All the signs of crank position sensor, but swapped in 2 with no relief. Spacers are correctly positioned.

Began with a slight hesitation at idle on a very good running motor. Suddenly cranked but wouldn't start, then finally did. Stopped and started fine for a few days then again cranks and won't start. Tow of shame through the neighborhood to my house.

No prime signal to fuel pump, then pump gets juice (test light) when cranking. Pump runs with 12v battery source clipped to it..

Has spark with "sparky" tester to plugs. Won't start with starting fluid sprayed in manifold. Have another running Rover and have swapped fuel pump fuses and relay, #14 on inside fuse box and ignition relay on inside fuse box. Still cranks over but refuses to start.

Both crank position sensors were swapped in from Rovers "that ran when parked" (head gasket in one and broken oil pump in other.) Totally flummoxed. Leaning towards camshaft position sensor, but know what a bastid it is to swap out.

Any suggestions?

 

Don't think there is a camshaft position sensor. It's chained to the crank and Motronic timing comes from the CPS....

Weird that you have spark and no POP with starting fluid.

Do you have spark in all 8?

There are plenty of usual suspects like bad power/ground to engine /ECU, sensor wire jangled up, roll over cutoff, low voltage, coils, clogged fuel filter...etc...

 

Also, what codes are you getting?

'no start' could be from bad TPS.....

 

There IS a cam position sensor, it's on the timing cover.
Whether or not it's your problem, I do not know.

 

I would hope for some codes to give you some clues. Any chance the coil pack is shot and providing weak spark? Not sure if that's a thing with these trucks. You may want to check for loose grounds too. Oops, looks like XRAD covered most of this.

 

Well darn it! You are right. There IS a camshaft sensor! I learned 2 things about my disco this week! On my head rebuild I was wondering what that connector was behind the crank pulley. Hope it's not that for you . Looks like a PITA to get to. Bad cam sensor should show up in codes though........

 

yes I was hoping for codes too, but there was no CEL when or any time near when it quit. It was running like a top. After many attempts cranking it to start I scanned it today and still no codes. Would it throw a code when cranking if a sensor was bad?

I think the coil packs on these are pretty bullet proof. The spark looks a bit weak on the tester, but not sure how bright it should be. I'll test all plugs I can reach after it gets dark. I think the fact that there is spark and juice to the fuel pump (only on cranking) rules out the crank position sensor, but I'm not sure.

Running out of options here, nobody in the area has a clue about these trucks, plus they would be swapping in new stuff while a can use my other Rover to test and swap stuff. Very frustrating to have a running one (2001) 10 feet away to swap parts from, and still can't get it running!

 

Do you have fuel pressure ? If you have spark and you have fuel pressure it should start. I think there is a port on the drivers side to check fuel ⛽️ pressure

if it was a cps wouid that not cut power to the spark plugs ?

 

I had a similar problem years ago - turned out the fuse box under the dash was the problem. Circuits fried and it wasn't providing enough power to the coils. I had spark, just not enough. Just something else to check

 

Man, I have read every no start post like this I can find, sounds like you have the same symptoms as my son in law's 2001 (except his will run briefly with starting fluid) and you have tested and addressed the same stuff we have..

I have yet to pull the fuse box, that is next. Beyond that I am stumped.

If I get his sorted I will report back.

Jeff