Hey all. I'm back with an odd issue. My girlfriend's Disco won't start. It was running great one day. The next day they went out and no start.

There were codes, but unfortunately I forgot to save them. One was an XYZ sensor code, a MAF code, some others. The battery got unplugged and the codes are gone now, unfortunately.

I have pressed the inertia switch, flipped all the relays around that will cause no start, and I checked spark. Only on two cylinders cause it was raining and 40 degrees, but the spark was strong and consistent.

I've tried starting it both with and without the MAF sensor plugged in. It seemed to sputter and try to start more with the MAF plugged in, but nothing conclusive either way.

I also had my girlfriend try to crank it while I squirted some starting fluid down the throttle body. No luck there either, though the battery was nearly flat and it was cranking slow, so we'll charge the battery back up and try again on that.

If anyone's got any ideas I'd love to hear them. I don't feel like it should be a compression issue or a valve train issue since it happened overnight. Nothing sounds a-miss while cranking. I haven't tried pulling the plugs yet to see what I can tell about them; that'll be next weekend.

Thanks all.

 

I'll bet it's just the battery being dead. I left my truck for a month and when I tried to start it, it wouldn't quite get all the way there. Put my booster pack on for about 20 mins and she fired right up. Ran excessively rich for the first 5 mins, but once that all cleared she's been good to go

 

I was still over at her place, so I grabbed the battery out of my truck and dropped it in her Disco. No luck. It didn't even want to sputter this time.

I also popped the intake off and put my hand over the throttle body while she cranked it. I could feel it pulling a vacuum. Still didn't pull any plugs, but I'll try that next chance I get. I may actually have her pull one or two and send me pictures. If she gets time I'll post those up here. Otherwise, still very open to recommendation.

 

Could the CPS go bad in such a way that it throws the timing off, but still allows spark? I know they typically cut spark when they fail. That, or the ECU may be to blame? The sunroof has been leaking, so the ECU could theoretically be full of water. That's next on my list to check right now. I'll pull the ECU/BCU/instrument cluster out of mine some time this week to test.

LS swap is looking nicer and nicer...

 

From my experience, when the CPS goes, you got nothing....

I think a lot of us are seriously just waiting on the LS swap. I'm constantly over here like c'mon baby, just a little bit longer and you'll get a new heart!!!
LS swap all the things !!!!

 

 

plug your code reader in and see if your live data shows any rpms while you crank the engine over. If not, you need a new crank position sensor.

Edit: I just re read your title and you have spark, so I suppose the crank position sensor would be working. Sounds like fuel then, verify fuel pressure.

 

Thanks guys. I'll try those Sunday or Monday and report back.

 

 

Alright fellas, here's an update. Did a compression test and that came out good, so no valvetrain issue. While I was at it, re-checked spark and noticed it looked real weak. The first time I checked it with an extra spark plugs and. This time I checked it with one I had just pulled; all the plugs are fowled up.

I cleaned them on a wire wheel and stuck them all back in. I tried to start it up again. It sputtered and coughed, backfired, and finally kicked to life.... Kinda. It was still sputtering. I tried feathering the trottle and got it to run REALLY bad for maybe 8-10 seconds. Kept trying to start it and didn't get any better results, regardless of throttle position. Tried pouring some gas down one of the intake hoses and still no better results. Some sputtering, backfiring out the intake, etc.

Next up is grabbing sensors and computers off my Disco to pop into hers. Would love to hear any more ideas anyone has.