NEWBIE - my 230ce wont start

[mithu]

Hi,

As you can see attached - is a picture of my pride and joy - but however its a very stationary pride and joy at the moment.

Yesterday while attempting to start it as like normal on most occasions - the car made from what a bystander explains a "pop" sound and now is struggling to start. The engine turns over but just wont fire.

I called out the boys in Orange - but they to struggled to diagnose the fault. The checked the ignition coil for spark - no issues. They checked the fuel pump and can clearly hear the pump running. He took of the filter housing and checked for fuel coming into the engine - again no issues. He also undid one of the metal pipes and again fuel was coming. The issue he claims could be is the unit where all the metal fuel pipes are attached to. Sorry Im not very mechanically minded so don't know the name of the parts he was reffering to.

Any suggestions???


Please help!!

 

[nimishashar]

sounds like it could be the crankshaft sensor, but I'm sure more experienced people would be able to coment soon

 

[Sp!ke]

99% of the time its plugs, distributor arm/cap or HT leads producing a weak spark on these engines imho.

The pop would have been a backfire (unburnt fuel) I recon.

Car looks lovely BTW

 

[grober]

He was probably talking about the fuel distributor body and the sensor plate that measures the airflow. Its all one unit on the KE jetronic cars. As Spike says its sounds like ignition related. Did the "orange man" take out any of the plugs to check for unburnt fuel? Could be the EZL solid state ignition unit bolted on the inner wing or the Crank Sensor as has been said or possibly the OVP or fuel pump relays.
Best to get someone who is familiar with these older cars. They don't really use fault codes as such and the best thing to trouble shoot them are the old fashioned oscilloscope engine analysers

 

[mithu]

Appreciate your all replies.

Couple of things - could it be relays even though you can hear the fuel pump.

He did take the plugs out and said the plugs ain't flooded. He checked the OVP relay (the one with the fuse on top and said the fuse is okay) but really was concentrating around the area now grober has mentioned the fuel distributor body. At one stage he opened the throttle body "flap" and the car ran for around 10 seconds and then switched off.

I also was noticing the car was taking normally over the past few days/week - a lot longer to start in the sense i would have to turn the key for a while and after a couple of turns the engine would fire.

Any one recommend a good specialist in Birmingham?

 

[grober]

Both relays are multifunctional The fuel pump relay also controls the cold start valve which injects extra fuel during cold starts. The OVP relay feeds the ECU and the idle control unit and the ABS unit. They are a very common problem on these cars but can sometimes be repaired very cheaply. If your fuel delivery pressure is low then the injection system won't function properly. This might be due to a faulty warm up regulator or a partially blocked fuel filter. A good specialist can check the fuel supply pressure with a gauge. These systems are all Bosch based so any good Bosch Service centre should be able to help--- but make sure they are familiar with your model of car.

 

[mithu]

Can you tell me where I can buy the relays from I'll probably try those first to eliminate them out the equation?

 

[alexander patie]

here is a different suggestion, all the above posts are good advice but...

trying to link in with the POP noise heard, these 102 engines are well known for poping off an idle circuit hose when they backfire. this will mean the car will then not start as the air flow flap will no be depressed. check all around for the rubber hoses that direct the idle circuit airflow, especially the hard to get at one BELOW the flap body that goes to the idle valve. easy to check and easy to rule out, certainly worth a look...

 

[mithu]

That suggestion could be possible as the car ran a bit longer when the air flap was open - I'll take a look in the morning - and coincides with what the bystander said how the pop noise was similar to a release of air.

I'll let you in if I spot anything - any photos of what i'm looking for would be advantageous.

 

[grober]

Have a look at the 2 exploded diagrams here.

Êàòàëîã top one has the heated element bypass the lower has the motor controlled bypass

p.s. you will have to remove the air cleaner to see all this properly.

pps if you intend to do any work on the car yourself the Haynes manual will pay for itself the first job you do. http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/...10001&storeId=10001&productId=13005&langId=-1

 

[alexander patie]

you will have to reach right under the flap body with your hand, from the front. chances are it will be oily and watch out not to disturb the tiny vacuum hoses. feel for a hose leaving the bottom of this rubber case that should go rearwards to the idle control valve (cylindrical silver thingumybob). then check the pipe from here to the manifold.

 

[alexander patie]

that would be hose 107 in grober's link. your car should be the lower of the two pictures.

 

[mithu]

Awesome - I'll take a look in the morning - really really appreciate this and i'll provide a post in the morning.

I remember how the "orange man" took off the air housing so should be a simple job of having a good look around.

 

[mithu]

Update - All working.

Did as alexander patie recommended and had a look under the air filter housing and noticed the pipe in the attached photo lying on the side of the engine block. Had a feel around the underside of the injection system and gathered where the pipe joins to - and put everything back together and fired up the car and running all as normal.

Really appreciate everyone's feedback and hopefully this bit of information will be of use to other people with similar symptoms.

Thanks once again.