Why is my car not starting - intermitently?

twopenny

Yes I've looked, the garage has looked, they've hooked it up to one of their diagnostic machines and it says nothing wrong. The garage guy drove, stopped and started it repeatedly with no problem.

I park and then it won't start when I return. The engine turns over and it splutters a little, catches then dies.

Tapping on the accelerator pedal as it catches doesn't help.

I rock it a little, I'm 5ft2 and old.

Then 5mins later it will start like there was nothing wrong.

I had let the oil get very, very low and filled it. It has newish battery (sealed), new starter motor, new alternator.

I had to top up the coolant recently but it's to Max now and I'm still getting the same problem.

Seems mostly when parked in sun - yes we've had just a bit - or even in light shade and the air pipe to the filter is very hot. Air filter I'm told is fine.

I'd be grateful for any ideas. It's an old 2020 Fiesta and has been driving just fine.

I would like another but car prices are very high in the summer here and I can only find the odd small one in my price range that has more wrong with it than mine.

So any ideas would be welcome - it goes back to the garage for a look at plugs and connections etc on Friday.

I'm having difficulty walking with an injury so by the time I've walked to a bus I'm all done in.If the car won't start at all away from home they'll just tow it to the garage!

MattMattMattUK

You could get an OBD II reader from Amazon, leave it plugged in and see what it reads when the car will not start, it might not show anything, but probably will pick up on something, which will probably allow the garage to fix it. 

Not sure that 2020 would be regarded as an old car though! What engine is it?

CliveOfIndia

I'll start by saying I ain't no mechanic, but some thoughts for what it's worth.  And I wouldn't pretend to know better than a garage that's done a proper diagnostic, but ....

One obvious culprit might be a fuelling issue.

twopenny said:

The engine turns over and it splutters a little, catches then dies.

Seems mostly when parked in sun - yes we've had just a bit - or even in light shade

Vapour lock in the fuel system somewhere?

twopenny said:

I had let the oil get very, very low and filled it.

That will have made the engine sulk a little bit, but hopefully no serious damage done.  And doesn't really explain the symptoms you're seeing.

twopenny said:

It's an old 2020 Fiesta and has been driving just fine.

4 years old, it's barely out of nappies !  Or was that a typo?  Even so, if you meant 2010, that's still not ancient by today's standards, should have plenty of life left in it yet.

I'm just thinking out loud, really, but I'm going to go with a fuelling issue somewhere along the line.  Has the fuel filter been changed?

angrycrow

Ecu temp sensor could be faulty.

Don't know about fiesta but a lot of cars use one sensor for the dash temp gauge and a separate one for the ECU. If the ECU temp sensor is on the way out it can cause problems starting when hot but does not throw up a fault code. 

Lorian

Lots of things it could be but one is a fuel pump relay failing if it gets hit.

Barkin

Could be any of many things. 

Knowing the engine would help... 

twopenny

Thank you for the ideas.

Yes, typo. Call it anxiety because this is miserable. I meant 1999 (2000)

I've had several Fiestas that went on for over 20yrs but that was me driving them from a newer date.

Fuel pump would be a death knell. That happened on my good one and it just would not start one morning after years of perfect performance.

Doubt it has an ECU. It's just on the cusp of an engine that you can't fiddle with yourself any more but not any fancy gadgets.

But it may have an OBD II port. I'll have to look into that tomorrow. 

Frankly after 2 days in the garage and tonight not starting after a long drive first time out and not being able to switch off the engine wherever I go, I've had enough for today.

It's gone from once a week to a couple of times a day.

But I'm grateful for the suggestions. Thinking out loud is fine. And it was after the second time it had a sulk that I did the oil so it started before then - and continued after.

It's not being able to sort problems that's most annoying.

I've also tried searching the net but that just worries you more so probably best left alone.

Barkin, your post only just popped up.........all I know about the engine is it's 1200. Can I find out?

I found this - mines a 1.2 but otherwise its almost identical - except I paid £325

https://auctions.hampsonauctions.com/auction/lot/105-1999-ford-fiesta-finesse/?lot=1300&sd=1

Bonniepurple

I had a Vauxhall which was like that. It started fine on my drive but if I left it on my parents’ drive for a bit it struggled.  After much thinking, it dawned on me that my parents’ driveway sloped ever so slightly and if the fuel tank was below a certain level it couldn’t reach the pipe work.  I reversed it in and never had any more issues.  Could it be something as simple as that?

born_again

Petrol or Diesel?
When was it last serviced?

Fuel filter got water in it.

chrisw

Crankshaft sensor breaking down intermittently?

twopenny

Bonnie I thought of that but the times it hasn't started it's been on level ground - and after a decent number of miles.

Petrol, hasn't been serviced for 5yrs - but then neither has the girl who receptions at the garage she said when I mentioned it. Shouldn't be water in anywhere. It's a decent nippy little car for it's age and I do basically look after it.

.................I'm told the battery is sealed as I was going to check the water level (I'm that era) - the plugs should be clean because new fuels burn cleaner. They checked the air filter at my request because I couldn't get at it.

Had a look at but don't understand, the cam belt. Seems to be tight and right, radiator fan working.

One thing I have noticed with so much looking at the engine. There's a lot of sand in there. I cleaned it a few months ago. I did drive through a wild sandstorm to get photos back along.

Chris, I haven't heard of the crankshaft sensor. Had a quick search. There's a vid that shows what it sounds like and what happens if it's crook. I'll look tomorrow.

Thanks all.