efi 1987 won't start

[big rob]

I have a 87 efi 3.5 which has been standing in my garden for 3 months.
i went to start it on sunday with a fully charged battery, it started for about 15 secs and then stop as if it had run out of fuel.
i put in 2 gallons of fresh fuel, and it refused to start , so I thought it had flooded so cleaned the plugs and tried again it would'nt start.
so then I tried some easy start in the snokel, and still no luck, so I opened up the air filter to spray some easy start into the air filter directly on opening the air filter water can out, so it appears that the car started briefly and then water moisture has been drawn into the chamber,
so all air filter pipes have been disconnected and dried the plenum chanber has been removed and dried of any moisture all the plugs have been cleand and left out over night to allow the engine to fully dry out of and moisture in the block or wiring, I have checked all the fuses and it still won't bl----y start, I have a spark at the spark plug and I have fuel at the spark plug as I have tried to start today but still no life.
I'm now at a loss as to what to do it? it usually runs fine without any problems.
Any help would be great or suggestions?
thanks Rob  

[Range Rover Blues]

Check the fuel pump and relay, yo umay not have any pressure behind the fuel. :?

[big rob]

do you know where the relay for the fuel pump is on an 87 ?
thanks Rob

[Range Rover Blues]

s**t, thought you might ask me that one, err next to the ECU I think but there should also be a fuse in the fusebox on the dash.

[DaveS]

Its under the drivers seat on RHD in front of the ecu. I think its the one nearest the centre of car.

There is also a small ralay running off the coil supply naer the air flow meter-not sure if that has anything to do with fuel pump.

[big rob]

so i have checked the relays on another car, all ok, when the car is spun over for say 30 secs doesn't even try to cough let alone start but plugs are soaked in fuel, took a plug out and had a look at the spark doesn't seem to be great when it is turned over , so i'm now thinking maybe the coil is on it's way out and the spark isn't good enough to light the fuel, so I will swap the coils tomorrow and see if that makes any difference.
found the relays infront of the ecu checked all of them on the other car.

where is the fuel supply line connected to the engine as if i take this off i can see if it has pressure?

any other thoughts are more then welcome.
I'm struggling to think of what it could be now.
thanks Rob

[Range Rover Blues]

Fuel supply lines are on the rear driver's side, one is held by a jubilee clip, the other by a threaded union.  If the plugs are wet with fuel then think faulty spark or soaked plugs, try putting them under the grille, fitting them whilst hot and try again.

I find if my battery dies though it will not fire even if it turns over.

I check my sparks with a flashtester, but I havn't seen these for sale in years.  Try a good spare plug and look to see that the spark is blue, not yellow.

[big rob]

thanks for that i didn't think of the plugs, i will swap them tomorrow if i have time, let's hope it is good news tomorrow.
cheers rob

[big rob]

swapped the ecu over , it's ok. swapped coil over , it's ok.
If the air flow meter  has failed would this stop it firing? i will swap this tomorrow.
However if the fuel lines are disconnected engine has a little cough and thinks about it, also after about one minute of trying i nearly filled a gallon pot with fuel so pump must be ok.
i now suspect the air flow meter.
cheers Rob

[Range Rover Blues]

On the flapper, yes, on the hot wire, no.

If it;s using that much fuel then try pulling the fuse for the fuel pump and try it again, it sounds like it's flooded.

Without the pump it should at least cough, if not run for half a second.

Coould also be the fuel pressure regulator has bust.

[zulublue]

Hi Rob, this sounds familiar to me, I have just had an efi put i to my 82 rrc, i have an external pump fitted for fuel but found it a bit powerful, so fitted a regulator to it, anyway my plugs were getting soaked to start so I knoced the reg back a bit, no difference, the garage finally got it going by fitting a new (original) disie cap, HT leads and new plugs.

Yes it was the last thing I thought of, but it worked. must be worth a try, fingers crossed for you.

[big rob]

update on my problem.
so I have swapped everything over from another 3.5 efi which runs ok.
everything which has been swapped works ok on the good car.
ecu, air flow meter, leads, dizzy cap rotor arm ,coil,new plugs, relays and fuses, fresh petrol.
fuel regulator was last thing; and it was noted that there appears to be no vacumn to the back of the regulator, when the good car is turned over petrol is returned to the tank, but on the bad car no petrol is coming, so the regulator isn't opening due to no vacumn I've checked the pipes and all seems ok.
why would there be no vacumn? also it seems the advance pipe on the plenhum chamber is also not producing a vacumn.
I got some spark testers and the spark is as big as the one on the good car
What next any ideas? I don't want to scrap the car as I have done a lot of work to it and is fully kitted for offroading and I want know what has gone down on the car so we all know in the future if the problem comes up again, the car was running fine just a fortnigt ago and has only been run for 10 mins at a time.
any thoughts , Rob

[Range Rover Blues]

The pressure reg on the fuel line has a vac tapping tot hge plenum so that the fuel pressure is 27psi or whatever above manifold pressure, that's all.  It should still do something if open to atmosphere.  Either the reg is stuck shut or the fuel isn't getting to the engine bay.

The vac advance won't do anything 'till the engine is running.

[big rob]

well it looks like i have the answer.
It appears that the compression has been lost,which explains no suction/ vacumn.
i have been told that the rings could have seized to the pistons or moisture has got to the valves and has  jammed the valves open.
so I am going to spray some oil into each pot and turn the motor over and allow mr wd40 to do his magic, the i will turn the motor a few days later and blow out the oil, then I will do another compression test and put the plugs back in and with a bit of luck it should fire.
 if not then I need to make a dicision as to strip the motor and clean and lap the valves or break the car.

[Range Rover Blues]

Don't use WD40, use Redex.

I'd be surprised if this is the only problem causing the reluctance to start, but you say it's been stood a while so who knows.

[richard_sephton]

mine has done something very simler only there is compression a spark and fuel but it is notinterested in starting however if i remoove a spark plug on cly 2 it runs perfect bar 1 cylinder i dont under stand why :?

[Range Rover Blues]

Are the leads all routed correctly and in the correct sequence? if it was arcing across to no. 2 then that might stop the piston coming up the bore.