About a week ago my cambelt decided to shed some of its teeth on
my 94 214 SLi. Anyway to cut a long story short after removing
the head I found that the exhaust valves on 2 & 4 were badly bent
and on 1 & 2 slightly bent. The inlet valves were all OK
(Verified on a centre lathe).
There was no visible piston damage.

I then fitted 8 new exhaust valves and reground all 16 valves
and refitted the head with a new (uprated) gasket.

My problem now is that it just won't start !! It is certainly
turning over freely and there is a decent spark on all the plugs,
but it doesn't start.

I'm absolutely certain that it all went back together correctly,
valve timing etc but I can't see why I'm not getting any joy.

Do you have any pointers on what I could be missing before I
have to resign myself to removing the had again ?

In appreciation.

Have you made sure every thing is grounded correctly, i.e. the spark plugs...

I think I read somewhere on another part of the forum, about a mgb owner how rebuilt his engine, and was unable to start is, cos the sparkplugs were being grounded, cos a metel washer was used instead of a rubber one.

I must admit I am no expert, but it may be worth a look... :)

[Edited by ZrMaster on 11-06-2002 at 11:43 AM GMT]

ZrMaster wrote:
Have you made sure every thing is grounded correctly, i.e. the spark plugs...

[Edited by ZrMaster on 11-06-2002 at 11:43 AM GMT]

Absolutely certain the plugs are firing.....

Have you tried checking the compresion?

No, I'm going to try that tonight,
can't see why it shouldn't be OK though it was fine before and all the valves ground in perfectly.

Cheers

OK, compression is down on all.
Valve timing is OK and I'm sure the gasket went on correctly, can't see what I have done
wrong here ???????

It'll be the valve timing out

I've done it before, got it 180 degrees out

Hmmm.. I've looked at that mate, I'm certain
it's OK followed the instructions (Haynes) to the letter.??? ??? ???

Are the valves sealing correctly with there seats?

MGZT wrote:
Are the valves sealing correctly with there seats?

Yes, at least they were before I put the head back on. I'm trying to think whether the pistons striking the valves would cause some other (unseen) damage that would affect all the pots !?! Or perhaps I've missed something obvious.

It certainly sounds like timing if all the cylinders have no compression. Maybe it's worth giving it a second look? Was there any problems with compression before you took the head off?

[Edited by MGZT on 12-06-2002 at 03:09 PM GMT]

MGZT wrote:
It certainly sounds like timing if all the cylinders have no compression. Maybe it's worth giving it a second look? Was there any problems with compression before you took the head off?
[Edited by MGZT on 12-06-2002 at 03:09 PM GMT]

That's what I keep thinking too ! but I've been over it at least 10 times. The compressions were all ok before the prob with the cambelt.

The valves can't be closing properly. It could have something to do with the hydraulic lifters.

MGZT wrote:
The valves can't be closing properly. It could have something to do with the hydraulic lifters.

hi guys
new here did u check that the cam wheels/pulleys are fitted corectly i believe
it is posible to fit them back to front & pos inside out?but i could be wrong i could find out if needed,only going from memory

max50 wrote:
MGZT wrote:
The valves can't be closing properly. It could have something to do with the hydraulic lifters.


hi guys
new here did u check that the cam wheels/pulleys are fitted corectly i believe
it is posible to fit them back to front & pos inside out?but i could be wrong i could find out if needed,only going from memory

Found out the same two things myself last night. A friend of a friend who is in the trade advised me that the pulleys will go on either way apparently there is a procedure that is a lot better than the Haynes manual.
He also told me that the hydraulic tappets might not get enough oil feed from just the starter motor and to tow start it.
I feel like I'm on a merry-go-round at the moment !!

Derek - the camwheels do indeed fit in many positions - very confusing! It's even caught me out on a few occasions.

I think (please don't quote me) but the roll pins of the inlet and exhaust camshafts have to be at 2 and 7 o'clock respectively; Fit the camwheels (from where they originally came from..) and then align the timing marks, which shouldn't be a mile off.

We've had many a garage tow a car in to us in this same condition. A very simple mistake to make if things are ripped apart and not methodically marked up.