EK9 Poor Starting


Crispyeel

Crispyeel

New Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2010
Messages
73
Almost gave up on my EK9 this morning :(:)angry:

Been having some cold start issues over the last couple of days. The car turns over quite a few times before firing into life.

This morning, on the other hand, was a different story

Went to start the car as normal to go to work. The car was turning over but would not start :(( Every so often the car would give a slight burble like it was going to start but it didnt. I popped the bonnet to check the HT leads. All were connected fine. Ended up calling a friend to get a lift into work. Thought i'd try it one more time before i gave up and she started!!! WTF!!!

As im pretty new to these cars, im not really sure where to start looking. I have already changed the spark plugs and oil and filter recently

Any other ideas as to what this could be????

Cheers guys :bow:
 
Possibly the starter motor is worn! mine was doing something very similar and although it seemed to be running a bit rich and therefore the spark plogs were clogging up i was told to change the starter motor!
 
is the battery in good nick or?

altho if it is turning over, it could be the starter motor
 
Any engine light?? Distributor or starter motor are good shouts.
 
No engine light comes on

Battery seems ok as there is no drop when its turning over but im going to check it with a battery tester tonight to be 100%

Got a new fuel filter and distributor cap kit coming today so hopefully between the two i might get a result :nerv:
 
If the engine is turning over then it's not the starter. Check if you have a spark at each of the spark plugs. They are known for giving problems with distributors. If you have spark then check you are getting fuel upto the fuel rail. After that check compression. An engine needs 4 things to start. Air, fuel, compression and spark.
 
My mate had this problem a while back now and it turned out to be his dizzy.
 
Yeh, my money would be on the problem being the dizzy too. I've just bought a replacement dizzy for my 9. Similar sort of problem i've got, Probably one of the sensors in the dizzy has gone.
 
...Dizzy and/or battery. Check all ground connections too.
 
Thanks guys!!

Going to change the distributor cap tonight and see how that goes. Although its sounding like the culprit from what im hearing here lol

:thanks:
 
To be fair i've not tried it when the car is warm. Ran mega late this morning due to this :angry:

Got my new dizy cap and rotor arm so i'll stick them on tonight and keep my fingers crossed :naughty:
 
Well the car is still playing up :angry2:

Fitted the new dizzy cap last night and all seemed well. Went out to it at 6.30am this morning and nothing!!! Turning over but not starting :mad:

Im not a happy bunny today! Not even had this car for two weeks and its causing me nothing but grief! Two days overtime its cost me so far this week

Im pretty sure its not a fueling issue as i can smell fuel after a couple of mins trying to start. My only thought is that i had an alarm/immobiliser fitted to it on tuesday. Wonder if the chap has done something while he was in about the car???

Any other ideas as to what could be causing this??? Its driving my mad!!!
 
Taught as much that it wouldnt be the dizzy cap or rotor. Does it sound strong turning over or weak? I'm just wondering if your battery is discharging itself over night. What type spark plugs have you in it and when was last time you changed them?
 
if you have has a new alarm/immobiliser fitted this could be the problem, if the immoboliser is not set up properly this could be the cause of why it sometimes doesn't start, you should take it back to the company/person that fitted it and have it checked over :nice:
 
Yeh check back with the guy who fitted the alarm. also cause you haven't had the car long there might be an old problem with the car and the engine management light has been reset. Might be worth having a look into that.
 
Cheers guys. Spoke to the fitter just now and he is confident that because the car is getting ignition lights on and is turning over, its not an immobiliser fault :angry2:

Although its turning over could the battery cause this? The car does sound pretty healthy when its turning but im thinking, due to how long i've been trying to start her it might be low on voltage. Does anyone know what voltage is needed on the battery to start the car??
 
When i put an immobilised ECU in my car when i had converted to B18 it got ignition lights and engine was turning over with the starter.

Also had an old renault with an immobiliser issue that done the exact same thing.

Ask him to remove it and see if it makes a difference

Personally i'm not sure that it does sound like an immobiliser issue but my comments above are my experience with immobilisers.

About 14volts for the battery


Did you gap the spark plugs properly you installed?
 
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