Brucey Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 My Son has just changed the head gasket, cam belt and water pump on his 2003 MG ZR 1400K I kept an eye on him and he did everything by the book. He fitted a multi layer steel gasket (1800 freelander type) We now can't get it to start! We have a spark on both coil packs. I tried sqirting easy start down the plug holes and in the air intake but still nothing. If left cranking for about 10 seconds, it seems to try and fire but nothing more than a brief splutter. We have checked all the conectors and rechecked the cam timing and all seems in order. I have now run out of ideas! I guess the next step is a compression test and if I can find a reader, look at the ecu for fault codes (EU3) For the amount of cranking, I do not think it smells of petrol enough if you get my drift. Any advice would be appreciated. Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Can you hear the fuel pump run with ignition on - assuming it has an electric pump. Fuses - inertia switch ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Whitley Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 "I know someone" who refitted the cams wrongly (the key was in the wrong slot) and the engine wouldn't fire (apart from the occasional BANG) even though there was fuel and spark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Cheers guys for your quick responses Yup, The Fuel Pump is running. In fact I have just taken the return pipe off at the regulator and turned the ingnition on. It's definately pumping fuel up to the fuel rail! I was wondering if I can pull an enjector to see if fuel is comming out or maybe pull the plug off and put a multi meter on (although I don't know what voltage and how long the signal would be. Lewis (my 21 year old Son) marked everything before removal so I know the pulleys went back onto the same cams (i will get him to double check the dowels are in the 'exhaust' and 'inlet' slots correctly though as we are now clutching at straws! Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Back to the soap box racers then ! You can't beat gravity 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Tony, Your a star mate! I showed Lewis the dowel slots on my spare Caterham engine and he went all quite! That was the one thing he didn't mark and assumed was o.k. forgetting we had to rotate the cams with the pulleys off to get to the head bolts. We just checked and guess what............both were in the wrong slots 😳 I think as both cams were about 180 deg out, he hopefully hasn't bent any valves. Looks like it's going to be a late night. Looking on the bright side, at least we found something wrong to sort out! Back to work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Put the cam dowels in the proper pulley slots. Engine now turns over a lot slower on the starter motor but still refuses to start. I'm hoping he hasn't bent any valves. 😔 We will have another look tomorrow when we will be fresher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Assuming my son now has the camshaft pulley dowels in the correct slots, we need to know the following: What are the chances he bent some valves? Note: We didn't feel anything hitting or resistance when turning the engine over by hand but did crank it on the starter for about 15 mins. If the cams have been turning 180 deg out, will the ecu need resetting? How do you reset an EU3 ECU? (is it the same as my Caterham EU2, ignition on, 5 throttle presses and ignition off?) Note: It didn't start last night after retiming the camshafts correctly (but as it was past 12am, we didn't try too long) If he does have to remove the head again, will he need another new head gasket and more stretch bolts? Note: The engine hasn't started with the existing parts fitted! Bruce. Edited by - Brucey on 28 Mar 2012 09:36:47 Edited by - Brucey on 28 Mar 2012 10:05:01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemersey Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I showed Lewis the dowel slots on my spare Caterham engine and he went all quite! That was the one thing he didn't mark and assumed was o.k. forgetting we had to rotate the cams with the pulleys off to get to the head bolts. We just checked and guess what............both were in the wrong slots I think as both cams were about 180 deg out, he hopefully hasn't bent any valves. I did something similar with a twin cam engine when I was young. Degrees at the crank not equalling degrees at the camshaft Flames out of the carbs and a lot of popping, - But the engine survived it all and ran when corrected. Good luck with yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Ahh, I remember filing the dowel holes out on my Mk1 Lotus Cortina twin cam engine to 'adjust' the cam timing. Couln't afford the offset dowels! Those were the days! I really can't be doing with all these sensors. Way too many things to check when it doesn't start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 To answer my own question (for other peoples benefit), no, you don't damage the valves on a 1400 K with the cam pulleys in the wrong dowel holes (we managed to get both wrong!) Lewis rechecked his cam timing, sorted a shorting coil pack and everything is now running fine.......so far! Thanks for all your help, it's nice to know help is at hand when things are going 'tits up' and your fast running out of ideas and enthusiasm! Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hurrah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucey Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Out of interest, Lewis has platinum tipped plugs fitted to his MG ZR 1400 EU3 and I chucked standard plugs in my 1800K (R300 block) EU2 Caterham. Should I be using the posh plugs? Would I notice any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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