Good afternoon new member here,

I have a range rover classic 1988 with a v8 EFI flapper system in it that I have been restoring,
when I bought it the engine has been rebuilt with shells, rings etc I have been doing body repairs then thought it was time to try and start it for the first time the other day only to find it pops and bang but it will not run,
I have so far done a compression check getting around 150-180 PSI, put in fresh petrol, it has a new fuel pump, dizzy cap/rotor arm new leads and distributor module fitted on distributor (old one was 2 pin new one 3 pin) new plugs. After some testing I found the main relay next to ECU is not pulling in properly so this has also been replaced. when cranking it tries to fire the knocks back if that's the right word as though the timing is out, I have moved the distributor but it does not make a lot of difference, have had a timing light on and it appears to be firing between 6 degrees and TDC bit awkward to look at at cranking speed,
I have done all the diagnostic checks in the manual and all seems to check out I have approx. 35 psi fuel pump pressure but although its coughing and spitting it will not run. I have power going into the power capacitor and a voltage at each of the 8 wires coming out for the injectors I also have 12 volts at each injector plug, but I cannot hear any click when I swiftly operate the throttle butterfly, if I operate the flap in the air flow unit I can hear the fuel pump run, I have checked the timing again and again and I am now close to the point of despair can any one tell me how I can tell if the injectors are firing, (the cold start injector does not fire during cranking)
I am close to the point of stripping the engine down, my initial thought was camshaft timing but with the rocker box off no1 valves are both closed on compression stroke so now not sure, my other fault is ECU faulty but don't want to fork out for replacement if I'm not sure, have a big blue spark at coil HT and sparking at plugs. I was also wondering as it has not been started for around 18 months whether the fuel has gummed up the injectors, now getting to the point I'm worried about burning the starter motor out any help/idea's greatly appreciated
thanks all

have you got the timing 180deg out?

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but it can happen!

hi,
Thank's rocker box off both valves closed rotor arm pointing to number one... I believe if i was 180 out would be exhaust valve open
I thought that myself, even got the wife to check it as I talked it through

if its popping and banging you must have all 3 elements air fuel and spark. therefore it can only be either valve or spark that is out of sync ?

If you turn the rotor arm with your fingers until it stops then let it go does it stay where you turned it to or snap back to its original position?

Ratae said:

If you turn the rotor arm with your fingers until it stops then let it go does it stay where you turned it to or snap back to its original position?

Click to expand...

As we know it's possibly not, if the rotor has been removed incorrectly

are the plug leads on in the right order?

hi all, Thanks for help
yes the leads are on in the right order, the rotor arm is under spring pressure does not snap back but it comes back to were it was.
I have been carrying out further checks and reading a section that says the power resistor pack 2RA mounted by the inner wing has 2 x 12volt feeds going in and this then feeds 2 x banks of 4 injectors approx. 3 volts is that correct I have 12 volt going in and 12 volt to the injector plugs, but it does give the correct resistance reading of 6 ohms across the pins on a meter when disconnected, if I am getting to much voltage I am now wondering if the injectors have gone pear shaped with over voltage, I also have a relay on the spring turret can anyone tell me the correct model of this relay I have a standard one in there ie: live to switch and pin 30 then connects to pin 87. I'm unsure what this does but I am thinking it supplies coil negative to ECU.

I think you're referring to the overrun relay. Its purpose is to cut the signal from the coil neg to the ECU so the injectors are effectively switched off when the car is travelling at speed with the throttle fully closed e.g down hill. If this relay is faulty then the ecu will think the engine isn't running & won't fire the injectors.
You might find this worth a look (it's from another forum & is on a flapper TVR) to explain what it does



I'd also suggest you test the injectors to see if they are functioning electrically - they use 3 volts. The resistors are to drop the voltage from 12 volts.
ETA. The RRC vacuum switch (ETC6143) looks like this: https://www.brit-car.co.uk/product...._off_switch___petrol_v8___range_rover_classic