Engine trouble, tech help needed.

[DeanO.72]

ahh lol yeah i see what you mean  , i took the number 4 sparkie out and there was no spark when the engine was turning over. The distributor rotor arm looks all okay as well. so im now thinking pre distributor. What could be wrong with the coil pack? or has it just died?

No there was no sign or symptoms of it about to cut out, it just stopped working haha.

[aminorthreat1]

if its the coil pack the only fix is to buy a new one. get em off ebay for under £20


just had a thought, aren't the crankshaft position sensors known to go faulty on mk3's?

[rubjonny]

yeah top 2 suspects here would be coil and crank sensor. crank sensor is burried deep right at the bottom of the engine block next to the gearbox, look behind front engine mount and oil filter. follow the wiring from it, if its the original one it'll be all cracked up with bare wires showing most likely.

much easier to check the spark with an inductive timing light, hooks over the cable to no messing about trying to earth things to the engine if you're on your own.  of course this will only tell you if the spark is making its way as far as the plug, it wont tell you if the plug itself is sparking or not.

if it has an aftermarket immobiliser it could be that, the factory one will still allow the car to fire for a second or so when cranking over, and it wouldn't cause the car to cut out randomly either

[dontknow17]

that to me sounds like spark issues... 1st assumption would be the coil pack as mentioned...the best way to check it is to borrow one from a mates car or buy one from a scrap yard. if youre local to southampton ive got 3 coil packs sat around that are all good so you can have one (for nothing or cost of delivery) if it gets your dub back on the road.

[DeanO.72]

cheers guys  , i've got a friend who's breaking his mk3 so will nab it off that. I think thats going to be the issue so i'vw got my fingers crossed. Thank you all for your help and advice  , and thanks to dontknow17 for the offer  .

[DeanO.72]

just an update, got her going tonight after changing the coil pack  , I need to adjust one of the tappets though because now there is a tapping coming from the engine lol, more trouble....

[harlemex]

tappets are non adjustable. They are hydraulic and can only be replaced. About 10 quid each I think.

[Wayne]

tappets are non adjustable. They are hydraulic and can only be replaced. About 10 quid each I think.

As above non adjustable.