Rover 216SLI damp starting

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 7 Feb 2003 09:19
Rover 216SLI damp starting - IanL
Can anyone help, I have a 1997 Rover 216SLI which refuses to start after rain. When dry the car will start on the button. Any common things to look out for on this model, leads etc ?

Thanks IAN
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 7 Feb 2003 10:39
Rover 216SLI damp starting - Toad, of Toad Hall.
A mate with a 218 Coupe has this.

He claims new HT's fixed it.

My old 1.4K series had a occasional fail to start problem that was cure by flooring the accelerator when trying to start it.

Don't want to teach you to suck eggs but you are checking theres a spark at the plugs aren't you?


--
These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 10 Feb 2003 21:32
Rover 216SLI damp starting - David Lacey
Ian

The 'usual' HT leads may well be your problem - while you're at it, you might aswell change the distributor cap & rotor arm - all wearing, serviceable items.

I could almost guarantee you'll have no problems thereafter.

MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 10 Feb 2003 22:05
Rover 216SLI damp starting - DavidHM
If you are a real cheapskate, mechanically inept, or both, a short term fix might be to spray the leads and connectors with WD40. This will dry them out, and repel water next time it rains. It's only a short term fix in my opinion, but better than nothing.

If the leads are rigid and/or brittle then they are definitely worn and, at 6 years, it's not a bad idea to replace them anyway. Parts to do this on my Renault 19 were about £35 and it wasn't a huge job by any means.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 12 Feb 2003 21:38
Rover 216SLI damp starting - Robin the Technician
The most likely cause is the distributor cap. The one fitted to the 'k' series is quite crap. If you remove it you will probably find the carbon in the central tower will be worn. For what it costs, replace it along with the rotor arm. Do this first before changing the leads as I believe this is your problem and damp weather just makes it worse.
Robin the Rover Engineer
Reply | Report as offensive | Link