Engine trouble!!!

[dan-dan]

Hi my friend has got a gti-r, he recently had the engine out to do the clutch. once he refitted the engine it started up fine and drove ok for about 4 weeks, last night he had just left work and got about 2 miles away, when alls of a sudden the engine backfired, splutted and then stopped to which he couldnt get it restarted. i went over a little later on and took all the spark plugs out and found them all wet with petrol so we wiped them dry and tried to run it once again but still no go, so i removed the plugs again and found them all really wet so i decided to check the ignition side was sparking at the plugs which all four cylinders did. i left cylinder 4 spark plug out and tried to start the engine again and it started up and ran. i tried to refit the cylinder 4 spark plug after we had it running and then it wouldnt restart again and all plugs were wet again with fuel.

He said when he tried to get it to run before i came over it did a massive backfire and still wouldnt start. if we got hold of the throttle while turning the engine over it would sound like it was hydraulicing which seams a little weird. i think it could be something to do with the air flow meter telling the engine there is more air than there actually is.

Any help would be appriecated

 

[snoon]

done a fault code check?

 

[dan-dan]

Yes did a fault code check today and there was no faults.

he tried to start it again today and every time he pressed the throttle while the engine was cranking its stopped the engine from turning like it had hydrauliced.

 

[red reading]

pull the fuel pump fuse out,pull the plugs out and turn it over with the throttle wide open to clear it all out,then check the oil(is it contaminated with petrol,water)check the engine coolent,compression test it then tell us what result's you get

 

[dan-dan]

i have already done a compression test and all cylinders read 10 bar about 140 to 150psi if that helps, i will carry the rest of the checks tomorrow. o just another thing does the fuel pump relay control engine management? it does say something like that on the fuse box as i was going to try that the other day.

 

[red reading]

i have already done a compression test and all cylinders read 10 bar about 140 to 150psi if that helps, i will carry the rest of the checks tomorrow. o just another thing does the fuel pump relay control engine management? it does say something like that on the fuse box as i was going to try that the other day.

no it just cut's the fuel pump feed,also check the rotor arm, dizzy cap and distributor itself,then check to see if you have a big fat blue spark at the plugs

 

[PobodY]

It's not something stupid like the timing is it?

Get that out of phase an it'll be injecting at the wrong spot and not turning.

I had a friend with a Celica who blew the baffles out of his exhaust because he had the distributer 180 degrees out of phase - it wouldn't run, and when he realised and fixed it all that unburnt fuel in the exhaust went BOOM!

 

[dan-dan]

well i was thinking this but arnt these engine on a timing chain? if so then surely it shouldnt just jump a tooth or be 180' out, because it will run it i remove a spark plug. it doesnt like the spark plug not being there but it will start run and rev.

the only other thing i can think but im not sure about is the ingition system is it a distributor or is it like a coil pack and fires which ever cylinder when the ecu tells it to.

Also checked the spark and it has got a nice blue one at all plug leads

 

[red reading]

fooked injector?

 

[huu-raa]

sounds like a boost leak i had ones yesterday my boost hose popped off and i got a cough sputter and black smoke then it wouldnt start . refitted the pipe that was loose and started it up , she was lumpy as hell for a bit but once the plugs had dried it was all good

 

[dan-dan]

fooked injector but how come its wetting all cylinders surely if one was fooked then it would run but lumpy, im not 100% sure im just trying to think logical.

Now as for the boost leak that is possible because it took us agers to sort all the vacum hoses out and its quite possible one is off, i will check that tomorrow as well cheers

 

[gtirx2]

Check the injector resistor pack thing on the front passenger wing near the bulkhead with the silver coloured cover, is it plugged in properly or damaged?
Tbh i am not sure if this would cause your problems anyhow but it worth a look if its over fuelling that much.

 

[pulsarboby]

first thing i would go for is the ecu!
ive seen one before do a similar thing and basically the injection side of the ecu was constantly enabling the injectors to open and flood the car to the point where it would not start, and when it was running (very lumpily) it was chucking neat fuel out the exhaust.

turned out that the guy had recently dropped the engine and box to do a clutch and had forgotton to tighten the earths to the throttle bodies which had caused a spike in the ecu and blew the injection circuitry apart, this also came up clear on a fault code check.

try another ecu;-) if it works then i strongly advise you to drop the oil and put new stuff in as it will be contaminated with fuel

 

[dan-dan]

Thanks for this info, i will definatly look into the ecu, does anybody know a good place for bits near nottingham or a tuner perhaps.

is there any sort of test you can do on the injector wires to see wat its injecting like a volt check or a amps check, just woundering if there is such a thing.

 

[PobodY]

well i was thinking this but arnt these engine on a timing chain? if so then surely it shouldnt just jump a tooth or be 180' out, because it will run it i remove a spark plug. it doesnt like the spark plug not being there but it will start run and rev.

the only other thing i can think but im not sure about is the ingition system is it a distributor or is it like a coil pack and fires which ever cylinder when the ecu tells it to.

Also checked the spark and it has got a nice blue one at all plug leads

Timing chain makes no real difference, it's just much harder for it to slip or break than a belt. Whether it actually has a distributer is more important.

I haven't taken a close look, but you might be right and it's the ECU that's controlling the firing - you could still get it out of phase if the cap was on backwards (ie all the leads facing the wrong way). I'm not surprised that he killed the Celica. I had an RA60 and it is the worst car I've ever owned.

Is it just a problem with the one plug? Does it run well, or is it pretty rough?
I'm just thinking that maybe the compression is too high unless one plug is out. If there's no problem with the coil it will spark, but if it's sparking at the wrong time it won't ignite the fuel (or at least not when it's meant to).

When you had the engine out, did you take anything off that might not have gone back on right (like the distributer cap)?

If it is distributer free, do I need to throw my timing gun away?

 

[pulsarboby]

Thanks for this info, i will definatly look into the ecu, does anybody know a good place for bits near nottingham or a tuner perhaps.

is there any sort of test you can do on the injector wires to see wat its injecting like a volt check or a amps check, just woundering if there is such a thing.

put a multimeter across one of the injector solenoids and check voltage when trying to start car.
it should be pulsing 12v and not reading constant, if it is then its 99% the ecu thats the prob or possibly the resistor pack as gtirx2 has already pointed out to you.

 

[vss irvine]

also for future referance to anyone else, you shouldnt have to pump the throttle on these cars to start them, if you do, theres something wrong( unless its had lots of mods done!) have you checked the vac pipe going to the fpr?

 

[dan-dan]

also for future referance to anyone else, you shouldnt have to pump the throttle on these cars to start them, if you do, theres something wrong( unless its had lots of mods done!) have you checked the vac pipe going to the fpr?

I know that about the pumping the throttle as it is EFI so it controls all fueling itself, its not like a carb and might need pumping. any way as for the other bit you asked about the vac pipe going to the fpr i assume thats fuel pressure regulator. i think thats ok as the vehicle was running ok its just decided to stop after 3 or 4 weeks of runing ok.

 

[dan-dan]

put a multimeter across one of the injector solenoids and check voltage when trying to start car.
it should be pulsing 12v and not reading constant, if it is then its 99% the ecu thats the prob or possibly the resistor pack as gtirx2 has already pointed out to you.

ok i will test the injectors tomorrow well the trigger for the injectors so if i am getting 12v constant then there is a fault with either the ECU or that injector thing near the head light?

 

[dan-dan]

just another thing i have just remembered, he also found a plug not connected on the passenger side of the engine. now i think it was brown with about 6 wires im not 100% sure on that it was definatly bellow the intake pipe on the passenger side( it has a front mount intercooler) he reconnected that and it still didnt make any difference