20v Starting Trouble

Hi Guys,

I have a Coupe 7a 2.3 20v with some interesting starting issues:

When ignition is turned on you hear the fuel pump priming, starter turns the engine over but engine will not start. It has a brand new battery, I have checked all fuses and relays, I have checked air mass, throttle position sensor, throttle shut off switch, injectors give correct resistance.

I have tried to start it with easy start to rule out fueling issues, still didnt start. There doesnt seem to be a spark from the plugs when cranking over.

When it decides to start (very infrequently) it runs perfectly, no hunting, loads of power etc.

Any suggestions will be most welcome!

Does this engine have crank shaft sensors?

Hope somebody can help me, I really want to get it back up and running now!

Hi,

Yes, it has a crankshaft reference (position) sensor, crankshaft speed sensor (counts flywheel teeth) and the hall sender in the distributor, which is effectively camshaft position. All 3 need to be healthy to start. If one or more is failing, it should log a fault code in the ecu. you can easily make a l.e.d. reader for blinking out these codes (see link below), or get it hooked up to vag com - needs 2 x 2 adaptor lead for the early obd1 interface the 20v uses.

http://www.20v.org/fault.htm

If no codes, consider things like ignition switch failing, wiring issue, alarm/immobiliser?