Engine only fires on front 2 pistons

LUDIMOUTON

MEMBER
1974 LAND ROVER SERIES 3
2.6L
5 CYL
AWD
MANUAL

Hi

I am based in South Africa. My Land Rover series 3, straight 6 petrol, 2.6, R6, is only firing on it's 2 front pistons.

All 6 spark plugs are brand new and in working condition and all 6 are sparking. I have fitted a new distributor cap. The rings are fine and have compression. The valves work on a crank system. The vehicle starts and idols.

I've tried everything by now and contacted almost everyone. I need to get it fixed asap, as I have to put it through the roadworthy test. Any help will be appreciated hugely.

Regards

Ludi Mouton

4 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

How do you know it's only firing on 2 cylinders? The engine cannot run on only 2 out of 6 cylinders.

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Saturday, February 28th, 2015 AT 5:10 AM

LUDIMOUTON

MEMBER
3 POSTS

When the engine idols and I unplug the spark plugs one by one, the engine only starts to die when I unplug the 2 front plugs. When I remove the other 4 further backwards, the engine keeps running.

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Sunday, March 1st, 2015 AT 7:08 AM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

As I stated, the engine cannot run on only 2 cylinders. That's not to say there aren't issues with the other cylinders but they are not completely dead. You need to start with compression tests and any other testing that will determine what is going on with those other cylinders such as injector balance and spark testing.

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Sunday, March 1st, 2015 AT 7:12 AM

LUDIMOUTON