P38A V8 Not starting after head gasket change

Update: Sprayed some starter fluid into the intake, still no change.
Tried pressing the centre of the valve on the injector rail, a small puff of air came out, then nothing.
Still have not found where that mysterious connector goes.

I thought it was originally a fuel problem, but surely the starter fluid would have got it going for a moment?
Starting to think there's much more wrong.

d1s said:

Update: Sprayed some starter fluid into the intake, still no change.
Tried pressing the centre of the valve on the injector rail, a small puff of air came out, then nothing.
Still have not found where that mysterious connector goes.

I thought it was originally a fuel problem, but surely the starter fluid would have got it going for a moment?
Starting to think there's much more wrong.

Click to expand...

When ignition is switched on the fuel pump should run to pressurise the system to 35 PSI then stop. Don't know what you have done but think it's time you brought in someone who knows what he is doing.

There's no obvious noise of the fuel system pressurising when I turn the ignition on. Lack of pressure from the valve on the fuel rail would support this. Diagnostic scan also shows no DTCs.

I'm still convinced that plug is for the crank sensor (or crank angle sensor to give it the correct title)

Here's a link to show the position of the sensor and if you look at the picture, that plug of yours looks in about the correct position!

http://www.stockholmviews.com/p38/thor/ERR7354G_Figure01.jpg

I'll double check tomorrow morning, thanks for your suggestion

Make sure the connectors are all pushed home underneath the fuse box. These can sometimes become dislodged during engine work which can result in a none start.
I assume it is the gems engine you have?

What year is your range rover, & what engine? Gems or thor motronic?

It's a 1999 (V plate). How do I tell which engine I have?

d1s said:

It's a 1999 (V plate). How do I tell which engine I have?

Click to expand...

On GEMS engine, the inlet manifold plenum chamber is a rectangular box, on the Bosch / Motronic, known as a THOR engine, it looks like a bunch of bananas..

like this..



And if it smells weird and sounds like a tractor... its a diesel

ukadamwest said:

On GEMS engine, the inlet manifold plenum chamber is a rectangular box, on the Bosch / Motronic, known as a THOR engine, it looks like a bunch of bananas..

like this..

And if it is far more reliable than either... its a diesel

Click to expand...

Fixed that for you.

Mine is a Bosch engine

Update: IT LIVES! You were right Doo, it was indeed the crankshaft sensor.
Only problem now is, it runs rough as hell, and cuts out as soon as I take my foot off the gas.
Any ideas?

all the plugs and leads in the right places ?

sucking in air will make it run rough .. if runs at full tilt, then fuel is getting through and air , but maybe in not in the right quantity.. any air being sucked in after the MAF meter will throw the mixture out. all vac hoses in the right places ?

+1 check all the leads from coil pack to plugs. I marked all mine and still got 2 the wrong way round

I think I have all the hoses connected properly, anyone got a picture of what they should be connected to?
I'll have a go swapping the coils too.
It idles around 200rpm before stalling.. Was hoping for a CEL so it would tell me which cylinder is misfiring

d1s said:

I think I have all the hoses connected properly, anyone got a picture of what they should be connected to?
I'll have a go swapping the coils too.
It idles around 200rpm before stalling.. Was hoping for a CEL so it would tell me which cylinder is misfiring

Click to expand...

as a question ... how did you seal the plenum ram housing to the inlet manifold ?
if it sucks in air from there it will idle like a bag of crap, low and then die as the mixture is too weak as un-metered is being introduced.

i ask as you mentioned that with high rpm it runs.. but relax the throttle and it dies.. so with a strong mixture it will run but with a low fuel ratio it will die..

I would agree with ukadam, mine ran on 5 cylinders when I collected it as mice had eaten through 3 of the leads, but it started and drove!!

Then, we managed to reverse a couple of leads after replacing the lot (tight as a nuns chuff where they put the coil packs) and so she ran on 6 cylinders with two firing against each other, but she still ran, even at idle.

If it can't tell how much air it's getting it won't run well at all.... If the leads aren't new, check for chafing or incorrectly pushed home either at the coils or at the plugs. Best time to check if the leads are leaking is in the dark, it'll be like the 4th of July under the bonnet, sparks everywhere

Delighted she's running though, you're almost there

The intake manifold gasket isn't in great condition, so I'll see if I can get a replacement. Would having the injectors connected the wrong order also have an effect?

d1s said:

The intake manifold gasket isn't in great condition, so I'll see if I can get a replacement. Would having the injectors connected the wrong order also have an effect?

Click to expand...

Read up on sequential fuel injection.

d1s said:

The intake manifold gasket isn't in great condition, so I'll see if I can get a replacement. Would having the injectors connected the wrong order also have an effect?

Click to expand...

if i recall, you'd be hard pushed to connect the injectors the wrong way around as they are at the length that that align to the correct position.

Lets just walk through the head replacement.. were the heads torqued down in the correct way ?

Inlet manifold should have been changed, they are a couple of quid. go for the composite, not the tin. the plenum chamber gasket should have been renewed also as it will suck in air and screw up the fuel / air mixture ratio by pulling in unmetered air.

in addition to RAVE, i like using parts diagrams for an exploded view as my brain tends to see how things go together. i use albrit.de

here the link for you ive done it to the V8 engine, click on the side bar for exploded views and you can also get the part numbers

P38 - Engine - Petrol http://albrit.de/NAV.cfm?PAGE=558673&SPRACHE=EN

inlet manifold upper http://albrit.de/UNI.cfm?PAGE=824952&SPRACHE=EN

inlet manifold lower http://albrit.de/UNI.cfm?PAGE=824930&SPRACHE=EN