engine will not start

hi, new hijet onner and new to this site username is really imaginative camperman lol. well here go,s i pickup a n reg hijet 993cc recently with blown head gasket,gone the full hog with repair head skimed ng/water pump / timingbelt/roller/s plugs oil/airfilters.finally put the engine back in the van (wat a job) now comes the bad bit , she will not fire up engine management light is lit up on dash checked all ele conections seems all tight no broken wires, have a spark on the plugs,petrol to injection rail, now and again a spit or two is the firing order 1 2 3 and take it nr 1 cylinder is from the front ( its getting the better of me now) can anybody help and put me in the right direction. would like to get the old girl on the road this summer ha ha cheers camperman

If your getting sparks, and fuel - and as you say the odd pop and splutter,

Then have you got the timing belt on correctly!

Daihatsu timing marks are a bit on the vague side from messing with charades and hijets.

But I have never worked on a 993cc so don't take my word as gospel.

Maybe get your timing light out to see if you get the flash at the right point on the pulley or flywheel to start with.

Otherwise you've got something else a bit wrong.

Maybe get a spark plug on a lead and see if every one is sparking properly, as you could just have a ground wire/strap missing or something.

Firing order for a 993cc is 1-2-3 according to the manual, got your leads on right? Is the dizzy out by 180 degrees then the leads on wrong?

Hi to add to HJ's answer as he was quicker than me but I have a 993, re check the timing the dizzy marks need to be aligned properly as when you load the distributor head into the bevel box it rotates to the correct point and the engine needs to be on the correct timing mark as there are two on the crank, if you remove the bolt that holds the position of the dizzy and rotate one way or the other while trying to start hopefully you will get at least a bit of chugging to show signs of life I have fitted the dizzy back in on the wrong mark and I could only get it to just about start with the adjustment right round at one end.

rich the mechanic wrote:Hi to add to HJ's answer as he was quicker than me but I have a 993, re check the timing the dizzy marks need to be aligned properly as when you load the distributor head into the bevel box it rotates to the correct point and the engine needs to be on the correct timing mark as there are two on the crank, if you remove the bolt that holds the position of the dizzy and rotate one way or the other while trying to start hopefully you will get at least a bit of chugging to show signs of life I have fitted the dizzy back in on the wrong mark and I could only get it to just about start with the adjustment right round at one end.

tks rich iwill look in to that. perhaps the blok putting the engine back together may have slipped up i presumed the distributor was out when the head was being skimed tks again

the top of the dizzy is above the rocker cover I think so would expect it to be out for skimming.

Though if the distributor has been skimmed that could cause probs starting....

Logi wrote:Though if the distributor has been skimmed that could cause probs starting....

If they have skimmed he dizzy then go back for a refund they got lost and did the wrong surface

big tks to rich and to highly jetted
yes boys you where right the distributor was out by 180 0/0 i found it a bugger looking at the timing marks the old paint was not that colourfull plus the old eyes are not that good lol. after the recon on the engine i would have thought the fitter would have adjusted the tapits theY ARE bit nosey so thats the next job

Yes definitely, no time like when the head is on a bench for doing the tappets.

I just set them to the "cold" clearances and leave them at that.

HighlyJetted wrote:Yes definitely, no time like when the head is on a bench for doing the tappets.

I just set them to the "cold" clearances and leave them at that.

That would be nice there isn't a spec for cold clearances on our the measurement is hot but I have good old mechanics hands they are fully heat resistant and very impact proof unlike my trainee who is now sporting a nice cast on this left hand after missing with the hammer and it wasn't a belting either.

Oh man, that reminds me, I hit my left forearm full pelt with a lump hammer a couple of weeks ago, it still aches to the core at certain times of the day. For the first week there was a deep odd coloured bruise. I too take a fair old bashing weekly and have quite tough skin, but that lump hammer hit, it didn't hurt bad at the time, but I bet I'd fractured it or something.

I've always been puzzled by these hot/cold measurements, like if the engine is properly just been spanked the valve stems will be feckin hot and thus longer, yet after just a few minutes they will be a more sane temp.

Just to get the seat out, rocker cover off, ready to adjust takes a couple of mins. It seams quite rough and crude to me.

It is a bit isn't it thats why I set them a few thou over the max clearance when cold and I have checked them hot and it seems about right.