no spark

[Dominic]

hi all,im looking for some help please. 1 have a 1989 audi coupe quattro that wont start.it has been stood up for about 6 months.it drove perfectly before it was parked up. the engine now turns over fine but just wont fire,the spark plugs are not sparking when trying to start but when i turn the ignition key to the off position after trying to start it,it gives a hick and tries to fire up and the plugs spark for a second when turning the key to the off position

[Mikes2]

what engine is in this car ? KV ?

Does the fuel pump run when cranking ?

[Oily]

My KV Coupe did the same thing - tuend out to be the fuel pump relay. Cost £10 (GBP) for a pattern replacement part & it started first time.

Good luck !

[Dominic]

Yup it's a kv engine.the fuel pump is running.i have just discovered that the electric windows windows and sunroof are not working and they were before I parked it up.i wider are the problems connected to each other

[Oily]

Get a hair drier or a heat gun on a low temp & warm up the fuse box (with the cover off).

Check all your fuses & once it's nice & toasty, try it again - could be water in any of the relays (my old fuel pump relay would work if I warmed it up first - I went through a stage of warming it on a radiator in the house before I replaced it !)

[Dominic]

Would that relay stop the plugs sparking ????

[Oily]

No..... I'm just going on previous experience with the same starting problems.

No spark : Check plugs aren't dirty, check leads, check distributor cap/arm, check coil.

The fact that it was running 6 months ago sounds to me like somehting has got damp. Most/all of the above can be warmed on a radiator & then refitted warm which will get rid of the damp. If your taking leads off, just make sure you make a note of which lead goes where on the engine & distributor - get them in the wrong order, and even if everything is ok, it won't start !

[Dominic]

The fuse box has got wet.the fuses are all ok but I'll take out the relays and dry them and see how that goes

[Mikes2]

On a KV, no spark is usually the ignition amplifier or coil. Coil failure is rare

Also check the king lead

[Dominic]

Thanks for your info, where would I find the coil amp, I've tried a different coil but made no difference, also you mentioned the king lead, might be a silly question but what is that. Cheers

[Mikes2]

ignition amp is either behind the glovebox or beside the relay plate under the steering wheel.

king lead is the HT lead which comes out the coil and attaches to the distributor

[Dominic]

thanks for the help.have the car running now turned out to be the ignition amp