[kingspoons]

Hi all,

I have a 92 Rover 214i, and for one reason or another it's been laid up for six months. Although the engine hasn't been started, the battery has been kept topped up.

Long story short, we've just come to try and start the car, but we've had no joy. The first second of the engine turning over sounds about right, but then everything after that sounds... non-productive.

Visually, everything looks fine. You can see the engine turns over, the spark plugs fire, and there's plenty of petrol in the tank. Is there a checklist of things to look at next, or any common issues I should keep in mind?

Thanks!

[RoverRevival]

Is it the carb model out of a metro or the normal k-series?

[kingspoons]

Hi 1234dist, it's normal K-series.

[Paul_1978_yorks]

Rotor arm perhaps? Nice easy fix.

[RoverRevival]

What’s its service history like?
As above if not replaced recently cap and arm is a good cheap starting block

[kingspoons]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! The rotor arm seems to *look* fine, as does the distributor cap from what I can see - checked that before moving on to the spark plugs. All spark plugs seem to be firing fine with good timing too. I'm suspicious it's a fuel problem - what would you say is the best way to check fuel is getting to the cylinders, please?

[RoverRevival]

Torch down the spark plug hole and look for wet or smell of fuel.

If you are not getting any detonation when it’s trying to fire have you check your timing marks to make sure everything lines up.

Obviously we are only getting half the story, was it running and just stopped, never ran ect...

[RoverRevival]

Could just be rubbish or no fuel

[kingspoons]

Yeah, it was running fine. Does about a thousand miles a year, owned from new, had been in regular use before this. Bits and bobs changed as and when necessary. Then ended up not using it for six months, and now it won't fire. Still has plenty of fuel in the tank (75% full). Cam belt changed a year or so ago at Rover specialist Summit Garage, so the timings should all be fine.

[RoverRevival]

You able to do a YouTube video of it trying to start?