So this is introducing our 1992 216 SLi. Bought as a non-runner that supposedly was being driven, cut out and then wouldn’t restart. The previous owner said there’s no spark but I’m yet to investigate.
I pretty much bought it on a whim and figured the early GTi alloys should at least be worth a few quid.
It’s pretty clean inside but I’m guessing that’s because it has done 47k!
I’ve got no reason to doubt it looking at the MoT history and the general condition but sadly there is no history with it at all.

This is probably the worst of the body rust and underneath is pretty solid too, although it has been patched in a couple of places.
The battery was dead so that’s on charge and then diagnostics can begin to try and track down what the issue is - then I’ve just got to work out what I’m going to do with it.

KEEP IT!

These are grand cars, well engineered, rust proofed and designed. Remember to change the gearbox oil every 24k and it takes engine oil I use Castrol Magnetec 10-40.

Probably the weakest aspect are the brakes, never tail gate anything, especially Focus or later because you're unlikely to stop from speed!

I hope you enjoy the car, she will provide years of service and motoring pleasure if you look after her!

Looking at the trip she hasn't been clocked so another positive.

Right, had a quick poke at this today and it indeed has no spark but the cambelt is intact.

The previous owner has replaced the cap, rotor arm, and coil but a quick check with the multimeter and I’m not getting 12v to the coil when cranking.
The battery is freshly charged and seems healthy enough, it slings over plenty quick enough.

Usual jebbery of taking over someone else’s problem, the dizzy bolts were loose, so I’m now awaiting the arrival of a Haynes manual and further diagnosing of what the heck’s wrong!

Unfortunately the Haynes isn't going to be a lot of use for this particular fault. Can you check the feed to the ignitor unit?

I hold a hard copy of the workshop manual I will dig it out this p.m.

Sourcing a known working Dizzy is another option.

There will be a fault code flashing on the ECU red LED that's underneath the front passenger carpet, it will be activated when you turn the ign' on. There is a 2 second pause and then the sequence repeats.
A Fault code is signified by the PGM-FI warning lamp staying on.

It’s mainly for a wiring diagram as I know nothing about Rovers, Ford or e36 BMW on the other hand…

Got 12v to the igniter, it looks more than a bit suspect though, all the terminals are corroded and it looks pretty old and generally crusty.

That has been exposed to the elements I would source another distributor.

These don't normally fail certainly not at such a low mileage.

Well after lots of multimeter prodding the igniter module was looking more and more like it was the problem so I swapped it out this morning and…

SHE LIVES!!!

I stuck some fresh petrol in and she barked off first turn of the key, and is running really well too.

On to the next task now although I’m not really sure what that is as I though this was going to take way longer to sort.

Brilliant! I thought it would either be the coil or the igniter unit - and it's a quick fix, even better. Look forward to seeing you soon then.

Good save, and great to hear about resolving the fault!

'No start' is usually ignitor or coil on these Honda D-series engines. Well done for sorting it so quickly

'No warm re-start' is usually the fuel relay, behind the centre console, whose soldered joints on the PCB dry out after years of use. It's easy to get it out and prevent embarrassing 'failures to proceed'.