Always starts from cold on 3 cylinders?

[danny_p]

whats it actualy doing to the plug on numb er 1  any chance of pics

[jezza16v]

Well, nothing thats obvious, it just looks the normal browny beige colour, mind you I have not taken the latest one out to inspect it yet. As said, it only fails to spark for the first 10 secs then its fine. Were thinking that maybe there is the sligthest HG leak so that under sustained coolant pressure as it cools down overnight there is steam/water weeping into the cylinder so that its damp on the morning start, that might explain why the plug threads were rusty and the plug was a bu**er to get out. The trouble is there is no obvious sign of mess in the coolant at the moment and no significant coolant loss. Will have to take the plug out before the morning start over the w/e and see if its wet? Will also investigate the injector but can't see this as a new plug cures the problem instantly for a few days it seems.

[jezza16v]

Just an update for you on this old topic for future reference. We just took the head off and there was a very small leak track of coolant across into No1 cylinder and the piston & valves were pretty black. Also the usual pinky brown residue had a black coating and around the inlet valve it had sort of foamed up into white clumps which disintegrated when you touched them. It seems our original guess at the problem was right after all. The head is pitted slightly where the coolant has been leaking across it so we're going to have to get it skimmed.