Will not fire after head skimmed

Just re-read your original post, do you still have the old belt to compare the new one with?

Take a photo of the end of the cam sprockets for us, with the timing marks lined up, and the cam bolts undone so we can see the cam roll pins please!

Hi following with interest - wierd?
You seem to have covered all the main areas;
Fuel in the pots - the plugs are still getting wet?
Spark at the plug - still there?
If so then immobiliser, cut-out are all ok.
If timing stays as you set it after rotating the engine several (many) times then the belt is a red herring (it will go out if its the wrong one). :doh:
The cam followers rely on an oil supply to work. When you checked them did you dimantle the two halves, clean check and refill them with fresh oil?
If one is sticking part open it can hold a valve off-seat?
Have you re-checked the compession since doing the followers.
As was said before - if the spark is on the right pot, the fuel is getting in and the valves are closing ok - it will go bang and fire up (start maybe?).
Pic's from Rave showing cam pin alignment and sproket positions for info.
Keep the updates coming.

Just a silly thought - you did not get the cams swapped over? (said it was silly)

Sorry - could not get a good infocus shot of the crank pully - but it is aligned with a dot either side of the mark on the caseing

Thanks for all the help - just a quick summary:
Car running fine but been loosing coolent for a while.
Remove head to get skimmed
New timing belt, water pump, tensioner & plugs (& gasgets)
rebuilt and not firing
Check spark, fuel and compression (do not have a compression tester) - all seem OK
Advised to check/strip followers - they were all fully open - removed piston from each and cleaned
I did have them standing in oil - but they may not have been totaly full
rebuilt and just the same not firing - compression feels much better when truning over on the crank by hand
I have moved the timing 180 just to check - infact and now not sure if I have it correct or 180 out. But I have become a dab hand at setting it so does not take long to change.

My wife drives an S reg Hippo so I may just try swapping over the ignition to see if anything changes - dont really think it will make a differance

Thanks eveyone

Sorted!!

swapped my 6 month old HT leads for my wifes (which look like they are original) - Fired first time....

My newish one have a soft top to them with always made them difficult to grip and pull out - my wifes ones have a hard plactic cap which is a lot easier to grip

They sparked OK with the plugs out but I guess were too high resistance under compression following the struggle to get them off the plugs. Still - I would have thought I would have had some kind of response, but nothing at all.

Just one thing..... the car is now starting and reving past 3,500 - is this because of the 1/2 pint of petrol I must have poured down the inlet manifold in the past week?

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. If anyone needs a Hippo timed up I think I'm up to the job.

Glad you got it started

Good job.

Can you get a resistance reading on the HT leads?

Will do - just waiting for a new set to turn up and I'll do a comparison - thanks again everyone.
re the very fast starting revs. Had to put my wife's car back together so will not be starting mine again untill the new bits arrive. Is the very high revs caused by the petrol I put into the inlet to try and get it started?

old_freelanders said:

Will do - just waiting for a new set to turn up and I'll do a comparison - thanks again everyone.
re the very fast starting revs. Had to put my wife's car back together so will not be starting mine again untill the new bits arrive. Is the very high revs caused by the petrol I put into the inlet to try and get it started?

Click to expand...

Throttle body is sticking or Throttle position sensor (TPS/stepper motor) needs reset

Thanks, found some guidence on the tinternet - Ill do that when the new bits arrive

Had the duff HT lead problem when I first got the Rover. Fitted a set of Manicour silicone leads - expensive but it still fires up first turn after 8 years now.
Glad you found the fault

FYI
Resistance of new HT leads is 4K ohm to 10K - the old set were eithe O/C or 15K ohm plus - thanks

old_freelanders said:

FYI
Resistance of new HT leads is 4K ohm to 10K - the old set were eithe O/C or 15K ohm plus - thanks

Click to expand...

Good job..........running well I hope

Sorry O/C ???

For completeness, values for my non-LR set of leads:

Resistance on the leads:

HT 1. 6.29 k ohm
HT 2. 5.61
HT3. 5.06
HT4. 4.44

Coil lead. 3.77

Sorry - O/C = open circuit
It starts fine - just got to sort out a tick over issue. Found that the plastic actuator where the throttle cable sits (at the throttle housing) is all broken and the nipple at the end of the cable is only supported by the remaining bit of the moulding. Worked fine like this for the past 18 months – but think this is the cause of the tick over issue. Will check again this evening.
Thanks