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Xe Running Problems


biffy1984
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Hey, another redtop running problem....

My old manta has an older dizzy type engine with standard fuel set up.

I've had this one for less than a month and have run it every day with no problems till the other night. I was driving home and it started dying/losing power and when I pulled over it spluttered to a stop. I got it to start again but it was running really rough and couldn't take throttle and again cut out.

Towed it home and the car will turn over and its offering to start, spluttering and stinking of fuel but won't fire. So it's getting fuel and it is sparking. The engine earths are good and the dizzy cap and rotor arm are good.

I then tried a couple of good sensors I had for spares, the coolant temp sensor, crank sensor and fuel pump relay. Still no difference.

I can't get XE spares up here which is a real pain so all my bits have to come from ebay or off here, hence why I don't want to buy a pile of bits that might not be needed.

Maybe the sparks weak and it's a knackered coil? I don't know. Hopefully somebody on here has had a similar problem and can point me in the right direction. Any help will be greatly appreciated. :thumbup

Cheers, Peter.

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I've checked the wiring to the coil under the rubber boot behind the plug and it all seems to be fine. Also changed the plugs. All 4 cylinders are damp with fuel and all 4 plugs are sparking. The plugs are giving a kind of orangey/blue spark not as strong as I would normally expect.

I tried a coil on it but through the original module on the coil bracket because I don't have another one and it made no difference.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Peter.

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Have you checked the error code light? Or is it not wired up in your car?

It may not show anything but should always be the first point of call.

If its not wired up i would do so, its really easy.

Brown/Blue wire from ecu (pin 22) goes to a warning lamp/bulb and the other side goes to a 12v feed

Then the Brown/Yellow wire (pin 13) needs to be earthed to put it into diagnostics mode.

I wired mine through a switch so i can pop it into diagnostic mode when ever i want.

Then just start the car and flick the switch, then read the flash code to see what errors the ecu has stored.

You can also do it without the engine running but it will show that the crank sensor is faulty (as no signal is coming from it)

Have a look at 'Error code info' for hwo to read the codes and what they mean.

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Cheers for the info. :thumbup The light's not wired up but i'll try that tomorrow night and see what the codes say.

I've never had the leads off the cap so it's not that. I'll get another coil lead just to try tho.

I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow.

Cheers, Peter.

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Peter, thats a pain! Last time that thing died it was the crank sensor so i replaced it which was january, it would occasionally decide to run a bit rough but always cleared quite quickly. I would definately check out the fuel lines as has been said and maybe the tank breather, sometimes when the fuel was very low it would start to splutter then go away. Even the new fuel pump i put on it very recently seemed a bit loud but it ran away fine so it maybe is fighting against a blocked line or something in the tank (maybe intermittently?)

Pretty sure i put a decent coil on it shortly after i got it and the plugs/leads/ cap and arm are pretty fresh if i remember correctly.

Hope you get to the bottom of it :blink:

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Right, i've tried the error code thing and couldn't get the bulb to flash even once so I abandoned that bit. I do remember reading the codes on my old manta xe and I got it to work no problem but what I did wrong this time I don't know... :unsure:

The coil has a good earth to the bulkhead.

I took the fuel return off at the fuel rail and could blow it through back to the tank no bother and I blew it out with the airline just to make sure. I then ran the feed to the pump straight out of a drum with a new pipe straight to the fuel rail bypassing the filter and its still exactly the same.

I'm now pretty convinced the fuel side of things is all good, unless for the pressure regulator???

Any more suggestions?

Cheers, Peter.

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Although the rotor arm might "look" good, try holding the king lead close to the rotor arm while someone cranks the engine over..the HT spark should NOT jump onto the arm. Best hold the lead with insulated pliers :rolleyes:

Have seen the brush on the cap burn away quickly on some cheap caps.

Hope you get it sorted.

John.

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if all else fails , have a look at the crank pulley its in two halfs bound together by rubber .

what can happen is it can break free and not fall off but slip round ,making all the timings go out of sink .

put a line across it with tippex so you can see if its slipping...

this would only apply if the crank sensor senses from this pulley , not 100% but i think it does.

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if all else fails , have a look at the crank pulley its in two halfs bound together by rubber .

what can happen is it can break free and not fall off but slip round ,making all the timings go out of sink .

put a line across it with tippex so you can see if its slipping...

this would only apply if the crank sensor senses from this pulley , not 100% but i think it does.

It doesnae.The sensor is on the RHS of the block.

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don't know s**t about XE's but gut feelings is; bad earth somewhere around the coil or engine.

blocked return pipe!! had that once with a GT/e, ouch!! got an eye fill of petrol that day 'sore'.

Try rigging up an new earth for your coil and check the Engine earth (rightside front arch).

Some times a fresh set of eyes help ;)

GL

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I have heard that the wires inside the dizzy from the connector to the hall effect device(i think its a hall effect trigger) can break down and cause problems, might wanna check those. It was a common fault on the mk2 cav's allegedly.

HTH

Chris

The engine should run with dist. hall sensor disconnected, it's just there for fine tuning. Try disconnecting it to see if it makes any difference?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally sussed out the problem....

I got my hands on a rotten Astra van with an XE for spares with the intention of swapping a few bits. I managed to narrow it down to something to do with the fuel rail, maybe the pressure reg or injectors.

When I took the fuel fail off, the injectors were all blocked with big lumps of rusty shit and the fuel rail was full of water.

I then found out that a fuel station in the town had a lot of bother with water in their fuel and thats where the girlfriend fueled it up last!

So I flushed the tank, put on a new filter, swapped the rail and injectors and problem sorted. I feel like a right twat but at least it's going again!

Cheers, Peter.

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Jesus! I put new oil/fuel filter on that in may this year! You sure theres not more rubbish in the tank now? It doesnt take long for them fuel filters to get overwhelmed with water if the tanks got water in it. So is it running fine now? It goes bloomin well when its healthy that thing! Have you sent the V5 away for it yet? Ive not had the letter through that its not mine anymore yet

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Brendan, yeah there is more shit in the tank, it's turned pretty spluttery again so i'm going to take the tank out and clean it properly. I'm pretty sure I posted the docs away but i'm not certain. I'm going to have a proper look through the week and if I can't find them I'll send away for a new v5. I'll have to get it done shortly because the tax is out in December. I'll let you know. :thumbup

Cheers, Peter.

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