My 2003 3.5 auto Magna wagon conked out while taking off gently at a roundabout.
After getting it started again it now idles extremely rough, sounds like a tractor and smells really bad. It also wouldn't change out of first gear to get it home.
The battery's about 9 months old, good connections with no corrosion on it.
All fluid levels are good.

Any ideas?

Sounds like it has dropped a couple of cylinders, but that could be for any number of reasons. Somebody with basic fault finding skills needs to look at it.

Eep! Check your timing belt.

What area are you in, if you are in the East I am able to look for you

I would suggest strongly that you determine the real issue, could be the above but if it is you also then need to find the reason, could be as simple as a faulty fuel pump, bad elec connection etc

My 2003 3.5 auto Magna wagon conked out while taking off gently at a roundabout.
After getting it started again it now idles extremely rough, sounds like a tractor and smells really bad. It also wouldn't change out of first gear to get it home.
The battery's about 9 months old, good connections with no corrosion on it.
All fluid levels are good.

Any ideas?

My car did this once. It was the tensioner on the timing belt sounded like a tracotor.

Taken it to a mechanic. He thinks the timing belt is worn and has slipped causing the timing to be way out, not running on the front 3 cylidners. Sounds like it has bent the valves on the front 3 cylinders from the loud rattle. Booked in for next week for him to take it apart and hopefully fix it.

how many k's has it done?

how many k's has it done?

210,000.

From the service book it looks like the timing belt hasn't ever been replaced.

210,000.

From the service book it looks like the timing belt hasn't ever been replaced.

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

That is waaaaaaaay overdue matey!! Hope it hasn't caused too much damage...
At least a good second hand long motor is pretty cheap these days!

Got a call from the mechanic today:
Timing belt is fine, must have been changed not too long ago and not entered into the service book, timing is spot on.
Not running on front 3 cylinders.
Tried one of his distributors, no change.
No error codes being displayed, all sensors seem fine.
He thinks that the computer might be fried. Great.

Ok' I don't know if I'm on to something here or not, but I recently went through this ordeal myself with a Galant with triple coil packs and a power transistor as pictured. This thing partially failed and I could barely get the engine to run ( yep, a tractor) with about 3cyl firing but I did have 1 firing in the front bank. Engine light came on but NO CODES!
Anyway when I researched this part, it showed one of these (marked J723T on the case) according to aftermarket references was suppose to be in the magna as well, which I also own.
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=42787


Stuffed if I could find one and thought it must be integrated in the distributor.
Your post made me have another look at the manual, and this is what it shows as its location. Reference location F

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=42786

I'd really like to know myself if the magna does have one of these because I had a hell of a job finding one through the wreckers. Pinched one off a Pajero and engine instantly fired up normal again.
They're about $150-180 new non-gen, but I paid $45 second hand.
I had a quick look but could not see it. I'm not real keen to take my car apart to find it, but maybe someone out there knows more.

The manual shows that inside the distributor is a "built-in ignition coil and power transistor" which is probably what you are after...that's if I read your post correctly.

The manual shows that inside the distributor is a "built-in ignition coil and power transistor" which is probably what you are after...that's if I read your post correctly.

So why does it show it's location as behind the glove box and not near location C which would be close to where the Dizzy sits. Built -in was my impression too, ("Contact pointless with built-in ignition coil and power transistor "), maybe it's a mistake but there is a test it says to perform on the power transistor and to replace it if it fails. When you look at the wiring cofiguration , connector B46 is labelled Power Transistor. Still have'nt found it though.
Says nothing about the whole distibutor assembly needing replacement.
When I read the symptoms it's the same scenario I had and they have already swapped out the dist/coil so got me thinking maybe this thing does exist somewhere external.

It was worth a thought though.

Yup - but section 16 with gives the "power transistor check" has a diagram next to it showing how to connect a multimeter to the "distributor connector" which means the power transistor must be inside the distributor. I'm not sure what form the black box inside the distributor takes, but I've seen others where the power transistor is visible...the distributor is large enough to fit plenty of electronics.
The manual reference to it being near the glovebox is probably just a carry over from a previous model or a printers glitch....I know my auto trans drain plug isn't where the manual says and I'm sure it's not an isolated instance. I'd love to pull mine apart but I know I'd break something.

Yup - but section 16 with gives the "power transistor check" has a diagram next to it showing how to connect a multimeter to the "distributor connector" which means the power transistor must be inside the distributor. I'm not sure what form the black box inside the distributor takes, but I've seen others where the power transistor is visible...the distributor is large enough to fit plenty of electronics.
The manual reference to it being near the glovebox is probably just a carry over from a previous model or a printers glitch....I know my auto trans drain plug isn't where the manual says and I'm sure it's not an isolated instance. I'd love to pull mine apart but I know I'd break something.


Yeah, must be bad info then. I just ripped out the console to fit a new stereo and had a good look, found nothing there. Pulled the glovebox and lifted the carpet a bit, still nothing. You must be right which is what I thought originally but the evidence was mounting to suggest otherwise.

Oh well, had my curiousity going there for a while cause his symptoms were so similar. Hope he finds the problem then. Good learning experience.

Got another call from the mechanic today, he cannot find anything wrong with the engine so he's almost 100% sure it's the ecu. What's a new one worth after the keys and Body Control unit have also been recoded?

Got another call from the mechanic today, he cannot find anything wrong with the engine so he's almost 100% sure it's the ecu. What's a new one worth after the keys and Body Control unit have also been recoded?

The ECU can't be completely dead, otherwise the engine wouldn't run at all.

If you really want an ECU, look at LancerCity's items on Ebay - a few days ago there was a TL auto ECU with matching BEM and ignition barrel and key for $99 + postage. Its probably for a sedan, and I have no idea whether a wagon has a different ECU/BEM.

New bits would be lots more than that...

If you haven't already, a call to MadMagna might be worthwhile - if nothing else he might also have a suitable ECU given the number of wrecks he's picked over just lately.

For all the trouble it is worth, you are far better off gettinga BEM and ECU and then 2 new keys from mits, once installed, get the new keys coded to the BEM and you are off and running, this way in future if you do lose a key you are not stuck getting one cut and coded

If you want to make sure the ECU is actually the issue as I doubt it is, I am more than happy to pop it into a test car here and let you know, I can also get the programme off your existing ecu and pop it onto a new ecu thus saving you all the hassle in the first place

For all the trouble it is worth, you are far better off gettinga BEM and ECU and then 2 new keys from mits, once installed, get the new keys coded to the BEM and you are off and running, this way in future if you do lose a key you are not stuck getting one cut and coded

If you want to make sure the ECU is actually the issue as I doubt it is, I am more than happy to pop it into a test car here and let you know, I can also get the programme off your existing ecu and pop it onto a new ecu thus saving you all the hassle in the first place

Thanks dude, but the mechanic has already sent it to a guy in Melbourne that can bench test it.

ECU and all sensors have tested ok. Can't find anything wrong with the motor without completely stripping it. Putting in a good second hand motor, see if that runs ok.

Compression tested the engine yet??

Yep, the mechanic's tested everything but still can't find why it's only running on 3 cylinders.
ECU, sensors, injectors, plugs and leads, timing and timing belt, fuel pressure, cylinder compression, distributor all ok.
Exhaust, air and fuel inlets not blocked.