Help Please Xe Problem

[mk2dave]

Lads i have a mk2 escort project thats nearly finished, i fitted a 2ltr xe engine on twin 45's dorlettos, its on mbe 3d management,i bought the all the running gear out of another car,the engine was mapped and all set up and running perfect in the old car,the engine was siting in my shed for 4 months before i fitted it into my car, i got all the wireing sorted by an auto electrics chap who specialises in wireing rallycars,anyway i got the car home put in a new battery new sparkplugs put petrol in etc... i put on the exaust manifold but dont have the exaust system on yet, so i said i'd try start her,she is turning over grand but wont fire up and she gives the odd backfire, the fuel pump is working grand and the carbs are geting fuel,she has spark any ideas what could be wrong?:wall:

[Pushrod King]

Plug leads in the wrong order?? It's easy to get them 180 deg out;)

[mk2dave]

checked them they are in right order,any other ideas?

[Pushrod King]

TBH I'm not up on the mbe system but I'd say that it's either wired incorrectly or the crank sensor's gone tits up.
Just a thought though:going back to my previous reply have you tried it WITH the leads in the opposite order to how they are now? IE: no1 where no4 is, no4 where no1 was,and 2&3 swapped.
Are the plugs getting wet? Have you checked for a spark at each lead? Checking these will give you an idea whether the problem is fuel or ignition related HTH:thumb:

[mk2dave]

thanks mate,i changed the plugs yesterday and the old ones were wet,i will check for spark at each plug the weekend i also have a spare crank sensor in the shed somewhere its old but i'll give it a try

[mk2dave]

tried the spare crank sensor i had so it wasent that, the spark at the spark plugs is very weak, could the coilpack be dodgy?

[Pushrod King]

Possibly,check the wiring to the coil pack and make sure that the voltages are correct. It might be worth getting the sparky that wired it in to check the installation over just incase he got something in the wrong place:thumb:

I wonder whether the map on the system's been lost:thinking: You might need to reprogram the ecu with a baseline that can be improved once the engine's running:confused:

SBD do a free download.http://www.sbdev.co.uk/Main.htm

[finavonford]

try removing the plugs ,then wind it over and get some oil into tappets,refit plugs the try again,the tappets may have drained in the four week lay up:cool:

[mk2dave]

i got a second hand coil today and tried it,i now have a good strong spark at the coil but still very weak spark at the plugs,i tried an old crank sensor i had in the shed and no differance but that could be dodgey to?
FINAVONFORD i will try that tomorrow thanks
PUSHROD KING thanks ,i wouldent have a clue about voltages and remaping the ecu

[windy]

Have you got a good thick earth lead fom your engine block to the chassis? Some people forget to fit one & the electrics struggle to find another good route to earth

[raymondmarble]

When I first assembled my Zetec, I had the 2 feeds to each side of the coil pack from the ECU the wrong way round. That had me stumped for ages!! It gave the odd fire through the exhaust or carbs. Maybe this helps you? I hate wiring :stu:

Cheers! Graham

[Pushrod King]

Any news Dave:dunno:

[mk2dave]

got a spare coil a spare crank sensor,checked all conections earths etc...still no go, still have very weak spark at the plugs! any other susgestions lads? would there be any point me buying new plugleads to see if that helps?:wall:

[Pushrod King]

Have you talked to SBD?? They should be able to help:thumb:

[mk2dave]

put her on the trailer today and brought it back up to the lad that wired it,he gona have a look and see if he can find the problem! i'll keep ye posted

[retrocarclub]

Have you checked for compression?

[mk2dave]

reprogamed the ecu and she fired up! she is driving grand but takes a few seconds for the revs to come back down,like when your changing gears the reves stay up between gears! anyone any ideas what could be wrong? it has twin 45 delortho's,i'm guessing its a problem with the carbs?

[Barn]

If its got a 3D map and a TPS then the potentiometer could be out and holding some advance??