car wont start

[adam1942]

my car wont start tonight did a 100mile trip today with no issues. I can hear the starter motor turning over the aircon comes on but the car wont start... tried about 5 times. no errors on the dash and no lights come on bar the hand brake one.. any ideas??? not a mechanic so know fa about checking for a spark and stuff what do you guys recommend?

 

[jamesfowler]

try jump starting it and when you have got it running stop the engine and try and restart it or disconnect the battery for 10 mins and then re-connect.

 

[adam1942]

would jump starting provide any benefit as its ticking over? cant disconnect battery as i'm home now i'll try tomorrow

 

[Giles]

did it lose power on the dash?

 

[ryan197]

does the steering wheel unlock when attempting to start.

 

[slime]

...did you run it from cold for a very short time?....if you do this, it can sometimes flood the engine.

 

[adam1942]

nope got full power to the dash. the steering wheel did unlock yes and on the following start attempts I got "steering wheel not locked"

nah I ran it for a good 10 minutes and drove about 3 or 4 mile but it was still warm as I had just finished a 100 mile trip

 

[Slippers]

could just try flooring the accelerator while starting. my engine flooded and the RAC man just floored it (no pumping) as it opens the airways. Try it at least. Sounds like the exact problem I had where the starter motor goes over and over and air con comes on etc.

 

[adam1942]

ok mate i'll give that a go too i've a friend who stuck a 182 engine in to his 1.2 5door so he's going to take a look at 11:30 will report back

 

[Slippers]

i felt a fool when he did it lol. Just grumbled a bit and then fired up. If it does work, he recommended taking it for a thrashing afterwards. i didn't need telling twice!

 

[adam1942]

haha i'll try it first before we try anything thanks mate hopefully its nothing to bad

 

[BenW]

If it's turning over at normal speed then its either not getting ignition or it's not getting fuel.

To check ignition take a spark plug out and turn it over, you should see the spark plug sparking.

To check the fuel you need to disconnect a fuel line and see if fuel flows when you turn it over, not sure where the best place to do this is on a 197

 

[adam1942]

thanks Ben ill mention to my friend to check

 

[Arran]

I think Ryan's wouldn't start and displayed something about the steering wheel. Might be worth searching old threads for it.

 

[adam1942]

cheers Arran ill look now

 

[BenW]

Ah yea, it won't start if the steering wheel lock is on.

Just give the steering wheel a wiggle whilst pressing start. To be honest I don't think this sounds like your problem

 

[adam1942]

yeah I had a look there mate does not sound like it sadly! meeting the guy in 25 minutes so we'll see - whats even worse is after the guy dropped my elia spoiler from k-tec and was due to repaint it he got it finished... I have it now but no car rofl fail!

 

[Slippers]

Has he got it started?

 

[adam1942]

yup all sorted - the starter motor wasn't in properly - as he got sparked when he reached down the back. pushed it in and the car came back to life. well happy but he said I might need a new one if it keeps feckin up

 

[chappo]

yup all sorted - the starter motor wasn't in properly - as he got sparked when he reached down the back. pushed it in and the car came back to life. well happy but he said I might need a new one if it keeps feckin up

good to hear you got it sorted for the time being mate, :clap: