Digsy Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 After over two years of faultless service, my car gave me the second fright in a week today. :-( Its been stood on my drive for two days - not an excessive time, but usually it gets used every day, Maybe three of four times a year I'll get an instance where it doesn't start first time, just cranks and cranks. Usually if this happens I key off and try again - it always starts second time. Today when I keyed on, she caught first time but made an horrendous clanking noise and ran very rough. The noise actually made me think something had broken and in a bit of a panic I keyed off. After I had collected myself a bit I tried to start her up again. This time she just cranked and cranked and cranked - not a hint of firing. Second try, same thing, Third try with a bit of throttle, a bit of an attempt at firing, but nothing usable. I gave it a minute or so and then gave the throttle a good pump while turning the jey and she fired. Once she was running on all six, she soon settled down to the normal fast idle, and ran normally from there on. Took a trip into town which invloved a stop of about 30 minutes. Hot restart was OK. Took her home and left her for three or four hours and tried a cool-ish start. No problem. Just waiting for tomorrow morning's cold start now, Apart from the initial key on, none of the other start attempts (even the ones with partial firing) exhibited the horriible clanking noise that initially made me key off. What I think happened is this: Some unknown fuel or spark problem caused my car not to fire on all six cylinders first time. The noise I heard was the cranktrain being given hell because of the whacko firing order than my car was making up as it went along. When I keyed off I think I may have done an old-fashioned "engine flood", which prevented the car from starting for the next few attempts. Once the excess fuel was cleared, the car started OK. However, my dad was with me at the time and while the car wouldn't start he jumped to the conclusion that the fuel pump had failed. I obviously have fuel and spark now, and hopefully will have again tomorrow morning. Does anyone else have occaisional starting problems? Any other comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cargill Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Mmmmm, what plugs have you got in would be my 1st thought? In the last month or so I've had a couple of days where it has taken a long time to start, normally fires straight away. Not sure it's to do with plugs mind, there didn't seem to be any corrolation, temperature, how long it's stood (normally daily driver) or moisture. I had a smell of fuel afterwards. I've not had any horrible mechanical noises though, just a lot of cranking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted January 7, 2004 Author Share Posted January 7, 2004 That's a thought. I just had the plugs replaced. The should be the stock platinum ones - must check the part numbers. Was a good few weeks ago now though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad500 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Ive had 4 lousy starts since changing from HKS plugs to NGK, 8 months or so ago. Havn't had the clanking noises you describe but definatley it idled roughly before dying and was difficult to start until 3rd attempt. Don't really understand why this happens because i use it almost everyday. Might change back after reading your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cargill Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Take off the top covers - several Allen bolts - and check all the coil pack connectors. I'd be surprised if this caused starting problems though, I think it usually causes high boost running misfires, but worth a check. Could well be anything else, I've thrown my ideas into the air and will now hide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted January 7, 2004 Author Share Posted January 7, 2004 Should have said mine is an NA. I will check the dizzy cap ASAP, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminator Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Have you tried pulling your EFI fuses and resetting the ECU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted January 8, 2004 Author Share Posted January 8, 2004 Must admit I havn't done any checks or tests yet, but today she started and ran like a dream. Odd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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