Help - Car turns over but won't always start

IClaudius

Hi, apologies if this makes no sense!

I have a 7 year old Punto 1.2 ELX that has intermittently been playing up.
I will put the key in the ignition and the engine starts to turn over but it won't start. Eventually after 6 or 7 attempts it will. In short, Starter motor turns engine strongly, but engine doesn't start.Now it's getting to be more frequent and I'm getting very twitchy about it.
It's been serviced every year, I have had a new battery fitted and a mobile tuning guy came out who for £52 told me everything read as normal and he couldn't detect a fault :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Has anyone any ideas?
My garage had a once over also and couldn't detect anything either. Of course, it started first time every blinking time when it was in

goldspanners

it sounds like a fuel or an ignition fault,try a new set of spark plugs maybe and change the fuel filter if it has one.
i know this is a bit vague but its a little hard to diagnose when not looking at the car.sorry.
someone who has had more punto experience might be better to help you.

IClaudius

goldspanners wrote: »

it sounds like a fuel or an ignition fault,try a new set of spark plugs maybe and change the fuel filter if it has one.
i know this is a bit vague but its a little hard to diagnose when not looking at the car.sorry.
someone who has had more punto experience might be better to help you.

Thanks, we are going to try new spark plugs and will see

goldspanners

good keep us posted.

Sparky33_2

I would try a new set of HT leads too while you are at it, they will perish and crack with age. Remember to replace them one at a time though, don't just pull the old ones out without knowing which ones are which!!

Wig

If it has been regularly serviced, I'd have thought it has newish plugs in it anyway. And you'd have thought the mobile mechanic will have checked the plugs and checked for a spark.

Does it only happen when it's cold? Hot engine starts every time?

When it does it you need to take the plugs out to see if they are wet - they should be because there is unburnt fuel in there, if they are dry could be a fuel issue. Also when you have one out (whilst it is doing it) connect it to its HT lead and rest it on the engine block so the sparkplug thread is touching the engine (metal to metal contact) turn the engine over and look for a spark -between the spark plug central core and the electrode tip (the bent bit of metal on the tip).

If it does it (now or any night) in the dark Open the bonnet and look with no lights on, for any jumping blue sparks along the length of the HT leads, if you have a 5th lead going from a distributor to a black cube (follow the fith lead watching for sparks, and look all around the black cube to see if any blue sparks are there aswell.