Hey Guys,

Day started nice and sunny etc.

Started the car at a supermarket to go home - wouldn't start, open the bonnet, check it all out, all good.
Try to start the car again, car turns on but has reset (time back to 1am, aircon on etc) - turn the air con off and it stalls.
Start again, end up getting out of the car park and back home after 9 stalls (reversing, at lights, when waiting to turn etc)

Got home, got it over to a mates place (he's the one with the tools) and managed to stall it twice in his driveway.

At this point car had not "reset" again, just stalled, no error lights (oil or battery)

Had known I had to reseal the back rocker cover for a while - sealed all that up nice etc, found that the hose going from the rear rocker to the front rocker had gotten all clogged up (rear cable) and the front was split.
Replaced, resealed everything and put the manifold back on.
Checked the air flow etc - cleaned gunk out, all good.

Try to start the car, car tries to turn over but has some massive bang's - take off the mnifold, rear rocker cover and check, all good, turned over like this and the oil was all coming out right (all over my windscreen :roflwtf: )
Rocker cover back on, manifold back on, try to start the car...

Car attempts to start, starter motor is working like usual, won't turn over however and the battery light is on near the time.

Checked all cables and hose's - all appear to be OK, took out the dopey looking this attached to the spark plugs and tried to see if we got a spark while trying to turn the car over, no spark.
Can hear the fuel pump wailing, can hear a high pitched noise when you change gear (1, 2, 3, D, N, R, P) and when you go to ACC.

Tried to see if I could find anything on the noise's or anything which could give me a clue which thing was wrong and checked all fuses etc.

Took a couple of spark plugs out, the one in #1 had no gap - fixed this and tried again, no luck - tried the spark plug in the dodgy thing it attaches to and no spark.

Distributor appears to be "OK" - power cable to it is powered, the plug hole responds to a multimeter

Any idea's guys - I've been at it now for 10 hours haha!

fuses/relays?

batteries on its way out
time for a new one :)

batteries on its way out
time for a new one :)

Maybe I should add that it keeps trying to turn over and doesn't cut out while trying to turn over like a buggered battery has been previously.

Also plays music fine :P

Maybe I should add that it keeps trying to turn over and doesn't cut out while trying to turn over like a buggered battery has been previously.

Also plays music fine :P

maybe you should check the voltage output of the battery with a multimeter
with the car off the battery should be somewhere between 11.5 - 12.5 volts
if the battery is not sending out enough voltage to the starter motor, the starter motor would just keep on turning waiting for enough power to crank it
judging that your car resets itself everytime its shut off points to either the battery or a fuse
my old mans car did this, replaced the battery and she was sweet
oh and if the ECU doesnt get enough power it shuts down the car

ok,
Battery is OK - giving 12.3v.
Have tried other batteries to no success.

When trying to start the car you can smell petrol (fuel lines + fuel filter = ECU working?)

Man that was the hardest post to read in a long time hmmmm


Now you have been listing several issues all rolled into one part

Can you break it up a little please and perhaps we will have a better idea

If your car was playing up, why did you take off rocker covers, dont worry about leaks if the car will not go

The initial problem was a power out issue, I would say if your battery is at 12.3v that it is either flat or shagged as it should be mid 13's at standstill

12.3V is barely enough to turn the starter motor.

Did you do a load test on the battery?

A dead/dying battery may well turn the car over and start it, however the car can keep stalling (many threads covering this issue).

Man that was the hardest post to read in a long time hmmmm


Now you have been listing several issues all rolled into one part

Can you break it up a little please and perhaps we will have a better idea

If your car was playing up, why did you take off rocker covers, dont worry about leaks if the car will not go

The initial problem was a power out issue, I would say if your battery is at 12.3v that it is either flat or shagged as it should be mid 13's at standstill

OK, Car was stalling, rocker covers at the back was something I needed to do for a while so I decided to do it at the same time.

Car attempts to turn over and will continue trying until you stop - battery light is on where the time is when this is occuring (new issue now as well as there is no time there at all anymore).

Tappets are working as expected, engine itself is fine just a power problem.

battery is fine, fuses are all good - after checking the workshop manual and ripping out the multimeter on the distributor it appears that the distributor is the problem (no resistance what-so-ever on any of the points specified in the manual)

I have found what appears to be 3 nuts holding the distributor in place - I can remove the top two, however the bottom one looks like it will be a problem - does anyone have suggestions on getting it off?
Looking at it, I might have to take more of the engine off to get anywhere near the bottom nut on the distributor?

Man that was the hardest post to read in a long time hmmmm


Now you have been listing several issues all rolled into one part

Can you break it up a little please and perhaps we will have a better idea

If your car was playing up, why did you take off rocker covers, dont worry about leaks if the car will not go

The initial problem was a power out issue, I would say if your battery is at 12.3v that it is either flat or shagged as it should be mid 13's at standstill

The industry standard is about 12.6V static with no surface charge etc,you would be very lucky to find a static battery reading anywhere near mid 13 volts that hasnt just been on a charger or had a surface charge on it IMO,12.3V isnt that flash,could do with a charge,its about 75% capacity,all of our starter motors have a test voltage of appox 12.6V,but as suggested,a load test will tell the true condition of the battery,voltage doesn`t,also, low battery volatge would also make the starter have a rapid clack clack,clack sound usually

And from having a yarn with my father,he did alot of faulty magna V6 dizzys in his time as an auto elec,well worth checking like you have

Steve

Steevo - any advice on taking the dizzy off?

Havent done mine yet,so have no personal experience,Madmagna is your man for a guide i would think,but looks easy enough once you remove/move the need parts to swing a socket/spanner etc

Steve

Yer, It looks easier than what it is (unless i'm doing it completely wrong)

From the passenger side at the top of the dizzy I can see a bolt on the top left (12 open spanner and a mallet to get off) another 12 under a metal pipe right near the rear rocker cover.

Remove those two and I can feel another one under the thing that I don't think it accessible by anyone over the age of 8.

Seeing as I have no spare 8 year old's I need to find a way to take off that last nut.

Alternatively I am pulling off the wrong things altogether...

3rd bolt is hard, but not impossible.

From memory I had the intake off, since I couldnt see it - I used an extention bar, uni joint and felt for the bolt. Takes about 30 seconds.

EDIT: Just realised you're actually taking the whole dizzy off and not just the cap. Cap was easy, you could try looking up from under the car..however uni joint and extention bar should still do the trick.

As for batteries - as I said, load test it. Battery might show up 12.3V (which *should* be enough to start it), but if you are right Stevo (about it being at around 75% capacity) being a normal battery it could be dropping the **** end out (from memory batteries shouldnt be discharged below 80%).

I'm not too familiar with load testing.

Will try the third bolt like you suggest

Depending on how much of your car is apart, a 6" extention bar might be better. Uni joints tend to flex when you apply a lot of torque, can make quite a mess of your hands.

If the nut is siezed, spray it with WD40 and let it soak overnight, still hard to get off - you can try a can of the nut release they sell at most auto stores.

3rd bolt is hard, but not impossible.

From memory I had the intake off, since I couldnt see it - I used an extention bar, uni joint and felt for the bolt. Takes about 30 seconds.

EDIT: Just realised you're actually taking the whole dizzy off and not just the cap. Cap was easy, you could try looking up from under the car..however uni joint and extention bar should still do the trick.

As for batteries - as I said, load test it. Battery might show up 12.3V (which *should* be enough to start it), but if you are right Stevo (about it being at around 75% capacity) being a normal battery it could be dropping the **** end out (from memory batteries shouldnt be discharged below 80%).

Spot on,load test is the key,like you said

The industry standard is about 12.6V static with no surface charge etc,you would be very lucky to find a static battery reading anywhere near mid 13 volts that hasnt just been on a charger or had a surface charge on it IMO,12.3V isnt that flash,could do with a charge,its about 75% capacity,all of our starter motors have a test voltage of appox 12.6V,but as suggested,a load test will tell the true condition of the battery,voltage doesn`t,also, low battery volatge would also make the starter have a rapid clack clack,clack sound usually

And from having a yarn with my father,he did alot of faulty magna V6 dizzys in his time as an auto elec,well worth checking like you have

Steve

Really, then I must have the 3 rarest batteries and perhaps I should see if I can get a heap of money for them including the one in my 68 XT that has been sitting for a few weeks un touched and still hit over 13v hmmmmmm

Reading from the new thread where a "nut" "bounced a few times" in the cyl it is looking like that there may be several issues with this car sadly. Is not good to see this happen to anyone.

If a battery is at low voltage no load, you can count on it having issues on crank and also trying to keep relays active in order to keep vital parts like ECU's running

Does the car start when its cold or only when its warm.
I only ask this cause you i had an issue with my wifes car, took me ages to work out what it was. The friggin temp sensor for the ECU was stuffed telling the ECU to run rich....OK when its cold but wont start when its hot...

Took me forever to work out,,,,no mechanic had a clue!!!! and didnt come up on the ecu test


does it fire or attempt to fire at all??

do you get spark before the dizzy??

Really, then I must have the 3 rarest batteries and perhaps I should see if I can get a heap of money for them including the one in my 68 XT that has been sitting for a few weeks un touched and still hit over 13v hmmmmmm

Reading from the new thread where a "nut" "bounced a few times" in the cyl it is looking like that there may be several issues with this car sadly. Is not good to see this happen to anyone.

If a battery is at low voltage no load, you can count on it having issues on crank and also trying to keep relays active in order to keep vital parts like ECU's running

you sure do!,a battery has 6 cells at 2.10 to approx 2.13 volts per cell,this equals 12.6-12.8V max ,open-circuit volts at full charge with no charge or discharge,as per industry standard,ill say it once again,any more it must have a surface charge of some kind,as im yet to test one that i can recall that has had over 13 static volts thats all,but also remember ambient temp plays a small roll aswell,maybe get a poll going and get people to post there battery voltages for us,just for the sake of it i spose?,but i digress

any luck with the car/dizzy?

Steve

To remove surface charge, just chuck the high beams on for a couple minutes.

Yer car is now working.

Replaced dizzy
replaced spark plug leads (we broke one)
checked the head (see pics before)
Put back together
Started

Now works - sounds like a motor bike and struggles a bit to get to 60 but it will get me where I need to go (2km each way to work) and back until I get a new engine.

Looks like I will part out some of the current one as well (not anything broken guys)

Next question then, how much higher can I go for a new engine.

According to redbook it is the same engine right up to the KW (2005) - could i essentially rip out one and plonk it in or is there extra stuff added in the later model engines (currently have a 1996)

Anyone?