Gday everyone how are we? Im new to your forum so we will see how this goes. Im doing a repair job fo a bloke with an XH ute. He thought it ran out of fuel(fuel was low, but may not have been out. I will explain more as I go further) So he towed vehiicle home, filled it with fuel and tried to start it without success. He replaced filter, checked and replaced fuel pump relay and even gave it a sniff of aerostart but it still wouldnt go. It is getting fuel pressure at the fuel rail. So he asked me to have a look. I removed all the plugs, dried them off and refitted. I checked battery terminals and connections and cleaned them up. It would crank over and kick but wouldnt start, and would ocasionally give a small backfire. It has spark. I pulled distributor cap off and it was dirty on the 6 contact points so i cleaned them up. The rotor button had a broken key so I thought that would be my problem. I put a new button in and it is no different. Can anyone help out? Im thinking it is a timing problem, and havent pulled the distributor out yet to check the teeth on the gear but that is my next move. The ute was running fine up until it stopped- whether it was out of fuel or it has lost spark or slipped timing remains too be seen.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone. Dave

I had the exact issue with my XH ute, turned out to be the auxilary drive. It was producing intermittent spark and backfiring like crazy but thats what it was and an absolute sh*t of a job to do aswell.

How did you pick up on that problem mate? Could you see down the hole where the distributor bolts in? Was the Distibutor itself damaged? And did the ute just sop one day, or was it somethimg that gradually got worse? Thanks for the reply. cheers.

Thanks jughead, I pulled out the distributor today and the teeth on the auxilliary shaft are flattened out on one side. When the dissy was still in place I had the owner crank the engine over and the shaft woud spin intermittently, so thats how I found the problem. Are there any tricks to getting it out? Im taking the front cover off, and I guess I will find it in there. Lets hope it all goes well.

Pretty much what your doing is the only way ensuring you setup the timing chain assembly correctly before refitment when you get to it. Only thing I can recommend is when you put a replacement shaft, use the drive off the dizzy as it will be a match and should reduce the chances of it happening again.

Thanks mate, I will have a crack at it tomorrow. Hopefully I can be writing tomorrow about a smooth running 4 litre. You dont have to take the head off do you? Can you back off the adjuster enough to get the balance shaft out?