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X-Flow Wont Start


minisweeper

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Changing battery / jump starting

Not sure what state of tune yours is in but IME when they have been left for a few months they draw some serious power on initial cranking, I leave mine on a conditioner so would expect the battery to be in tip top condition but if I don't managed to catch it in the first 1/2 a dozen tries I've no chance. It usually fires straight away with a bit of assistance though, I successfully use a decent size power pack or a mains powered booster at home but if you are using jump leads they need to be good quality ones with a decent cross section and  make sure you have the jump leads connected up right i.e. on the donor car to the battery terminals and on the westie the +ve to the battery and the -ve to the engine this makes quite a bit of difference.

P.s. it may be something else but its worth a try.

P.P.s. at yesterdays sprint at croft 2 xflow powered westie needed a little assistance to start  :blush: but once warm there was no problem.

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I use one of these to check for a spark:

eZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">In-line spark tester

You can always borrow mine if you are near to York

Good for checking the leads, but not the plug itself... ;)

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Remove a plug , re connect the plug lead , hold the body of the plug against the engine block (use some insulated handled pliers or similar )

Spin the engine and check to see if there is a good spark across the plug gap.

:t-up:

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Its worth checking the exhaust system, mainly the exhaust manifold my x-flow at the moment eats gaskets and so causing a leak in the exhaust system.

Just a very small leak and it will not run from cold even with jump leads ect, sort the leak and it fires first time!

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That's absolutely fascinating tcc21...I do actually have a small leak in my central exhaust gasket (which is how I knew I was getting smoke out the exhaust!)...I hadn't even thought that would be a problem but could it be that simple?
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yes it could, surprised me too  :t-up:

its the central gasket that goes on mine, it realy doesn't look like much and the car will run when warm with the odd pop and bang from the exhaust.

i would put money on it!

it realy is worth checking before taking your ignition system apart!

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Cheers for your time/bits&pieces today chris - I've just had a quick play with the inline tester and I am getting a bit of a glow with it but nothing which gives me a great deal of confidence... I think I might invest in a battery charger/conditioner and some new exhaust gaskets and see where that takes me.
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i would put money on it!

I wouldn't - unless the engine is *highly* tuned - and even then the difference between a slight blow and sealed would be marginal in terms of how things are working at starter speeds... ;)

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It would seem a little strange I think stu but since I could do with a new gasket anyway it cant hurt to check!  We shal see...

It's tuned but not *highly*...last check I was getting about 130bhp.

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Stranger things and all that :t-up:

But I have started many an engine *without* any exhaust system at all (and probably in most stats of 'blowing' too)before now without problem :)

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I'll just take the whole thing off then!  At least I wont have a leak :)  Might make a bit of noise in the garage though... :S
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I still would put money on it  ;)

Ran many an engine too without an exhaust system, you should see the flames you get from a 5.3 v12 jag

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right..I've swapped all the exhaust gaskets (only swapped them for the standard ones for the time being will invest in the copper ones later if it works) and put on the ignition coil, plugs, and leads that Chris lent me.  I also got a battery charger/maintainer which has helped the cranking a lot.  Now (on last attempt) I get a pretty effective sounding cough and splutter out of it when I turn it over but it's still not quite starting...

Plans for the weekend involve getting it compression tested (subject to finding a compression tester) and maybe investigating the dizzy a bit more to see how it looks...  Any other suggestions?

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