16v turning but not starting

hi. my 1988 16v golf turns over but fails to start. this is an internitant fault. some times i can spend up to 5mins tring to start it and sometimes it fires first time.

now the fuel pump buzzes when i turn the ignition on.

theres plenty of fuel.

im thinking there is either no fuel to the injectors or no spark. now i tryed to check the spark by pulling out the ht lead and putting a plug in the end of it and got a mate to turn it over for me. i had rubber gloves on and wasnt touching the chasis or electrode, so as i was trying to see if there was a spark i got an almighty belt of the insulated part of the lead.


im to scared to check for the spark now, was i doing it wrong??[:^(]

 

think weve all had a belt at some point or other,what i do is put the plug in the lead and either wedge it in somewhere or hold the plug lead with some heavy insulated pliers,you need to do this test as its the second most important to testing for fuel as for fuel prise one injector out and crank the engine ,see if you get a spray of fuel,chances are if the pump is noisey that will be the problem,they sometimes give strange or intermitant problems when there on the way out,,mine used to cut out on right handers

 

cheers. im hoping that its a sparking issue as i was holding the lead for a while before i got the belt from it and i didnt see a spark.

i dont really want to pull the injector out as last time i did half of it was left in my hand and the other still in the manifold. fingers crossed.

 

Take the plug out, put it back in the lead, and leave it sitting on the inlet manifold or cam cover, so that it earths the body of the plug.

The reason you got a big shock is that the plug was using you as an earth.

When you pull the spark plug out and turn the engine over, you should see puffs of fuel vapour coming out of the plug hole, and smell petrol.

If you pull the injector, lift the Kjet metering flap to force it to draw fuel.

 

cheers for advice guys.

not yet tried the spark plug technique you advised yet mike, im using a plug for an 8v golf, would it still produce a spark??

and

if there is a spark at the plug and i proceed to check for fuel by removing the plug to check for vapours, is it safe? its just im a bit cautious after my old man manged to wipe out half his face on an exsplosion he produced by checking for fuel in a similar way.

 

8v plugs are different,there fatter and dont use the pip at the top of the plug,if your not happy checking this way you should do it the propper way by taking an injector out and taping it into a jar(but if your really paranoid you then have a potential petrol bomb)if you do it how mike says just make sure the plug lead is as far away from the plug hole as possible,you could even remove the whole lead,or disconnect the coil wire(high tention),

 

If I'm checking for spark on my own I put the plug up on the windscreen, with the lead trapped under the wiper blade, and ground the body of it with one side of a pair of jump leads. That way you can crank it and watch the plug through the screen at the same time.
I'd also think about cleaning out the metering head - mine used to do exactly as you describe (literally crank until the battery was going soft before firing), turned out the metering head was all varnished up inside and sticking "closed".

 

it does it no mater what temperature it is. TSC were can i find the metering head??
thanks.

 

I can understand why you're careful. I always keep my head out of the bonnet doing that, but I've done it loads of times and never had a problem. I guess if the cylinders were flooded with fuel it could get a bit lively.

The TSC method sounds like a good compromise - another TSC top tip!

 

Me too... keeps your head out of the firing line too.

 

It's where your injector lines come from, big rubber boot over the top.

 

i have checked for the spark on one lead. there is a spark. not sure about the fuel yet. i would of like to check all the plugs but i cant remove them all as the cr*py tool i got from halfords doesnt reach into the plug bore, its to short + plus my 14" ext bar is missing.

im not a happy bunny.

if there is no fuel getting to the injectors could it be the pump? not sure on how the fuel pump set-up works. i checked the fuse. and the fuel filter was changed 2 thousand miles ago, may be not even that.

this starting issue didnt really occour since my mechanic mate done the clutch, so maybe he disturbed an earth. i will check the continuity from the battery - to the head?

i checked the spark by wrapping wire around the body of the plug and straight to the batterie from there.

 

if you'v had the clutch done, a common problem is the Earth onto the gearbox engine mount isn't connected properly and will blow the ECU or in you case cause the intermittent problems.

 

if you'v had the clutch done, a common problem is the Earth onto the gearbox isn't connected properly and will blow the ECU or in you case cause the intermittent problems.

 

i thort that only happened on the 8v digi
looks like youl have to pull an injector outafterall

 

no very common problem on 16v's with K-jet etc too.

 

its not intermittent any more. it doesn't fire up at all any more.

i have good continuity of 0.01ohm from the battery neg to the rocker cover and manifold bolts i don't think you can get better than that.

been looking for the earth strap on the gearbox its self, believe its at the back mounting bolt on the box.

its too dark to see any thing now.

the battery is dead and on charge. will continue tomorrow. will check for fuel. my fear is that its the fuel pump.