Not starting, what to check

[DottySkee]

Hi all,

Just tried to start the car after putting the new engine in. Not quite finished as got the exhaust to fig and throttle cable to cut to length but wanted to give it a test fire.

Got power so battery is good, can get light/wipers etc. I get nothing from the starter motor. Connections are on, earth is to the body next to the engine mount. What is there to check? Is a rev 2 starter motor ok with a rev 3 engine? I've got my rev 2 starter motor sitting there so I could do a quick swap to see if the motor is goosed (it worked for last owner AFAIK but engine sat for 2 years).

What should I be checking first? I didn't hear clicking from the relay but its raining so may have drowned it out (pun intended!)

[Peter Gidden]

Starters are all the same.

CEL?

Power to starter relay?

[2mad]

I didn't hear clicking from the relay

Pull the large cable bolted to the starer and clean it up .. using a dremel or sand paper .. had this happen to me loads of times .

[2mad]

I didn't hear clicking from the relay

Pull the large cable bolted to the starer and clean it up .. using a dremel or sand paper .. had this happen to me loads of times .

I totally miss read what you wrote (sorry dude) like Pete said investigate the relay with a multimeter .. I think the pinout for it is in the bgb .


Kev.

[2mad]

How'd you get on mate .. hoping for the best

[Torero]

Basically, work back from the starter testing the power output at each junction. If there's power at the base of the relay then get it replaced.

[2mad]

^^

[DottySkee]

Hi guys, sorry for the very late reply to this one.

So, a few developments to where we are now. I ended up swapping out the passenger side loom as I still had a rev 2 and it was either repin it, or replace it for the conversion, so replaced it.

I appear to have an issue with earths. I'm scratching my head an mechanic is scratching his head on this too. The engine loom in standard rev 3, the ECU is standard rev 3 and I had an issue that one wire in the passenger side loom (black and white wire) which should be earth, was live.

When it was live, we got no CEL, no crank on the key etc. If gets earthed as it should be, the car will crank on the key, I get the CEL but then no spark. The Igniter and Coil and good and taken from a working car for testing.

Everyone is stumped. With that black and white wire in the passenger loom as live (which is the same problem I had before I swapped the rev 2 PSL for the Rev 3 PSL) the car won't crank. Make it earth and it cranks with no spark.

When it was doing this, got an error code for the igniter, so that's when we swapped in a known working coil and igniter. Still no spark.

I'm guessing now it's check the dizzy and leads? The odd earth problem has me confused though...

Any suggestions?

[Peter Gidden]

Why did you swap the body loom?

Rev3 body loom will not work with Rev2 dash loom without repinning in the footwell. You're turning a simple conversion re-pin into a nightmare.

If one of your two main loom earths is live i wouldn't be messing with dizzy and leads...

Before you changed body looms, one of the repin jobs to do is, IIRC, earth starter relay... Then it would have turned over...

[DottySkee]

Gah! Changed body loom on advice from said mechanic. Do you have the diagram for the re-pin in the footwell Peter? Probably the easiest job now rather than swapping the body loom back to the rev 2 and repinning at the ECU.

[Peter Gidden]

Gah! Changed body loom on advice from said mechanic. Do you have the diagram for the re-pin in the footwell Peter? Probably the easiest job now rather than swapping the body loom back to the rev 2 and repinning at the ECU.

I do somewhere, but it's 10 years since i changed a body loom as part of a conversion.

Just use your Rev3 loom as a comparison and an ohmeter to work out which pins are different, and change accordingly.

[DottySkee]

Gah! Changed body loom on advice from said mechanic. Do you have the diagram for the re-pin in the footwell Peter? Probably the easiest job now rather than swapping the body loom back to the rev 2 and repinning at the ECU.

I do somewhere, but it's 10 years since i changed a body loom as part of a conversion.

Just use your Rev3 loom as a comparison and an ohmeter to work out which pins are different, and change accordingly.

Gotcha, so just use the rev 2 loom out of the car to match up the rev 3 loom in the car at the footwell end, check on a meter and plug it in. I may come back with some questions though.

Thanks for the help

[Peter Gidden]

Gah! Changed body loom on advice from said mechanic. Do you have the diagram for the re-pin in the footwell Peter? Probably the easiest job now rather than swapping the body loom back to the rev 2 and repinning at the ECU.

I do somewhere, but it's 10 years since i changed a body loom as part of a conversion.

Just use your Rev3 loom as a comparison and an ohmeter to work out which pins are different, and change accordingly.

Gotcha, so just use the rev 2 loom out of the car to match up the rev 3 loom in the car at the footwell end, check on a meter and plug it in. I may come back with some questions though.

Thanks for the help

Using a continuity meter, check where each wire at footwell end of Rev3 loom goes. Compare with Rev2 loom, and repin as necessary.

Start by finding your earth problem.

[2mad]

I was told 7 years ago if the chassis, engine loom and ecu match the engine will fire .. i bought these three things from a rev2 for my rev1 and brum the car fired .. just my thoughts , probably wrong

No repining required in my case


I actually thought that was how you did a rev3 coversion, buy the engine and electronics , fit the engine and chassis loom and ecu and brum brum jobs a good'en .. hope Pete can see you right

[DottySkee]

I do somewhere, but it's 10 years since i changed a body loom as part of a conversion.

Just use your Rev3 loom as a comparison and an ohmeter to work out which pins are different, and change accordingly.

Gotcha, so just use the rev 2 loom out of the car to match up the rev 3 loom in the car at the footwell end, check on a meter and plug it in. I may come back with some questions though.

Thanks for the help

Using a continuity meter, check where each wire at footwell end of Rev3 loom goes. Compare with Rev2 loom, and repin as necessary.

Start by finding your earth problem.

Hi Peter,

Could you send me the diagram or quick guide of what you would change on a rev 2 body loom when you normally do the conversion? Going to use it to double check my work and if I find it too big a ball ache in the footwell, I can swap the rev 2 body loom back in and just repin that from your guide.


Cheers