hard to start,

[waynegts]

my 850 t5 is still struggling to start, has new plugs and dizzy, takes up to a few miniutes to start but runs fine when started appart from revving between gear changes, no engine fault codes as i sorted the one it had,
any ideas?

[Wobbly Dave]

Could be fuel system related. Injectors perhaps - have you tested the fuel pressure (assuming you have petrol in it)

[neevo]

Sounds like it may be your battery. How old is it?

My car has been struggling with this cold weather and it is exacerbated by being kept on the street overnight, mine has an old battery ad I am contemplating a new one

[Wobbly Dave]

Forgot to ask if the damn thing actually turns over on the key :slap:

[850twr]

its not the battery as he said in his previous thread it just turns over, but will not fire.

[Wobbly Dave]

Indeed that's what I assumed.

[850twr]

as you said dave, could be injector problem, maybe a leaky injector or two? but to be honest i'm just p*ss*ng in the wind, would be well worth checking your rail pressure when the pump has primed but the engine is not running, and see if it drops.

also when it finaly starts do you get alot of smoke out the back?

[waynegts]

no unusual smoke, gets a bit of white condensation as its cold but thats it,ill check the fuel pressure then see what thats like, yup battery is new(thank god as it would die if it wasnt and i would be stuck) as it takes a while just turning over

[Baj]

Is the fuel pump working?

[tandino]

Sounds like it may be your battery. How old is it?

My car has been struggling with this cold weather and it is exacerbated by being kept on the street overnight, mine has an old battery ad I am contemplating a new one

I very much doubt its his battery if he's turning it over for a 'few minutes'..

[waynegts]

i can hear it priming up
edit, to the fuel pump, and like i said it runs fine once started

[waynegts]

tried something today, dont think the coil is sparking so im gonna change coil and the bit that goes next to the coil.

[Wobbly Dave]

I very much doubt its his battery if he's turning it over for a 'few minutes'..
Indeed once the car has started the car runs on the altenator.

[Jod T5]

Check the regulator vacuum pipe where it connects to the tree...Any sign of gas is sure fire the regulator diaphragm is leaking.....I would also consider the return valve in the tank...
Cheers
Jod

[daveybuc]

does the engine sound the same as usual when cranking or does it seem to be whizzing over like low on compression?

[waynegts]

as said in my last post, thinking its ignition related, im gonna check for sure on friday to see if it is the coil not sparking,
is there anything (appart from coil) that would cause this

[waynegts]

went to get new coil today, broke down on the way had to get rac out who towed me home, got a new coil didnt start found a dodgy wire and sorted that and it starts again but still like it did before???? getting pissed off with it now, expected this to be reliable

[zoomungus]

I did read somewhere that the hydraulic tappets can give starting problems.......hope this helps


"Many of these cars suffer difficulties starting, especially when the engine is only run for a short time then switched off, and an attempt is then made to restart it. It is inadviseable to start any car with a catalytic converter in order to move it a short distance. The ECU's cold running sequence (which is designed to protect the catalytic converter from unburned petrol) cannot cope with this and having detected too much raw fuel in the xhaust, will shut the engine down.

Another cause, especially on the 850 models, is that the hydraulic tappets do not close properly when the engine is switched off. Oil gets behind them stopping them from closing fully. This means there is no or little compression in the cylinder when there is an attempt to start the engine again. One cure is to remove the plugs and squirt engine oil into each cylinder then replace the plugs and start the engine. The oil helps seal any gaps under the valves and give adequate compression in the cylinders.

Another cure is to use Mobil 1 engine oil all the time. This is thinner than other oils and will allow the tappets to close properly. If you change to Mobil 1 oil be sure to run the engine at 3,000rpm for about 20 minutes to ensure the oil gets into all the small channels in the engine"

[cookie]

iit could be Aerial around ingntion barrel for imobiliser. had similar probs with a pug 106, 10 quid 5 mins and problem sorted

[96T5Andy]

this probably isn't the answer to your problem, but after removing then reinserting the ecu my car refused to start. turned over but didn't fire. some times it would. sometimes you'd have to turn it over for a while before it started.

turns out one of the pins and sockets where the ecu plugs in was very corroded, causin dodgy connection and no voltage on injectors etc. scraped off the corrosion plugged in again and it worked fine.

maybe this won't help you but might help someone with similar intermittant starting fault. good luck...