Bought a Non Starter Need guidance.

OK so I have just bought a 1996 (N) D1 3.9V8i with 100 Ltr LPG Tank in the boot. Firstly the info I am getting is second sometimes third hand from the guys I got it off so bear with me. This car was cheap so im happy to have to do a bit of head scratching. I just thought id put the problem on here and see if a 100 heads are better than one.

So firstly I have heard this disco run and it was sweet, its got a Genuine 87,000 on the clock and is an ES with electric leather seats, air con etc everything electric so its not a bad un. It was set up (so im told) to start on GAS as there was a problem with the fuel pump, again not sure what? Later on it has had a Brand New Fuel pump fitted so I presume the pump is OK. At some point recently there was a dodgy lead diagnosed so the lad who owned it decided to replace all leads for a brand new set. All very well but the guy doesnt have a clue what hes doing, and ended up with the dizzy off etc etc and now we have a non runner. Firstly I thought it just wants timing up something like and then go from there so got it there or there abouts and it wont fire, got a good spark etc and there is petrol and gas in the tanks. I stopped there and decided to sit down and think about it before going any further and thats where I decided to write this post.

So firstly im thinking lets just get it running correctly on petrol as it should then sort the gas after. Some other things i can tell you is that it has had a seperate switch installed above the headlights switch to turn the fuel pump on and off apparently something to do with the issue I mentioned earlier, again I dont know what this is yet. Also that I have another V8 runner complete in spares that I am gonna break so I can swap out anything required.
One more thing is that when I got a mate to crank it for me whilst I moved the dizzy to see if we could at least get a bang out of it, I went to the back of the vehicle and could smell gas, I then opened back door and saw that one of the pipes from the LPG Tank was leaking at the joint, hissing and frosting up the shroud, so that needs sorting too but looks straight forward enough, obviously this would not have aided the starting either im guessing as pressurisation would have been low and I wasnt smelling that much gas at the motor end.

Any suggestions to add much appreciated.
Thanks

start it on petrol, the pump should run with red light on switch- get timing right

Just discovered fuel pump is running and pumping like the clappers but at the business end under the Bonnet there is bugger all. Hmmmmmmm there's a start what's the crack with fuel lines blocked or just replace?

Aquiesce said:

Just discovered fuel pump is running and pumping like the clappers but at the business end under the Bonnet there is bugger all. Hmmmmmmm there's a start what's the crack with fuel lines blocked or just replace?

Click to expand...

look at fuel lines there is possibly a fuel shut off in the line, blocked fuel filter as normally the injectors are shut off.

Not had much to do with a gas conversion but if it runs on two fuel systems is there a cut off some where that stops one fuel getting to the engine when it is running on the other fuel. just a thought.

Yes has a switch mate that you can switch off to kill the gas system. I have discovered a few more things today, only had an hour on it but will post some pics when I get them off my phone.

Was looking for the fuel filter before to see if there was any sort of blockage there, turns out I can't bloody find one! I know where it should be but it ain't there.
Anyway I saw where the plastic tubing from the fuel pump comes down and that has been shoved into a newer rubber tubing and then clamped with a jubilee clip. So I thought I'd undo it all and have a look, turns out some pillock has leathered the clip that tight that it has squashed the plastic pipe totally restricting fuel flow.



How the hell is fuel supposed to flow thru that!?!

So now I have fuel gushing thru at the plenum end of the fuel line I should be able to start moving forward a bit. Still wouldn't fire but I'm unsure about the spark as the last owner told me spark is good. Think I'll check myself!

So where the hell is the filter then people and why would someone remove it??
This is as you look under the rear offside arch....

Ok this is a very silly Question but you sead that all the leads & dizzy have been off. I bet you have checkrd but are the leads in the right fireing order & all pushed home properly?

No thats what im not saying Like I said before I picked this car up the lad who owned it (idiot) and his father (quite a well informed MOT tester with years of experience messing with LR's) had been playing with it. Thing is they said yes we have changed the dizzy and its in the right firing order, now I decided to go and tow it home as I prefer things to be in my hands rather than waiting around for other people to do something. Anyway I got it home and have only had an hour on it really but so far have found why it wasnt getting any fuel, also the bolt and the little fork are not on the dizzy its just lose, they were trying to get it fired by moving the dizzy about whilst turning it over.

What I am going to do is start at the very beggining myself so I KNOW its right. So tonight after work I will check the dizzy is fitted correctly then I will check the firing order and the quaility of the spark, I now have fuel coming thru and if the spark was good one would assume youd at least get a pop oout of at least one cylinder!

Im still trying to figure why someone would ditch the fuel filter altogether? The little metal strap is still there attached to the chassis leg but no filter, its definately gone. Ive also found a leak on the LPG tank but that looks like an easy fix, plus ive turn the gas switch off anyway and im just concentrating on getting it running on petrol first. The manual switch thats been fitted to the dash is, Im presuming, because the fuel pump on these is a constant run flow and return so I reckon with the last owner having it start on gas and run on as that he wanted to just switch the pump off.
Dont you just hate trying to figure other peoples f*ck ups out.....

Dont you just hate trying to figure other peoples f*ck ups out.....

at bargain prices, others failures equate to hours of fun,
that in the end are achievements and triumphs.

or, aint you just glad you sorted the eediots fcukups out.

the thing is, as you learn just what the problem is, you then pass on your new found knowledge to others who need help..

L Z, at best, a great self help group,
at worst,
well, cant think of one really..

me? I love a bargain, challenge or not

It's not unknown to have the dizzy refitted 180degs out

Wouldn't you notice the vacuum unit wasn't at the front though?
Anyway I'm gonna go home from work today and start by getting cyl 1 to tdc and then have a look what the dizzy is saying to me...take it fm there I guess, I also noticed that the fuel pressure regulator goes from diapraghm to a plastic 'T' that had one pipe missing, looked around and found a hose coming from other side of engine bulkhead that looked like it should be on there. It was split so cut it back and put that on, another thing that should help me on my way I guess?

Actually did you mean the dizzy cap itself, if so then yeah I see where youre coming from. worth a look I suppose.
Cheers

OK so managed to get another half hour to have a mess this afternoon, I reomved the dizzy cleaned everything up and then reassembled it correctly to my knowledge as I was unsure of last person to do it, anyway re timed it all up put all the leads back on correctly, pluged dizzy back in turned it over and she fired up first time..... Engine sounds sweet as a nut which is a relief. I dont imagine its timed perfectly as I just tweaked the dizzy until I got it to tick over nicely. However I manged to drive it round to the petrol station and it felt OK. Everything seems to be working engine temp was OK no smoke or anything, I did notice that the power steering was making a whine noise but I suppose ill look into that soon. I havent had the strobe on it yet as I want to time it for gas ideally once i have fixed the leak on the gas line in the boot. Whats the script with timing it for gas im hearing a lot of people saying 16 BTDC does that sound about right? Also what does each incrememnt mean on the timing marks? 3 degrees each?? The motor driven OK but I wasnt getting the same sort of feel of power as other V8's ive been in. What other sort of things should I be checking for with regards to the lack of power?
Oh also worth mentioning there is no airbox on this car yet! the last guy must of had the hose straight into the snorkel via a K&N type filter or something as there is no airbox with it, I do however have the full car in spares as I mentioned so can stick that one on which I think I will do tomorrow.
Cheers