air flow sensor

Hi fellas, not looked at engine for a couple of weeks been to busy at work etc, took all your collective advise and shes still not running, if i can't get it going my wife said she'd ring a scrap yard and have it towed away, shes going on holiday for two weeks and said if it aint running when she gets back its curtains!!, come on fellas, help me out, i'm reluctent to take it to a garage due to a, the cost, and b, for satisfaction of knowing i fixed it myself with the help of you guys, why is the air flow sensor plate dropping ? it says in haynes that plate should lift as engine draws in air, but mine is doing complete opposite ?? could the plunger in metering head be the cause of this ? running out of ideas fast and i only have 15 days left to save my pride and joy, please help guys :dontknow:

errrrr….this is confusing…..how do you know it's doing the opposite…..or have I got this wrong ????

….the plate will lift as the engine draws in air….BUT YOU WONT SEE IT DOING THIS as the black induction pipe (between the metering head and intake manifold) is in the way……..with the car running and the pipe removed you should be able to lift the plate (use sticky tape) to alter the fuel flow to the injectors, but the injectors would have to be removed and placed in bottles to see this…

see my Injector test pdf

Hi Prowler, thanks for replying and for info, printing it off now, i can see air flap dropping as i have removed induction pipe to view it, been trying 4 weeks to get her running and tried everything except air sensor, have adjusted clip to set plate at its starting position but every time i turn her over i can see fuel line from tank move slightly and at same time air plate drops down onto the rubber stop, if i lift it slightly she does try to fire but wont catch, any idea's,? every time i try to adjust its position it ends up sitting on the rubber stop, many thanks.

mavster said

i can see air flap dropping as i have removed induction pipe to view it, . . . have adjusted clip to set plate at its starting position but every time i turn her over i can see fuel line from tank move slightly and at same time air plate drops down onto the rubber stop

If I understand what you wrote here you are getting the results you should for what you have done, and it will not start by doing that either. You can not remove any of the intake induction piping and still have the engine start and run. The whole CIS system is dependent on two things, air lifting the sensor plate for mixture and fuel pressure. By removing any of the induction plumbing you allow air to enter the engine without first passing (lifting) the sensor plate. That results in no fuel and no therefore start. It is next to impossible to operate the sensor plate by hand and run the engine. You can start the engine this way but you and your hand can not move the plate as required for a correct mixture to stay running (maybe by luck once in a thousand times).

What is happening and you are seeing is this: Sensor plate is adjusted with the spring for correct height, ignition is switched on (pump runs) and builds system pressure, pressure pushes on the top of the mixture plunger in the fuel distributor and because no air is rushing past the sensor plate to lift it it is forced down onto the rubber stop. Do your troubleshooting with the induction system closed and air tight.

Hey Grimy fingers,
you are a star, how stupid do i feel now ? why oh why have i not seen this before ? thanks very much for advice, i am  going to try again later and if she fires up rest assured i'll be digging out my dunce's cap and standing in a corner for the rest of the day!! once again fingers, many many thanks.