Help, car not starting!


EK9dan

EK9dan

B18C-R EK9
Donator
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
2,542
Hello guys

Having some trouble starting my EK9. On Saturday just gone the car started absolutely fine. In fact it has never not started since ive owned it. Anyway, Saturday i was outside trying to fit my HID kit. I fitted bulbs(removed originals) and while i was there i removed 2 redundant cables lying around near the headlight. They were not plunged into anything. Never have been. Just open plug ends.

These cables were white/brown strips coming off this relay(REFER TO PICS) and went back to ground. Again, these have never been connected to anything! Hence why i removed them. Cut them back so i had the 2 open ends coming off the relay.

Some power steering fluid leaked a tad on this area(REFER TO PICS) and i mean a few small drips and as far as im aware missed the sensors around there(Not sure what these sensors are or if it would have any effect to my problem??

That is ALL i done that day, did not touch anything else.

Next day, went outside tried to start it, and it just turns over and over without starting, low fuel, so i add fuel. Try starting again and same thing. And every known again it tries to fire up but doesnt quite start.

Ive checked for spark and there is spark on all 4 plugs. Fuel pump is working as i can hear it. Although when i try starting it it tends to stink of fuel around the engine bay?? Again, not sure why?

Batteries was fine/Starter motor is turning over. The engine turns over fine, just doesnt start.

By what ive said does anyone have any idea why my car suddenly wont start? An engine needs fuel and spark, I have spark, I presume i have fuel. I cant understand from one day to the next it can be anything to do with fuel as i didnt drive it. Immobilizer problem???

Here are some pictures:

What the hell is this Relay? (Circled Yellow) And these 2 cables(red arrow) are leading down to behind my dash? What are they? And those are the 2 white redundant cables sticking out with conductor exposed.
P1000732.jpg


This is the location of this relay(attached to bulkhead)
P1000731.jpg


This is where the power steering fluid had a few drips. (Red arrow)
P1000733.jpg
 
(this happened to my fto last week & problem has now gone )

Okay my car had slighlty different symptoms but worth a try My fto would start sometimes & other time not start at all.
Did same a su but bought new battery & changed new sparks to new & did not work till I did the below.


What I did

scrubbed the **** out of the battery connections with baking soda & hot water then wire brushed the inside of connectors & also cleaned off the batter terminals. Leave baking soda on connectors for 5 mins & it will remove all corrosion It only takes a little bit of corrosion on terminals & connectors to effect car start up Espically in colder weathers. Like I said may not help but worth a try.:nice: The fto start up now is very powerful. I also took grounding points on car & cleaned them up.
 
@TeamEmperor, Cheers for the info mate. Thing is my battery went dead, so i was starting it off a jump start from my van so in theory it was being started by another battery so should eliminate that problem.

@Vtec6000, Yeah i do have an alarm/immobilizer. Clifford. Thats why i was also thinking an immobilizer problem, But i would need to take it back to the guys that fitted it to sort it right? I would like to eliminate everything first though as if its not immobilizer then im gona be wasting time and money sending it to the guys....
 
Try jumping off another import.
My dad once had a problem with his older Celica. For some unknown reason it wouldn't start from a jump off an English car, got the bosses import round and it started straight away. I have no idea why it wouldn't jump off the English car, and no idea why it would only jump off the Jap car.
 
That is a strange one lol ^^^^^

Again, last night i charged my battery all over night so was fully charged. Fitted it and the same problem. It ticks over all day long but doesn't quite fire up. Im confident in saying it has nothing to do with the battery... Little deeper then that, Just cant figure it out!
 
Sounds similar to my issue.

Your not parked on a slope are you? If your fuel is slightly low it'll stop it from starting. Perhaps add some more fuel or roll it off the slope.

Just my 2 cence...
 
is this a new or old battery?
Have you checked the started motor connections?
 
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Is it draining the battery at all? Disconnect the plugs off alternator and see will it fire up
 
When you removed the spark plugs to check for spark was there a strong smell of petrol?
 
ijwhiteman said:
Sounds similar to my issue.

Your not parked on a slope are you? If your fuel is slightly low it'll stop it from starting. Perhaps add some more fuel or roll it off the slope.

Just my 2 cence...
Click to expand...

Yeah i also thought this so i took it off road and tried bumping it off my drive all the way down my road. No luck :(

tama666 said:
is this a new or old battery?
Have you checked the started motor connections?
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Its an older battery but in perfect working order. Started absolutely fine on Saturday and all the time before then. Sunday afternoon, the car wouldnt start. The car Turns over completely fine. Nice and fast so would eliminate battery problem as well as starter. Also i tried bump starting it so would also eliminate starter.

Vtec6000 said:
Is it draining the battery at all? Disconnect the plugs off alternator and see will it fire up
Click to expand...

Well it was draining the battery the first lot of times trying to turn it over but charged it over night so its ok now. But still doesnt start. I will try disconnecting alternator tomorrow and try starting. What exactly would this prove? Are you suggesting it could be the alternator that is draining the battery stopping it from starting? If so would it still not start if it was being jumped?

Type R Bob said:
When you removed the spark plugs to check for spark was there a strong smell of petrol?
Click to expand...

There was a smell of petrol over the plugs yeah and they were reasonably wet. This was after a few attempts of starting and pumping the throttle so has probably flooded it a bit. What i dont understand though if this is the problem then how could it flood from one day to the next without even using the car?

I may dry all plugs, burn off any excess petrol, disconnect fuel pump and start car, clear all the excess fuel in chamber.

This problem is a right pain in the arse.

Thanks to everyone for their input, appreciate your time.
 
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I agree as you have said that it doesnt sound like a battery or starter problem if its turning over. When you checked spark did it look as if it was a strong spark? The main things to check are spark, fuel and compression. Have you acess to a fuel pressure gauge? Yeah you could try drying the plugs and the cylinders by doing as you have said.
 
Were you starting/stopping the car often working on it at the weekend??Might be proper flooded!

Its not really advisable...but,while you'ree turning it over,get someone to spray a small bit of carb cleaner into the throttle and see if it fires up,that would show you if you arent getting fuel(i know you smell fuel but if there was a fuse for injectors gone and they werent opening etc...)
 
The spark looked ok to be honest on all 4 very similar. Unfortunately i havent got a fuel pressure gauge. I can always get it down to my local mechanic if need be but would be a bit of a pain getting it up to him. I'd have to tow it and its like 5 miles away. Would rather not if can be helped. He has all the equipment etc. Hes normally good at finding these faults too. At a cost though, and ive not got much £££ at the moment.

Dam car. I'll try the two things mentioned with the plugs + the alternator tomorrow and let you guys know.

Thanks again
 
JohnnyG said:
Were you starting/stopping the car often working on it at the weekend??Might be proper flooded!

Its not really advisable...but,while you'ree turning it over,get someone to spray a small bit of carb cleaner into the throttle and see if it fires up,that would show you if you arent getting fuel(i know you smell fuel but if there was a fuse for injectors gone and they werent opening etc...)
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what i was doing, starting and stopping it a number of times. Hmmmm.........

I have some carb cleaner handy here. So you say just spray some into the throttle body why turning over? And if the car starts that would indicate lack of fuel? WIll the carb cleaner help the car to fire up then?
 
Id say more than likely that you have flooded the engine if you started and stopped it a number of times. Do what you had said earlier about drying the plugs and the cylinders and see what happens. Good luck. Keep us posted.
 
EK9dan said:
Thats exactly what i was doing, starting and stopping it a number of times. Hmmmm.........

I have some carb cleaner handy here. So you say just spray some into the throttle body why turning over? And if the car starts that would indicate lack of fuel? WIll the carb cleaner help the car to fire up then?
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Possibly flooded if you were start/stopping alright!I'd start by taking the plugs out,give them a good clean,disconnect the injectors and turn it over with the plugs out to get any excess fuel out and see how you go

The carb cleaner will help it start too,if it is flooded,you might get it started with that and it will burn the excess fuel out once it gets a bit of momentum...thats if it is just flooded:nice:
 
Again thanks a bunch chaps :nice:

I'll keep ya posted.

Rep added accordingly for the help.
 
hello dear friend i read the whole thread!! i am not a pro but i worked to a local mechanic for almost a year and i know a few things... when it comes to that point u have to check a few easy things.. buy a new spark plug and try all 4 wires come out from the coil if they bring power u can check that by puting the spark on and touching it on smt mettalic lets say a screw on the engine or smt after that check ur petrol in the fuel filter the weather its colt and hot it makes some humidity and some times can get much in the filter and get water instead of petrol in car!! try it and keep it posted m8
good luck btw
EK9dan said:
Again thanks a bunch chaps :nice:

I'll keep ya posted.

Rep added accordingly for the help.
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