Need help with broken car

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SecretCode
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Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:01 pm

Re: Need help with broken car

Post by SecretCode » Sat Apr 01, 2017 11:51 pm

One possibility, unless the battery is very new, is that it's not holding a charge. Has it been reliable through the winter? Have you had many cold starts without the engine being preheated? - That could put wear on the battery.

You might need to replace the battery.


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Re: Need help with broken car

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silviu_anita
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:27 am

Re: Need help with broken car

Post by silviu_anita » Sun Apr 02, 2017 1:23 am

Hello SecretCode and thanks for the reply. I don't have a plug to preheat the engine during winter, but I never had any problem with it, it always started on first key turn. It could be that it doesn't produce enough CCA to start the car anymore. Is there anywhere I can go to test it?

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ilikepeanutbutter
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Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2004 11:10 pm

Re: Need help with broken car

Post by ilikepeanutbutter » Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:32 am

Stealing off of SecretCode's post...it could be the alternator. Charge your battery overnight and see if you're losing any voltage...somehow..something like that. We had ours break last winter too. I know you need a volt meter and something else ??

Kat (who did nothing but make sandwiches while the guys fixed the car)

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Piet
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Location: Finland

Re: Need help with broken car

Post by Piet » Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:53 am

Seems you are right in your assessment that there is no fuel delivered to the engine (or at least not enough or too much). It is not the battery if you can crank it for at least two or three minutes continuously.
Important: please remember when you want to jumpstart or charge your battery, connect the positive (RED) lead first, if you don't it can damage your ECU (the computer in your car that makes the engine work).

So get a sparkplug wrench and take one out after extensive cranking, check if it is wet of gasoline, if so, there does not come enough air to the engine so the mixture will be too rich.

if it is totally dry, the engine does not get any gasoline.

Spark plug testers are not reliable without taking the spark plug out of course so I assume you took them out first. you might also want to check if your ignition is working by leaving the one spark plug out and connect the cable to it, let the metal part of the spak plug rest on a piece of metal from the engine and crank a few rounds to see if it really sparks.

But first you might want to read out the fault codes from the on board diagnostics (OBDII) by using an obd2 scanner, cheap ones are available at Biltema. The place to connect it is most likely above the handle of your engine hood under your steering wheel.

The outcome of all these tests will tell you what is not working, however it will not tell you why it is not working (maybe the obd2 scan will).
Also check if somebody pushed something in your exhaust pipe, your car will not start either.
No ignition? : Another common point of failure is moisture in the ignition distribution cap, broken camshaft position sensor, broken crankshaft position sensor, current / spark leaking at your ignition coil.

TIP: If nothing else works, do the following: disconnect your battery by taking the negative lead off first, then the positive lead off (RED) and then ground the positive (RED) lead to the metal of the chassis or engine for at least 2 minutes. Now reconnect the positive RED lead FIRST, then the negative lead, wait another minute for the ECU to startup, and then crank the car again, it might work. What you effectively do is resetting the cars ECU.

We use to do this with out Window$ computers if they stop working :lol: This way I got a land cruiser work again. , it will take a while for the car to find its optimizations again and all on-board computer data and radio stuff is lost but it might get you going again. Before you do this make sure you have the radio codes if needed.

Good luck! and please let us know the results so other can learn too :wink:
If god would give us the source code, we could change the world
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AldenG
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Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:11 am

Re: Need help with broken car

Post by AldenG » Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:52 pm

If the tank is not very full, don't forget moisture in the fuel, removable with a cheap additive. I've experienced that a few times in transitional weather. It can also happen on a fuller tank if the place you last filled it had a problem in their tank, especially after it has been recently filled and the water and fuel have not had time to re-separate after getting vigorously mixed.
As he persisted, I was obliged to tootle him gently at first and then, seeing no improvement, to trumpet him vigorously with my horn.


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