On Sunday morning I was just ready to go to Brands Hatch... When the ignition key was turned, the engine spinned, but no go. After a cup of coffee, I thought about it. The relays by the ECU clicked to prime the fuel pumps and energise the injectors; an impressive squirt of fuel was released when I slackenrd the pipe to the fuel pressure regulator, but there were definitely no sparks from one removed plug.
The temperature sensors I had checked recently for other reasons and the rest of the ignition distributor and leads were in good condition / recent (12 months old). The car had run perfectly 5 days before.
I suspected the TDC sensor although it had shown no symtoms of failing. On finding its connection to the loom right side of the engine at the clutch end, conveniently hidden under the loom, I disconnected it and looked at it. The connector body was brittle from heat aging and the terminals were corroded.
Careful cleaning of the terminals restored a signal. Sparks and power returned!
It took a while to sort this, but made it to Brands a bit late.
The moral of the story is - Its another thing to check on the list of usual suspects of things that stop you going - clean earths, relays, temperature sensors and now the TDC connection. I know the TDC is awkward to get at, but this check might save you replacing the existing one.
Happy motoring!
