Hi all,

Having some engine troubles with my '81 FI 2000 Spider. I'll try and keep the narrative as short as I can, but I want to make sure I include all relevant details:

I bought the car this past November in decent condition. Odo reads about 83k, but I think the engine was rebuilt about a year and a half ago. My stick shift skills were in their infancy at that point, so I probably stalled it about 10-12 times just trying to get it back to my house. Finally, while trying to get out of a parking lot, my Spider refused to start. The lady I bought it from came by to take a look and thought the engine might be flooded. A good Samaritan who happened to be in the lot helped me get it started (took about 3 hours). I recall that he disconnected one of the distributor cables to test spark and we jumped the car to get it going. He fiddled around with a couple of fuses, as well.

After that, the Spider had difficulty starting unless the gas pedal was floored while it was cranking. I started to notice a rich exhaust smell coming into the cockpit, which at times was unbearable (didn't see any smoke, though). I noticed the #3 spark plug was loose, loose enough for me to turn it in by hand. While this was happening, the car would occasionally misfire while idling at ~1000 RPM and would sometimes die unless I gave it gas. This usually went away when the engine heated up, but the last time I drove it around (about 3 weeks ago) I had to keep it around 2,500 RPM so it wouldn't die. The exhaust scent persisted throughout all this.

I bought a new set of plugs - turns out the loose #3 was missing a washer. First, I replaced the #3 with a new one - that didn't work, car didn't start. Put the old #3 back in and the car started and idled, albeit very roughly.

As far as gapping goes - the recommended gap is .27-.31 (apologies for missing a decimal point or two), but I noticed the old plugs were gapped at .40. I gapped the new plugs as close to .40 as I could (they're probably at .35).

I then took all the old plugs out and put the new ones in. The car didn't start - it will crank 2-3 times and then just click. Tried jumping it to see if it was a battery issue - same result. At this point, my next move is to put the old plugs back in and torque in the #3, just as soon as I can get the hood open, which has now seemingly locked shut

Any ideas as to what's going on? I don't recall the exhaust smell when I bought the car and first drove it around, and I never had to depress the throttle while cranking the engine the first night I drove it home. It sounds a bit different than it did then, too. Fuel pump and filter are new as of Oct. 2010, and according to the previous owner the fuel tank was also re-lined. Is this a spark issue, or did I perhaps have an exhaust leak? I suspected spark because I blew a plug on an old Honda CRX a couple years ago and had the same horrible exhaust smell come into my car (not to mention the motorcycle-ish noise).

Again - apologies if the post was a bit longwinded, just wanted to make sure I got all the relevant info in there. Any help is mucho appreciated - I want to get this little car running again.

Hi Churp,
you're having all sorts of grief aren't you!

You have a number of problems here that I think you should take in turn.

Start with the bonnet release. There should be an emergency release cable tucked up under the dashboard. You might need somebody to pat the bonnet above the catch mechanism as you pull the cable to get it to release. Once you have got it open DO NOT close it again before you fix the release. You can use a screwdriver shaft to simulate the bonnet part of the catch, close it and open it with the screwdriver shaft until you can identify what is wrong and fix/adjust/replace it. If the catch cannot be opened with the emergency cable it is a REAL pita.

Your starting problem is next. If the starter cranks a little then stops and clicks there could be a number of causes.
It sounds like you gave the starter motor a good hiding with stalling and restarting a lot. It might simply be the starter motor is worn out. Check out the things below and you might come back to this.
The battery might not be delivering at it's full capacity. Especially if the car has not been used regularly and as with the starter you gave it a bit of a caning with all that restarting. However, jumping with a good set of jump leads should have the motor spinning again, so if the jump leads didn't help then the battery might not be the culprit. You can get it tested by a garage or (here in the UK at least) most motor parts vendors.
The battery charge might not be getting to the starter motor. Check the battery cables are in good condition and firmly attached. Check that the engine earth cable is in good condition and firmly attached. You can use a jump lead to test this too. Clip the lead to the negative terminal on the battery (if it's under the bonnet) or a well earthed piece of chassis (like the master cylinder) and clip the other end to the cam cover bolt. If the engine spins over then you know it has a poor earth.

Engine running. You know you have a few issues here. Loose plugs and missing washers sounds like poor servicing. You are right to sort these out first.
The odd engine sound you describe could be a number of things but with the unburned fuel smell it sounds like you might be running on 3 or less.
Your fuel injection relies on good electrics so a poor earth might cause you some problems in this department too.
I'd sort the above issues first and then come back to the forum with the running as a seperate issue. I'm sure that the members here will get you on the right tracks.

Good stuff. Thanks for the info, spannerdude....looks like I've got some work to do ahead of me! I'll report back when I run the tests.