XE Valve timing

[Andy]

this sounds dreadful.
Time it up correctly and go from there

[jimbob-mcgrew]

Please don't shut up.....I need more ideas!

if you stick a long thin screwdriver, or something similar down plug hole no.1, and turn the engine over by hand slowly. when piston no.1 is at the peak of its motion, where abouts are the 3 timing marks at that point

[jimbob-mcgrew]

would the crank be a complete turn out?

im not sure, never done it myself.
its possible.
ive got the ignition timing 180 degrees out before, putting the dizzy on wrong, but the belt controls mechanical timing, rather than ignition timing

[marc69]

if you stick a long thin screwdriver, or something similar down plug hole no.1, and turn the engine over by hand slowly. when piston no.1 is at the peak of its motion, where abouts are the 3 timing marks at that point

I did this today and it is where all the marks should be ie aligned. I am going to try changing all the plugs tomorrow just in the naieve hope.....

Also my dad mentioned that getting someone to turn the starter with my thumb over each piston in turn should tell me if one of the pistons has no compression? So long as I don't get my thunb blown off!

[marc69]

im not sure, never done it myself.
its possible.
ive got the ignition timing 180 degrees out before, putting the dizzy on wrong, but the belt controls mechanical timing, rather than ignition timing

I'll try this as a last resort after everything else and if it's not that then there must be damaged valves.

Thanks for sticking with it, even I have nearly walked from it

[jimbob-mcgrew]

have you had the spark plug leads on and off alot ?
double check the plug leads, they might be in the wrong order, or have loosened, and its running on 3.

in the book here it says 1-3-4-2.

is yours a dizzy drive model ? (not sure on rotor arm position, maybe 1 o clock for plug 1 ? .. with an anti-clockwise firing pattern)
or is it the non-adjustable coil pack ? (no idea of the lead order in those)

[jimbob-mcgrew]

i suppose it would be worth checking the plugs individually for a spark too, to rule out any ignition issues

[Andy]

What is the point checking the plugs? It ran before the pump was removed and now its back together its running like a bag of sh1t.
No genius needed here like.

[marc69]

Mine is a coil pack, I have checked the plugs and they all spark but with it running for a few minutes...plug 1 and 4 don't come out sooty, they come out wet so.......I assume that tells me which cylinder has burnt valves........

[marc69]

I have been thinking what to do next and it seems that turning the engine by hand I have somehow bent/damaged valves (are they made from putty?)

So I have two choices either repair it or get rid of it as it is.....

My questions this time are ...is it a lot harder/different to remove/refit the head on an XE than it is on a SOHC (I did my SR last year)?

Once the head is off, is it difficult to remove/refit valves?

Again, any advice is much appreciated.