Hi all,

I have a Mk4 Escort Van which has been converted to 1.6 CVH EFI (XR3i) by the previous owner...I have had the van for around a year or so but its never seen the road since the engine conversion as I bought it off him pretty soon after he did it...

The van always has been able to start albeit after a few turns of the engine and keeping your foot down on the accelerator...it would then start and run fine

Recently, it began to miss when it did fire up and the revs used to rise up to 2k and back down to idle and then back up again...

I had enough by then, and proceeded to strip the interior out and pull the heater matrix out so I could sound deaden the interior etc.

About 3-4 weeks back, I went to start the car and it just would not start no matter how long I cranked the engine for...in the end, I changed the following...

Plugs
Crank position sensor
And renewed the wires going from the crank position sensor to the EDIS module
Even bypassed the fuel pump relay

Still doesnt start!

Definitely spark coming and can smell petrol after cranking for 20 seconds or so

I know for sure its sparking as if you remove the inlet crossover pipe and spray easy start or brake cleaner etc into the throttle body, it literally catches and the engine fires up straight away and continues to run until you turn the key off...it runs perfect! No misfire, no hunting, idles perfect! Rev it all you like and its as though nothing has happened!

However, I can turn the engine off, and then start the car within a second of turning it off, and it wont start again...

Can any one help and point me into another direction that I may have overlooked?

Thanks for any help...im pulling my hair out now!

Oh and one thing worth mentioning, there is no coolant in the engine yet and the fan switch is disconnected...however, the van used to start like this no problem as I was moving it back and fourth to do the work

 

Is everything plugged into the correct sensors?

Fuel pressure good?

Spark plugs fouled up from repeated shunting around and engine not getting properly up to temp?

 

I believe everything is correct as it used to start and run prior to the last month or so

Fuel pressure I believe is ok but I havent measured it as such, I just know it pis5es out at high pressure if I remove the fuel pipe from the bottom of the regulator

Spark plugs are brand new and still look as new...also, once I get it to start via brake cleaner...it runs perfect...

Could it possibly be a dodgy fuel injector or something? But even then surely it should fire as it runs fine once given an initial shove by brake cleaner

 

I don't know masses about diagnosing fuel injection. But what volt age are you getting at the fuel pump when cranking and running? Could it be low bolts to the pump until alternator charges, The brake cleaner giving enough extra fuel to start engine and the alternator then providing more bolts to the pump?

Just thinking outside the box.

 

Could possibly be that...will have a dive under the van and have a check...I know for sure the battery is fully charged and have even tried starting the van while the charger is connected etc

Ill check this in the next few days and get back to you...just bizzare!

I was hoping a few people with more knowledge thank myself may be able to shed any light as there used to be loads of people offering help on threads a few years old

 

Their is a temp sensor under the inlet manifold. Disconnect it and try a cold start again.

 

Thanks buddy, ill give that a try too...Ill get back onto it today or tomorrow, not had the chance these last few days

 

An update on this guys...

So yesterday I tried disconnecting the above mentioned sensor (on the underside of the inlet manifold) and it made no difference...

I filled coolant in the van and tried to start it again, again nothing...so I did the usual trick of spraying some brake cleaner into the throttle body, quickly ran inside and started it...as usual ran spot on...

However, this time, I let the van continue to run for around 30mins, revving, holding rpm etc...ran well...fan came on a number of times, bled the cooling system etc...

So I thought let me turn it off and try start it....and somehow, it started!!!

I turned it on and off around 10 times and it started every time!

SO im wondering if the coolant had anything to do with it...

One other thing I have noticed though...is it idles high...around 1.8k according to the rev counter...checked for air leaks and couldnt find any from a quick look

I disconnected the ICV and the revs drop back down to normal but it will eventually cut out after maybe 5mins or so...as soon as I reconnect the ICV, the revs go back up to 1.8k

Could a faulty idle control valve be causing this or is something else causing it to behave in this way?

Thanks for all the help so far!