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Hello fellow members, I have reached the end of my knowledge when it comes to non starting engines...
Brief History...4 weeks ago was going out in the RRC, topped up with Petrol and Gas, drove to Tesco cash machine stopped engine, cash machine out of order, jumped back in, started, drove to another cash machine, as I went into the car park, it had a rumble strip entrance...as soon as I went over that the steering got really stiff, thought Damn Pump or Belt has gone U/S, then realised engine had stalled. Coasted in parking space, went to cash machine, returned and she wouldn't start.
Checked coil connections, all good.....checked cap, all good....checked leads, plugs, rotor arm, ignition amp connections...all good.
Called RAC, he arrived check spark....a bit weak but should be enough to at least do something, tried Easy Start, nothing. Removed coil and checked...found ok.
Recovered home, since then have replaced, cap (OEM), rotor arm (OEM), leads, plugs and coil (Bosch). Still nothing.
Checked all over for loose/disconnected connections...none.
Remade all connections to coil, still nothing.
Followed the RRC workshop Manual for 1991 Lucas Hotwire to test the various inputs to the ECU, all reading as specified.
Distributor has been out, stripped, cleaned and replaced, air gap set and timed with strobe (allbeit only turning over on starter!)
Fuel Pump relay and ECU relay replaced, Fuel Pressure checked with gauge, holding at 38-40psi as per the book, no reduction in pressure over a 1 minute period also as per the book.
Turned her over for approx. 30 seconds, quickly whipped out the plugs to check for fuel, plugs dry. They don't even smell of petrol. Seems like the injectors aren't opening.
She was running on gas at the time of the stall, and always starts on petrol, I cannot find a way of starting on gas, the system is (as far as I can tell) a Lovato M198 Single Point system.
I am now stuck, it would appear the injectors aren't opening. This I assume is the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The ECU takes a signal from the -ve side of the coil trhough a resistor to indicate the engine is running/turning overand should pulse the injectors accordingly, this cable has been checked back to the ECU and is as per the book.
The Gas system also takes the same signal to indicate the engine is running.
When running on gas, I think there is an 'injector Emulator' that feeds a signal back to the ECU to fool it into thinking that the injectors are working when they aren't, as the gas system shuts down the injectors when on gas. (this is what I believe happens, as I can't find any information on the Lovato system or how it was installed)
To throw something into the mix, the fuel pump relay was bypassed (not by me, by the gas installers I assume) so the pump is continuous, but the fuel pump relay still clicks on for a second or two at the ACC position on the ignition then off (as it should) but doesn't click back on when the engine is turning over, could this be a sign that the ECU doesn't think the engine is turning over when it is and as such not opening the injectors, indicating a fault in the -ve signal from the coil even though this has been checked as good?
Could it be the ingition amp is shot? even though I am getting a spark, allbeit a little weak, but the signal as the coil switches to earth is a little weak?
Or is it the ECU has gone down the tube all of a sudden?
Is the Injector emulator fooling the whole thing and stopping the ECU from opening the injectors?
HELP!
It has been 4 weeks without the RRC and it hurts.....
I am so sorry for the length of this post, but it is a culmination of 4 weeks, every evening, rain or shine to try and figure this out and I know the more detail the better sometimes....sorry.
Any ideas??
Bbest regards,
Anthony.
Brief History...4 weeks ago was going out in the RRC, topped up with Petrol and Gas, drove to Tesco cash machine stopped engine, cash machine out of order, jumped back in, started, drove to another cash machine, as I went into the car park, it had a rumble strip entrance...as soon as I went over that the steering got really stiff, thought Damn Pump or Belt has gone U/S, then realised engine had stalled. Coasted in parking space, went to cash machine, returned and she wouldn't start.
Checked coil connections, all good.....checked cap, all good....checked leads, plugs, rotor arm, ignition amp connections...all good.
Called RAC, he arrived check spark....a bit weak but should be enough to at least do something, tried Easy Start, nothing. Removed coil and checked...found ok.
Recovered home, since then have replaced, cap (OEM), rotor arm (OEM), leads, plugs and coil (Bosch). Still nothing.
Checked all over for loose/disconnected connections...none.
Remade all connections to coil, still nothing.
Followed the RRC workshop Manual for 1991 Lucas Hotwire to test the various inputs to the ECU, all reading as specified.
Distributor has been out, stripped, cleaned and replaced, air gap set and timed with strobe (allbeit only turning over on starter!)
Fuel Pump relay and ECU relay replaced, Fuel Pressure checked with gauge, holding at 38-40psi as per the book, no reduction in pressure over a 1 minute period also as per the book.
Turned her over for approx. 30 seconds, quickly whipped out the plugs to check for fuel, plugs dry. They don't even smell of petrol. Seems like the injectors aren't opening.
She was running on gas at the time of the stall, and always starts on petrol, I cannot find a way of starting on gas, the system is (as far as I can tell) a Lovato M198 Single Point system.
I am now stuck, it would appear the injectors aren't opening. This I assume is the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The ECU takes a signal from the -ve side of the coil trhough a resistor to indicate the engine is running/turning overand should pulse the injectors accordingly, this cable has been checked back to the ECU and is as per the book.
The Gas system also takes the same signal to indicate the engine is running.
When running on gas, I think there is an 'injector Emulator' that feeds a signal back to the ECU to fool it into thinking that the injectors are working when they aren't, as the gas system shuts down the injectors when on gas. (this is what I believe happens, as I can't find any information on the Lovato system or how it was installed)
To throw something into the mix, the fuel pump relay was bypassed (not by me, by the gas installers I assume) so the pump is continuous, but the fuel pump relay still clicks on for a second or two at the ACC position on the ignition then off (as it should) but doesn't click back on when the engine is turning over, could this be a sign that the ECU doesn't think the engine is turning over when it is and as such not opening the injectors, indicating a fault in the -ve signal from the coil even though this has been checked as good?
Could it be the ingition amp is shot? even though I am getting a spark, allbeit a little weak, but the signal as the coil switches to earth is a little weak?
Or is it the ECU has gone down the tube all of a sudden?
Is the Injector emulator fooling the whole thing and stopping the ECU from opening the injectors?
HELP!
It has been 4 weeks without the RRC and it hurts.....
I am so sorry for the length of this post, but it is a culmination of 4 weeks, every evening, rain or shine to try and figure this out and I know the more detail the better sometimes....sorry.
Any ideas??
Bbest regards,
Anthony.
