Mk1 GTi won't start.

Hi,

The car has had major rebuild after being used as a track car.
Correct 1.6 engine now fitted
Has had new fuel tank, pipes, fuel pump, fresh fuel, relays. fuse box, injectors and fuel distributor head has been checked out.
Battery is new and good.
Cam belt has been changed. Seems to be timed up ok
When the crankshaft pulley mark os at 12 o'clock the mark on the inner side of the camshaft sprocket lines up
with small plate on the cylinder head and the flywheel timing make seems to be in the correct place.
The mark on the ancillary shaft (distributor drive) doesn't meet up with any other mark but I am advised that this is not crucial.
Points and condenser have been changed and there is a good spark.
Have removed and checked the fifth injector and when engine cranked it shows a good fuel supply.
Have removed number one injector and when engine is cranked and fuel distributor head diaphragm lifted it shows a good fuel mist.
Engine wont fire up.
Looking at basic principles it must surely be either a fuel or ignition problem but cannot locate which.
Fuel supply seems ok and spark is good.
Have checked timing and that seems ok.
At the moment the instrument cluster is away being checked.
Any idea what I am missing here?

Thanks
Any assistance greatly appreciated.

 

Fuel + spark + timing. You seem to have covered fuel and timing but how have you checked for spark?

The most common issues I've had are -

ignition amplifier (TCI-H) fault - sometimes it will produce a spark but not a strong one.
timing 180 degrees out

 

Hi,

Spark seems to be fine.
Have checked to see if timing 180 degrees out.
Took plugs out and checked compression strokes
All ok.
Thanks again

 

Thanks again
Will take out plugs and check for signs of fuel
Did a compression test. No idea when engine last ran properly but they come up at About 4.5bar
One thing I have not checked. Because not sure of facts are the connections fron the fuel distributor head to the injectors.
Do they need to be fitted in any particualar order.
Saw a picture on utube where number one injector ran from the bottom left and then they ran anti-clockwise 2,3 with injector 4 from top left.
The ones on mine are not in that order.
Would that cause a problem?

 

Changed injector pipes as per your post
I also checked the inlet manifold butterflies which seemed to be partially seized.
Freed them up and at long last she fired up. Loads of smoke and sh** from the exhaust at first but ran ok.
The engine had nut run for 2-3 years.
Did not run it for long as no coolant.
Many thanks for your post. Really helpful.

Do you happen to know how much movement should be in the diaphragm before the distributor head dispenses fuel to the injectors?
Earlier when I was checking the fuel supply I removed number 1 injector and placed it in a jar. Turned the engine over and lifted the diaphragm.
It was almost at the top of its movement before fuel appeared.
When I went back to the car today after it was cold it started first time but only ran for about 5 seconds on the 5th injector then cut out.
The main injectors don't seem to cut in and I wondered if it was a matter of adjustment
Thanks again for your earlier post.

 

All injectors flow at the same time on k jet. The k stands for konstant / constant.
You don't need to spin the engine over, just bridge the fuel pump relay so that the pump stays pumping constantly, to check. The injectors should be flowing fuel through all the travel of the plate in the metering head.

 

Just a line to say thanks again for your assistance
Engine now up and running
Have no idea when last run but was some years ago.
Loads of - I think the polite word is detritus - out of the exhaust, uneven running but put some coolant in and ran it for ten minutes or so and
is now a lot better.
Tick over is far too fast but that is a minor problem

Thanks again

 

Good to hear ...

Mine is due to start soon after ten years idle !