Old Nissan Micra not starting

Badgergal

Hello all, I really hope you can help as this is rather a frustrating problem. Car is a H reg.

Since it started getting cold back last year, my car has been refusing to start. The first time, I called the AA and it turned out the engine was flooded and the starter motor burnt out. The bloke cleaned the spark plugs and replaced the starter motor with a brand new one, and the car was happy.

2nd time: The car wouldn't start in the morning (could hear starter motor turning over) but I was late for work so I went to work and the AA man came that evening. The car started first time, just to make me look silly.

3rd time: The AA man cleaned the spark plugs, and advised me to replace the distributor cap and rotor arm which I did myself, the old one was a bit corroded on the metal parts. Since then it has started perfectly (fine since before xmas) until yesterday when it refused to start again. I cleaned the spark plugs with a wire brush thing but it hasn't worked. I need to call the AA out again but I think they are getting sick of coming out and was just wondering if anyone here could suggest what is wrong as before this we never had any problems with it and are always careful about flooding etc?

highguyuk

Badgergal wrote:

I need to call the AA out again but I think they are getting sick of coming out and was just wondering if anyone here could suggest what is wrong as before this we never had any problems with it and are always careful about flooding etc?

If your paying for a service, it doesnt matter if they are getting sick of the problem surely ... get them out to do the job

trigger_mike

have you tried changing the plug leads, only cost about £10 and take 5 mion to change.

skiddy2k

badgergal, on two of the three times the AA man came out to you, you said that he's cleaned the spark plugs- when did you last get them changed?

if he's cleaned them on two previous occasions, mite be woth pickin up a new set that'll also cost near a tenner on top of changing the leads that trigger_mike has recommended!

skiddy

Badgergal

The spark plugs were replaced when it was serviced last March, it is due for another service next month. It doesn't do a huge amount of mileage (about 4000 a year) but is driven regulary from North to South London (not a short journey - I try not to let it do too many short journeys) and occasionally gets a motorway drive to the south coast. Should they be replaced more than once a year then?

Is changing the leads easy? I sorted out the distributor cap and rotor arm myself and found that easy enough. I don't know much about cars but I like to tackle stuff myself where I can.

tomstickland

Sounds electrical.
Personally I'd replace the HT leads (plug leads), fit new plugs and then see how it goes. A car should start straight away regardless of the age.

james123

just a quick word of advice when changing HT (plug) leads, might sound simple, but only replace one at a time, dont pull them all off at once as they have to link back to the same place e.g 1 goes on 4
2 goes on 3

etc etc. does that make any sense?? sorry im sure someone else will explain better!

skiddy2k

badgergal, when the aa man yanked out the spark plugs, did you see what condition the tip was in?

was it just carbonised with alot of black soot on the tip? did it have black oil on it? condensation on them?
you can tell alot from the condition of the combustion by looking at the tip of the plugs before the aa man cleaned them.

i should guess it just had soot on the tips-hence the aa man 'cleaning the plug'

do you find that this problem 'happened' when it was damp weather outside or was it just dry and cold?


skiddy

Badgergal

They were slightly blackend, and a little oily looking too.

It happens when it is either really cold or really wet out...

It's now starting ok again...will definitely look into replacing the leads etc.

skiddy2k

there's a spray that you can get from your local halfords called Holts damp start.
what this does, is that you spray onto your spark plugs, distributor cap and the rotar arm and its like a clear seal that coats these components from condensation so that you get a definate undisturbed spart and start.

but, you'll probobly find that you dont need this if your changing your plugs and leads!

Skiddy

wazza

being a H reg does it have a carburrator and not fuel injection? if it does then it could be the choke. with a cold engine/cold weather the choke makes the fuel mixture rich to make it start up easier. if the choke is not working then sometimes it takes a while to start it up.