Starting greif anyone have any ideas?

[badlyworntoy]

The BX has been sat on axle stands in the shed for around 2 years now and after a full engine rebuild and a supercharger conversion she barked up first turn of the key,abeit several leaks and the cam timing being sligtly out.Now after been sat again for another several months I decided yesterday that it was Time to to drop it on the floor and fill the LHM tank connect the pump pully up and go through the hydraulics.....now with the engine running like a dream and barking up all day off the key with no problems.I had a leak on the accumulator sphere which was easily fixed,I then had fully functioning hydraulics .Anyway after leaving it overnight I expected to go to it this morning and again expect it to start with its usual urgency but all she will do is cough and splutter every few turns.I initially thought it was just out of fuel but adding 5 litres made no diffrence.I then went trough and checked all the usuall culprits.Plugs,Leads crank sensor Fuel supply and Dizzy cap etc and all apear to be ok.the only thing I'm unsure of is the Fuel pump, I can't hear it prime and come to think of it I can't recal ever hearing it .Any one have any ideas ?

[Vanny]

what sort of the starter do you have? the big fat older starter starts to turn slower as it gets older/worn and sometimes the ECU cant pickup the crank properly as a result. Either more power or a lightweight (zx onwards) starter might prove this out. Other wise earth leads, maybe a loose one hidden somewhere.

[Kitch]

What he said ^^^^

Weird as it sounds, try charging the battery up fully if it isn't already. I had a similar thing with mine where it would run fine.....if you got it started. Turned out the battery had enough juice to crank the engine over nicely, but not enough to share enough current to the ECU and its various sensors (like the aforementioned TDC sensor) and basically it was telling the injectors to fire and the plugs to spark etc, but not quite at the right times, as the sensors weren't being completed accurate.

A fully charged battery and off it went. Weird, because normally when you get a flat(ish) battery the starter suffers and everything else is fine, because everything else draws so little in comparison.
Took bloody ages to figure it out, especially as it seemed ok cos it was turning over fine. Only found out with a multi-meter the battery was only good for 12.1v, and even less when cranking. Was only happy at 12.4v or higher!

[thanuttiscotsman]

^^^agreed, fully charged battery will make a difference. also i use xantia td starters as they spin much much quicker. although it does sounds like fuel starvation is another possibility.

rossco

[badlyworntoy]

Guys
It turned out to be the plugs.I think with all the idling its been doing somethings gone a miss it started straight up after changing them.I can't beleive the price of BCP7ET's £3.25 +vat from GSF

[Dave]

Guys
It turned out to be the plugs.I think with all the idling its been doing somethings gone a miss it started straight up after changing them.I can't beleive the price of BCP7ET's £3.25 +vat from GSF

I just saw this and was reading down ready to suggest plugs. That is what mine did a while back. Spent a good time messing about like you did too. I also found a split in a magnecor that was shorting but I think that happened after all the messing about.