Barn find montego

[daveyboy]

oh no not EZ Start lol i have seen this do more damage than good at times

[H48HPE]

whats this EZ start stuff do to spoil things? I was going to get some in the morning!

I had thought of putting petrol down the carb air intake as I've seen this done before....

[Guest]

It can do if used regularly.. engines can become "addicted" to it and need a quick spray of E-Z start into the inlet every they need starting. I hear diesels are the worst for that.. something do do with the con rods bending slightly due to detonation and lowering the compression.

As a temporary measure to get a car running i'd have no problem using it.

*edit*

I have just remembered the time I blew my dads Citroen C15 diesel van to bits after emptying a whole can of E-Z start into the air filter. The top of the air filter ended up on the roof of our house!

[daveyboy]

Easy start is ok but i have seen it at work ruin engines and i personally would never use it on anything of mine.
It will start an engine but get too much in the engine and it will really blow it to bits, this is usually noticed with a distincts rattle when it starts, our last casuallty at work was an 07 reg ford galaxy she fired up in one hell of a bang and unfortunatley rodded herself
i prefer the petrol down the carb to be honest. Also i think the old montego will more than likely burst into life with a bit of coaxing

[H48HPE]

no luck trying to start it, left it about an hour ago having flattened the battery again.


not even a hint of firing up, I'm charging the battery up again over night. Suspect the only way to get this going may be bump starting it, but how to legally do that I dont know.

looks like the Montego will be stopping where it is for the time being, especially since there's no point taking it to my place till my Maestro is back together.

[Austin-Rover]

Go get a bottle of Easy Start. I used it when reviving the S Series I have mentioned previously. You'll not cause any damage using it if you follow the instructions and don't go mad. Once you've got it to run - you'll not need it again.

[Austin-Rover]

Also, are you pulling fresh fuel through from the tank? It may be prudent to undo the fuel line in the engine bay and drop it into a can of fresh fuel to make sure you're not pulling crap through from the tank and fuel lines.

[H48HPE]

thanks for the suggestion, I'll do that when I try again tomorrow...

I cranked the engine over yesterday for a bit to clear old fuel from the line into a can from the pump but might as well try with totally new fuel from a can as you've suggested - worth a go...

I did try some easy start this morning but no luck.... To be honest the battery wasn't cranking the engine very fast, I think that might have something to do with it. I've fetched tha battery to mine for charging over night...

Andy

[Austin-Rover]

Where the Montego is at the moment is it not possible to drive another car up to it so you can get a set of jump leads on the battery? You should be able to go at turning the engine over a lot longer and faster than the battery on its own will.

[H48HPE]

I could do, I was just worried the heavy load might mess the electronics up on my Focus.... I've had a dead ECU on that before which is actually part of the instruments and had it not been under warranty at the time it would have cost a fortune... I've just been told a few horror stories about jump starting cars; are these likely to be untrue? I've only ever done it once and that was off an old work van so I didnt really worry too much

I was starting to think about trying to get one of those high power starting charger things like this:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...GA-IH-JUMP4000

I must admit looking at the symtoms, I'm suspecting battery performance has a lot to do with the issue. probably not helped cos my mates dad switched the battery off charge last night after only 6 hours

Thanks for all the help from everyone by the way - Very much appreciated. I'd kind of fallen out of love with Maestros and Montegos but have found it again over the last few months. Its not helping that i only really know what i'm doing on an A series engine. I'm starting to get my head round how the S seeries works what with all these sensors and whatnot.


Andy

[H48HPE]

We've been over the car today and tried everything.

Took carb out & emptied fuel out of flat chamber and checked the it's funtioning ok, all seemed well. but the fuel was probably still the old stuff so best got rid of.

double checked the distributor was lining up ok for firing No.1 and it was.

all plugs sparking well...

everything back together and tried it, one cylinder fired but thats it.

I'm 99% sure I now know what the problem is. the engines still too stiff this is confirmed becauuse you cant turn the road wheel with the engine in 5th gear... however the sterter still turns it, but not very fast and not for very long.

So the problems a stiff engine. I've left it with a load of WD40 squirted in the cylinders. I just hope it frees up. I wondered about putting redex in but dont know if thats a good or bad idea. i think if i could get the engine turning fast enough it'd deffinitely run on all cylinders

frustrating!!!!!!!

Andy

[Guest]

Just tow it round the block in gear and with the ignition on, get ready with the clutch though!

[H48HPE]

i would have done that, but its off a main road thats far too busy for that sort of thing....

i'm at a loss really, i know bump starting will start it... my only real option is to get the engine to free up a bit more

[H48HPE]

Still not having any luck with this problem...

the engines still a bit stiff but its not making any attempt to fire.

Its got good fuel coming through, and good fuel in the carb... Its getting sparks and it looks like the timings right.

The sparks are quite yellow is this ok? or should they be blue?

I've also tried using jump leads from battery negative to the engine in case it was an earth issue. no luck.

got the plenum chamber off the carb and have tried tipping new clean fuel down the carb, but no luck.

i'm starting to wonder what all these diferent sensors do, and there is a 2 wire connection on the carb I'm not too sure about, is that the fuel cut off valve? if it is and its failed would it be stopping fuel coming through or does it fail open? that said I know fuels getting into the engine.

Could the timing seem right but not be? someone looked at this for me and said it was ok....

I have also found out that while the car was put in the garage in 1992, the owner was starting it up every couple of months for about 18 months, then one day it wouldn't run.... he put it down to old fuel and then just left it. this is making me think there is a problem somewhere that dates back to this original failure back some time in 1993.... any ideas what it could have been?

[Guest]

Spark should be blueish really. Yellow isn't a strong spark, it might not actually be firing when the engine is compressing. Try leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, and maybe new spark plugs. If its only been left idling when running the plugs tend to foul up because of the rich running. Coil is an outside bet too.

How much voltage is the battery giving out too? Is it one you use on another car coz if not it might not be giving off quite enough power when the engine is cranking.