And then there were five..........

[Phil Hill]

Ok, so our SVX dropped down to 5 cylinders yesterday. Angela was on her way back from collage and she said the car was running poorly and lost power. No check engine lamp just an off-beat vibration and lack of power in 4th.

When I got home I located which cylinder has gone down by pulling Injector leads off in sequence until I found the one that made no difference. It's cylinder no. 5, when standing infront of the car it's furthest back left hand side.

Next I took the plug out (now isn't that a rave ??) and it looked ok, no burning or fouling, and not covered in unburnt fuel. I swapped no. 5's plug with no. 1 (which also looked pretty good) and reassembled everything. When I restarted there was no change. I wanted to pull the injector as well, but having tried to get the screws out of the retaining cap I couldn't get my screwdriver past the washer fluid bottle......... And I though Mini's were tight to work on !! I did take the cap off injector no. 3, but the injector didn't want to come out easily, and having thought about it I'm pleased it didn't as I hadn't de-pressurised the fuel rail, and didn't have any replacement seals to put it back !!

Using an electrical test meter I checked the injector demand, there was a standing 13v dc and a small ac voltage ~ 60mv. I'm not sure that's a definative test of the injector driver, but the one thing I forgot to check was the resistance of the injector........ Well it was late, dark and cold on my driveway by 7:30pm !!

So, any thoughts before I call in the cavalry ?? I think my next test is going to be compression, but with the plug being so far inside the head, and it's general location does any one have any top tips or tricks ?? Any thing I've missed, maybe there's a way to check out the coil pack, or is it possible to swap the coil packs from cylinder no. 5 and no. 6 ?? I see that the LT wires are different lengths and colour coded depending on plug location......... Any advice would be appreciated.

Phil.

[oab_au]

Originally posted by Phil Hill
Ok, so our SVX dropped down to 5 cylinders yesterday. Angela was on her way back from collage and she said the car was running poorly and lost power. No check engine lamp just an off-beat vibration and lack of power in 4th.

When I got home I located which cylinder has gone down by pulling Injector leads off in sequence until I found the one that made no difference. It's cylinder no. 5, when standing infront of the car it's furthest back left hand side.

Next I took the plug out (now isn't that a rave ??) and it looked ok, no burning or fouling, and not covered in unburnt fuel. I swapped no. 5's plug with no. 1 (which also looked pretty good) and reassembled everything. When I restarted there was no change. I wanted to pull the injector as well, but having tried to get the screws out of the retaining cap I couldn't get my screwdriver past the washer fluid bottle......... And I though Mini's were tight to work on !! I did take the cap off injector no. 3, but the injector didn't want to come out easily, and having thought about it I'm pleased it didn't as I hadn't de-pressurised the fuel rail, and didn't have any replacement seals to put it back !!

Using an electrical test meter I checked the injector demand, there was a standing 13v dc and a small ac voltage ~ 60mv. I'm not sure that's a definative test of the injector driver, but the one thing I forgot to check was the resistance of the injector........ Well it was late, dark and cold on my driveway by 7:30pm !!

So, any thoughts before I call in the cavalry ?? I think my next test is going to be compression, but with the plug being so far inside the head, and it's general location does any one have any top tips or tricks ?? Any thing I've missed, maybe there's a way to check out the coil pack, or is it possible to swap the coil packs from cylinder no. 5 and no. 6 ?? I see that the LT wires are different lengths and colour coded depending on plug location......... Any advice would be appreciated.

Phil.

Gid'ay Phil, you should be able to test for compression by pulling the ignitor plugs out, to prevent it starting, then turn it over on the starter. You should be able to feel the even comp pulses, or a gap, where there is one missing.


Check the injector operation by useing a lenght of hose on top of the injector to listern for the injector click.


Pull the coil pack, stick a piece of wire up the boot, see if it will jump a spark to the block.

Happy hunting, I don't think its compression.

Harvey.

[svxistentialist]

I would say best bet is the coil pack Phil.

I imagine the different colour wires is so they will not be mixed up during engine stripdown. There will be three different lengths, and two different sides. The coil packs themselves must all be the same.

Joe

[Phil Hill]

Just to let you all know it was indeed a failed coil that caused our problems. Called dealer on Friday, coil shipped from importer to dealer overnight, collected on Saturday. Cost was £50 (£35 for the coil, £7 for the shipping, plus tax).

[svxistentialist]

Good going Phil.

Glad you got her back in action for Angela without too much trouble or expense.

Joe