rover 214 wont start, no spark

[Kev]

err i have a rover 214si k plater as my "back up car"
me da came down early friday morn to jump mine, jumped no probs, buit then rover refused to start.
then started after many attempts, then died after a few mins and now wont start.

its done this a few times over the last couple of weeks, but now it defo wont start.

Noticed on friday when it wouldnt start there was no spark, then as soon as there was a dspark it started no probs even on 3 cylinders as i had a plug oin the engine with ht lead to see if there was a spark.

theres over half a tank of juice, and i can hear the pump priming.

no spark at plugs, nor leads, nor dissy cap, tried burling the engine and intermittantly shorting the coil lead with a spark plug, but no spark even ythen.

all fuses are intact.
only suspect thing i found apart from a load of dodgy earths which i sorted, was that the voltage on the wires to the coil were only 10.6v not 12+, even though battery etc is ok.
brung down a standby fully charged battery on jump leads just incase also.

measure the coil lead resistance and it was well high so i reckoned i had it, went and got another coil lead and no differance.

the coil gets its supply straight from the ecu, and i took the ecu apart and found nout out of place.

so, err help if u can.

btw resistance of the coil was 1-2ohms.

U reckon its the coil?
Only the low voltage bothers me, and the intermittant to now fully dead.

all points to loose connection, but i can see none.

Kev

[Chris]

how high was the resistance of the coil lead ?

wtf is "burling"

is dizzy cap dry inside ?

does your spell checker work ?

you been on the bucky again ?

:censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: scots :censored: :censored: :censored:

will ring you tomoz

[deej-79]

Some cars ecus dont like it when the battery goes dead, might have to reset it if you can.

[dunc]

Originally posted by Chris

you been on the bucky again ?


PMSL, Kev gets tarred with the same brush as me once again :nod: :D

[mickstreet]

Does it have electronic ignition? This went on my CRX (similar engines I think) and gave symptoms that you described, kind of intermittent at first then just plain wouldn't start.

[Kev]

i believe it is electronic egnition.

reset ecu also.

burling is when u run the starter therfor turning or burling the engine over:rolleyes:

dissy cap was discoloured but dry, i cleaned all contacts anyway

[Kev]

bump

chris is 10.5 volts to the coil enough to get it to give me a hv output anyway?
If not then prob is b4 coil, if so then ill get a new coil as there is no spark at all.

Kev

[Chris]

get a silly scope or a logic probe on the coil -ve to check for a pulse ya bodging git

10.5 should be ok

you got pm

[Kev]

dont have a silly sxcope, would have checked it by now if i had.

Fcuk it ill just order up a coil.

Kev

[tom]

Had the same problem on a customers 216 turned out to be the imoberliser.

[TAC]

Originally posted by Chris
wtf is "burling"
PML - Scots / Wales divide :D:D

(And no, I didn't know what it meant either :rolleyes: )

[Kev]

Originally posted by tom
Had the same problem on a customers 216 turned out to be the imoberliser.

got no imob on it.

Trace, i thought u had a bit of scottish in u too:confused: :wack:

[dundeeguy]

Just come across this.

High fail rate on these are ECU's I'm afraid. Get it sent away and tested at Lucas or ATP. Crank sensors are another fave on these. I have one in my toolbox Kev. (I broke it when doing a clutch :mad: but stuck it back together and it works fine)

You want a shot, gives a pm and I'll send it down to you.

If the ECU has failed, get a new dizzy cap, rotor and leads as these can cause the ecu's to go.

[Kev]

its looking like ECU Kev, but ive been pointed to a plenum sensor by a guy that used to have a 214 also.
I tried several scrappy's today for an ecu, but this bitch is a single point injection thing i reckon and all the rest are multi, well at least this one is a 2plug + 1 vac hose ecu, and all the ones ive seen are one plug only.

cheers for the heads up on the other bits n bobs too mate:thumbs:

[dundeeguy]

Originally posted by Kev
its looking like ECU Kev, but ive been pointed to a plenum sensor by a guy that used to have a 214 also.


Never heard of this or seen a prob with them??? Whats the sensor for?

If you weren't so far away I would have 'borrowed' the works code reader and did a quick scan of the ecu etc. for you.

It does sound ecu related. The last one we had in got the ecu tested and repaired at Lucas. It was the coil driver inside and I'm sure no parts were needed to repair it. Possibly just a solder here and there. Try giving your soldering iron a wee bit of exercise, may well get you going

[Kev]

i already had the ecu apart, no dj's on it im afraid

[AshT_200]

Don't think the MEMS unit will spark at such a low voltage.

[Kev]

not mems, unit b4 i reckon cos most of the others said mems on them.

Kev

[dundeeguy]

All Rover systems have mems (except honda powered cars)

Does the pump initially prime when the ignition is switched on?

When you 'burl' the engine over, does the pump begin to run continuosly? If so, the ecu is seeing a signal from the crank sensor.

What voltage do you see at the coil when you burl it over? The 10.6 volts should be enough like chris says. Unless its dropping way below when cranking the engine.

You really need to see if the ecu is switching the coil.

Did you manage to try a coil on it? Your resis. is almost double what it should be. Unless the info I looked at quickly was wrong :o

I'd get the ECU tested Kev. I'm sure its only about £40. I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Chris]

been investigating a punters car today ;)

mems will spark at 9 v :)

which side of the car is the engine ?

[dundeeguy]

Originally posted by Chris
which side of the car is the engine ?

It will be on the o/s. I thought all 214's were 'k' series??

[Kev]

pump does prime but engine burling is too noisy to tell if it still runs when burling.

thinking about it, crank sensor seems most plausible, cos the plugs should have stunk of petrol but were bone dry.

yeah replaced coil.

only been testing it myself tbh, so did wonder if the coil was switching, dunno, will try and test 2moro, cos Jonny will be there also.

do u know if the crank sensor is the same on all k series?
and where is the sensor (not looked).

Thanks for all ur help thus far MOt tester guys:nod:

[dundeeguy]

Crank sensor is bolted onto the back of the gearbox bellhousing. Roughly 1 o clock position IIRC

The sensor I have came from a 214, SPi, 'L' Reg so I think it will be the same. The later rovers are different. I think its only about £20 new.

[Vipers]

i had similar problems, turned out to be long bastid HT lead shorting on the body work @ front of bonnet where it somehow coroded thru. :rolleyes:

one thing that i have been told is that common problem with them is that oil gets sucked up into the airbox :eek: then from air box into ECU :eek:!!!!!!!1 theres a bleeder mod or called somehtign like that for them where theres a drip valve type thing in a pipe which you use to replace pipe to the ecu.

but seeing as u've taken ecu apart sounds like u haven't found any oil in it.

[Kev]

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :thumbs:

U da man!
I owe u a burger or sommat at crail mate.

Found crank sensor, removed.
btw who puts sodding 7mm bolts on things:confused: :mad:

Large dod of oily scum on end of sensor.
cleaned up, put back in, caught first time.

YEY:D :D :D :D :D :D
So now i can stop faffing about with this rover peice of piss and sort out Martin, and Jonny's engines which are lying on Kimberleys drive right now.

thanks again everyone for thier input, i appreciate it:nod: :thumbs:

[dundeeguy]

About time you got it up and running :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I actually quite like the rover. (god I'll probably get slated now!)

You just need to concentrate on getting your 200 going properly now, just forget about helping out Mr. Speedbump and Mr. Goose :rolleyes:

Good to hear you got it going