Starting issues - fuel delivery\immobilisor Issues?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:33 pm
Hi all Darrell here,
Well where to start!
After losing faith in new &nearly new cars, losing thousands of pounds on these vehicles I decided that maybe I should think about buying something that will not haemorrhage money any more. I don't need to buy the latest Audi or BMW - it really doesn't bother me if I am not seen in the latest motor.
I then started to reminisce about some of the cars I owned over the years - Escort RS Turbo MK4, Astra GTE convertible, XR2i, Cavalier SRI 130, XR3i convertible and the list goes on........
I know that these were the old typical 'Boy Racer' cars. But these cars were easy to maintain, good old Distributor cap, points, leads and plugs were the ignition system. The fuel system was just as easy. As was the rest of the car. They didn't go into 'Limp Mode' just because the car computer diagnosed and issue with the airflow meter!
I started to look at obtaining one of these old vehicles which I previously owned and to my horror - They were fetching between £5K -£10K in decent condition!
Anyway to cut a long story short I always wanted an MGF, so when my Megane Convertible died due to the slave cylinder inside the gearbox collapsed leaving me a bill of £600 just for a clutch repair, I finally decided to go classic.
I impulse purchased a 1996 MGF, which to it's credit had all of the refurb work done in the last year- Head Gasket, pipes, brakes, tyres etc. It was OK for the money - £700 including the hardtop which was available for an extra £150. So the car cost £550!
Engine ran fine but the bodywork had been played with - really bad respray on one wing. Very little rust, however it drove like a tank every little pepple on the road caused the car to shake. OK, I thought maybe this is what they are supposed to feel like. So I continued to look into restoring this little gem and started to look for all of the nice bits to improve it - Found a doner car in Leeds with the leather seats, mint roof and all bits nice!
Collected the doner from leeds and brought it home to Brum for the embarresing sum of £120 as a non starter! - On inspection when I got it back, it was much better in every single aspect than the car it was going to donate its parts to! The bodywork was mint, the wheels were perfect (Reconditioned), the interior was plush, etc......
The only issue was that it would not start. The engine had only covered 66,000 from new and upon researching this vehicle I found that it had been entered into many competitions in the past.
After finding this out I decided that there was no way I was in no way going to strip this car for as a doner for my other MGF, it had ABS, Power steering which mine did not, and was in fact far superior that the purchase I made 2 weeks earlier. The previous owner was obviously not a mechanic and could not be bothered into spending any more money on it.
So what was wrong? It would not start - so the diagnosis began:
Initial thoughts:
Of course the head gasket must be gone - eventually discovered that the head gasket was perfect
Ignition was not sparking - All parts checked and spark is getting to plugs in correct timing
Fuel, there must be an issue here - indeed we found this was the issue. However this was discovered by accident!
Actual reason for me posting:
Open the car with central locking fob, insert key and turn to ignite - there is no noise coming from the fuel tank.
Changed fuel pump & sender unit and it primed when doing the above.
Now what is happening is that you open the vehicle with the remote and try to start, sometimes the fuel pump primes. Try turning the car over, but will not start. Give the fuel cut off switch a knock, make it cut out, reset it and try to start again - eventually it will start!
My question is - What needs replacing for my car to start every time?
Is it the fuel relay?
Is there an issue with the immobilisor?
Is there an issue with the ECU?
Sorry for the Ronnie Corbet way of telling my tale by the way! Any help appreciated
Well where to start!
After losing faith in new &nearly new cars, losing thousands of pounds on these vehicles I decided that maybe I should think about buying something that will not haemorrhage money any more. I don't need to buy the latest Audi or BMW - it really doesn't bother me if I am not seen in the latest motor.
I then started to reminisce about some of the cars I owned over the years - Escort RS Turbo MK4, Astra GTE convertible, XR2i, Cavalier SRI 130, XR3i convertible and the list goes on........
I know that these were the old typical 'Boy Racer' cars. But these cars were easy to maintain, good old Distributor cap, points, leads and plugs were the ignition system. The fuel system was just as easy. As was the rest of the car. They didn't go into 'Limp Mode' just because the car computer diagnosed and issue with the airflow meter!
I started to look at obtaining one of these old vehicles which I previously owned and to my horror - They were fetching between £5K -£10K in decent condition!
Anyway to cut a long story short I always wanted an MGF, so when my Megane Convertible died due to the slave cylinder inside the gearbox collapsed leaving me a bill of £600 just for a clutch repair, I finally decided to go classic.
I impulse purchased a 1996 MGF, which to it's credit had all of the refurb work done in the last year- Head Gasket, pipes, brakes, tyres etc. It was OK for the money - £700 including the hardtop which was available for an extra £150. So the car cost £550!
Engine ran fine but the bodywork had been played with - really bad respray on one wing. Very little rust, however it drove like a tank every little pepple on the road caused the car to shake. OK, I thought maybe this is what they are supposed to feel like. So I continued to look into restoring this little gem and started to look for all of the nice bits to improve it - Found a doner car in Leeds with the leather seats, mint roof and all bits nice!
Collected the doner from leeds and brought it home to Brum for the embarresing sum of £120 as a non starter! - On inspection when I got it back, it was much better in every single aspect than the car it was going to donate its parts to! The bodywork was mint, the wheels were perfect (Reconditioned), the interior was plush, etc......
The only issue was that it would not start. The engine had only covered 66,000 from new and upon researching this vehicle I found that it had been entered into many competitions in the past.
After finding this out I decided that there was no way I was in no way going to strip this car for as a doner for my other MGF, it had ABS, Power steering which mine did not, and was in fact far superior that the purchase I made 2 weeks earlier. The previous owner was obviously not a mechanic and could not be bothered into spending any more money on it.
So what was wrong? It would not start - so the diagnosis began:
Initial thoughts:
Of course the head gasket must be gone - eventually discovered that the head gasket was perfect
Ignition was not sparking - All parts checked and spark is getting to plugs in correct timing
Fuel, there must be an issue here - indeed we found this was the issue. However this was discovered by accident!
Actual reason for me posting:
Open the car with central locking fob, insert key and turn to ignite - there is no noise coming from the fuel tank.
Changed fuel pump & sender unit and it primed when doing the above.
Now what is happening is that you open the vehicle with the remote and try to start, sometimes the fuel pump primes. Try turning the car over, but will not start. Give the fuel cut off switch a knock, make it cut out, reset it and try to start again - eventually it will start!
My question is - What needs replacing for my car to start every time?
Is it the fuel relay?
Is there an issue with the immobilisor?
Is there an issue with the ECU?
Sorry for the Ronnie Corbet way of telling my tale by the way! Any help appreciated