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[MonzaGSE]

Hi. Omega 3 litre 1995 been running fine all winter. This morning it absolutely wouldnt start. Starter ran fine but wouldnt fire. Was -20c and low on fuel. Had to pull start the old sierra to Get to work. This evening i filled 10 litres from a can on the omega and a little drygas. Used jumpleads from the Ford. Didnt help at all. Starter ran fine but no life. Then i used start gas. Have done so many times successfully. But no it just fired once, then a loud bang and the start gas ignited in the bagpipes. (disconnected just after the air filter box) flames where burning out of the air intake pipe and would not go out. Guess the start gas burned and then the plastic pipe caught fire. Had to use a fire extingisher in the intake pipe:(

2 questions:
- whats most likely the reason it wouldnt start?
- is my engine now garbage? Dont see much fire damage, but the extingisher powder is probably all over the engine insides...

[05omegav6]

Probably not starting due to no fuel... or crank sensor...

Put another ten litres in, make sure the car is level and try again with the bagpipes off. if you can pull the plenum off and clean it out too, but unlikely that the extinguisher powder got much past the throttle body if the engine was off. Idle control valve will probably need a good clean too. Probably find the start gas stayed liquid, causing it to pool in the air intake...

[firemoth]

This happened with me on an astra diesel. Except I didn't use an extinguisher I just ran. Eventually went out itself and all was well

[Marks DTM Calib]

If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, ether is for use only by those who understand nothing about engine mechanics and it NEVER does an engine any good.

No offence but, what on earth did you think it would do on a petrol engine......unlike a diesel its relatively low compression and is unlikely to ignite without a spark anyway......and in with the vast majority of cases on a fuel injected car, no fuel will mean there is no spark either.

Anyway, enough of the lecturing and bollocking, sorry its a pet hate of mine having repaired TO MANY engines where this stuff has been used.

I suspect you will be fine, determine the route cause (crank sensor is a favourite), sort your damaged inlets out and fire it up......oh and bin the ether.

[Andy B]

If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, ether is for use only by those who understand nothing about engine mechanics and it NEVER does an engine any good. ....

It's amazing the number of people that think it's OK to use though 

[Gaffers]

If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, ether is for use only by those who understand nothing about engine mechanics and it NEVER does an engine any good.

No offence but, what on earth did you think it would do on a petrol engine......unlike a diesel its relatively low compression and is unlikely to ignite without a spark anyway......and in with the vast majority of cases on a fuel injected car, no fuel will mean there is no spark either.

Anyway, enough of the lecturing and bollocking, sorry its a pet hate of mine having repaired TO MANY engines where this stuff has been used.

I suspect you will be fine, determine the route cause (crank sensor is a favourite), sort your damaged inlets out and fire it up......oh and bin the ether.

At least I now know what to buy you for your birthday

[robson]

How do the makers of this product get away with it if it is so useless?

[05omegav6]

How do the makers of this product get away with it if it is so useless?

Probably a byproduct of another process, and rather than spend billions disposing of it, they figured that they might as well bottle it and flog it, letting the public pay to dispose of it for them

[Marks DTM Calib]

Because it does what it says on the tin.......it makes an engine run.

It does not state the side effects and damage though.

There are some larger engines (read heavy plant etc) where it is used to cold start the donks by design, on these they have a different top ring design and a very controlled amount is automatically injected after the engine is cranking.

I have found that it is good for cleaning EGR valves though

[MonzaGSE]

The purpose of the start gas was to see if the engine would run on it. Cause then i assume its a problem with no petrol getting to the engine. And to be fair the engine did start on the startgas and ran for a few seconds before it backfired in the inlet and caught fire. Will try taking the inlet of on saturday and Get some more fuel in the tank. Temperatures are supposed to rise.

But point taken: i will NOT use the startgas again:p

[MonzaGSE]

Took the bagpipes off today and no extuingisher powder has reached the trottle body:) put another 10 litres of fuel in it but still wont start. Finally Did paperclip test and got code 19 and 73. 73 is mass airflow sensor and is expected with bagpipe assembly removed i Guess. Looks like crank sensor after all then as suggested on here. Only thing that puzzles me is i thought i should have gotten code 31 to as engine was obviously not running. But just got 19 and 73?

[05omegav6]

Took the bagpipes off today and no extuingisher powder has reached the trottle body:) put another 10 litres of fuel in it but still wont start. Finally Did paperclip test and got code 19 and 73. 73 is mass airflow sensor and is expected with bagpipe assembly removed i Guess. Looks like crank sensor after all then as suggested on here. Only thing that puzzles me is i thought i should have gotten code 31 to as engine was obviously not running. But just got 19 and 73?

19 is incorrect rpm signal which does suggest crank sensor...

Also swap the two purple relays in the engine fusebox to rule them out. I would also give the bottom of the fuel tank a slap as an assistant tries to start it... could be a failing/failed fuel pump too...

But those three things are all that might be wrong now it has plenty of fuel in

[MonzaGSE]

Sick of the omega now:( changed the crank sensor for a new from Opel, swapped the purple relays can hear the fuel pump running. But no go. It cranks fine but dont fire at all. Want to jump up and down on it:(

[MonzaGSE]

Eml does go out when cranking btw.

[MonzaGSE]

Update: car is now alive and well:) been running fine for a couple of days now. Turned out to be the fuel pump after all. Could hear it running, but it wasnt suppliyng fuel. Only slight issue i have is that it seems to need a bit more cranking to start than it used too. Have noticed quite extensive fire damage to the sensor closest to the air filter. What does that sensor do? And will it be harder to start if it dont do what it should?:p once started the car runs fine with no eml.