Head changed, now wont start.....

Hi all, newby here.

I am working on my mums 2003 MG tf (1.8 63k on the clock), when i serviced it a couple of months ago i noticed that the head gasket was showing all the signs of wearing out.

Dad decided that if i was going to do the job then i would do it properly, so he ordered a re-conned head from ebay and decided that i should change the oil rail to the heavy duty one to stiffen it up slightly.

The change went well, although time consuming, however now she wont start? i am getting a constant beep from the stepper motor although before the beep you can here it switching- or at least trying too.

I am also slightly concerned at the timing, i set the crank so the 2 dots were lined up with the flange on the oil pump. However when fitting the camshaft pulley i noticed that the plate could go on one of 2 ways due to the location of the key, does anyone know what posistion the key should be in when the camshaft pulley is fitted, so the engine is at 90d BTDC? i did set the pulleys so the in and exhaust were pointing at each other, but it still has the possibility of being 180d out.......

Thanks in advance for your help.

Andy

Bump

Sorry missed this somehow.
First question, is it a VVC or an MPi?
Setting up the timing. see here

And...:welcome2:

Hi, it's not a vvc so I guess that makes it an mpi, I forgot to mention that the stepper motor continues to beep for about 10 mins after the key is taken out the ignition, is this normal? I will check out the timing section, thanks

andyjc86 wrote: Hi, it's not a vvc so I guess that makes it an mpi, I forgot to mention that the stepper motor continues to beep for about 10 mins after the key is taken out the ignition, is this normal? I will check out the timing section, thanks

Yes, that makes it an mpi. I've never heard of the stepper motor making much of a noise at all. Are you sure that's where the noise is coming from? could you upload a video to youtube and post a link on here?

It's not the alarm is it?
You're not getting 'machine gun' noises when you try to start it are you?

Yea its 100% the stepper motor, because as soon as you disconnect it the noise goes away, i will try to take a video of it tonight, however i'm not very technical with that sort of thing so may have troubles uploading it!

When you say "wont start"...what do you mean?

Does it turn over, does it start for a second then die, does it do nothing at all?

You sure the plugs for coil etc are plugged in.

andyjc86 wrote: Hi all, newby here.

I am working on my mums 2003 MG tf (1.8 63k on the clock), when i serviced it a couple of months ago i noticed that the head gasket was showing all the signs of wearing out.

Dad decided that if i was going to do the job then i would do it properly, so he ordered a re-conned head from ebay and decided that i should change the oil rail to the heavy duty one to stiffen it up slightly.

The change went well, although time consuming, however now she wont start? i am getting a constant beep from the stepper motor although before the beep you can here it switching- or at least trying too.

I am also slightly concerned at the timing, i set the crank so the 2 dots were lined up with the flange on the oil pump. However when fitting the camshaft pulley i noticed that the plate could go on one of 2 ways due to the location of the key, does anyone know what posistion the key should be in when the camshaft pulley is fitted, so the engine is at 90d BTDC? i did set the pulleys so the in and exhaust were pointing at each other, but it still has the possibility of being 180d out.......

WELCOME TO THE T BAR

What have you done!!!!?

Please check and double check the camshafts and crank positions are correct before trying to turn the engine over because if the timing is out you could end up punching a hole in a piston with a valve or worse.
i agree with David, never heard of a stepper motor "bleeping"
How far are yo away from Jon Norris (Rough Luck) in Rutland or Russell Walsh in Tonbridge (Kent) to check everything electronic before blundering on. Mad Max on this forum had a simmilar problem after his battery went flat, charged it off the car, refitted it and the car would not start, if it did only ran for a few seconds and died. Russell discovered the ECU had been "spiked" and needed reprogramming (cost £35 and loads of coffee)
Did the recon head come with the camshafts fitted or did you change over the old ones?
Please keep us informed of progress.
What Jon, David, Clive & Broon dont know about the K series engines is quite honestly not worth knowing.
:rant: :omg: :broon: :rant:

broon wrote: When you say "wont start"...what do you mean?

Does it turn over, does it start for a second then die, does it do nothing at all?

You sure the plugs for coil etc are plugged in.

She turns over as you would expect, but makes no attemp to fire, except for the very first start of the day, where it nearly fires but doesn't lol the coils are connected and have power getting to them and you can smell fuel.

I will give it a couple more goes tonight to see if the plugs are wet, then I will do a compression test, what sort of reading should I expect.

The cams were already fitted to the new head, hence the uncertainty about the key and pulley fitment

Is the camshaft sensor definitely connected. Compression should be around 13-15 bar, but its different between cars and as long as all 4 are within 10% of each other, then it should be OK

Might be timing I guess.....

Ok, so i have taken a couple of videos, the first shows the car not starting, you can hear the fuel pump kick in and the stepper motor sort of click:



The next show the constant beep from the stepper motor which goes away when you unplug it (as you would expect)



(you may need to turn the volume up, the clattering is rain!)

I will check the plugs and do a compression test after dinner (i bet you can't wait for the next installment!)


edit: embedded the video's for you , Psymon

well that explains the beep...its the classic stepper motor whine/whistle. Nothing to worry about.

Its definitely not firing is it. mmmm..

i assume you didnt disconnect the crankshaft sensor for any reason? Or disturb it when locking flywheel? Have you tried pushing the fuel cut off button...just in case,,,and also check the fuses under the bonnet (green 30A ones to the top left)..as one of these control fuel pump (i remove it to do a compression test)

sorry, but just throwing lots of eggs into the basket..