poor starting running rough then cutting out and harder to s

[bobthevoice]

My brothers 2.0i seh 93 cav. any thoughts please on this?. fuel breathing ignition? the car is taking longer to fire and when it does it's running rough then it clears for a while and cuts out.the next start takes longer to fire.

all thoughts welcome.

Bob

cheers.

[bobthevoice]

I had the chance yesterday to have a look at my brothers car and decided to go for the simple things first.i had this thought in my head that the humidity was high over the previous couple of days and was thinking maybe that could be a factor in the poor starting with dampness somewhere under the bonnet.but...i decided instead to look at the spark plugs and removed No,4 first. it was a bit sooty so i cleaned and re-gapped it to spec. i went to No.3 and fount it to be very loose in the head i.e. not tight. so i removed No's 2and1 to find they where loose as well??? when i looked at them properly it was clear to make the judgement that plugs 1,2,and 3 where +/- 3 full threads from being properly tight.
shocked or what? i have owned this car for more than 2 years and as driving goes it has never missed a beat and in my brothers care it has been up and down the motorway to middle England and beyond many times. so to discover 3 spark plugs that loose was pretty scary to say the least with all sorts of possibilities going through my head.upon inspection the 3 loose plugs where VERY sooty and wet? at the electrodes with fuel i reckon. so they where all cleaned and gapped. i started the car and all was well during startup and a 15 min drive at various speeds to see how it performed through the rev-range. no fault found during this drive and the car had no starting/running issues today.
So the question is why where 3 plugs that loose in the first place? did the previous owner get distracted when fitting new plugs or what? i can't see a mechanic making such an error as from my own experience as a transport engineer if i was distracted as can and will happen sometimes during a repair as with my memory i would always make a note on the job sheet or some other piece of paper to remind me where i had to go back to in the repair to avoid any mistake being made.
what are your thoughts on this one?.

Bob.

[Robsey]

There is no proper / justifiable reason for 3 out of 4 plugs to be only partially screwed in.

One thing is for sure, they will have been like this since the car was last serviced, as the plugs cannot unscrew themselves once the leads are fitted.

So the question is who last worked on that engine?
Hopefully not a trained mechanic.

As a point of caution, I would check that every other service item has been done properly.
Just to be on the safe side.

[bobthevoice]

Your not wrong Robsey with your thoughts. i will be having a conversation with my brother to discuss who has been working on the car in the 18 months of his care. i need to know for safety's sake what he has been doing and if there is no proper documentation from him them i will be going over the car from front to back. there can be no excuse for anyone leaving spark plugs loose like that.

Bob

[Robsey]

Spark plugs is one thing, but what else have they faffed with.?

The plug situation would probably only create a non start situation,

But there is an ouside chance it could have damaged some of the ECU / distributor / amplifier electronics where fitted.
I have burnt out a few rotor arms where the path of the current to earth via the HT lead has been compramised.

My concern is safety stuff like brake or fuel components.
The mind boggles - but then I am a very cynical soul.

I have been at the brunt of a couple of bad garages in the past, so I am now very wary of sub-standard workmanship.

[bobthevoice]

Robsey, would the possible damage you mention to the ECU etc show up straight away or could it weaken a component and show a fault later? i ask this as the car is showing no issues at all and driving perfectly. i'm waiting to talk to my brother about any work done to the car so i can look at the work done for safety's sake.

Bob

[bobthevoice]

So after a discussion with my brother he confirmed that the only work done to the car whilst in his care was the fitting of both rear springs due to one breaking hitting a pothole.
he is very sure no other work has been done. so the mystery remains as to who left 3 plugs slack 2 years ago.

Bob

[Robsey]

I was speaking from a worst case scenario perspective.
Apologies if I caused you alarm.

There is a miniscule chance that the amplifier may get damaged, and that in some set-ups, the amplifier is built into the ECU.

If all is still fine now, then you should not worry.

[bobthevoice]

Good to hear Robsey,no doubt he will let me know if there's any issues. thanks a lot for all your input.

Bob