HELP ME GOD ALMIGHTY SHE WONT START!

[benjamincalleja]

Hey all, PLEASE HELP my Esprit wont start!!!!

First time this has ever happened to me so i'm a bit panicked!

Its a carbed domestic 88 turbo. Last time i started it (yesterday) i just started it in the garage to keep things turning over. I waited until it got up to heat and then did some slight revving. I didn't actually switch it off, it stalled when i floored the throttle once and then i just left it and went inside.

SO TODAY i go to take it out for a run and it wont start!

• when you key in the ignition i hear the fuel pump whirring
  
• starter motor cranks over strongly
  
• battery indicator says 14 volts
  
• the car movements under starter load indicates the pistons are going up and down.
  
• spark plugs are 1 year old ngk jobbies, blue leads.
  
• tried the fuel cutoff switch, it hadn't been tripped.
  
• battery leads and earth seem untouched, nothing broken missing or decayed.
  
• it had it ticking over and over and over until i could hear the battery starting to die and it did not start at all, it coughed ONCE very early on
  

• WHAT DO I DO!!!!
  

[DanR]

Got spark and/or fuel?

[benjamincalleja]

Has plenty of newish 98 RON fuel. I presume the spark plugs are working they are less than a year old. I do not have tools to remove them so i cant check but it would be reasonable to assume they are ok. if the battery is strong enough to turn the motor over surely that means its not a battery thing right? I havent changed anything else recently, just installed 4 new headlights yesterday thats all.

[s4simon]

Looks like somethings been knocked in the area you were working yesterday. It's always a simple thing (hopefully). I'd recheck / reseat all the relays in the front area of the car. Don't know where your relays are in the turbo as mine are all at the front.

[ramjet]

What s4simon said. Go back to the last thing touched.

[trackmagic]

Have a friend come over and help you verify it has spark.

Pull one spark plug boot off and insert a screwdriver into the boot and hold it about a 1/2 inch from something metal. (preferably clean)

Be careful and only hold the insulated part of the screwdriver. Preferably a plastic handled one. (no wood)

Crank it over and and see if there is any spark jumps off.

Best,

Jeff

[benjamincalleja]

OK UPDATE - i rang the NRMA and he verified that the lucas cylinder thingy which is next to the fuel cutoff switch inside that thing in the boot is ok. It connected to the blue distributor cap. the spark plugs themselves were fine when he tested a couple on this machine that let him crank up the spark. But testing the spark plugs when just normally attached to the esprit and the distributor cap showed that they were all sparking but very weakly! so there is something wrong with either the distributor cap or coil he said.

Isnt that a manifold off job, how much am i looking at and whats the part number etc?

[rogerch]

Test the spark from the coil first, if that's OK and I mean a good "crack". If that's OK then it's in you plugs and or cap.

If it's not OK have the coil checked.

As a note, I find if I just shunt mine around in the driveway, it's all to easy to oil a plug and have dramas starting it next time.

[benjamincalleja]

what do you mean oil a plug? should i take the plugs out and clean them, will that help? my battery is fu*$D now from cranking so much anyway so i have a dead battery too...

[cazna52]

Sometimes if your dizzy cap or rotor button is the problem you can improve it a bit by cleaning them. Problem is of course that on the esprit the distributor is in a hell of a place to get to.

I had a problem with a weak spark on my car that was coming and going for a while. Turned out it was because there was a short somewhere in the tacho wiring that was depriving the coil of juice. It is very unlikely that would be the problem with yours but it might be worth trying disconnecting the tacho wire from the coil just to check it. On my one it was the white wire on the negative side of the coil.

Edited October 3, 2011 by cazna52

[rogerch]

what do you mean oil a plug? should i take the plugs out and clean them, will that help? my battery is fu*$D now from cranking so much anyway so i have a dead battery too...

Yes, and while they're out spin the motor to blow out any excess fuel.

"Oiled" means wet, and thereby not sparking strongly enough to burn excess fuel.

A well charged battery will also aid starting.

[Sparky]

I'll guess, given the circumstances, that it's flooded. As Roger says, plugs out and cleaned, then crank the motor to vent any fuel hanging about before refitting the plugs. Make sure you have a decent battery charge, and I reckon it'll start!

[benjamincalleja]

a true testament to the esprit's pulling power, the NRMA guy rang my mobile an hour after he left and said he didnt test the coil properly and wanted to try something else. so he came back just now, tried a different bosch/lucas coil, no difference, then tried a newer solid state coil and it coughed a bit but no difference - the spark is too weak. So its NOT the coil, the coil is ok....its the distributor bit. what part of that would need replacing?! it UNDER the manifold how the crap is someone meant to replace it!

there is no more excess fuel, we used his car power to crank the engine for aaaaages surely it would have burnt off?

[rogerch]

No, to burn it off the motor would need to fire. Could well be worse.

[benjamincalleja]

fu#k.

[ramjet]

I once had a dizzy problem and it was really simple, but a bugger to find. All the same sort of symptoms as you have. Issue was when we pulled it apart, checking for dizzy cap cracks or anything else we could find and found nothing. Until we removed the wire that comes through the insulator in the dizzy body and the insulator cracked into two. Replaced it and started first time.

[cazna52]

I know you have already eliminated the coil as the problem but this could help you narrow down the options a bit more.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[rogerch]

I just remembered another way to check the spark, take one stupid smart arse nephew, have him hold onto the lead as you turn the ignition key, if he lands more than 4 feet from the vehicle the spark can be verified as adequate.

[benjamincalleja]

This is a very useful image!!! Thanks where is it from? And no Roger!!!! No zapping people!! Hey where do you get your esprit serviced in coffs? We havethe same model does it really need specialists or can std garages do what's needed? Our model had an exceptionally simple setup, it has poor access but mechanically it's pretty old school, nothing fancy

[rogerch]

Go and buy yourself 4 NGK BPR6ES, chuck the old ones, crank the engine with no plugs in it. Fit the new ones, charge the battery and start the engine !

I service, maintain, modify it myself. Poor access ? my first Lotus was a 1967 series 3 Elan, with an in-accessible distributor, all these years of evolution development and an engine change, and I now have a 1988 Esprit with an in-accessible distributor. At least with this one you don't need to adjust the points.

There's no one in Coffs Harbour, and sadly the only person I trusted when I lived in Sydney is no longer with us. However if you are not a member of Club Lotus Australia, you should be, and tell Anne Blackwood I said so.

Good luck with the car.

Edited October 3, 2011 by Roger the Dodger

[trackmagic]

Weak spark could mean the CEI box needs looking after. The box is nothing special, you can find it on MG's, Jaguars, etc. What can go bad is the module inside. Its an HEI module (4 pin) found in Chevrolet cars here in the states. You might find a garage that has whats known as a good one and swap it out and see if thats the problem.

Good luck,

Jeff

[s4simon]

Damaged earthing point - would mess the spark up.

[rogerch]

That's point, I run an auxiliary earth direct from the battery to the engine block.

[MrDangerUS]

I had a similar problem.

Just to be sure it is not the pump (mine was), listen to the pump with the mechanic's stethoscope. It should give a slight "humming" sound. "Whirring" sound indicate the pump is grinding particles of rust from your tanks. Unfortunately, Lotus engineers (in their infinite cheapness) did not fit a pre-filter-strainer between the tank and the pump. Take the fuel tank drain plug and see if any red-brown slurry will come out from it.

[benjamincalleja]

Ok, whats a CEI box, where can i find it? Where are the earthing points? Where is the fuel tank drain plug?! Ive only had mine for 8 months, im new