Author Topic: coil problems  (Read 5465 times)

Offline camone

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coil problems
« on: November 05, 2009, 08:04:20 pm »
Right im having problems with starting the g40.
Ive only just put the engine back into the car and im having electrical gremilins.

Everything was connected up properly and went to start. In position 1 on igintion key the fuel pump doesnt prime like it should.
In position 2 the car turns over but doesnt starts and the fuel pump is still silent.

Had a look at the relays and the fuel pump and ecu ones were mixed up so swapped them back over.

Now when i turn the key to position 1 the coil and dizzy starts ticking in a repetitive rhythm and the afrm jumps in time with the ticks but still no fuel pump priming.
In position 2 the ticking gets louder at both coil and dizzy and the car now doesnt turn over at all but the fuel pump starts pumping.

I had installed the golf gti coil mod and it worked fine when I had this engine in my last g40 so to check I removed it and fitted the original polo coil again to see if that solved the problem but its exactly the same.
Anybody got any ideas what could possibly going on

Offline polo classic

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2009, 12:36:28 pm »
could it be the switch/connector for the ignition key?

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2009, 04:20:01 pm »
Yeah the relays were the wrong way round when I cranked it first as I said above.
When I changed the relays so they were the right way round the car then stopped cranking and started the ticking/clicking noise

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2009, 04:24:35 pm »
Good point frode, the igintion switch is something ive had problems with before on other polos so I'll swap it for my other g40 and and see if it makes much difference.
Its just very strange that the car turned over fine on the starter motor when the relays were the wrong way round albeit without the fuel pump priming and as soon as the relays were put back in the right way the car wont crank but the fuel pump starts pumping and the coil/dizzy sounds like its sparking in a firing rhythm but just discharging on something

Offline Dan

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2009, 04:37:17 pm »
Did you connect the coil plug and ignition end stage the right way around. there are two plugs there you get mixed up and causes this.

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2009, 04:49:53 pm »
The coil connector was changed yrs ago to fit the golf coil so no chance of mixing the two up as the coil connections were changed to spade connections.
The coil is getting power fine as when you turn the igintion it is sending a spark through the king lead and it sounds like its arcing in the dizzy. Ive tried another dizzy cap, another king lead and even cranking it without the king lead attached at all (it then arcs at the top of the coil)

Is the ignition/coil side of the loom the same as in all mk3 polos? as i might try and get hold of a spare and swap it over incase there is a damaged wire somewhere

Offline Andy

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2009, 09:58:27 am »
Have you checked that the engine bay harness is plugged into the cabin harness properly behind the fusebox?
Are the ECU and fuel pump relays staying on (stick a meter on them) - or are they dropping in and out?

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2009, 04:18:24 pm »
Yeah the wiring harness is all intact. I even took it apart to make sure.

Today i stripped back all the wiring and re-installed it to make double sure it was all hooked up ok.

I bought a new polo coil too as the old one was pretty shady looking and I also bought a new battery as the one I was using was bosch silver from my old golf which wouldnt let the bonnet shut when it was in the battery try due to its size.

Andy, I cant find my multimeter but I reckon its the relays that are at fault.
I think the fuel pump one has shorted as before i noticed they were round the wrong way ie the fuel pump realy in the ecu relay slot, I tried bridging the terminals on the fuel relay side to bypass the relay and it may have shorted  the other fuse.
Hence why it would turn over before I did this and didnt after haha

I'll find out next week when i get the relays, In the mean time ive got 2 water leaks to sort, one being where the long metal water pipe meets the water pump which will be a bitch to sort out
 

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2009, 05:29:56 pm »
Well I got the 2 new relays today from vw and guess what.....it wasnt them that were faulty, always good to have a fresh set though albeit a bit pricey.

Im gonna also have a look at the starter motor as all it seems to do now is switch the solinoid and nothing else ie its not engaging the flywheel and spinning.
Im thinking the noise coming from the coil is the firing sparks which should actually be normal, just the noise of the engine usually hides it. The fact that the fuel pump is pumping too leads me to think that it is the starter thats at fault as its the only thing not doing its job now in the starting curcuit.

Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2009, 05:06:34 pm »
Ive swapped the starter over as I think i put my old mk2 one instead of the one I had for the g40. It now turns over again which is a step in the right direction.
It now nearly starts on the ignition ie coughs and splutters as if the battery is flat. The battery is brand new and ive just checked that its got a full charge and its fine.
The timing is all fine too ie tdc on both pulleys and dizzy.
Im just gonna head out now and double check everything you mentioned above Rae as Andyhad said to check all the same stuff.


Offline camone

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2009, 07:39:27 pm »
Finally got to the bottom of this after swapping over all sorts of wiring, both fuel pumps and dizzy etc. Basically double checked everything and swapped for items I know work and got nothing.

I then realised that the current that was going to the coil making it click on ignition position 1 and 2 was the current that was supposed to be going to the fuel pumps to prime them so back to the relays to check them.
With the key turned to igintion position one I got clicking but when I removed the ecu relay it stopped so using the process of elimination (i knew it wasnt the relays as they are brand new) everything points to the ECU being at fault.

Then it hit me........I had swapped my chip over to the SNS chip years ago when everything was removed from the car so it had never been tested with the car running, basically all this searching for problems here there and everywhere and i'd only gone and put the SNS in the wrong way  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Swapped it back over and voila its up and running and its sounding sooo sweet. gotta love an engine that can sit for 5 yrs doing nothing then fire back up on first key turn (well it would have if id put the chip in the right way)

What a fanny I am haha

Atleast  Ive got G smiles again :D :D

Offline hayesey

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Re: coil problems
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2009, 09:11:34 pm »
haha, schoolboy error chuckles. 

glad it's running though.  How long till it sees tarmac?