Disco motor, autronic ECU in a RRC

[mnorv]

Not sure where to start other than saying I know I need help.
I have bought a 1986 RRC with a 4lt x bolt motor (made from parts by a rover mechanic), he added an Autronic ECU as he intended to add a super charger.
Long story short he said he drove it to his shed parked it up 7 years ago. I came along bought it, since then have turned it over after oiling up etc. changed plugs, fuel pump, had injectors serviced, new coil etc.
So I believe I have fuel (38psi), I know I have injector signal, so guessing I should be ok in the fuel space.
I know I have spark now, have tested the end of the leads, appears to be good.
When turning over I get some backfires, seems to be intake. This makes me think timing.
When looking at the firing sequence I can seem to get my head around it. Even when I try number one as both sides, as I don't know the engine as it came from parts.


Turned motor over to TDC indicator on pully, checked front drivers side and piston appeared to be at TDC. Pulled rotor cap and located what I believe to be number 1. This gives me the following firing sequence if I keep number one as front drivers side and rotor moving in a clockwise direction( I have not checked direction)
14732568
As this looked wrong I called him and asked if he had played with anything, he said no, drove it in the shed and parked it....
I am aware that it has an after market Autronic ECU which may also be causing some timing issues, but prior to me worrying about that I feel the sequence is wrong.
Can anyone give me some guidance on this step prior to looking at the ECU.
I did flip the leads to place number one on the passenger side front and used what I thought the disco firing sequence was 1.8.4.3.6.5.7.2. you could fee the engine did not like it with some hard compressions when you tried to turn it over.
Swapped back to what it came with, put the bonnet down, and typed this post.
Thanks in advance.

[PhilipA]

Turned motor over to TDC indicator on pully, checked front drivers side and piston appeared to be at TDC. Pulled rotor cap and located what I believe to be number 1. This gives me the following firing sequence if I keep number one as front drivers side and rotor moving in a clockwise direction( I have not checked direction)
14732568
No1 is front PASSENGER side.
Firing order is https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/08/304.jpg
Regard s Philip A

[mnorv]

Thanks Phil,
As I said I did move the leads around to the front passenger as one, using the standard firing order but it did not like that.
Just confirming that the TDC mark is the grove in the pulley?

[mnorv]

So working on if I am on the wrong bank, is still can't get the firing sequence to work out. I understand that number one would move around the dissy to be a new spot, but the sequence still would not match.


Working on all rover people are honest, I do believe that the car was driven in and therefore the sequence should be correct. Is there any other sequences such as American etc? Does the dissy always turn clockwise?

[bee utey]

There are grooves in the pulley that do not denote TDC. The correct TDC mark is in the middle of the timing scale of +/- 12 degrees on the pulley. Remove the front passenger side plug. At TDC you use a short length of heater hose and blow into the cylinder. If you rock the engine a bit either side of TDC and air blows easily into the cylinder you are 1 turn out from the firing stroke. Rotate the engine one turn and try again. The valves should stay closed either side of TDC. If you then line up the 8 degree "before" mark with the pointer you should get firing on the passenger front corner of the engine. Line up the pickup and star rotor under the plastic cover of the distributor and connect no.1 to the position indicated by the rotor button. Then fit the leads as per the factory timing sequence kindly given by PhilipA.

The cylinders are numbered by their sequence on the crank shaft so the one that is slightly offset forwards is number one. The front of the valley cover clamp shows the offset best. Many V engines are numbered this way.

[PhilipA]

Another way is to put a long socket on the crank bolt, turn it towards clockwise TDC while holding your thumb over the no1 plughole.
If you feel your thumb being forced out of the plug hole you are on firing stroke.
You only need three hands for this exercise.
Then look at the dizzy cap and make sure that the rotor is pointing directly towards the no1 stud . It helps to use a marker to put a mark on the outside of the dizzy down near the bottom edge of the cap in line with the no1 plug wire.
Regards Philip A

[mnorv]

Thank you all, will do some more checking and get back to you.
What has me beat is when I look at the sequence that the leads are now, and I say the front left is number #1 I still end up with 16572384. And he states the car was running when parked up.


Anyway I agree lets go back to basic and start from there. I have spoken to the ECU people and they feel the unit is working fine (crank angle, and plug lead pick up working) as I am getting spark. obvious thing here is perhaps that plug lead pick up may be on the wrong lead too.


It does seem weird as all the lengths etc. seem to fit what he has now.


In relation to the Dizzy it is now only acting a switch for the spark direction, the rest is not in use due to the ECU (crank and plug pick up)

[bee utey]

Well, you've either got your left/right mixed up, your front/back mixed up, your cylinder numbering mixed up, your clockwise/anticlockwise mixed up, or your engine type mixed up. All Rover engines based on the 1963 Buick V8 design have the same firing order, with the possible exception of the flat crank Repco Brabham racing engine.

Anyway, you can confirm the firing order by the hose or thumb test every 1/4 of as turn as the pistons reach TDC in their respective cylinders. With the rocker covers off you can observe the valve actions too.

[mnorv]

Thanks everyone I am proud to announce that we now have another running Range Rover in the family. With new injectors, a couple of new leads and the correct firing order the old girl fired up after a seven year sleep. Had some trouble getting oil up, but after a bit of cleaning and priming that is now all good and it is running sweet.

Thanks for the help. Will take some photos and post.

The next project is to move a good body off a spare car to my other running classic that does not have a straight panel. Can anyone advise on how to approach this?

Thanks again.

[mnorv]

I have started a new post on changing the bodies

Thanks