Non starting V8

Hi Folks
I bought a N reg 3.9 V8 ES yesterday as a non starter at a fair price. Had it brought home today was going to have it taken to Gratec my local indy
but they are closed for christmas newyear. So I though what the heck I
will have a Quick look myself.So I was hoping that if I grovelled enough "grovel grovel grovel" that you knowledgable folks on here(please note still groveling) might be willing to give me some advice.The story so far the guy that had the car has been trying to get it to run for about 3 months. It began when the ignition barrel jammed he managed to use a screwdriver to get home,changed the barrel the next day it ran but rough he then decieded to check the distributer and managed to knock the wieghts off so he bought and fitted a new distributer it still would not start he then fitted a new coil still no go then he was told to fit a spyder bypass which he did still would not start AA had a look they reckon its the box of tricks in the side of the drivers footwell.The chap was well cheesed off by now so I made him an offer.When I got it home the battery was as flat as a witches tit so I fitted a new one ,now the car turns over but there is no spark whatsoever and no power at the coil I ran a
wire from the battery to the coil and the fuel pump ran but
still no spark .When I get back tommow I will carry on looking but do you think this could be a problem with the imobiliser?.Any suggestions (polite idealy) would be most welcome.
Regards Doug

yes its possible,the engine system is in two seperate parts fuel(efi) and ignition (spark) the ecu behind kick panel drivers footwell has two metal capped relays these run ecu and fuel pump,they both need to click when ignition turned on ,fuel pump should run for 4 seconds then go off until you try and start it the one with purple and white wires does fuel pump the other power for efi system larger brown wire battery live feed white wire ignition feed wire which you can make a fresh if not working ie isolated from immobiliser ,likewise you can run a fresh ingnition live to +side of coil

Thanks JAMESMARTIN
I did run a new supply to the + side of the coil and heard the pump run as
you suggested ,I will pop outside get the wife to turn on the ignition while
I listen for the pump without the link.Back in a little .
Regards Boycie

Hi All
Just been out to the car switched on ignition no sound of fuel pump, bridged between coil + and battery + or coil - and battery + pump runs.
Dont know if its relavent but the interior lights have a mind of their own
front one was off went out its on I switched it off on the light itself,
wife just called out the back one is on now.

Regards Boycie

you still need to check behind kick panel coil is connected to ecu by wire which lets ecu no engine is running or started,they should be thought of as seperate systems,efi is connected to coil but doesnt operate it

From them two relays connect the thick brown straight to batt and the thick White one if it runs I will give more info from there but don't want to confuse you yet splice the wire or cut and run two new wires to batt this will do away with everything and engine SHOULD spark

those relays work efi have nowt do do with spark side

Ok you know best

Hi Folks
Had to go to work today so not had much time to work on the disco,
but had a quick look removed the drivers side kick panel as Mr Martin suggested I found two metal topped relays as he suggested but no E C U eventualy found it behind passengers glove box. Had a quick look at the relays but not sure about the wire colours no plain browns or white do you think I have found the correct relays, there is wiring diagram on the side would it do any harm if I bridged out the relays manually to see if the
fuel pump ran or we got 12v at coil ?.
Regards Boycie

are you sure you couldnt find ecu black box with 10 cm single plug usually tucked up inside kick panel purple white wires easiest to spot ,if you trip relays correctly wont harm any thing

Thank you for the reply Mr Martin I will double check in the morning ,but if I remember correctly behind the kick panel two rows of relays one above the other the metal topped relays are on the top row nearest the front of the footwell.The ECU is behind the glove box I think I saw a large black relay in there. By the way the metal topped relays do not click when the
ignition is turned on .
Regards Doug

Have you found a White multi plug about 6-8 pin?

If I understand the story so far the engine turns over but doesn't fire. You suspect the EFI and/or the fuel pump relay is not switching.

Either the relay(s) have died, there is no power being supplied (alarm spider?) or there is an earth problem preventing the relays switching.

It sounds like you have started working on the first couple of possibilities but I would strongly suggest you undo, clean and re-make as many of the earth points as you can find.

Let us know how you get on.

The ECU up behind the glovebox is more likely to be the central locking or alarm.

Does it say 14CUX on the black box you have found?

Hi Folks
Would like to say a big thanks to the people that posted me advice over the last couple of days for pointing me in the right direction with my disco "THANKS" I got it started today .I checked out the fuel pump relay as suggested no power on white /green wire which is the switched live with igntion on , bridged across permanent live pump ran 12v at coil traced the white/green back to the fuse board and WAIT FOR IT damaged fuse holder .One conection on the fuse had pushed out the back of the holder
pushed it back checked the distributor timing ,cleaned the plugs, checked
plug leads , turned it over and it started Thanks again for the help.
Regards Boycie

Thought you said the EFI wiring has nothing to do with the coil powering up ahh??? Glad you got it going boycie