Rover V8 running problems?

[Trevor Skedge]

Took the car out for a run tonight and on the way back it started misfiring badly. Initialy the car stalled at a set of lights but after cranking over for 3 or 4 seconds it fired up and away I went. From then on it would run along cutting out and misfiring all the time. If I put my foot hard down on the accelerator it would initially cut out and slow before coming back in and accelerating for a short time. Constantly like this all the way home until it failed completely as I pulled in the drive. Added fuel just in case but still no start so managed to get it in to the garage and will have a look at it tomorrow. In the meantime anybody got any pointers?. I have yet to check for anything but my first port of call will be to see if I have a spark and perhaps put a new coil on it to eliminate that completely.
The only clue I have at the moment is that the temperature gauge was working fine on the way out but at the same time as the misfire the gauge now doesn't register a reading.
Engine is a Fuel injected Rover V8.

Trevor.

 

[Andy Sheldon]

Trevor

Check the ballast resistor.

Andy

 

[Trevor Skedge]

Andy,

Near the coil?

Trevor.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Hi Trevor

Post your query over here
www.v8forum.co.uk :: Index

What that crowd don't know about the Rover and related stuff is not worth knowing.

4 things immediately spring to mind
1) I believe you are running the lucas hotwire system and this can go into limp home mode - runs rich and farts away much better. Easy to cure - disconnect the battery for 30 seconds and reconnect - clears the ecu problem codes and it should run
2) Do not fit after market distributor cap and rotor - seldom work for more than 1000 miles before screwing up and causing misfiring etc New Rover (Lucas) units slightly more expensive but will give service (Get a matched pair)
3) Depending on your spark plug lead routing you could be getting cross arcing - start in the dark of the garage and see if there are sparks - keep some open door so you don't gas yourself.
4) Blocked fuel filter or fuel pick up

(How do I know - had 3 out of the 4 on my car)

Cheers
Ian

 

[Trevor Skedge]

Thanks Ian,

I have a new fuel filter fitted and the distributor cap and rotor arm are recent. It's not something that has got worse as it was fine before but something that has broken down as it's more of a cutting out than a misfire.

Trevor.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Was it running rich? Exhaust smells of petrol strong fumes - if so probably limp home mode.

Aftermarket Distributors will cause this problem - works then stops!

Ian

 

[Trevor Skedge]

Will check a few things out this afternoon and post what I find but don't imagine it would run as bad as it did in terms of cutting out rather simply running poorly and rich. Car wouldn't start at all last night and there was no temp gauge reading.

Trevor.

 

[Trevor Skedge]

On my way out I had chance to see if it would start and yes it did but on what I think is 5 out of 8 cylinders. Assuming the front left is number one and it continues backwards to 4 and the number five is front right cylinder then no's 1 5 and 8 (from memory) don't appear to be firing as these are cool on the manifold and plug. Didn't get chance to check further. Could be distributor cap and rotor arm I suppose. Need to take the seats out (again) to remove the bulkhead access panel.

Trevor.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Pull the spark plugs

If they are are wet from fuel they will not work again in a Rover (Stupid but true)

If they are not wet then fuel not injecting on those ports

Ian

 

[Andy Sheldon]

Trevor

Its usually by the coil. I would remove the ballast resistor and coil and throw them away and fit a 12V coil.

While you have your spanners out I would fit some brake servos so you can stop.

Thanks

Andy

 

[Trevor Skedge]

Trevor

Its usually by the coil. I would remove the ballast resistor and coil and throw them away and fit a 12V coil.

While you have your spanners out I would fit some brake servos so you can stop.

Thanks

Andy

Andy,

No sh-t. Brakes are awfull without the servo and have been trying to convince myself that it's just because I'm so used to having servos on the modern stuff. May have to fold and bow to your greater knowledge no matter how much it hurts:thumbsup:.
Will give the coil a try but not sure if it has a 12v coil already as I don't see a ballast resistor.

Trevor.

 

[John Oxborough]

Hi Trevor
Check the earthing cable from your motor to chassis is sound and not loose, your first post reported temp gauge failure at the same time as the misfire occured,worth a look if your gauge is electric, misfire could be related if poor or intermittant earthing is the culprit,
cheers
John.

 

[Trevor Skedge]

John,

Thanks for the heads up and will have a look at that. I have ordered a fuel pump which should be in this afternoon as the fuel pressure was low and the pump a bit noisy. Replaced the coil, distributer cap and rotor arm which made no difference. I also cleaned up inside the distributer as it was a little oxidised arount the hall effect trigger and the star shaped trigger thing whatever it is called. If I put a timing light on the plug leads then you can see a slight missing in the strobe pattern on the cylinders that are running cool and these are the plug leads that are next to each other on the distributer cap in terms of rotation. Should have clamped off the fuel return hose when I checked the fuel pressure to see if it would rise therefore indicating a regulator fault but didn't think of it at the time.

Trevor.

 

[Trevor Skedge]

Success last night but not until it was too late to make the club meet in Surrey unforunately. Couple of issues being an ageing fuel pipe on the tank side as it connects to the Facet lift pump. This ran in a U to the pump and as the pipe aged it became soft and eventually kinked therefore restricting and eventually all but cutting off fuel flow. I also replaced the high pressure pump at the same time as I think the original was getting a little tired.
Now have to put it back together tonight and see if it road tests as it should and then back on to getting the best out of the brakes.

Trevor.