1993 2L EFI Montego issue

[zephyr]

Hello to one and all,
First the issue and what i did to solve it with a couple of questions at the end. My 1993 Montego EFI estate has served me well until one day i came to restart it after visiting my local garage to make an appointment for an MOT. All the dash lights were on and the starter whipped the engine over as normal but no response. Not even a begrudging splutter. Changed the rotor arm, nothing, changed the coil, nothing. I had thoughts it may be the combined fuel ignition ECU and swapped it with another (same ECU) from my other 1993 Montego. It started straight away. I then put the original ECU back and it started as normal. What i noticed before it did start, was the reassuring sound of the fuel pump priming which on reflection wasn't there when it wouldn't start, so my thoughts went to a fuel pump issue. What i haven't mentioned before swapping the ECU is i disconnected the battery to be on the safe side.
So; can efi fuel pumps fail and then miraculously come back to life or do they just fail and that's the end of it? Was my original ECU throwing a hissy fit and once I’d disconnected and reconnected the battery it righted itself. The same question re battery for the fuel pump. Was it a bad connection between the ECU and the wiring multi plug and just unplugging and putting the plug back has reformed the connection?
One further unrelated (or is it) issue was the original radio stopped working showing just a blank orange screen. I left it to sort another day however i removed the battery over the winter and after i reconnected it in the spring the radio came back to life and has worked normally since. Apologies for being a bit long winded but any ideas, thoughts, theories gratefully received. Has anyone come across this issue with their own EFI Montegos? Thanks in advance........ Arthur
ps the car does run at the moment but wouldn't rely on it until i've identified the issue(s).

[Jeff Turbo]

Hi Arthur
It sounds as though you cleared your issue by unplugging and plugging back in the connection to the ECU. As you didn't hear the fuel pump prime that would be why it didn't start and not an electrical issue, rotor arm etc, it maybe just that the one or two on the connections on the plug needed cleaning as by removing the ECU plug you did that. I'm guessing as it's a 1993 you have the silver ECU box and if it's not been disturbed in over 30 years it needed just unplugging and plugging back in. It could also be that the 30 year old fuel pump is beginning to fail so you may have to keep an eye on it in the future, or also check the earth connection behind/under the offside front light
With the radio I have no idea but again that might be just a little reboot when you disconnected the battery

[zephyr]

Thanks Jeff, this has certainly improved confidence in the car. Just for info the ECU is an even later type vis NNN10016 (black plastic box) it having the F51 engine code. It is the same ECU on my auto saloon with F52 engine code. As my car chassis number is past 631913, contrary to what i wrote previously (and according to my microfiche) there is a separate Fuel ECU vis MEQ10099. Although where that is i've no idea. You'll know more than most there were umpteen different ECU's over the production span of these cars. Rover were getting to the end of production of Montegos (courtesy of BMW if the myths are correct) whilst at the same time trying to get emissions down to 0.5%. Good job the mot standard for them makes them exempt from Cat tests. Although my estate does show 0.502% CO at the last MOT. I have a new fuel pump (bosch) which i'll replace anyway as a belt and braces. It's all a long way from fixed jet Zenith carbs and contact breaker points. Thanks again for your input.

[Jeff Turbo]

Thanks Jeff, It's all a long way from fixed jet Zenith carbs and contact breaker points. Thanks again for your input.

Got rid of contact breaker points on my MK3 Zodiac, MK2 Consul and the wifes MK2 Zodiac. Electronic ignition on my Zodiac and electronic distributors on the the MK2's, cures all that issue. Also added electric fans that are controlled by the thermostat, cures all that over heating issues in traffic too.