Help L Series running on only 2 cylinders

richard the fish · Post by **richard the fish** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:52 pm

Hi All my trusty 93 L series is running on 2 cylinders only.
The car has 235,000km and is quite well looked after, I change the oil and filter every 3 months, and flush the cooling system twice a year. The carb was fully rebuilt last year so i do not think this is the problem.
The auto choke has never been connected.
A couple of weeks ago it started idiling very rough, all the plugs are sparking but when I pull the 2 drivers side leads off it makes no difference, just runs rough, could this be a timing belt problem as it has not been changed since 120,000 ? If so can I tell without pulling it apart? there seems to no difference in the power.
Thanks

Richard

Post by **Alex** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:11 pm

could well be timing. May have skipped afew teeth.

only way to tell this tho is to remove the timing belt covers and have a visual check.

other than that, make sure your dizzy and cap are all okay.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:43 pm

So you've had the plugs out and seen them sparking against the block (or something like that) ?
Maybe it just needs the plugs cleaned and the gap checked or even replaced. Have they been in service for a long time?

richard the fish · Post by **richard the fish** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:55 pm

I took the plugs out and they were sparking (against the block), Is it still worth changing them?

Thanks guys

richard the fish · Post by **richard the fish** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:57 pm

I forgot to mention Andrew, the plugs have been in there for years.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:58 pm

If they've been there for years then maybe it's worth changing them just to rule it out. You wouldn't want to blow too much time investigating other things if it turns out to be just the plugs. They are cheap and you may as well change them if the existing ones are years old.

Otherwise, if they are sparking properly it must just be at the wrong time, so a timing issue. I'd investigate spark timing (the dizzy) first. Got a timing light?

richard the fish · Post by **richard the fish** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:02 pm

Thanks Andrew.
I just changed the plugs from another l series and leads, still the same Itomorrow Ill get a timing light and check it thanks again

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:21 pm

RHS drivers timing belt gorn ? It will still spark , a comp test is handy. Neat how the dizzy and oil pump is driven by the other belt - a sfety thing