Car won't start and its not due to lost sync

Hi all,

I still couldn't get the thing to fire up and I missed driving it.

Lets starts from the beginning, the day before it died when driving it around the temp gauge started playing up. The temp needle will drop to zero or blue end upon hard acceleration, once you let go of the gas it goes back to the middle. Car drives a per normal.

That evening my wife ask me to drop her off at shopping place near by and after 1/2 parked up it refuse to start. It crank for 1-2s then stop, I can see the radiator fan turn 1/4 then stop.... to my horror the gear selection play up as well, can't select P or 1 but it can run through the rest of the gears.

RAC turn up and did his routine check, he thinks is the battery and tries to start up with his power pack attached and it did not work. He then connect up the P38 to his van and let it run for around 10mins. The P38 then managed to start up. He file a report and said the battery or charging system is faulty, I managed to drive the P38 back to home as it was only 2 miles away. Pulled up on to my drive and let wife home and unload shopping, the P38 still running but too dark to inspect. I off the engine and then try starting it again and no luck.

So far I have changed the battery and plugged in my nanocom to read faults. Tested fuel at the rail and there is fuel coming out from the valve. There were 2 fault code recorded. I don't think is the battery although the symptoms feels like it. The new battery is now connected to my trickle charger and that makes no difference.

intake air temp high
on voltage at ECU pin 1 at ignition
engine coolent temp circuit H

I don't think there is any more I could do within my capability, any advice or recommendation regarding to where to get it fixed Wife is pressing me to sell the car but I loved it when it was running :cool2:

Fuse box.

Thanks rewmer,

I had a look at all the relay and fuses, non were blown. Would the fuse box problem cause the P38 to crank and fan turn 1/4 turn then out? I read somewhere that you can short a relay slot to test the started, not sure which one.

Fuse box is a weak point, does it smell of burning?

hum, there was burning smell when it first died at the shopping place, after trying to start the care a few times there is very slight smoke in the cabin. I have checked the fuse under driver seat and there is no fuse blown there.

I had a good look at the fuse box with the relay off etc, not much going on there.

Temp sensor giving incorrect reading to ECU which in turn is giving incorrect fueling information preventing start ????

Also look at the earth straps betwix engine and chassis.

Fuse box or power connection to ECU.

I have put in a new temperature sensor but still no start.

Will have a check on the earth points tomorrow. It is strange that the car will crank but give up after the fan turn 1/4 or so......I hope it is nothing to do with engine seize or fly wheel broken.

BensonP38 said:

I have put in a new temperature sensor but still no start.

Will have a check on the earth points tomorrow. It is strange that the car will crank but give up after the fan turn 1/4 or so......I hope it is nothing to do with engine seize or fly wheel broken.

Click to expand...

If the fuse box has burnt, starter relay may not stay pulled, ditto bad connections.

I'd start with the engine earths, Take the negative lead off a set of jump leads and connect to a good earth on the engine and other end to the negative of the battery. See if she'll crank over.

doz said:

I'd start with the engine earths, Take the negative lead off a set of jump leads and connect to a good earth on the engine and other end to the negative of the battery. See if she'll crank over.

Click to expand...

Good idea, will try that tomorrow.

Will a burn fuse box show without taking it apart?

while your under the bonnet check that fuse box pull each relay out in turn and look and smell for burning.also check the leads from battery to starter motor they have been known to corrode inside the plastic sleeve,

check white block connecter for corrosion behind drivers front kick panel,also for corroded wires under drivers cill to carpet cover loom to bcm rotts badly here

Please don't laugh but this is what happened yesterday and today, some progress but far from being sorted.

Yesterday I proceed to carry out all the test recommended, checking all the ground points, looking for corrosion etc. I did not managed to find anything wrong, on the headlights and test voltage etc but forgot to switch it off. My wife came home from work and ask me why did I left the lights on (5 hours I left it on)......having trouble to get in as it got stuck in the open/lock cycle as I have a trickle charger plugged in and preventing it to drain completely. Finally managed to get in and switch off the light, battery is so low that even the Air con display is dimmed.

I left the trickle charger on for almost 2 days and battery voltage back to 12.5V, try to start the car and still no joy. I thought may be the charger is not working as it should as its indicator show green (fully charged). Went to Halford and bought a Powering WorkShopCharge20, left it on the range for 5 hours. now the Range started ! Hurray!

Left the car running for around 15 mins and turned it off, leaving the lights on and turn the key and it starts again, I felt brave and done it a few more times and it just starts with no problem.

I don't think I can live with a car which may just die on me, I wonder if there is something wrong other than just the battery running low. I measure the Voltage across the battery terminals and it measure 12.9V and it doesn't change in fact dropped to 12.6 when I rev it up. Alternator not working? Wire loose?

I want to keep the car but my wife is on my back, "now you got it started, drive it to the tip....." Sad times

It should be 14.2 or around there when running at 2k rpm....

Either the Alternator is shot or the battery is so fecked it is dragging down Alternator output....

Charging the battery then starting it and leavingit for 15minutes isn't going to be enough to charge the battery at all....and the constant restarts will certainly not do the battery any good....

Running the engine will not charge the battery appreciably....the system is designed to top up the battery following a start cycle - not from flat, and not from repeated restarts over a short period of time.

I would say try a known good strong battery and measure alt output again - if it is still low, Alternator fecked....if it is back to normal - battery fecked.

BensonP38 said:

Please don't laugh but this is what happened yesterday and today, some progress but far from being sorted.

Yesterday I proceed to carry out all the test recommended, checking all the ground points, looking for corrosion etc. I did not managed to find anything wrong, on the headlights and test voltage etc but forgot to switch it off. My wife came home from work and ask me why did I left the lights on (5 hours I left it on)......having trouble to get in as it got stuck in the open/lock cycle as I have a trickle charger plugged in and preventing it to drain completely. Finally managed to get in and switch off the light, battery is so low that even the Air con display is dimmed.

I left the trickle charger on for almost 2 days and battery voltage back to 12.5V, try to start the car and still no joy. I thought may be the charger is not working as it should as its indicator show green (fully charged). Went to Halford and bought a Powering WorkShopCharge20, left it on the range for 5 hours. now the Range started ! Hurray!

Left the car running for around 15 mins and turned it off, leaving the lights on and turn the key and it starts again, I felt brave and done it a few more times and it just starts with no problem.

I don't think I can live with a car which may just die on me, I wonder if there is something wrong other than just the battery running low. I measure the Voltage across the battery terminals and it measure 12.9V and it doesn't change in fact dropped to 12.6 when I rev it up. Alternator not working? Wire loose?

I want to keep the car but my wife is on my back, "now you got it started, drive it to the tip....." Sad times

Click to expand...

Back to bad connections or a duff alternator, you should have 14.2 volts at 2k rpm anything less than 13.9 volts nad the battery will never charge.

I took the battery out of the car and will charge it fully before putting it back in the car. Will have a good look at Alternator connections and also measure the voltage again once it is charged and running in the car. Thanks for the help so far.

That alternater voltage Is well low +3 on the 14.2v. You need to drop test the battery.

Don't ignore the fuse box. This could of been the cause of the battery problem.
If it smelt of burning it would be a wise move to replace it.