Hi guys,

I have a 1998 Land Rover Discovery 1 that doesn't wanna fire up when you turn it over. When you do switch the ignition on, it sounds like only 1/8 pistons are firing. (It sounds like "chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff bang chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff chuff bang etc but really fast). I then decided to unclip all of the wires of the fuel injector and use the process of elimination to locate the only firing piston, it it turns out that only cylinder number 8 is firing, the rest are dead. Can anyone help explain why this is happening, and every possible way I could fix this? Here is a video of how it sounds to give you a better idea:

 

Air, Fuel, Compression, Spark.
If the motor is turning over with the starter, then next easiest would be to check the spark plugs. It could potentially be the crank sensor; through reading forums it seems to be the one to pop up most often as a cause for not starting. I know my rover will occasionally get in a funk and will take several roll arounds before it actually cranks. Rather than just taking parts and swapping them, I'd try to diagnose the spark aspect of it. You could try moving the plug wire to a different cylinder and see if the firing one remains the same or different. If it follows the wire it could be a distributor or coil issue. Or potentialy a lot of bad wires or plugs themselves. If I was trying to track it down this would be my first option. I'm sure someone with even more experience will chime in who has had this exact issue before but might keep ya from being idle while you wait

 

Get an inline spark tester (with a light in it) and test all the cyl's to see what's firing. My 98 sounded like that when the crank pos'n sensor went. I know. 'cuz I just fixed it today. Make sure you have full fuel pressure at the rail too. You can use a guage, or just push the valve on the side of the rail to see if sumptin's there.

Good luck and Godspeed!

Phil

 

Hi Pro Giff,

What happens if I were to try release the pressure in the fuel rail and not much comes out? Does the fuel rail need to be pressurised? If so, how do I pressurize it?

 

Cycle the key, if you don't get it gushing out you either have a clogged fuel filter, or bad fuel pump/relay/blown fuse.

 

Yep, what Clint sez..

Cheers

Phil