Disco V8 1997 Not Starting

Only had the Disco for 3 weeks so not quite sure where everything is.

It has run just fine until last friday, I pulled up on a car park, stopped the engine and got out for a few moments. When I got back in, the engine spun over but would not fire.

The RAC chap said that the distributor was faulty, but I can see the rotor arm spinning happily.

I replaced the base plate with the Hall Effect sensor on it - No Change

Then replaced:

Coil
Ignition Module
Distributor Cap
Rotor Arm

Still no change.

Checked the inertia sensor behind the washer reservoir tank.

There doesn't appear to be 12v arriving at the coil, more like 3v.

I suspect that perhaps the immobiliser has something to do with it but I don't know where it is?

Could it be something else?

Are there any common faults?

Please help, the snow is on it's way and you wouldn't want me to miss out on the fun......

check the igntion timing.

otherwise, when the igntion is on there is 12v at the coil. get a copy of RAVE and go through the tests on there for igntion, i have found it very helpful in past.

also, have you posted this in the v8 section?

finally, put 12v direct to the correct side of the coil and see what happens.

one side should be 12v, one side should receive a positive pulse from the ignition amp, and otherwise be grounded when not running (iirc!).

cheers

Hi, the coil is marked with a + and a - on the two low tension terminals.

Would I be right in thinking that the pulsed side is the one marked -

and that the 12v feed should go to the one marked +

Spider.

Spider?
No idea what this means, what is it, where is it, what does it do?
Cheers

search!

it's some kinda cotrol unit that 300 shape discos have, another piece of unreliable modernisation!!

Amr4956.

merlinpjl said:

Spider?
No idea what this means, what is it, where is it, what does it do?
Cheers

Click to expand...

The Definitive Alarm Spider Post - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

Finally sorted...... I think......

Changed:

Hall effect sensor in distributor
Rotor arm
Distributor cap
HT leads
Coil
Ignition amplifier module.

Removed Spider and looped it out.

Cleaned and tightened all connectors that are a part of the ignition system.

Found that the auto electrician who initially changed the Hall Effect sensor had set the air gap at a about 1.5mm - way to wide!

Once set correctly, the engine ran fine.

However, got 10 miles away and it cut out again!

After 30 mins it fired up and lasted a couple of miles.

Got recovered by RAC and had another look when home.

I went through all the parts again, swapping them for the originals.

The fix came when I put the original Bosch coil back in, John Craddock supplied a Lucas coil!, it has rune fine for 4 days now and has covered about 350 miles without missing a beat.

It would seem that the Bosch coil was fine anyway, but I will get a new one to be sure.



From browsing the posts, it looks like lucas parts are not suited to the Land Rover.

However, I still have a slight running issue as it is pinking when I put my foot down and there isn't quite the power that a V8 should have.

Ignition timing seems OK, but I am not exactly sure, I used a strobe to set the notch in the crankshaft pulley level with the marker on the block on tick over.

Any ideas?

pinking is normally timing too far advanced or low octane fuel