Broke Down Again :( Help

[djinuk 2]

Ok , if you read my previous topic you will know that i put a new head gasket on my 1.9 205 8v, with a skim and all the rest of it. When put back together the car ran great for about 5 mins, then it picked up a slight missfire. By the time i got home the missfire was worse and the car was about ready to die. A week later i started her back up, and again , she ran pretty nice, i took it out , and it ran well for about 10 mins this time, but it picked up a slight missfire, but only when trying to hold a certain speed, not under acceleration. I picked up the girlfriend and decided to nip to town with the car to see what the missfire did, 2 mins later im going down the road and the car feels like its on 2 cylinders, i made a emergency exit into a housing estate where the car died, now i managed to get it to fire back up but with a missfire , but as soon as you touch the throttle in anyway the revs drop and the car dies.

 

Help of any sort will be appreciated, now my fuel light isnt on but it may be getting close, could this have anything to do with it?.

 

 

oh just to add i tried to start the car just (its been left standing for 4 hours) and it still wont start, or not for more than 2 secs anyway.

[DamirGTI 327]

Hi !

 

Replace the ignition amp. and coil and see if that helps

 

Cheers !

Damir

[djinuk 2]

guess thats the way its going , ive won a ignition amp on ebay, still not arrived, struggling for a coil though. Just strange that now it fails to even start

[DamirGTI 327]

Hi !

 

Well symptoms of the ignition amp. and coil failure are similar - this first starts with misfiring (usually when the engine warms up) , hard starting , loss of power , cutting out etc. etc. and in the end results with no or very weak spark .

 

Don't forget to re-apply the thermal transfer paste at the back of the ignition amp. prior to refitting on the aluminum plate .

 

Cheers !

Damir

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

The fact its just had a head gasket prior to this starting would have me saying do a warm compression test. Id suspect when warm a leak is opening up.

[DamirGTI 327]

Hi !

 

Not sure but me thinks that it'll be other way around as I've had something similar when one cylinder liner cracked - coolant was leaking inside the combustion chamber only when the engine was cold , when the engine was warmed up to working temp. it's stopped as the metal expands and seal the gap ..

 

Cheers !

Damir

[djinuk 2]

could you go into more detail on this richie , Im on a steep learning curve so its new to me . Only thing is now the car wont start, although its cooled down now.

 

just to add i have found some mayo in the black oil filler, but im guessing this is probably water etc coming thru the system from the previous hg replacment.

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

I suppose it depends where the fault lies, Ive had a cracked head that wa fine cold but as soon as it warmed the crack opened and it dropped to 3 pots and pressurised the coolant.

[djinuk 2]

just a small update as i await my ignition amp and coil.

 

 

i whipped out my plugs and all 4 had black carbon deposits (not oil)

[205007 12]

i havent read all the posts but these symptoms are common to the blue coolant temp reader plug being damaged or faulty if the plug isnt connected the car runs very rich, enought to stop the engine

 

the fact that it runs ok for a while then begins to bog down suggests this

and also the fact that the car misfires under load suggests this also

same thing with the plugs fouling

 

my suggestion would be to take the plugs out and clean them, if the car starts and then displays the same symptoms then check it is connected or change the plug which is located on the back of the water housing below on the dizzy side of the engine

 

last time i bought one they were £15 from the main stealers

[steve@cornwall 100]

Check that the ecu temperature sender under the dizzy is properly connected (blue sender body, blue plug), that one of the small spade connectors hasn't pushed out of the socket, or that the black plug for the sad control ( more or less under the thermostat housing) hasn't been connected by mistake!! common problem after working in this area (would have been disconnected when doing head)

[djinuk 2]

well ive just been outside, and i turned the engine over.. and it turns , turns , turns , turns then kinda coughs a bit then stops.

 

i took all the plugs out, cleaned them up with a wire brush, put them back in, still nothing, so i took a spare spark plug and stuck it onto one of the ht leads, i turned it over to see if it sparked, and from what i can see, there was 100% no spark, i did this for 2 spark plugs both the same. so i am guessing its actually the coil of amp literally , excuse the term, shagged, now . I have a ignition amp in the post so i will plug this in (with paste) and see how it goes, next up will be the coil, if that fails ill be back on here saying.... What next

 

thank you so much for your help, i am learning a lot even if not solving the problem yet, im just going to nip back down in a moment for what it is worth and check the blue plug is on the blue ecu temp and the black on in the sad

[205007 12]

did you earth the plug when checking for a spark? it wouldnt cough if there was no spark

Edited January 13, 2008 by 205007

[djinuk 2]

oops didn't realize u had to earth the plugs (newbie mistake). Ill try again tomorrow. when i say cough it didn't sound like a usual firing and it takes ages to do it i would say hold the key to turn the engine over for 4/5 secs, and at the end you get a very weak cough.

 

as for the blue plug, is this in the correct place ?

 

[steve@cornwall 100]

oops didn't realize u had to earth the plugs (newbie mistake). Ill try again tomorrow. when i say cough it didn't sound like a usual firing and it takes ages to do it i would say hold the key to turn the engine over for 4/5 secs, and at the end you get a very weak cough.

 

as for the blue plug, is this in the correct place ?

 

 

That's the one, check that the contacts havn't been pushed out the back (peel back the rubber boot) as the plug looks a little damaged

 

Ps it looks like it boiled over (when h/g went?) Check that the end of the king lead into the coil hasn't corroded while being done

Edited January 13, 2008 by steve@cornwall

[matty_gti 20]

Sorry to interupt but what sort of paste and why do you need to put on the ign amp and backing plate and what happens if you dont?.

 

Matt

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

Don't forget to re-apply the thermal transfer paste at the back of the ignition amp. prior to refitting on the aluminum plate .

 

Cheers !

Damir

 

hi im doing my mi16 engine and im getting a weak spark. whats the thermal transfer plate? is that the sivle alooy thing?

 

ive cut mine to same size as ign amp, so i gather this plate needs a earth?

[DamirGTI 327]

Hi !

 

C/P from my prevous post :

 

Whenever you change the ignition amp. you must re-apply the thermal transfer paste/heat soak jelly ... as this protects the amp. from overheating (when the amp. overheats - it fails) and if you don't do that you can parch the amp. (new one or a spare one no matter ..) in just a few hours !!

 

You can buy this paste/jelly in computer store , any type of heat soak paste/jelly will do just fine no need for something special like - "heat soak paste just for car ignition components" ... ask for : silicone heat transfer compound

 

Cheers !

Damir

[djinuk 2]

Hi just wanted to say thanks to all that helped me, i replaced the parts (bosch amp) still failed to start, but i reapplied themal paste (i used my artic silver paster) for pc's very expensive but hey).

 

I then brought a new bosche amp (i paid £16 for it) new. and plugged it in , and hey presto kicked straight up with no problems so far touch wood.

 

only niggle is the coil came but has the wrong bracket on it, mine screwed down to the inlet manifold, this one has a brackets with 2 prongs of it, so need to work out a way to make it fit.

 

but thanks again

[steve@cornwall 100]

`Put a pic up of the coils, sounds like the new one is the same type as fitted to autos. If so, grind off the ends of the rivets in each corner and remove the mounting frame to fit to inlet mani>

[DamirGTI 327]

Hi !

 

Nice to hear that it's fixed ... anyway , if it's fine now with a new ignition amp. i wouldn't be bothered replacing the coil

 

Cheers !

Damir

[djinuk 2]

already started on it .. and yes thats correct. however i done a tits up... (i put the screws of the old one on my scuttle panel, and yes ... forgot and drove off

[djinuk 2]

sorry (that last post was wrong), it was indeed the coil , and not the amp, sorry . hehe.

 

just a thought, if you say the coil maybe for the auto 205 (hence the funny brackets) will that cause any problems at all with the running of mine, under powered or anything

[steve@cornwall 100]

sorry (that last post was wrong), it was indeed the coil , and not the amp, sorry . hehe.

 

just a thought, if you say the coil maybe for the auto 205 (hence the funny brackets) will that cause any problems at all with the running of mine, under powered or anything

 

 

I doubt there's any difference in the coils themselves - using a gti one on my auto didn't make it any better!

[jackherer 543]

The late coil mounted on the inlet is the same as the Mi16 coil except for the brackets you're talking about (I think) so you should be fine with it.