Immobiliser or fuel pump?

[Cannonball Bob]

Been out in the car earlier today, started without any snags.

Came to use it this evening.......turns over rapidly enough to suggest a mega-healthy battery but it simply won't fire.

Bump starting also failed.

If it's the immobiliser playing up, would I still get fuel coming through?

It smells suspiciously petrol-free for a X-flow.

(And yes, there is fuel in the tank)

 

Oh and I'm supposed to be going to Stelvio in a week.

[Stationary M25 Traveller]

Would it have the intertia switch on the bulkhead on the passenger side (in the engine bay) ?

 

******************

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking...

 

And racing around to come up behind you again. new link to photos

[Cannonball Bob]

Nope. ☹️

 

(It's a 1993 X-flow btw.)

[Cannonball Bob]

Errr......thinking out loud...has it even got a fuel pump?

[Big Brother]

Bob,

 

Whip the petrol pipe (supply) off the carbs and spin the motor over (to see if you get fuel to the carbs).

I think you will have a mechanical pump on your car and they are normaly pretty reliable (and easy and cheap to replace if it is faulty).

 

If you've got fuel, then I would go for the immobiliser.

They are not the most reliable of kit.

There have been quite a few posts about problems with them on here over the years.

 

If you can rule out fuel and anything else obvious, I'm sure the more knowledgable here would be able to PM you some instructions for removing/bypassing the immobiliser.

 

(and enjoy the Stelvio - it's an interesting drive 😬)

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

SE7EN-UP!

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_{Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies}

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[Cannonball Bob]

Thinking about it again overnight....if it were the immobiliser, would the car even turn over?

If it's not "de-immobilised" it won't even turn usually.

 

[I.Mupferit]

If the car was ok in the morning but failed to even fire later in the day then I would doubt fuel is the problem as there should still be plenty of fuel in the carb float chambers. Certainly enough to fire and probably run for a good few seconds anyhow unless you were lucky/unlucky in that the fuel pump failed a couple of miles before you were home and it used up the last drop of fuel just as you switched the motor off. Also the immobiliser does normally prevent the starter from cranking so again I would be inclined to discount that.

 

If there is still fuel (Steve M's suggestion will prove that or not) then it is more likely to be an ignition related problem I would think, maybe rotor arm or distributor cap or coil or HT lead from coil to distributor. I assume you have electronic ignition.....yes?

 

Unlikely to be a single plug or plug lead on its own as the engine should at least fire on one or more of the other cylinders.

 

Try taking out one plug, then reconnect to the HT lead and rest the plug on its side on say a cylinder head bolt to earth the body then crank the engine with the ignition on and you should see a strong spark from the plug electrode. If not then it's definitely ignition and you will need to work back through the ignition system until you find the fault.

 

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by - Brent Chiswick on 10 Sep 2007 08:29:44

[I.Mupferit]

Initially try checking cleanliness/tightness of connections to the spade connectors either side of the coil, the HT lead connection at both the coil and distributor end, lift the distributor cap to check for any obvious cracks, burn marks or breakages and pull off the rotor arm to check the same.

 

In any event, if these items haven't been replaced for a while it may be a good idea to do it now as the rotor and distributor cap will eventually suffer erosion of the internal contacts so should be considered as service parts.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[I.Mupferit]

Oh btw, if you disconnect the fuel line as Steve suggests, can I just say it would be advisable to cover the pipe end in a thick rag to prevent the fuel from spraying everywhere.

 

Sods law states that there will, indeed, be a spark within the ignition system that the spurt of petrol will be unerringly guided to by the position of the disconnected pipe!

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[Cannonball Bob]

Yep, electronic ignition, and agreed, the more I think about it, the more it strikes me as an ignition fault, not an immobiliser/fuel one.

Thanks for the steers though.

As an aside, I did just phone the place I got it from.....NFI quite frankly which is a little disappointing.

[Cannonball Bob]

Fuel spurting satis.

Dizzy and rotor arm all seem ok so I guess it's the coil or something even more mysterious.

Got an auto-lecky bloke coming on Wednesday morning as a fall back plan. Week to go til Italy I can't really afford to dabble too long.

[I.Mupferit]

Have you got a voltmeter or test light to make sure you have 12v power to the coil? If not, you could always pull the supply lead off the coil and take a lead direct from the battery +ve, thus bypassing ignition switch or battery cut off if you have one.

 

This would, at least, tell you if the coil and ignition system is ok so you don't waste time looking for a non existant fault there.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[Cannonball Bob]

This would, at least, tell you if the coil and ignition system is ok so you don't waste time looking for a non existant fault there.

---

Well nice self-employed free lance lecky bloke has just left having diagnosed generally cruddy coil, cap and rotor arm.

OK, simple enough to find I guess but all the symptoms (ie running fine to absoutely nuffink in the space of five hours) led me to think it was something more serious. At least this way I know money now spent on new bits isn't simply being thrown at the wrong problem.

A mere £40 to get a professional second opinion.

[I.Mupferit]

But is it going now?

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

[Cannonball Bob]

Well it was. It's now without coil, dizzy and rotor.

But I have a carrier bag full of new ones

[FTH]

nice self-employed free lance lecky bloke

London based?

[Cannonball Bob]

London based?

Ermmm....not really. He's in Andover, in deepest Hampshire.

 

Edited by - Cannonball Bob on 12 Sep 2007 16:47:36