Car wont start...

charlieja

Ok, thought I would try again with this...

Engine stopped working whislt driving and wont start again..

Checked battery and tried bumping, no luck.

Checked that coil pack working, getting spart from each outlet.

Checked for fuel/mist comming from chamber when I crank car, not sure on this one, its hard to see, however I can definatly smell the fuel, and if I put hand over the holes I can smell petrol on my hands after (How obvious should the mist be?) Noticed oil on one of the plugs when I took it out also, others just had little bit of carbon build up.

Checking compression later today, if the compression turns out to be fine, were else should I be looking? Would a faulty sensor stop the car from firing up? Crankshaft sensor, map sensor, lamda? or would it still fire but just run lumpy?

Again...ANY HELP 🙂

MikeS

no crank sensor

map sensor should not stop car firing up

lambda does not control fuelling until they have warmed up

charlieja

Ok thanks for that...saved me buying sensors I dont need!

For reading vauxall engine faults, does it have to be a TECH 2 or should any decent diagnostic read them all long as it hasnt come out of a xmas cracker?

krazylegz

you can read the fault codes with opcom bud.... does the MIL light flash when cranking it over?

charlieja

Really sorry if im sounding dumb here...but...OPCOM? And which light is MIL! im learning as I go!

krazylegz

opcom plugs into the cars diagnostic socket under the coin train ( in front of handbrake ), you can get them on ebay for abput £30ish. MIL is the engine management light on the clocks

charlieja

ok,

well just done compression test, and the first three chambers going from the left ddnt even regester, the last one went up to about 155 psi on the first turn....head gasket?

krazylegz

well certainly looks like it. any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil? expansion bottle smell of petrol?

charlieja

no, which is strange thing, im going to check that chain is still on tomorrow, if it is, cant think of anything else!

charlieja

Ok, took top (camshaft cover?) cover off, and were a chain should be, there isnt...bugger....So, couple of questions, first one a little dumb..

The top chain, i.e the cain I 'should' be able to see when I take top cover off, is this 'timing chain' or 'balancer shaft chain'?
Before I go and buy knew chain, what other damage should I be looking for? also, its a z22se engine, but this is the second engine (christ) and I think it came from a zafira, if I was buy a chain, would it matter if it was from 2.2 astra, zafira or veccy when I buy the chain?

astra22bertoneauto

That is the Timing Chain. Balance chain you can only see from the wheel arch.
You will be lucky not to have done any damage to head/valves/pistons. BUT you wont know this unless either you fit another chain & do compression test OR take the head off. If you have another old timing chain lying about you could fit that just to do compression test & cross ya fingers.....

P.S. a Z22se chain fits all engines in all models with that engine

charlieja

Im starting to see why people just plonk new engines in now! ... So if I decide to repair its probably new valves/guides, labour etc, or if I bought another cylinder head, I could just put this in (valves/guides all part of new head?) and new chain obviously lol (not sure why im laughing?)

JohnnyN

You'd be better off biting the bullet and getting yourself another head. The chances of no head damage are very remote. Also, go for genuine chain kits. These are available from Matt through this forum.

astra22bertoneauto

Yeah its easier to chuck another lump in or if you want to spend the tlc on it then go for taking head off etc. It all depends how lucky you feel.....

For example on 1 of my old mk2 astras my cam belt snapped sitting at the lights. Luckily the only damage was 2 cam followers! I didnt even take the head off, just replaced a seto of followers & new cam belt and away i went.

If you want to spent tlc on your car and you can get a second user timing chain just to do compression test, then only thing you lose is your time if there is damage. No harm in finding out thou. As Johnny says thou the chances are slim, but ive been lucky 4 times now.......

charlieja

4 times? you have done the lottery this week right?

As im not sure were I could get second hand chain, I might just pull head off anyway, to see what damage there is, never know, may get lucky :eh:

astra22bertoneauto

no not done lottery lol.

I have been lucky with heads but admittedly not with bottom ends and rods popping thru the casing! :wtf:

MikeS

no crank sensor

is incorrect

the z22se has a crank sensor - it does not have a camshaft sensor

charlieja

Ok, the heads coming off this weekend, is it nessacery to put p4 at TDC if chain has snapped before removing? dunno..

vocky

I normally put the pistons at the mid point when whipping the head off, so none at TDC

charlieja

Ok, Thanks for that 🙂