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I didn't realize the starters were the same. My next step was going to be to test for power at the starter to see if it's losing any, before assuming the starter itself was a problem. I may try to swap starters first though, as a multimeter has never been my friend.
Cleaned several grounds and swapped in a known good starter from my Disco 2. Seemed to crank slightly faster but no real change. Loosened the distributor and turned it to mess with the timing a little, and for a second it seemed like it wanted to crank, so I messed around with the timing some more, but no change. Even cranked the engine over to the opposite of what I had set as TDC and reset the distributor that way, no change, so I changed it back, ensuring it was exactly at 6 BTDC. What next???
Have you pulled a spark plug after cranking to see if there is gas at all? Just because you have spark doesn't mean its a full spark -- have you checked the voltage?
Spark plugs are wet but I'm not positive if I can tell if there is gasoline on them or just the penetrating oil I sprayed in there. Regardless, there is no change when I spray starting fluid in the intake, so I'm going to set aside fuel issues for now.
I cleaned up the ground connection to the starter as well as the spade connection at the starter. I also checked voltage at the battery - 12.3 - then from battery positive to starter post - 12.3 - then from battery negative to ground connection on frame that the starter uses - .05. Is that more or less what I should have checked?
My current path of thought is to chase down this slow crank issue. I'm wondering if I'm getting air, or enough of it. Possibly something in the intake or exhaust is clogged to the point that the starter can't spin the engine up as fast as normal? I can crank it over by hand no problem. I pulled the intake tube off and held the gas down slightly to ensure the throttle body was opening when cranking, and it seemed to fire maybe once per revolution, but never built up any momentum. What is the best way to go about checking intake / exhaust blockages? Or is there something else that would cause a similar condition?
EDIT: I bought this RRC cheap because the timing gear on the camshaft was stripped, therefore it would not run. I have been assuming the timing chain wore out, eventually slipping on the gear until it was completely torn up. Is there a valid line of reasoning that would lead me to believe that something else cause the timing chain to slip and tear up the gear? Something with the camshaft seizing up or something else internal going wrong?
Last edited by naivedisco2; Sep 9, 2018 at 10:52 AM.
My curiosity would be why did it strip the cam gear that isn't a normal failure.
If your sure you have spark I might pull the valve covers to see if everything is moving up there. Not knowing what caused the timing gear to fail in such a bizzare way
Stripped timing gear? All the valves are bent and binding on the pistons. Thats why the starter is slow. Time to pull the heads
I'm hunting around to try to verify this one way or another and can't seem to find anything conclusive. I was under the impression that the Rover v8's (this one is a 3.5 EFI) were non-interference engines, and that was not an issue?? Would it still be relatively easy to turn the engine with a long ratchet on the crank pulley?
I'm hunting around to try to verify this one way or another and can't seem to find anything conclusive. I was under the impression that the Rover v8's (this one is a 3.5 EFI) were non-interference engines, and that was not an issue?? Would it still be relatively easy to turn the engine with a long ratchet on the crank pulley?
Its an interference engine. Do a compression check, I think you'll find nothing over 100 if its even that high
This was my thoughts, also. Had a monster post/reply written out earlier today...but this new site software said l took to long to post...and timed out. I was like...WTF...l'm a freak'n mechanic, not a secretary!!!
Yes, check compression. You say you have fuel, spark and timing...that's the only thing left.
After months of letting the Classic sit... I'm back!! I pulled the passenger side rocker cover and rocker assembly yesterday, and found pushrods 3 and 5 (from front) bent. 5 is extremely bent. I haven't pulled the other rocker cover. Clearly there has been some contact and major internal damage. The rocker area is also incredibly gunked up. Looks like they never changed the oil. How far do I need to tear into this to find damage? Could I just replace pushrods and try it? Should I go ahead and rebuild the whole top end, valves, valve springs, pushrods, lifters, cam? Photos below:
