2.3 20v Coupe wont start ! Advice needed !!

[coco]

Hi everyone, am new to this forum as have just become the proud new owner of a 1991 2.3 20v Coupe Quattro.

Am looking for advice regarding it not starting !! I bought it as a non runner and the guy that owned it previously said that he took the car for its mot, drove it home and parked it up, left it for an hour or so and came back out to move the car and it wouldn't fire up !!! He said that he never really had much a look to see what was wrong and parked it up and forgot about it, this was 15 months ago and now im going to see if i can get the old beast to breath life again !!!

Anyway im looking for pointers as to what i should be looking for and how to do a bit of fault finding and investigating etc. Will i need the Vagcom machine to tell me any logged fault codes or can i do it myself another way ??

Have been told by one or two people that its probably the hall sensor or the distributor thats at fault, whats the best method of checking these to find out if they are at fault ??

All info and advice will be greatly appreciated folks

Cheers

[DarrenM]

Had similar on my V6 recently and it turned out to be the Cam sensor. Have you got a spark??

[coco]

Had similar on my V6 recently and it turned out to be the Cam sensor. Have you got a spark??

No mate she's got no spark !

[Acidburn]

Dizzy problems, sounds like the gear on its shattered

[Acidburn]

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23793&highlight=dizzy+gear

check out this thread by robatron or do a search for dizzy gear, any problems, pm me.

also check noels thread

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21711&highlight=timing+distributor

Those are the photo's I used for my s2, tho you might just need the dizzy, flywheel and top pulley but just check them all, first things first, take the cap off the dizzy so you can see the rotor arm, turn it over to see if this is moving if not then mark the body of the dizzy to the head then using a 13mm spanner remove the locking plate and remove the dizzy and check the gear most likely will be shattered or flat on an edge like mine was.

[S2central.net]

An LED tester across the two signal pins from the hall sender will tell you if its giving anything to the ECU when you crank the engine - you should see a pulse every other crank rev.

I assume you have checked dippy stuff like compression and fuel delivery already ?

Paul

[coco]

Cheers guys, will have a check on all of the above, have not really looked it over yet as only got it home on sat and no space inside my garage just yet, been ***** weather all this week so far so will have to wait till i can get it inside.

Guy i bought it from had said he thought there maybe was no voltage at the crankshaft sensor, i kinda got the feeling he would have said anything just to try and get a sale on the car !!! Will check all the basics though when i do finally get a look at it. I noticed in an package inside the car that he had bought a brass gear drive for the distributer, how difficult a job is it to fit these if thats the problem ???


Have also read somewhere about the no spark problem being related somehow to a pin in the gearbox !!! Is there any truth in this or is it an unban myth !!!

[Acidburn]

If you do what I said and check to see if the rotor is turning that will tell you, its literally a 2 minute job, 2x tabs on the cap look and see where the arm is, quickly turn the engine and look again and see if its moved.

I'd almost bet its the gear, especially if there is one inside the car.

[coco]

If you do what I said and check to see if the rotor is turning that will tell you, its literally a 2 minute job, 2x tabs on the cap look and see where the arm is, quickly turn the engine and look again and see if its moved.

I'd almost bet its the gear, especially if there is one inside the car.

Yeah mate thanks for that, i'll give it a go

How easy is it to change the gear for the dizzy if its that thats the fault ???

[Acidburn]

Timing it up via the pics above ain't too bad, once you've got the dizzy out if the gear is shattered, get the pin out slide on the new gear then put the pin back in.

We used a soft grinding disc and took off enough of the pin so it could be tapped thru then we reused the pin on mine, been on there for months now no problems.

[coco]

Timing it up via the pics above ain't too bad, once you've got the dizzy out if the gear is shattered, get the pin out slide on the new gear then put the pin back in.

We used a soft grinding disc and took off enough of the pin so it could be tapped thru then we reused the pin on mine, been on there for months now no problems.

Nice one mate, cheers for that. Only been on the site a few hours and loads of help and info so far.

So the timing for the dist has to be bang on i take it, if its a tooth out it still wont spark will it ??? You cant get away with refitting it almost in the same position and then turning it to adjust the timing then ????

[Acidburn]

if you follow the picture above for the mark on the rotor (the line) and the other one on the body and refit it like that it should be ok, just remember to mark the body of the dizzy to the head and try line them up. its not too hard.

Btw you might want to get iirc a 27mm spanner (deep one) or socket so you can turn the engine to tdc.

[S2central.net]

Just line up the timing marks and you'll be fine...

Depending on the engine type you have (and its ECU) you will need a good signal from the hall sender and crank senders in order to get a spark. Hall sender / dissy failure is not at all uncommon so I'd be confident on that being the 1st thing to check.

Paul

[S2central.net]

Btw you might want to get iirc a 27mm spanner (deep one) or socket so you can turn the engine to tdc.

Yep - or my stealthy PAS pulley mod

[Acidburn]

Yep - or my stealthy PAS pulley mod

Lol picked mine up from vagparts on monday when I saw james/aelred/martyn there.

Just got to fit it now