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[Pete Elite]

   Hi all,
          I finally got my engine put back together after doing a Cambelt kit, Camcover gaskets, Plugs & Leads, Injectors professionally cleaned, cleaned the breather system and fitted a new fuel filter.

 Now the engine hasn't been started for over 18 months so i put 20 litres of fresh fuel in it refitted the battery and turned her over which she did but to no avail as she wouldn't start .

  I checked all the connections and found them all to be ok as far as i could make out :-/.

  There was however one connector which was the same type as fitted to the front multi-ram and seems to run across the front of the car under the rad. and came out behind and under the o/s Headlamp and is covered in a black split cover with a light blue line running along it which i don't remember removing from anywhere and doesn't have anywhere to connect to as far as i can see :-?.

  Any body got any suggestions as to why she won't start and what i should check for :question.

            Any help will be much appreciated.
                                        Pete .

[feeutfo]

find home for plug sorry dont knoe,
paper clip test, change plugs :-/

[dbug]

Plug leads fitted in correct order to DIS pack?

[Pete Elite]

 Hi,
    I've not yet done a paper clip test and the plug leads did go back on as they came off because i made a drawing of the dis-pack to make sure they would.

  As for the spare lead has anyone got any ideas on where that should go or why she won't start :question.

            Cheers,
                      Pete.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Sounds like the sapre plug is not part of the engine loom so may well be a red herring.

Does it start or try to fire with a small amount of throttle applied?

Is the ecu light flashing

Defo worth just flashing the fault codes out.

[Pete Elite]

  Hi Mark,
             The spare plug is in the area where on the Cambelt DVD you say there is a secondary water pump fitted to some models, could it be for that?

   It's not even trying to fire with or without any throttle and the ECU light isn't flashing.

  When you turn the ignition on and some of the dash lights go out which one's should still be lit before turning the key to the start position?

  I'll try and do the paper clip test on Tuesday.

          Cheers,
                     Pete.

[Marks DTM Calib]

 Hi Mark,
             The spare plug is in the area where on the Cambelt DVD you say there is a secondary water pump fitted to some models, could it be for that?

   It's not even trying to fire with or without any throttle and the ECU light isn't flashing.

  When you turn the ignition on and some of the dash lights go out which one's should still be lit before turning the key to the start position?

  I'll try and do the paper clip test on Tuesday.

          Cheers,
                     Pete.

Sounds like it will be the lead for the extra pump.

Dash lights, ECU light should be on until engine fires, the rest should go out.

[Pete Elite]

   Hi Mark,
              Thanks for your help, thought the lead may be for the pump because there's nothing else there that the cable could reach and connect to.

 As for the dash lights only the ECU and OIL lights are on before turning key to start position. I'm pretty sure the ECU light wasn't flashing when trying to start her but i'll check again, if it does flash what would that mean the problem could be and is it an easy fix?

                  Cheers,
                            Pete.

[Marks DTM Calib]

  Hi Mark,
              Thanks for your help, thought the lead may be for the pump because there's nothing else there that the cable could reach and connect to.

 As for the dash lights only the ECU and OIL lights are on before turning key to start position. I'm pretty sure the ECU light wasn't flashing when trying to start her but i'll check again, if it does flash what would that mean the problem could be and is it an easy fix?

                  Cheers,
                            Pete.

Should have also mentiond the oil light!

If the ECU light flashes it indicates an immobiliser fault, what year of car is it Pete?

[Pete Elite]

   Hi Mark,
              I went out today after recharging the battery, fitted it and thought i would just turn it over(ECU light not flashing by the way) and after about 4 spins it coughed into life .

  It was a bit tapperty and ran a bit lumpy for a while(not been started for over a year)but once it had warmed up it sounded sweet.

  Got a bit of smoke from down by the n/s manifold for a while, thought at first the camcover gasket was leaking but has stopped now so hopefully just some spilt oil .

  The temperature sits midway between 90 and 100 is that normal(it's a 96 3.0L Elite Auto by the way).

       Again many thanks for your advice.

                                Pete .

[lpgelite]

Just reading down this thread and was about to make a suggestion then you got it started! Well done!

I think you gave a clue when you said it sounded a bit tappety.

If it's been stood for 18 mths there's a fair chance the hydraulic tappets had drained out and weren't lifting the valves enough to get decent compression.

Where you've been cranking it over it's filled them up a bit, then a fresh battery was enough to achieve the desired result.

IIRC 'stat is 91 or 92 degrees on these engines, so your temp sounds fine...  

[Pete Elite]

   Thanks for that lpgelite, didn't think of lack of compression .

   Anyway sounds great now so just a few checks, such as breaks etc. for the MOT and hopefully it'll be back on the road .

           Cheers,
                      Pete .

[Ian_D]

Glad you got it going!  

I bought a 2.0dti vectra a while back, and that had been sat for few months, and when I went to start it, there was no compression in any of the cylinders... After cranking it over for a while, one by one, the compression came back in the engine. All I can put that down to is lack of oil in the tappets. I never had it running on anything other than easystart   Needed a new diesel pump fitting (which I did once, however the one I fitted was duff!  ) so I sold it on.

[SteveD]

Could the key not have been synced up?

[Pete Elite]

  Hi Mark,
              I went out today after recharging the battery, fitted it and thought i would just turn it over(ECU light not flashing by the way) and after about 4 spins it coughed into life .

  It was a bit tapperty and ran a bit lumpy for a while(not been started for over a year)but once it had warmed up it sounded sweet.

  Got a bit of smoke from down by the n/s manifold for a while, thought at first the camcover gasket was leaking but has stopped now so hopefully just some spilt oil .

  The temperature sits midway between 90 and 100 is that normal(it's a 96 3.0L Elite Auto by the way).

       Again many thanks for your advice.

                                Pete .

      Hi all,
             I went out this morning after 2 days without car being touched, fitted fully charged battery turned her over and again wouldn't start .

  All dash lights go out and ECU light not flashing but no matter what she won't start, not even a hint of it firing, although strong petrol of smell so must be getting fuel.

  Is there a certain way to refit battery once removed because it seems to me like the immobiliser is stuck on although as i said no flashing ECU light?

     Any help would be greatly appreciated as this has got me stumped .

           Pete .