Still not starting guys,any advice?..
 

The mg that I have is the 1.8 zs. Now the problem is all from fitting a new head after hg failure, a guy put it back together but was wrong the exhaust cam was 180 out so wouldn't fire up.

I stripped it of its cam belt and realigned them how they should be and refitted the leads the right way around.. There is new plugs in and there is fuel getting in but some reason it's still not firing up,

Can someone please shed some light on this and where I'm going around,

Thanks. Danny

Firstly have you got a spark ? If not then it could be a cam or crank shaft sensor issue.

If you have a spark and got fuel then next step is a compression test. It could be that your hydraulic lifters have locked out. A tow start would sort this but I would want to be a 100% sure that the timing is right before attempting this.

G

What's the best way to check for a spark? Also the timing is spot on mate turned over twice by hand and they're All good. Is there Anything else that I can try to eliminate?. I've cleaned the cam sensor but not sure where the crank one is and how to get it out.. It's a new head would it not have a light oil coating on the lifters?

Has the battery still got a good charge in it, if they start to run down can do funny things.

Yea mate its brand new,, it turns over fine but sounds as though there is no spark happening its winding me right up now

Mine was turning over - just not catching.

Took out the cam sensor and cleaned it up - worked once again then packed in.

Changed the sensor - for a second hand one - all good -

The sensor being faulty won't necessarily be visible.

i know its a bit of a daft question but are the plugs around the inlet manifold all connected or plugged in the wrong way round?

Yes mate theyl only go on one way wont they?. I can see why these are not popular cars now.. Its really gripping me i just want it on the road before i drive back to the uk on wednesday.

As your looking under the car the crank sensor is above the exhaust pipe in the side of the gearbox bell housing...

Looks similar to the cam sensor, quite difficult to get at as the manifold means you can't move the exhaust pipe...

Might be silly question, but have you pushed the fuel cut off switch in the cabin incase it was knocked at all? and also have you activated and deactivated the alarm/immobiliser incase that has kicked in? - oh and checked all earth points and fuses are clean and in one peice?

Hope that was of some help... - TBH they are fairly easy engines to work on, but they got a bit of bad press and now people seem to expect things to go wrong and don't have as much patience with them...

Can get some tools from a car shop I.E. Halfrauds (damn it, using them twice in one day) i think the laser range of tools has some spark plug thingys (techinical, i know!) they are red an sit on top of the plug, then the lead connects to that and you can see if the spark order is correct, this would therefore also tell you if the spark is present at all!

Try them.....

I used to just remove a spark plug, re-attach the HT lead and then hold the plug against the block, then get a friend to crank the engine :) if its sparking then its kinda obvious... lol :) (From my Bike days... which reminds me, must get the BSA back on the road...)

Ok cheers would it work by having the plug connected and putting it to the body of the engine to see if imgetting a spark? And ive checked the fuel cut off,i activate then deactivate the immobiliser to try it but its still the same, is the crank sensor held in by one 8mm bolt like the csm sensor? The fuses in the bay are all good mate is there any to check inside the cabin? And is there any earth points in particular to check? Also the connections will only go in certain connectors or am i wrong?

See my previous comment :)

Yes :) - careful though, I broke the last one I tried to take out as it was such a tight fit and an awkward place to get to :'(

There are some engine management fuses under the Steering column IIRC...

The main earth point is the one that connects to the gearbox via the clutch slave bracket...

Ok thanks il check later todAy i hope it runs now, i reset all the timing marks again yesterday and theyre spot on,im just hoping the lad who put it back together before hasnt damaged anything.

Well the guy who put it back together last time had put the exhaust pulley on the wrong way on the locating dowel so the cam was 180 out, hes tried starting it a few times aswell so would that have done any damage? I had the belt off again and done timing and put the pulleys on the right way around it didnt start :( so its in the garage now having a compression test done

It shouldnt have caused any damage, however, have you confirmed you have a spark and fuel?

If you have then its a hydraulic lifter issue which will only be sorted if they are removed and emptied or tow starting the car.

G

Yes theres defo a spark and fuel mate,, just wondering do the lifters stop it from starting?? If so how because ive nevermheard of that before,, mwhen the lad tried to start it before my mate said it tried to start then just wouldnt and it would only turn over.

Also just wondering what would cause it to not spark?

Cars still in garage and theyve said theres no compression and quoted €1000 to fix it.. Does anyone no what the cause maybe?. And could bump starting fix this and the possible lifter issue?..

Id be rechecking timing, and if it does have no compession its whoever did the job in the first place who should be paying, if the lifters have been mixed the valves may be staying open but usually these would drain enough over night, if timing spot on keep trying cranking gently pressing throttle fully on / off it may catch, then after around 5 minutes running at about 2000 revs it should start to sound more normal

I check timing twice mate today and done atleast two full revs of the engine by hand, first time was a tooth out so removed and started again and was spot on, the guy who refitted it had the exhaust cam on wrong so i cant help thinking its ruined the valves and pistons.

If it was 180degrees out it should be okay, that was a rookie mistake I made when I was an apprentice and all was fine after it was re alligned, you can set up exhaust as inlet and inlet as exhaust and it will start actually, id say likely hood though is the lifters may have been mixed holding valves open causing the low compression,

As you've checked and rechecked the timing and are happy that it's good, I'd try tow starting it before paying anyone 1000 euros.

Cool cheers for the advice guys,im hoping it is just the lifters as it was a brand new head that was fitted so i can only assume theyre all dry and waiting for the oil pump to feed them oil. Il update the thread tomoz to see how i got on as time is so tight because im driving back to uk to north wales tomoz.

Tried the bump starting and no luck.it was spluttering but still nothing.so it looks like its going to the mg heaven like every other one :(

is the guy who did the job not taking any responsibility

regards timing, you need to alighn up exhaust and inlet on the camshafts like this

INLET- -EXHAUST

but if you remove the cam pulley bolts there are 2 positions the cam pulley can be put on the camshaft too, it says IN for inlet and EX for exhaust

They were on the wrong way around mate when he tried firing it and bumping it,thats when i took it all apart and found they were out cheers for the help though

shame its stuck abroad, it would take under 2 hours to take it apart see whats what

True mate, its a right pain in the arse