pull all the plugs out and turn motor by hand,about 5 turns.motor should be easy to turn,if it does,look at the cam with the cover off--cracked or bent arms and loose chain on cam.also check oil pressure at idle.

Thanks heaps for ya help.

I'll try it in a second.

how do I rotate the engine by hand?

Do I need to remove the sparkplugs to turn it by hand because of the pressure?

thats what i said-plugs,remove fit a spanner on crank balancer pulley nut,and turn it.remove the tappet cover-cam cover and watch the rocker arms. try that-and see how it goes. let us know

Sorry stupid me, when I was writing the post I thought ya said leads, I'm going outside to do it now.

Got held up before with dinner

Ok I'm almost there.

How the hell do I get to the crankshaft nut?

There's loads of things in the way, mainly the radaitor fan.

I removed the power steering idler pulley to make it easier but I can barely get my hand let alone a wrench to the crankshaft

Anybody?

I got it all apart now and night is running out

??????????????????????

to speed things up a bit I got a few pics of the timing chain







Does it look ok?

I guess ya'd have to see the whole thing, except I don't have an engine crane

looks ok normaly the plastic guide breaks but it looks ok frome the pics soorry i cant help

Thanks.

Do you know what way to rotate the crankshaft?

I'm not touching it till I know the right way to turn it.

3hrs I been trying to do this because a stupid gregory's guide doesn't explain enough detail

I also cant get the s[anner in the pulley there's no way it's possibly from what I can see.

f**k it. It's 10:30 now, I'll just take it to a mechanic since I'm out of time.

Doesn't help that I don't know what I'm doing either.

no offence intended but thats true.
Im a motor mechanic and i still cant tell you whats wrong without looking at the car.
Noises like youve explained indicated something fell inside and has caused further damage, but i wouldnt commit to that being the case without looking at the car first hand.
Let us know how u go thought, and make sure u give the mechanic all the info u can as to whats happened so far, even write it down, it will make his/her job much easier this saving time, and money

rotate motor to TDC and have look where your cam sproket sits, there's an indicator mark on it that should sit 3 degrees above rocker gasket line on passenger side of motor

if timing right your best bet would be checking TFI module which is located on side of distributor as this sends a signal to your ECU with position of stator plate and then your ECU sends signal back to it which in turn sends another signal to your coil to tell it to spark at a given timing setting (advanced or retarded)

If you have a multimeter you can do this self test yourself to determine whether your ignition system is working up to scratch

1. Is there spark at the spark plugs?
2. Are plug leads in good condition and correctly installed?
3. Is the ignition firing order correct?
4. Is the ignition coil and it's connections OK on visual inspection?
5. Does the ignition coil emit sparks? (put one of your plugs into lead from the coil and see if it sparks when turning motor over)
6. Is the distributor cap and rotor in good condition?
7. Is the primary resistance of the ignition coil within specification? (disconnect the multi-pin connector from the TFI module and place an ohmmeter between terminals 4 & 5 of the connector, should show between 0.4 and 0.5 ohms
8. Is the secondary resistance of the ignition coil within specification? (Place ohmmeter between terminal 5 of the TFI connector and the HT terminal of the coil, should be between 7.1 to 7.9 kilohms)
9. Check ground at TFI module (Place ohmeter between pin 6 (bottom pin) of TFI module and the distributor body, should be less than 0.5 ohms)
10. Check integrity of wiring loom at the TFI module connector (Disconnect wire from starter so will not start, attach a voltmeter negative lead to distributor body and measure these voltages, Terminal 5 with ignition switch in run position, Terminal 4 with ignition switch in run/start position, Terminal 3 with ignition switch in start position
Reading should be at least 90% of battery voltage)
11. Place ammeter between terminal 5 of the TFI module connector and pin 5 of the TFI, with ignition 'on' the ammeter should read zero)
12. Ensure there is no corrosion in the TFI module connector pins
13. Remove the connector from the ECU, place ohmmeter between terminals 16 and 60 of the connector and measure the resistance of the ignition system ground circuit. Maximum resistance 0.5 ohms
14. Switch ignition 'on', measure voltage at terminal 5 of ECU connector, should be 90% of battery voltage
15. Check the PIP signal, Place positive lead of voltmeter on terminal 56 and the negative lead on terminal 60, turn motor over and measure voltage with engine stationary, highest value should be higher than 90% of battery charge and lowest value should be less than 0.5 volts

If after testing all these and still doesn't start perform a self test on ECU and check for mechanical defects

Hope this helps

Thanks guys.

I managed to grip the crankshaft pulley nut with a ratchet from going upnder the car.

I tried with all my might but it wouldn't turn.

Should I loosen all the drive belts.

So I need to buy a multimeter ohmeter and ammeter for all those tests?

I'll try to get them off ebay

Also I think it's a series of things.

1. It sounds bad (sounds a lot like when I got the firing order wrong before).

2. It's idling low, idling changes goes lower then higher but nowhere near as bad as it does when I got the firing order wrong).

3. It cut out in the middle of the road when the idle went extremely low, then when I wen't to crank it I got no firing sound (starter motor might've moved but I wouldn't of heard it from the cabin, sounded dead quiet).

To me it sounded like an ignititon issue, mainly because it wouldn't start directly after it cut out, 5 minutes later I tried it I heard it firing and it just started, I had done nothing but wait.