Non-start issue - clues required!

Oh dear me :)

Or over fuelling?

Injectors should give a high pressure mist, not plumes of petrol.

Well, the sparks have to spark at the right time etc..

Ebay for a td4 :)

What do you mean injectors off? You have to take them out, have you just removed the fuel lines to them?

To clarify, I took off the complete inlet manifold, dead easy to do on this vehicle, then reconnected the cable for the injectors, and the petrol line. There was a plume from each of the injectors ( something like an aerosol can being sprayed), thus showing that fuel was indeed coming out of the injectors.

That proved there is fuel getting to the cylinders, and removing the pugs and turning over showed there was sparks getting there, at least with the plug out of the cylinder. The ignitor coil is fairly new, so I dont think there is a problem there.

I think my next step is to thoroughly check the cam timing - I suppose if it has jumped a couple of teeth, the spark will be after TDC so it wont ignite, though I may be thinking a load of bollocks!

Think I'd opt for a compression test next...

So what's a compression test going to tell you?

"Has been running fine since I've had it, starts and runs as required. Off to work today, covered 6 miles, got to a junction, it spluttered a bit, then died. Tried to start it, just a splutter that got fainter the more I cranked it over."

That your cam timings out. But checking the spark timing would be as likely to be helpfull.

Do the timing marks line up?

When was the timing belt replaced?

Here is how to replace the belt.

That it has petrol in the tank, not diesel.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---

I'm with you now :-)

Any chance of getting any codes read?

Which I've done this morning,after checking the timing marks which were spot on. 130/190/0/150 were the readings. OK, cam cover off, nothing untoward there, turned over the engine by hand to mark sure it hadnt thrown a rod, and the fault was apparent - the exhaust cam wasnt turning. The peg at the end of the shaft, locating the drive cog has sheared. Bollocks. That'll be 4 or 6 new valves, gaskets, belts and tensioners etc, and most of a day to do it. Something I could do without at the moment, but, I think I could have been a lot worse off, luckily only the exhaust side is damaged.

Thanks for the replies Alan.

Are the plugs wet after trying to start? And i dont mean cranking it for

20mins.

Does it spin over on the starter with the usual sound, or just 'zing' over? - i.e. valve timing out.

Tim.

The crank sensor does the spark timing. The cam one may take over to give limp home if the crank one fails - depending on the type of engine management, which I don't know on your car.

Might as well do the head gasket now Alan.

It is clearly the previous owner doing the head gasket that caused this fault. The cam drive cog was loose, so it was knocking against the peg, which eventually failed. The cheapest part - 46p, had broken, all because it hadnt been tightened properly. Ta Alan.

Valve hitting piston, something has to give and it may not be just the valves. It can crack piston or bend a con rod. Hit an open valve often enough and the valve head will fall off.

And, as if by magic, there were no valves damaged.

2 were very slightly marked on one side, but showed no sign of bending. I had ordered 2 new ones, so they will be replaced anyway. The head gasket had been done recently, and it had a newish cam belt on, but the tensioner was old, and had a little play in it, so fortuious timing to get that changed before it fell apart (why would anyone go to the bother of changing a head gasket/cam belt etc, and not bother replacing an original tensioner that costs £25ish?) . Parts are £390 (ouch!) - I've had new everything, so I know it will be good for a few more years. Took 2 hours to strip down, probably 6hrs to grind in all the valves, decoke etc, and reassemble. Waiting for the tensioner, so it wont be finished until Monday now.

Alan.

have you changed the pump? worth doing unless it is almost new.