My next door Neighbour has a Rover 214 which has broken down. It has fuel at the fuel rail (4 point injection), has sparks, but will almost fire but
kicks back almost like the timing is out (computer controlled). I said I would take a look tomorrow, are the any 'usual suspects' to keep an
eye out for?. I already suspect a jumped cambelt (not broken, I checked), or a crank position sensor all oiled up.
Answers on a postcard....
check the vac pipe to the map sensor for oil/sh!t as ive had this before, map sensor buggered so the ecu gets poor vac signal and overfuels , have a
butchers at the plugs
First thing I will check, thanks
Any more?
All this assumes no one has swapped the ECU from another Rover and the red imobiliser light between the speedo and tacho is going off.
Sounds like timing belt -- 48k mile change interval but could be a couple of other things. The cam timing marks should line up at half stroke
position.
Note Roll pins on the cam drives -- they have been known to fail mainly on engines that have had head work before. Also bottom sproket -- not
unkown to find the bottom sprocket and pulley floating on crankshaft -- located by "D" flat on crank as per Vauxhalls ---- bad system --
but this usually maskes a good death rattle before it comes off.
Check the tube between the manifold and ecu has not become detached or blocked up. Disconnect both ends and blow through Take care the pipe
connector at ECU end is fragile. 200/400 only the later 25/45/75 models don't have this
Check the blue connector just below the distributor cap -- this the connector for the crank sensor not unkown for the cranksensor connectors and
wiring to give trouble on older Rovers especialy if work has been done on the clutch or gearbox
Check the ECU is earthing -- earth to a bolt on the bonnet landing panel adjacent to LH head lamp --- clean fit new bolt and washers.
Disconnect and reconnect the plug for the MEMS ECU not unknown for it to have been disturbed and not reconnected properly.
Temperature sensor (the 2 wire one goes to ECU, the single wire is for the dash instruments) if you think it is the temp sensor try giving it a long
squirt of Easy Sart.
dizzy caps have a habit of filling with water and cracking as well
That is very comprehensive, thanks
On the brother's 416, the timing belt wore out around the crank pulley. Same effect as broken belt 
Luckily I had a spare freshly machined head.
Rover 214! first thing I'd look at is the water level and head gasket failure,but then I'm biased.
It could be any of the previous faults mentioned but if its not mechanical it sounds like a timing fault as already said.
If the belt is not broken as you said has it lost some teeth?
Good luck...
For what it cost's it may be worth changing thr rotor arm. ISTR having problems as you discribe and found the drive from the camshaft for the rotor was insecure , Costs nothing to check . This would give you a spark but still not start. It may be worth a squirt of easistart , if it then starts it's likely to be fuel related possibly coolant temp sensor? HTH
Throttle Posistion sensor is a common one aswell.
Ray
I have tested everything I can without using any diagnostic tools, all seems fine, no blockages, all contacts seem good, all earths checked, water and oil seem ok (not head gasket?). Still no go, it almost starts, but kicks back on the second revolution
Rotor arm on 180* out of phase maybe?
If you have a timing light hook that up and see if you are getting a consistent flash.
Next door had the same thing with his. The coil sparked twice and then stopped. Stick a plug in the king lead and try it. New coil fixed it but it was a sod to get at on his, think it was 'N' reg.
quote:
Originally posted by andyharding
Rotor arm on 180* out of phase maybe?
If you have a timing light hook that up and see if you are getting a consistent flash.
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
Next door had the same thing with his. The coil sparked twice and then stopped. Stick a plug in the king lead and try it. New coil fixed it but it was a sod to get at on his, think it was 'N' reg.
The kick back is strange - spark timing can't vary on these engines, could be a distributer cap problem -- but starting to think valve timing is out or it could be water in one cylinder most likely from inlet manifold gasket at number 1 cylinder. If you are sure there is valve gear problem try taking all the plugs out spinning the engine over then replace the plugs.