Guest george Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Hi All, I am almost totally stumped by what is the latest issue with my poor cabby, and I am beginning to run out of ideas - so I am hoping somebody here might be able to give me a pointer? The car '89 XR3i Cabriolet, F reg, running MFI and the engine hasn't been modified in any way. I ought it when I was 18 and I have had it for the last 8 years and its been pretty well maintained in that time, regular services and the like, plus I really like the thing. The fault When driving back from Cornwall last month after having covered few hundred miles without hitch, I pulled into the services for a coffee, as I was about to stop the engine cut out (it was hot, but not overheating, pretty sure I didn't stall) needless to say, the recovery guy "tested" the coil and said it was knackered (It was his last day) unable to get a spare in Taunton, I elected to tow it home and the car hasn't started since... The story so far Replaced the coil, dizzy cap, rotor arm, leads, plugs and can confirm that there is a spark - but I think there was one before anyway. I recently changed the fuel pump as there was a problem starting the car when hot (it seemed to be a problem when the engine got warm after having been sat for a while, but would start again if left for an hour or 2) so naturally I connected the old one back up, in order to reduce complication, I connected it directly to a battery and it ran with good pressure which I checked at the filter, metering head, cold start valve etc. I haven't been able to work out how to correctly check if there is fuel coming out of the injectors - but I suspect there isn't. I removed the metering head unit, cleaned and inspected the plunger which looked to be in order. So, my question is: what the hell can I do next? apart from giving up and selling as a project which I am pretty reluctant to do, but I really don't have much time sadly. Any help is appreciated, cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian71 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 When u crank the engine over a few times have you taken the sparkplugs out to see if they are wet from fuel. If realy dry then it must be fuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest george Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Yeah, there isn't really any smell of fuel and the plugs don't look wet. I forgot to add that when spraying a bit of easy start in the intake I did manage to get a bit of a cough the other day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian71 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Also check all the small hoses around the throttle body for air leaks,if one is perished or split it wont start or run right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian71 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Yea,take plugs out and pour a bit of petrol down the bores ,replace pugs and leads and turn it over to see if it fires up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest george Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 That is a good point, it doesn't seem like any of the hoses are damaged, but could easily have missed something. Will check it out in the light tomorrow, along with putting a spot of fuel in directly in the cylinders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian71 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Dont give up on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest george Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Trying not to, but followed this thread http://passionford.com/forum/ford-escort-rs-turbo/133438-help-fuel-metering-unit-fixed-by-jamsport-5.html which seemed a similar problem and just haven't got the means to get a pro to look at it really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest george Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 OK, so after a bit more investigation: I noticed the fuel relay looked a bit warped on one of the pins. After taking it apart I noticed that there is clearly a break in the circuit - Shown in the attached pic! Hopefully I am on to something, another problem is that having re-connected the fuel pump properly, fuse 7 (INJ) keeps on blowing, so I reckon it is related! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian71 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Great,hope that is your answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest username Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) Great to hear you've made some progress, and that relay doesn't look pretty at all. When the INJ fuse kept blowing was that with the new fuel pump or the original connected? Obviously some fault along the line is causing the INJ circuit to draw too much current, hopefully it was the arcing across the burnt relay track that was the cause. Whatever it ends up being definitely don't give up on a car you've had since 18, you'd regret it in future if you did. Ask me how I know? lol Edited August 11, 2016 by username Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest george Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 So I removed the relay, bridged the plug as seems per the attached picture (taken from another forum) and the fuel pump ran constant as expected - but still no start. but it defiantly shows it was the relay causing the short. I have ordered another relay in the hope that once I fit it I will have more luck. Otherwise I guess its back to square 1. My only other thoughts are that it wouldn't start if: a) there was no compression the timing was out - when cranking the engine with the plugs out there seems to be a pretty good, blue-ish spark but considering that the motor has been running sweet for the past couple of months, I can't see how either of these would suddenly happen without an obvious failure, i.e cam belt snapping. Cheers for the encouragement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest username Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I guess now you have fuel pump the next thing is to check if the fuel is making it all the way to the injectors. A thought I just had is maybe the fuel filter collapsed and blocked up, causing the car to cut out through no fuel AND could cause the fuel pump to draw more current than normal perhaps burning out the relay in the process? I think as you've had the car this long you'd have a fair idea if it was low on compression as it'd sound weird cranking & turn over a lot faster than normal. I suppose you could do a quick check on the cambelt by removing the oil filler cap & watching the bit of the cam that you can see while someone turns the key for you. If the camshaft doesn't turn then you have your culprit but I have a feeling that side of things is alright and it's still fuel related. Hope it is something small like a knackered filter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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