vauxhall combo not starting

dave-w-

hi guys- need a little advice on what to do with my vauxhall combo 1.7 di 2002

went to start it last week and only got a clicking noise- so charged the battery and it started first time

to test the alternator I was told to disconnect the negative battery terminal while the engine was running.

when I did that the engine stalled and I havent been able to start it since- tried recharging the battery,a push start and a jump start from a power pack

any ideas as to what the problems could be or how to get it started again?

many thanks- dave

marlot

Whoever gave you that advice hasn't done you any favours - its a seriously bad idea to disconnect the battery when the engine is running. You may have even damaged the ECU.

Do you have breakdown cover? Might be your best first step

dave-w-

no breakdown cover

s_b

so many things go wrong with that 1.7 setup that you seriously need to give the person a smack for telling you to disconnect the battery terminal
its probably the immobilisor box down the back of the engine youve damaged but im not into these later poorly designed vauxhalls
you really need to have some data read to give a pointer

vax2002

Need to run through some basics one by one :
Is the engine turning over when the battery is charged ?
like a normal starting sequence

dave-w-

yes the engine is turning over but wont start up

vax2002

A short guess is you tripped the fuel cut off and it has drained back to the tank, do you have any easy start ? try a bit of easy start up the intake to get it fired and drag some fuel up, if this does not work its elimination, opening and injector ring with a buddy cranking and checking for fuel at the injector, if it has fuel at all 4 injectors then move on to electrical, crank + cam sensors, if it has no fuel, then disconnect the fuel cut off solenoid and try again.
Also is any engine management lights showing when you crank the engine.
Tip : Whilst cranking attach a jump lead from negative battery directly to the engine to check for earth faults, you would be surprised how many start up with this simple old trick, can save a fortune hunting down codes just to find a dodgy earth.
Try those tricks first then come back.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

there was a silly alternator relay on some combo's cant remeber the years now, that could cause a non starter if it went. got to say who ever told you to disconnect a battery once started should never ever be allowed near a engine ever again.

there maybe some expensive damage done by doing what you were told, basically youve cause a massive surge to your combo's eleky system, i wouldnt be suprised if you open you engines relay box to find most if not all your fuses blown and relays blown, perhaps your ECU has taken a hit.

back to basics here, starting from. damaged battery, damaged alternator,relays, fuses, fuel cut off listen for the intank fuel pump to surge on when ignition on just incase thats took a flow of watts aswell. then the engines sensors crank, cam,deisel stop solenoid,ignotion coil.

dave-w-

if the battery is still taking a full charge can it be bad?

marlot

dave-w- wrote: »

if the battery is still taking a full charge can it be bad?

Yes. Cells can and do fail.

Best way to test a battery is a 'drop test'. Any battery supplier can do it.

johnnyroper

forget about the battery and charging for now the main issue is cranking and no starting so batt voltage must be good currently,the later isuzu lumps do not have the charging relay that was only on the early ones.

taking the neg off when running is a no no as you have found out,at a guess i would say the spill valve on pump has through a hissy failing that the immobiliser itself has lost code.

i would try disconnecting the battery overnight first if that does not help your gonna need tech 2 plugging in to see whats going on.