Multimeter

[Moose McAlpine]

I would suggest one of the Uni-t meters. Good quality, well regarded & well priced. I bought mine from an electronics shop many years ago & it has served me well over the years. I think it was £25 at the time, an identical meter with Sealey Professional written on it was 4x the price!

Uni-t are good, and have lots of functions for the price. Their clamp meters are nice too.

Only thing i'll say is whatever meter you go for, get yourself a nice set of leads, probes and clamps. Most meters come with horrible cheap nasty PVC leads with nasty probes. A good set makes a difference.

 

[Mick Annick]

If that Lucas part number is correct then check this out:
https://www.autoelectricalspares.co.uk/lucas-seb201-73305-215sa-etc6443-throttle-pot-546-p.asp
I wonder if they have any in stock?

No, spoke to them, no stock and none coming any time soon

 

[Mick Annick]

Do start at the beginning. Do you really need a multimeter for this problem? Seems more like a fuelling problem to me.

First check is to see if there is a spark at the plugs. Don’t need a multimeter, or any other meter, to do that.

If there is a spark, the issue may well not need a multimeter to fix the problem.

If the spark is the issue, checking the coil is an easy operation. And so it goes on….

Does it use the Kettering type ignition system (helps to know what we may be dealing with)?

It is almost certainly a fuelling problem, the 14CUX fuel system is managed by an array of sensors, and those that know better than me suggest testing them all in order is the best way to narrow down the fault - it’s not an uncommon problem with this set up, hence the question about multimeters.

Sparks have been checked, new coil tested and fitted to be on the safe side, ignition module also, new leads and plugs, rotor arm…

 

[Neilj]

It is almost certainly a fuelling problem, the 14CUX fuel system is managed by an array of sensors, and those that know better than me suggest testing them all in order is the best way to narrow down the fault - it’s not an uncommon problem with this set up, hence the question about multimeters.

Sparks have been checked, new coil tested and fitted to be on the safe side, ignition module also, new leads and plugs, rotor arm…

I would totally agree with you on this. Every ECU ever built provides fuelling based on some sort of configured map, with overall corrections for things like coolant temp, fuel temp, barometric pressure, manifold pressure etc. Coolant correction is a big one (that's basically the electrical equivalent of an automatic choke on an old carburettor). At normal running temp, correction will be 0% but at say 20 Deg C coolant temp it could be something like +50% to aid cold starting and running. If you envisage a dodgy coolant temp sensor that is reporting 20 Deg C to the ECU when the engine is actually at running temp then the ECU will be pushing 50% extra fuel into the engine, thinking it's cold. The result of which will be poor hot starting and the engine running extremely rich, to such an extent it probably won't run very well or at all.
Changing out every sensor for a new / known good one is one way to fix it, but gets expensive very quickly. A methodical approach, testing every sensor is a much better way to go as has been suggested and a multimeter will allow you to test pretty much all of them.

 

[Stupoty]

Uni-t are good, and have lots of functions for the price. Their clamp meters are nice too.

Only thing i'll say is whatever meter you go for, get yourself a nice set of leads, probes and clamps. Most meters come with horrible cheap nasty PVC leads with nasty probes. A good set makes a difference.

I had a circa 80 sqid uniT for ages, i did like it a lot , loads of features as u say, was less rugged than my current meter but was still very reasonable.

It was actualy the sockets detaching from pcb because i used regular bannana leads not the sheilded ones. Whooops.

Stu

 

[Stupoty]

If u just need a basic one for basic stuff totaly get one of the 10 to 30 pound uniT's

Stu

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

I had a circa 80 sqid uniT for ages, i did like it a lot , loads of features as u say, was less rugged than my current meter but was still very reasonable.

It was actualy the sockets detaching from pcb because i used regular bannana leads not the sheilded ones. Whooops.

Stu

Thats what has killed mine. To be fair its had some hammer over the years

 

[My Old Landy]

I picked up one of these from screwfix a couple of months ago as my old one died.

Di-Log AC Digital Multimeter 1000V - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. Compact auto-ranging digital multimeter with temperature measurement to 750°C and high-contrast backlit LCD display. With full protection on all ranges and a safety category to CAT III 600V. Offers a comprehensive range of features designed to accommodate the most...

www.screwfix.com

Its ok, has frequency and temperature too.