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A friend owns a Corsa which has been unused for some weeks. It started reluctantly on some cylinders and eventually all four. The tickover was smooth and it was left to warm up fully. Unfortunately when driven it would not accelerate and was parked up. Now it will not start at all, no fuel is coming through as there is no spark. I have checked the plastic drive to the distributor but that is ok. I'm sure you guys will be able to suggest what to check next. Thanks in anticipation.
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Hi
Short out the centre pin of the distributor to ground if very time you do this there is spark and the fuel pump runs and the injector injects then looks like the distributor is faulty. I assume the distributor is turning (cambelt not broken)
Regards,
Merlin
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Thanks Merlin Tec. Sorry for the delay but the is corsa down the road. The cambelt is ok as the rotor arm turns. When I earth the centre pin I can hear a dull click so I presume that must point to a faulty distributor. Are there any serviceable parts in it or is a replacement required?
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you will need to pull the king lead (centre of the distibutor cap) out and lay it on the engine near a good earth point (bolt etc) ignition on disconect the distributor connector (three pin plug) with a paper clip or a bit of wire with the ends stripped momentarily short to earth the centre pin, if coil amp and all wireing cicuit is good you should get a big fat spark from the king lead that you disconnected (keep fingers well away from this cos it hurts !!!!!!!!!!!!!) if so then you could also remove the plastic bit above the injector (air trunking) and if you short it out again the fuel injector should be heard or seen to spray fuel ( reconnect the king lead before testing for fuel injection). let me know what happens and i will try to help further regards Topbloke
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Hi
You have to flash it not hold it there just jeep flashing it. most diy shops sell them as it?s a common fault and it?s a exchange unit.
Regards,
Merlin
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I have done as you both suggested. There is a good spark and fuel is being injected so does that mean the distributor isn't grounding the centre pin and is faulty?
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yep this test proves power is going in and out of all the right places the optical pick up is fu bared time for new distributor me thinks
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Cheers Topbloke I will get another distributor and come back with result. Thanks for the info I wouldn't have got any where near without all this help.
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I tried another distributor but no go. Returned that one and tried a second, still nothing. So if it was'nt that it could only be the wiring to the 3 pin plug. on closer inspection, in daylight, I could see fine short strands of wire at the thin end of the rubber boot. After pushing the boot back all was revealed a corroded screen wire no longer connected to one of the outer pins. When this was fixed it fired up first time. I have never been so pleased to hear an engine run.
Thanks again for the advice and keep up the good work.
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Always good to see feedback and a conclusion - thanks. Can I ask what engine is in the Corsa, as my son has a 1.2 (8 valve)? It's amazing how the Backroom brings up particular problems with particular models.
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>>It's amazing how the Backroom brings up particular problems with particular models.
The odd thing is that more times than not, topbloke's recommendation would have been right.
In all probability, a fault like this would have caught me out too - although I usually short the centre lead to the earth lead in the 3 terminal plug, thus also checking the earth path. A fault on the connection to the remaining live pin would have gone unchecked.
Number_Cruncher
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Hi Waino, it is an 8 valve 1.2 Corsa Merit. I read most days but don't post often. However I know most of you like to hear the end of the story. Otherwise it will be of no use to those with potentially the same problem.
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Hi
Well the last guy that was perfect got nailed to a cross. :)
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MT, in case your post was in response to mine, let me explain in more detail what I meant.
I wasn't in any way suggesting that bad advice had been given (that really would be the height of hypocrisy!). I was saying that in all likeliehood, I would have gone down the same path myself.
The thrust of my post was to say that yes, it's great when we get feedback about how a problem has been sorted, but that it's wrong of other readers of the backroom to then automatically go away thinking that this is in some way a common fault likely to afflict his/her vehicle.
In more cases than not, it's best to do proper diagnosis, rather than to fix via poke and hope and via simply copying previous stories you read off the web.
Number_Cruncher
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