[RoverRevival]

i put my money on the fuel relay

[Mr Teddy Bear]

The only time one of my R8's has completely died and refused to start full stop, the fault was the igniter module in the distributor. I think the T.C has a external unit to the distributor.

I'm glad your Mum took it all in good spirits Max!

[burtonm]

It's not the fuel relay.

I suspect the igniter too, and the battery being knackered.

[burtonm]

The ignition module is the last piece of the puzzle really:
-the alternator is NOS and fitted last week with a new Gates belt
-battery is known not to hold charge, but will turn car over. taking battery from GSi while it's on SORN
-fuel relay tested and working x2
-coil was replaced 2 years ago
-ignition module has a mangled screw suggesting previous interference/investigation
-distributor is under investigation but an easy fix.
The only other thing I can think off is having lost cambelt roulette, but AIUI the TCs are interference engines so it wouldnt turn at all if the timing was off, surely?

[Mr Teddy Bear]

I remember some one [Jonny216GSi?] talking about always replacing the heat sink pad and glueing/sticking it to the module? There will be a thread in T&D some where.

[burtonm]

Hmmm....


The car arrived around 9:30pm while I was at work. It's now on my drive.

[Johnny 216GSi]

I remember some one [Jonny216GSi?] talking about always replacing the heat sink pad and glueing/sticking it to the module? There will be a thread in T&D some where.

Twas me. The ignitor module has transistors in it that get hot. They have a metal back plate which I assume bolts to some metal inside the distributor housing. New ones come with a small packet of thermal grease which should be smeared on the back of the ignitor module before mouting, to help heat transfer. Could be a cause of failure if this step is missed out, as the module might run too hot.

Has to be said that the modern aftermarket ignitors are much better than the originals - they look to be properly sealed/epoxy filled whereas the early ones were filled with some semi-liquid gunk and suffered water/grime ingess which caused corrosion and failure. There's an excellent web PDF on the subject.

Heavy idle with lower revs than expected could be a dead or dying battery taking a lot of charge current, or a faulty regulator or field coil set in the alternator. I'd check earth/ground and power cabling before spending on a new battery though, and give the current battery a good slow charge, checking the charge current and whether the battery is getting warm, plus it's off-charge voltage on the car to see if a cell has gone.

I don't think those Hella alternators are NOS. There were only 2 manufacturers - Denso and Bosch. The Hella, Valeo and other alternators that resemble the Denso one I believe to be remanufactured Denso units. Even though Hella charge £200+ for one of their alternators. I'm not saying they won't be tip-top, but I suppose there's a slightly increased risk of a faulty unit. Check it says Hella on the alternator and not Valeo - there are some very cheap Valeo remans around and I'm not sure why they are so cheap because genuine autofactors charge a lot for Valeo remans.

Failure to restart after a run does point to the main relay behind the centre console. Once it's cooled down for 10-15 minutes, the car then starts and people don't know what's going on... But it sounds like it could have been a non-charged or non-charging battery in your case. It depends on how the car cranked without help - was that battery spinning the starter round with its usual vigour, or was is sounding like it was struggling?

If the car never starts again after stopping, then it's the ignitor module. It's normally an all-or-nothing failure mode. It's never intermittent in my experience.

Dizzy cap and rotor arm usually effect damp-start performance. Look for black marks and pitting on the rotor tip and on the points inside the cap. Should be clearly visible if there's a problem.

The only other component in the dizzy is the coil (yes, it's in there). I've never heard of them failing but I guess it's possible.

I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it, but it's just that there's about 6 actual components it could be (or a combination) and the associated wiring.

[burtonm]

The car is now running.

With the AA's jump pack on it span as usual but was reluctant otherwise. As soon as it was off it was back to slow.

Got it home and found the dizzy cap scratched up on the inside, and the ignitor module to have been replaced previously. Couldn't tell if the coil had or not but it was working.

More test cranking at home almost instantly killed what little charge was left in the battery. It wasn't charging at all.
After some thought and swapping bits off the GSi I went back to the fuel relay - despite it clicking and thinking it was OK, turned out it wasn't, and with that and a new battery it's running. Needs the tappets doing but otherwise it's fine.

Alternator says Hella on it.

The PO is sending me a cheque to compensate for the battery and ignition bits, and Interflora'd my mum some flowers too!

[RoverRevival]

cough cough

i put my money on the fuel relay

It's not the fuel relay.

I suspect the igniter too, and the battery being knackered.

Insert smug mode

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Max said "The PO is sending me a cheque to compensate for the battery and ignition bits, and Interflora'd my mum some flowers too!"

That's one hell of a seller!

Some folk turn catching you out into a art form.

Good Luck & Happy Motoring in the GTi.