my nova died on me to day :-(

[nadnerb85]

its a 1989 1300
i was driving back home to day going up a hill racing a astra gte 16 v in 3rd and she died on me. So manged to get on it to the grass at the egde of the road had a look under the bonnet couldt see nothing fuel was coming up i had a spark cambelt was fine couldt see nothing wrong so called the aa out 2 hours later they came but the bloke was really helpfull he looked at everything i did could see anything wrong he said the sparkplugs where a bit wet because of the fuel not lighting so we towed it home. Got home he said to try a diffent coil see if that was the problem so i tryed one off my mates car but still would not start goin to change the spark plugs after work on monday see if dry ones will make it run. can anyone think of any other thing it mite be ? cheers brendan

[napalm_27]

same happened to my 1.4sr i cleaned the plugs and left it a few days now she is running fine but gettin new plugs

[ade]

tut tut - racing - shocking behaviour!

Check the dizzy and rotar arm - seems odd that fuel coming up, with spark.

When you said "died" was there a sudden noise, what were the revs?

Could be something major in the engine itself...

Whats the other fluids like (water) - is the engine turning over?

[nadnerb85]

the revs were quite high i think was just bout to change in to 4th there was like a splutering noise then it just died i wont start now. it does sound like it wants to fire up but it wont yep fluids are all good if i ****ed the engine i mite just have to take off the road and redtop it

[General Baxter]

does it have an open air filter (k&N type) ?

[nadnerb85]

yep a pipercross

[General Baxter]

umm stick a hair dryer down the carb and try again ;)

[Lee]

Might have jumped a few teeth on the cambelt. Check the marks.

[nadnerb85]

me and the aa man looked at the cam blet and it seems to be ok

[Lee]

me and the aa man looked at the cam blet and it seems to be ok

You checked the marks then? Because if it jumped teeth it will 'look' perfectly fine.

[nadnerb85]

not yet was goin strip it down 2moro after work and have a look good look so what that would mess the timing up yeah ?

[Lee]

A few teeth would be enough to stop it yeah. Its only a hunch, but it would be the first thing id check if I had fuel and a spark.

[nadnerb85]

will check that it cant be to much bacuse it sounds like it wants to fire up sometimes

[nadnerb85]

well will have a good look 2 moro and report back cheers guys

[Nova_Tek]

Compression test matey give that a go.

Sounds a bit like what happened to my car but I wasnt racing. The car just lost power managed to get it to a car park. Tried all of the above that you did, checked fuel, new dizzy, rotor, carb cleaned and checked, timing checked, coil checked. Basically did everything then did a compression test and it was the head gasket that went out of the blue with no agro from me.

Hopefully its something overlooked or simple to sort out.

[General Baxter]

but a car will still run with head gasket fail

my moms micra ran 50k miles with a blown gasket, never changed the oil, just kept topping the water up, it only went away due to rust lol

[mowgli]

has the choke cable slipped??? or are they auto choke on that age? if so, then that would cause the same trouble. the water feed pipes could have an air bubble in the choke & it is keeping it open

[General Baxter]

yeah it will be an auto water choke crap thingy lol

[mowgli]

when I started driving, every motoring shop did auto to manual choke kits because they were always failing, everyone just got rid of them

[General Baxter]

when I started driving, every motoring shop did auto to manual choke kits because they were always failing, everyone just got rid of them

they still got them on the shelf at follongly garage lol

[mowgli]

they still got them on the shelf at follongly garage lol

And you expect me to be surprised?????

[nadnerb85]

slack i no but this is the 1st chance i have had to look at the car 2 day lol still will not start, i have tock the spark plugs out and they stink of fuel would this stop in from firing up cuz they are damp from the fuel ?

[whitenovasaloon]

slack i no but this is the 1st chance i have had to look at the car 2 day lol still will not start, i have tock the spark plugs out and they stink of fuel would this stop in from firing up cuz they are damp from the fuel ?
I've used the gas hob in my kitchen to burn the fuel off plugs before, maybe you could give that a go??;)

[nadnerb85]

I've used the gas hob in my kitchen to burn the fuel off plugs before, maybe you could give that a go??;)

was thinking that how long did you leave them under for ?

[whitenovasaloon]

i put them in the flame for 5-10 seconds at a time until they looked and smelled petrol free:thumb: might take a minute or so depending on how bad they are, tbh the only time i did this was with a lawnmower, but i guess the same principal applies

[paddy138]

just dry them with a rag and clean them with a wire brush, i agree with lee about checking the timing marks

[nadnerb85]

yep put them under for a couple of mins put them back in the car and it all most fired so i tock them out again have but them back under the flame going to leave them in the house to nite on a rad let them dry out complety and refit them 2 moro, o and the timing is fine

[DW-Nova]

if you spin it over with no plugs in do you get alot of fuel vapour coming from the holes ? it sounds like a fuelling problem to me, as though the choke is stuck fully on or something similar. best of luck with a fix anyhow !

[Novasport]

Bet it will be the ignition module, the one in the dizzy.

Not sure if this is the one for a 13SB but this is what they are/look like...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IGNITION-MODULE-VAUXHALL-ASTRA-BELMONT-CAVALIER-NOVA_W0QQitemZ250335988676QQihZ015QQcategoryZ27384 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one is for a 13SB tho looking at the description...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASCONA-KADETT-ASTRA-NOVA-1-2-1-3-IGNITION-MODULE_W0QQitemZ290282277180QQihZ019QQcategoryZ104 04QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp 1638Q2em118Q2el1247

[nadnerb85]

if you spin it over with no plugs in do you get alot of fuel vapour coming from the holes ? it sounds like a fuelling problem to me, as though the choke is stuck fully on or something similar. best of luck with a fix anyhow !

yes theres loads coming out with the plugs outs spend any hour and a hour going over and looking at everthing again still no look, am look at the timing my self when i get chance 2 moro cuz the aa man mite be worng whats the best way of checking the timing ?

[nadnerb85]

Bet it will be the ignition module, the one in the dizzy.

Not sure if this is the one for a 13SB but this is what they are/look like...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IGNITION-MODULE-VAUXHALL-ASTRA-BELMONT-CAVALIER-NOVA_W0QQitemZ250335988676QQihZ015QQcategoryZ27384 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one is for a 13SB tho looking at the description...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASCONA-KADETT-ASTRA-NOVA-1-2-1-3-IGNITION-MODULE_W0QQitemZ290282277180QQihZ019QQcategoryZ104 04QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp 1638Q2em118Q2el1247

yep i was thinking that last nite well for the sake of 6 quid il buy one and try it cheers

[DW-Nova]

You get him going in the end mate ?