Intermittent Fault On My Xs

[Guest Dfhaii]

I have a bit of a bizarre fault on my XS which needs fixing. For some reason the engine dies - it has happened while idling, while doing 70 on motorways, 'round town' driving - all very odd. We thought to begin with that it was a fueling issue and have replaced fuel filter which hasn't made any difference, now however we suspect electrics. When the engine dies the rev counter drops to 0 but the stop light doesn't come on (well sometimes it does usually not as it normally would at two clicks on ignition). When it has died it can sometimes be bump started, sometimes not, and sometimes when it can't if you stop it'll turn over fine on the starter motor and sometimes start, sometimes not.

 

We've had a look around today and found an unconnected connector, but can't find anything to connect it to can anyone identify it and whether it's supposed to be attached to something, or have any ideas what could be up?

 

Pictures of the rogue connector below.

 

 

which sits in underneath the ignition coil shown here

 

 

Any ideas what could be up or anyone had similar things happening?

 

Many thanks,

Colin.

[josh1990 0]

I Have a Uk Rallye not had anything like whats happening to you, but i do have loads of connectors that do nothing, i think it is because they just chuck a wiring loom in to suit the TU engines, then lesser models that have varying instruments just have an engine bay with the odd connector dotted about.

 

Hope this points you in the right direction

[kanyeost 0]

I think that connects to a sensor on the block, directly below the distributor. No idea what it does and as i have a different TU variant from yourself it might be redundant on the XS, someone will check for you hopefully.

 

I can't help with your cutting out problem but I did notice a vacuum hose that's not connected in your photo which might cause other issues...

[Guest Dfhaii]

I can't help with your cutting out problem but I did notice a vacuum hose that's not connected in your photo which might cause other issues...

 

That was just disconnected because we were looking for faults.

 

Any other ideas?

[trogboy 17]

That connector is for the the oil/engine temperature sensor which is located in the head just below the distributor. I don't think it actually does anything on the XS though so won't be the cause of your problems.

 

Sorry I can't help more.

[christopher 5 1 Cars]

This is very likely to be the ignition module that is attached to the Dizzy. (I think it is the same as a Euro Rallye). If this gets too hot then it fails and you will loose all revs (like you said revs drop to zero). In addition to this. If you turn thr engine over and it the rev counter does not move then this module is too hot or buggered. There is a special heat conductive gel that is used to mount this to the dizzy. If this has been removed at some point then there may not be an adequate heat dissipation and hence sporradic problems..

[Guest Dfhaii]

Sorry for my delay in replying, I've not had access to the Internet for a few days.

 

Thanks for your reply, this sounds like a likely candidate. I have a new module to try now but haven't got round to fitting it yet.

 

Cheers,

Colin.

[joe90gt 0]

I've had problems almost identical to what you described with my 1990 205 GT (TU3S engine). First happened last November, a few days after I'd bought the car, the engine would hesitate and the revs would drop to zero for a moment (no stop light) and then it would carry on as normal, occassionally followed a few seconds later by a loud backfire, then normal. But this happened increasingly often and sometimes it completely stops and you have to restart it before driving on as normal, or wait for it to cool down before it starts. Noticeable usually after 5 or 10 miles, or sooner if carrying extra passengers, it's been an intermittent fault but stopped me driving on motorways due to the risk.

To get it fixed I first went to a local garage who couldn't find anything wrong but checked and cleaned out the carbourettor anyway, replaced the fuel filter and serviced it. That didn't solve the problem, and it was difficult to get an opinion on what the problem was because to start with the fault was very rare.

Then I replaced the spark plugs again with a different type to what the garage used, and that seemed to postpone the problem, but it did return.

Then I replaced the ht leads, which helped a bit (started easier) but didn't solve the problem.

Then I replaced the distributor cap and rotar arm... as above.

When the weather was very wet I'd spray WD40 under the bonnet which seemed to help but probably didn't.

Last week I replaced the ignition coil which, at first, helped a lot, but then the problem returned, and the coil started overheating, melting it's plastic case.

Then I got the ignition timing checked and corrected (wasn't quite right), the battery, alternator and wiring tested (no problems there) but this didn't cure it.

Finally, yesterday afternoon, I discovered this forum, read this and did what I should have done first - ordered a new ignition module (£30 online). It arrived this morning and only took 10 minutes to fit.

I'm now 100% sure that the problem is solved. Car runs perfectly. I took it for a 50 mile test drive earlier and, for the first time since I got it, the engine didn't miss a beat.

[Guest Dfhaii]

I'm now 100% sure that the problem is solved. Car runs perfectly. I took it for a 50 mile test drive earlier and, for the first time since I got it, the engine didn't miss a beat.

 

Glad to hear you're sorted! Still not really tested mine with the new module due to getting a new car, but will try to give it a go soon. The only pain with it was that being intermittent, I'm still not going to know if it's fixed for good or not!

[joe90gt 0]

Best way to check, I found, was to warm the engine up with a gentle 10 minute drive then put my foot down and accelerate fast as possible from 2nd to 5th gear on an open stretch of carriageway. When it was faulty (ie overheating the module) a couple of minutes later the rev counter would be all over the place, die, then resume as normal -if I was lucky! On a bad day it would refuse to go any further and you'd hear gunshots from the back as the unignited fuel fired where it shouldn't. I reckon the old module was the car's original because it's only done 67,500 from new.

Since fixing it last saturday I've done another 150 miles care-free driving, with new levels of quickness and what looks like better fuel economy (attributed to correction of ignition timing). On friday I need to make a 250-mile round trip to Eastbourne mainly on motorway and I'm looking forward to it, even as a non-AA member. (and hoping it'll repair the distrust I've felt about my car since buying it because, incidentally, it experienced its 1st major misfire at around 66,666 miles!).

It's amazing what a difference it's made, plugging in one little non-mechanical square of plastic!

Edited January 30, 2008 by joe90gt