P38 petrol turns over but wont fire up.

Hi I am new here, I have joined as I am starting to work on my own car as I have some more free time these days.

I have a year 2000 P38 that is failing to fire up. There is no juice at the coils and therefore no spark. I have been told to swap the cam sensor so have one on order to be collected next wednesday.

Will I need any electronic wizardry to set or reset onboard computers?

I was just wondering if anyone has any other ideas, thanks for reading this I look forward to any comments and or help.

Loss of sync?

That what its all pointing to. Will a new cam sensor put this problem right or will I need to do something else to put things back in sync?

If it's loss of sync the sensor will make no difference, you will need a syncmate or diagnostics ro re-sync the engine ECU to the BECM. There may be someone near you who can help. Or buy yourself a Nanocom Evo and do all your own diagnostics.

Thank you. Looks like I need to invest in a new toy

sirchatalott said:

Thank you. Looks like I need to invest in a new toy

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Blackbox Solutions Ltd - Designers and manufacturers of the best vehicle diagnostic tools. for Nanocom

Invested in a sync mate today , fingers crossed!

New can sensor fitted, sync mate bought and used. Still wont fire grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Any pointers to a very frustrated amatuer.

Crank Sensor maybe??

Had a similar problem on an Alfa. Would work for a while then turn over and not fire up. Swapped loads of things but turned out to be a faulty crank sensor as v8 saint said

Crank sensor failure is more common than Cam sensor failure. Pins sometimes get knocked off the flywheel too.

Hi Mate,

Ive had this with a P38, unfortunatly there are a few things you need to rule out... first point of call, plug the car in and see what codes its throwing up. I have a a 2000 4.6 with a faulty trigger out from the ecu. if you have already done this was was the fault showing.. if there is no fault present you will need to check the feed with a multi meter. do you have rave?

Hi Datatek,

Where is the crank sensor located?
For weeks before it failed to start , when I went over a deep pothole or severe sleeping policeman the engine died momenterilly then immediatly came back to full power. Could this have been something to do with the fact it wont fire now?
You need to know I know very little about cars

Hi Drewsp38,
I am hoping a friend is going to come round this week with something to plug in and read the fault codes.
I will keep you informed.
I do have Rave ( i think it is in Greek though! lol My son is a mechanic so i am passing all tips onto him)

Two things that spring to mind:-
1) Cam sensor failure won't stop the engine from running - ECU will use some pre-stored defaults to keep everything running albeit a little more rough.
2) Crank sensor failures don't register fault codes that can be read using diagnostics. You will need an oscilloscope to check the signal.

When my '99 did the same as yours I spent the money and had it on a Testbook and the only thing it picked up was the misfires.

Take your camshaft sensor back and get a crankshaft position sensor instead.

sirchatalott said:

Hi Datatek,

Where is the crank sensor located?
For weeks before it failed to start , when I went over a deep pothole or severe sleeping policeman the engine died momenterilly then immediatly came back to full power. Could this have been something to do with the fact it wont fire now?
You need to know I know very little about cars

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Sorry I don't know the location on the petrol, it's down by the starter on the diesel.
If it dies over bumps it sounds more like a duff connection, have you checked the fuse box for signs/smells of burning? Also check the ignition and fuel pump relays, they can fall apart inside.

Still no luck, I have put it in for a diagnostics check.

sirchatalott said:

Still no luck, I have put it in for a diagnostics check.

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When you say "still no luck" does this mean you have tried fitting a new crank position sensor?

Hmmm!

What resyncer did you buy? Are you certain it's for the motronic engine & not the gems?

Have you tested the fuel relay under the bonnet? You can swap them around, colour for colour.

timmy264 said:

Had a similar problem on an Alfa. Would work for a while then turn over and not fire up. Swapped loads of things but turned out to be a faulty crank sensor as v8 saint said

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as said by v8 saint,crank sensor.had same problem and replacing crank sensor cured it