metropower.info

I bought a Rover 111i in June 2020 and it has an intermittant fault with the ignition or the immobiliser. Basically most of the time the engine will turn over but not start. It is currently at Panks in Norwich for its third visit. They previously identified some dry joints on the relay pack next to the ECU. At that point the ignition system was completely non-functioning and this repair seemed to have cured the fault. Since then the intermittant non starting issue has remained.
The workshop seem to think all the ignition components are OK and seem to suspect the fault is with the immobiliser. I use the fob to deactivate the immobiliser and the red light n the dashboard goes off and the engine turns over but will not start. I am reluctant to give up on this car as when its running it is a good drive. Any suggestions please?

The car is not immobilised if you can crank the engine over.
The immobilisation is the ign AND the starter motor is immobilised, so the fact that
you can crank the engine over with the key means that the immob is off, so what you do is this:
Unlock door with remote, (cdl door pins up), get in car, led should be off, if not, press OFF button on remote, led should go off,

Key in ign and key on IGN only, you should hear fuel pump prime for a couple of seconds, this is important, because if you
dont hear the pump prime, that is a source of non start as you will be able to crank the engine over and it wont start.
If you dont hear the pump prime, turn ign off and press the inertia switch, if it clicks when you do, then it was tripped
to cut off the fuel pump, if it doesn't click, check fuse, IIRC fuse 17. if all ok and pump still doesn't prime, you have to wait
about 5 mins for the ecu to power down, now repeat ign on with led off and listen to the MFU next to the ecu, (you may need
somebody to key on ign with you listening to the MFU), as ign is turned on, you should hear a click, followed by another click
a couple of seconds later, that is the fuel pump relay being pulsed. if you can hear that, but not the fuel pump pulsing, then
check pump connection on the front of the fuel tank (near the exhaust!!), these have a habit of corroding.
If you cant hear a relay click and led is off, then suspect the MFU is at fault, you will need a MFU with the number on
the back as YWB710 as I'm assuming your car has 4 fuel injectors, ie its a MPi.
If its not an MPi, I cant remember MFU number.
Note: you must wait around 5 mins inbetween ign on actions when checking separate items, as ecu keeps MFU main relay
energised.

Thankyou for taking the time to try to resolve this problem. The fuel pump does engage when the ignition is switched on. The car has been at the workshop for 8 days and so far they have not managed to fix it! In their defense they say they are fitting the job in "between jobs" to try to keep the labour cost down. It seems to be an awkward one!! They keep saying that the ECU could be the source of the fault but seem to think this may be difficult to prove.

Try checking fuel pressure when cranking, should be @ 2.5-3bar, if not, clamp hose from fuel reg to return hose and crank again, It should go up to 5 bar if thats ok, check HT at plugs when cranking,
if no spark, try usual coil/HT leads/sparkplugs check, if still no spark, look at crank sensor and/or wiring to it,
Have you tried bump-starting the car or Batt Boost starting it, it could be something as simple as a duff battery,
I've replaced my ZR battery as it was ok to crank, but sometimes wouldn't fire up, Batt had 12.6v but one of the cells had gone.
The worse it could be, is if the ign driver has failed inside the ecu, but not very likely.
Get one those OBDII things that plug into the OBD socket,
(I've got a WiFi one plugged into my car all the time so I can link my phone to check any faults as they happen)
That way you can rule out ecu fault straight away when cranking, as if you have RPM showing, then ecu driver is ok, then you only need to look from ecu to Coil wiring,HT leads/plugs for a fault. it wont be O2 sensor, as that is open loop on cold start.
I assume that car is a mpi??

Thanks once again Dave. The car is still in the garage so that's 2 weeks so far. As far as I'm aware the only thing that they have done is send the ecu off to be checked. I am waiting to hear back from them. As far as I know the engine is SPI but I could be mistaken. I am reluctant to give up on this car because it has become relatively rare and to scrap it would be a shame. The way you describe how to check the ecu doesn't seem too complicated so makes me wonder why the garage decided to send the ecu away to be checked. Time will tell.

Rover 111i now running. Fault proved to ECU which has been repaired but exactly what was wrong has not been shared. The ECU was sent away to be tested. A fault was identified. A repair was completed. The car now starts. The engine does occasionally misfire and has stalled but restarts fairly quickly. Will see how things go. Thankyou to Dave VVC for your advice.

Rover was on road for 2 days. Engine misfiring and cutting out. I returned car to Panks who organised the ecu repair and left car running and they suggested the fault is now a fuel problem so they recommended a local garage who could diagnose the fault. When I arrived at the garage the engine stopped and could not be restarted. That was on the 6/11/20. I am still waiting for a verdict from the garage. This car is a puzzle!

Hiya, id say, take the car off them. They sound retarded. If a fuel starvation problem, it would tend to be a gradual loss of power, especially under part or full power, before slowing or cutting out. Id suspect more electrical.

When were the fuel filters last changed? Did you try twating the fuel pump, with a hammer? Condition of wiring contacts etc, dont forget, wiring 25 plus years old now.

Give john norris a ring, from mg rough luck racing, he does k series and only k series. Comes to your home.

Also recommend steve skinner, pontypool auto services, ex mg rover garage and still.working, specialise in metros. They just serviced my 114 gta.

John norris does all my mg work.

Im ex austin rover, lex rover Newport. Not on the tools any more. Trucking now

Just thinking, before I go bed, dry joints, in the relay box are common, also have known king lead on coil to cause cutting out problems.

Generally the intank fuel pumps are reliable, the gause on the tank filter, can break up and block the fuel filter. Im a massive beliver of red ex, full bottle, in every 5th tank.

Electrical faults are sudden cut out and die, fuel starvation is gradual reduction, then splutter then die.

Top of my list, check the under bonnet relay box, get it refurbished or get a new one. Check power and earth to the tank, id get the basics sorted. Before a refurb on the ecu.