Nice little story for a friday read....

Well i was trudling along last nite when BANG!
Yep clutch pedal to the floor whilst in 4th! Great
So pull over and let all traffic past then try starting the car to get the few miles home in 1st... Guess what... rubbish battery and dies after about 3mins.
So out comes the AA card.
Then the damn alarm goes off as it thinks it's being tampered with!

So eventually get it all sorted with a repair done by the AA man to get me home!

But then the MAJOR PROBLEM- The car is runnin like a bag $hite. bein 9pm couldn't really see much in the dark but seems like it maybe a HT lead or plug as one of them made no diffrence to the running when taken off.

So to cut a long story very short is likely to be the prob?
I'm gonna replace the lot anyway but was bored at work so thought i'd post about it.

Anyway no need to read all that really.Lol
Cheers
Jamie

Edit: Oh yeah also the fault light comes on (injector) would this be as it's running wrong or yet another problem?

If you get no difference removing one plug lead, then look closely at the lead, both ends, and make sure the contacts are OK.

Get a spare plug from somewhere, attach it to the lead leaving the bottom electrode resting on the manifold. Do not under any circumstances use one of the engine plugs, leave them in.

Start the car, it should sound the same. Look for sparks at the plug.

If no spark, its probably the coil pack, although you could try swapping a couple of leads around, both ends obviously, to check.

If there is a spark then whip the offending plug out and make sure its clean.

If all that fails, try running the engine at higher revs. If it seems OK at higher revs, its probably the head gasket.

Cheers

D

Looks like it's the head gasket then have quickly tried new plugs and lead but no difference. Didn't clean the contacts for the lead though.

The car is rough at low revs then slightly better up higher it is also usng loads of fuel but i put this down to what i thought it was only running on 3cylinders?

Mine did similar thing once and it was coils - replace in pairs

How much do coils cost?
Tempted to speak to my friendly mechanic to get a quick compression test done as well though.

Any suggests of next actions to take much appreciated?
Don't wanna fork out on cols etc... if it is the head gasket!

Would getting a Compression test be the best way to go?

Thanks for any help

Yep a compression test would show up a blown head gasket

Tony

Well i've arranged for it to be done 2morro at 10ish but there's no water in the oil so my limited mechanical knowledge is flawed!

Headgasket can go in one of four ways.

Between an oil way and a water way. Water is at a higher pressure than the oil, hence water in oil.

Between a cylinder and a water way. High pressure in the water system blowing past pressure cap.

Between cylinder and oil way. Most unusual cause, in my experience. Most high oil pressure probems are caused by piston ring wear.

and

Number four, between two adjoining cylinders. At high engine speeds the gasses cant transfer between the cylinders fast enough so it doesn't sound too bad. At low engine speed, any compression is disappearing to the next door cylinder leaving nothing to go 'bang'

Hope this informs

Cheers

D

Very useful thanks much better than the explenation my dad gave me via text messages thanks.

I'm hoping it's going to be something really simple and silly.. Fingers X

Well just had a play and replaced all the plugs and leads..... No difference!

Really stupidly forgot not to have the engine running whilst puttin a plug into the lead to test for a spark. That gave me a bit of a shock

Anyway guess i'll go sulk again about my cinq being broken again.....

Well it wasn't the head gasket!

The clever AA mechanic managed to disconnect a sensor when seeing if my cluch cable had snapped!
Clever hey!

Ok next question how easy is a Rocker cover gasket to replace?

Is there a how to in the haynes?

Cheers for all the suggestions.

Jamie

dead easy,literaly unbolt,replace gasket and bolt down.its in the haynes 2A-3

Cheers tomorro's job then!