoned about 40-50 quids?

[Adam Darby 0]

i had exactly the same problem it was the dizzy. the dizzy has a positioning sensor on it to tell the coil when to send its spark out and it went dicky on mine it cost £120 exchange from euro parts or you could get one from a breakers but i would only recomend using Volks Apark if you do cos they will giv you a guarente

[Henny 0]

i had exactly the same problem it was the dizzy. the dizzy has a positioning sensor on it to tell the coil when to send its spark out and it went dicky on mine it cost £120 exchange from euro parts or you could get one from a breakers but i would only recomend using Volks Apark if you do cos they will giv you a guarente

 

That's the hall effect unit that failed on yours... It replaces the points on a traditional mechanical distributor, basically just a coil that detects when the dizzy spins past a certain point and gives out a signal that is used to fire the plugs. They need the amplifier to convert the low level signal given by the hall effect module into a 12V output that the coil can turn into a high tension pulse to fire the spark plugs... 8)

 

These do fail too, but if the guy who came around narrowed it down to the amp, then he'd probably have tested the hall effect sensor first to narrow it down...

 

It's a good point though, Adam. 8)

[chubbybrown 0]

he gave the mrs a wafer thing for me to fit tonight from an audi 80,

so its the amp,it sits next to ECU of some sort.

well he came out thought it was that and gave her a 2nd hand one.

I think its worth £30 and a bottle of vodka somehow.

chubbz

 

CAR IS RUNNING ! YIPPEEEEEEEE

 

I might get some sex yet ( seeing its her motor ) ;-)