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[Omega Steve]

First of all greetings everyone, this is my first post on this forum (although i do recognise many names here) lol

Sorry my first post is a bit of a nightmare but i am at a lost at the moment and could do with some help.

I have a 2.0 Omega GLS Auto (00) its been off the road all week because it started misfiring and as i tried to troubleshoot it the problem got worst and resulted in a weird engine problem.

In a nut shell, the car wont start, i can hold the key, it turns, it fires a bit, it chucks loads of fuel into and down the exhaust and thats it.

If i take the Aux belt off (no alternating power) it starts and runs on what sounds like all 4 cylinders

Problem in both cases is i have error code 0201 - Injector valve 1 - and when it does run as above it is in limp mode.

to tackle this i have changed the following with no result at all

DIS module
Alternator (Tested at an electrical company that specialises in Alternators and Starters)
HT leads
Plugs
Exhaust manifold (to correct a blow due to warping)
Lambda sensor (fuel is getting to here as well when Aux belt is on and engine tries to start)
Downpipe with CAT (changed due to wear and tear)

I have also checked the timing and that's ok, its just strange, as the engine runs without the aux belt it rules a lot of things out to me, including any problems with the injectors, but im currently at a lost and looking into the earthing side of things.

Does this sound like anything anyone has experienced before, does anyone have any ideas for me to try, i would be ever so great full.

Steve DG

[Kevin Wood]

An odd one indeed. "Injector valve 1" implies the circuit to one of the fuel injectors is playing up. These attach to connectors on the bottom of the cable tray on the inlet side so it could be that one of the connectors is loose or has pulled out.

It should run on 3 cylinders in this case regardless of the aux. belt.

I can only think that the alternator is disturbing things. If it is generating an overvoltage maybe the ECU is stopping the engine to protect the electrics? However, you have had the alternator tested. :-/

I can only suggest checking the fuel injector circuits, and also the usual suspects such as checking the plug wells for oil or water build-up.

Might be worth checking the security of the straps between engine, battery negative terminal and body. I'm thinking if one of these came loose it might cause an electrical issue when the alternator starts charging.

Let us know how you get on and welcome to the forum.

Kevin

[Omega Steve]

Thanks Kevin, its just a weird problem, today i'm thinking of changing the injectors, i've sourced some from a breakers yard but i don't know if there is any difference but the plastic connectors a purple and mine are red, but they look identical. Im also wondering if i have a bad earth somewhere in-line with the alternator, im going to disconnect the air con condenser  and see what happens and try and get to the leads on top of the starter motor, failing all that i guess i will have to start thinking of an ECU problem or something, brrrr, don't want to go down that road yet....

I will let you know how i get on, hopefully it will be something really silly.

[Kevin Wood]

The more I think about it the more I think it's likely to be a grounding strap. All other ancillaries can only affect the engine by effectively stalling it. That's unlikely. If the alternator were to start charging and the grounding strap to the battery / body was loose, current would likely flow through the engine loom ground connections and this would disturb readings from sensors, etc.

Try running it with the aux belt on, but with a jump lead connected from the engine to the battery negative terminal.

kevin

[Omega Steve]

My uncle brought round a compression test and we tested it and found piston 2 and 3 in the red whilst 1 and 4 were showing in the green, not sure if this will affect the engine in this way, anyway, ive just got back from the breakers yard with a replacement head with all exhaust studs already removed  

Im going to do that and go from there, i really need my car for the weekend so im going to get on with it, either i will simply get back full compression on all 4 and still have the same problem or it will do the trick, i have looked at the battery earth to body and its not lose, i know this does not mean its not corroded but when i do the head i can check the starter motor connections as well as the other.

here we go lol,  i will let you know how it goes....

[Marks DTM Calib]

Before removing the head, check the earth connection point on the inlet manifold (in front of the throttle body) as this is where the injectors earth to. Its worth trying a jump lead between the battery neg and an engine lifting eye to.

Under these conditions I normaly monitor the injectors using an oscilloscope because you can then see if they are actually operating by looking for the back EMF when they shut again.

As for the alternator, it might be a bit of a red herring as you would be removing a reasonable amount of idle load from the engine with the belt off.....

[Kevin Wood]

What were the compression figures you got? Was the engine run up to normal temperature first? Is it losing coolant, pressurising the cooling system or building up excessive mayo in the crankcase?

I think you need to be 100% sure you've found the problem before pulling anything apart because if not you run the risk of doing a lot of work and being no further down the road.

There is something electrical going on as evidenced by the fact that it won't run with the aux. belt on and it is throwing and error code related to an injector circuit. I'd concentrate on fixing those before worrying about the compression.

Kevin

[Omega Steve]

I cant remember the numbers on the compression dial at the moment, but if 0 was normal (green) pots 2 and 3 were -4

I've only just had the time to get back to the post Kevin, however, i have already stripped everything down, i have found a serious problem with the head gasket, it has completely burnt through where piston 2 and 3 join and there is heavy burning where pot 3 and 4 join, (i also found the heater bypass valve blocked nothing to do with my problem im sure), during the process i checked as much of the loom as i could and i cant see anything obvious.

I will let you know what happens when i put it all back together tomorrow, i know the head gasket in this condition cant be a good thing.

[Marie]

Thats not good!

im not sure whether this could be your burning smell? butit might contribut to it..

the boys will know if it could.

[Kevin Wood]

OK. I was worried that stripping down the head might have been a waste of time but it clearly wasn't.

As I said, check the grounding straps to the engine when you re-assemble and also the ground connection on the inlet manifold that Mark referred to.

Kevin

[Omega Steve]

Cheers Kevin,

Im just about to get started, need to go back to the breakers to get a water hose as ive notices one of mine is damaged and will probably go, dead easy to change with the head off.

I will check the earths, the earth on/around the fuel rail that mark suggested was on ok, this is the 10mm nut and then the 10mm bolt all in one.

Will report back later hopefully with some good news.

Steve

[Omega Steve]

Right Guys,

UPDATE

I have just finished putting it back together and yes unfortunately i do still have the same problem, its hard to start but does start now but it initially seems to throw a load of petrol down the exhaust pipe, but im not sure if its exactly the same problem after that it runs ok but is in limp mode, i have a new error code P0500 No Speed Signal, ive not seen this one before and my angle and cam sensor are both plugged in, it is possible that i cured 0201 but its not yet cleared ? its a shame i have the new one.

Im yet to find a jump lead around here and try adding the extra earth, im just gutted that although i have a nice quite engine now, it still has the same problem.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I am not surprised, its not like anything yet has been done which would have addressed the original fault code.

Do check the wiring loom in the cable tray relating to the injector in question.

[Omega Steve]

Thanks mark, Im still checking the wiring mark, i dont know whats going on now, i now have 4 error codes

0201 - Injector 1
1502 - Immobiliser control unit
0500 - Idle speed stepper motor/idle air regulator
1690 - MIL/Engine fail (malfunction indicator lamp)

Im still checking the wiring and will report back, thanks for everyones support.

[Kevin Wood]

It might be worth cheking the resistance of all the injectors using an ohmmeter. Typical value would be around 12 ohms.

Failing that it's probably a wiring issue. Given that the idle valve is throwing a code too I do wonder if there is a problem with the ground point on the inlet manifold.

Kevin