1.0L Not starting in morning (urgent help)

[mr-mac]

Hi Guys,

The other halfs K11 micra has been having an issue starting when cold.

So 2 weeks ago I set about sorting it. Seemed like it was flooding and I could get it started by pulling fuel pump fuse until it fired.

I popped in new air filter, new plugs (old ones were well goosed) and a few other normal service items. Ordered and Installed the cold start flooding loom thing with the resistor on it as this seems to be the usual response.

Been fine for 2 weeks till Saturday when car wouldn't start. The other half managed to pull the fuel pump fuse and turned it over but didn't realise she had to keep turning over till it fired. When I got home I tired it and it spluttered to life stinking to high hell of fuel (well guess that is to be expected as she had tried to start it for ages).

So this morning it wouldn't start again (first time of use since I started it on Saturday). So I went out and it was turning over with loads of life but not even a hint of it wanting to fire. pulled fuel pump fuse and still nothing (turning over but no attempt to fire).

Not sure what to check next. (as I say new plugs and cold start loom has been installed).

She really needs her car so would really appreciate any advice or help you guys can offer.

Thanks Kindly

John

 

[frank]

i would have thought there was some underlying problem if it was flooding every morning john (injectors weeping overnight ?), was it any different on a frosty morning compared to a mild one ?

 

[mr-mac]

It wasn't every night ( just intermittant) and the temp sensor loom was put in 3 weeks ago (not 2 now I think about it) and it has been fine for those 3 weeks.

And don't think it was flooding this morning.

Won't start with fuel pump fuse pulled this morning. and obviously if a car doesn't start right away there will be a smell of fuel when it fires or after a while trying to start.

Didn't realise K11 had a dizzy so am beginning to think that a cap and arm change is a likely candidate as probs hasn't been changed since new and would guess at the age of the car it is likely to be prime for being a little worn,

john

 

[superls]

Is she starting it with the throttle pressed?

 

[mr-mac]

No, defo not pressing accelerator pedal, she has seat right back when she gets in, then starts it, then adjusts seat (so can't even reach pedal - but I did check and say to her a few times when initial flooding problem happened)....

And if it was flooded pulling fuel pump should have sorted it. every time it flooded it kinda sounded like it was trying to fire. And fuel pump removal had it fire and die in quite a short time. Today though it didn't sound like it was trying to fire and even with fuel pump removed it still didn't sound like it was trying to fire at all.

Hence why I am leaning towards dizzy now and it starting to wear out maybe contributing to the flooding we previously saw..

John

Found a factors who have 1 dizzy cap on shelf for £4.90+vat (which I thought was silly good - he thought it was a mistake but said he would pop them asside for me at that price) and I can pick up arm for about £5.

So at that price I may as well just change them anyway. Even if not the problem with starting the original items are 11 years old and are surely past their best.

Was also check behind radio as really heavy rain last night so am gonna make sure ecu hasn't got damp or somthing as I noticed someone said it can happen if you wash and vent is not in recirculate - where car is parked it is slightly nose up as well.

If anyone has any other good ideas for non starting I would be greatfull. Will double check there is a 55 code from ECU - do I just short left most contacts for test port for a few seconds then remove and look for the flashes?)

Cheers

John

 

[ollyc98]

Mine had this sort of problem, intermitently not starting, usually if I hadn't used it for a few days, turned out to be the battery, had enough juice to pump the fuel in but not enough to fire the plugs straight away which was why removing the fuel pump fuse helped.
Have your battery tested

 

[mr-mac]

Battery is 9months old (replaced original 11yr old one - wich had got to stage it wouldn't hold much charge and struggled to turn car over - no repeat of this).

Current battery is as strong as a strong thing (it is a std square one - not silly shaped micra) and I can crank the car over and over again for ages and it doesn't even start to sound weak (don't think I have ever had a car that I can try and crank on and off for anywhere near as long as this without it starting to struggle).

Also the cranking speed is nice and fast (if voltage had dropped off from 12 there is no way it would crank as fast and long as it does).

I agree sounds like a spark issue but don't think it is voltage related. keep the ideas coming

If I go for a ECU out of scrappy (if it has got wet or somthing).

What years/reg do I need to look for to get a non-coded ECU? and does it just plug in?

Just wondered as I am struggling to get a new key - nearest place that can code them is a distance away and it is ££££. We only have 1 key so thought would be cool to kill 2 birds with 1 stong

John

Ok so tried it tonight and it started, a little rough but got up to normal soon enough.

So as there seems to be plenty of fuel. Gonna go out and change dizzy cap and rotor arm, check ECU for codes and check ECU to see if it looks like any moisture got in. As there was heavy rain last night. If it does look like it got damp will give it a spray with WD40, cover it with a plastic bag and make sure other half puts it on recirculate before leaving the car.

If there are any other ideas of anything to check I would be more than gratefull.

Thanks

John

 

[frank]

i think the ecu plug is wired differently on the early pre-nats k11,s john

 

[mr-mac]

DOH... I typed out loads there and lost it...

Anyway think dizzy and arm were an issue. The old arms contact bit was about 1mm shorter than new and looking and on new one had nice thick even contact patch, old one had thin wavey and would say almost looked patchy contact.

The Caps contacts were considerably worn and had about .5mm if not a little more white powdery corrosion between solid material and the rotor.

I checked carefully and it looks like the old cap and arm would have actually needed to jump a gap bigger than a sparkplug gap to actually make a spark.

Never worked on a car with dizzy before but I am guessing all the white powdery corrosion is due to excessive sparking and will degrade contact??? Maybe someone can confirm if I assuming correctly?

Thanks

John


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Just double checked it in house.

Scraped off the white crap and there is defo about .5-.7mm of white crap between rotor and solid contact and there is only little bits of contact showing along edge of rotor.

Carefully checked and there is about 1mm-1.5mm of clear air between rotor and contacts. must have been well worn as there wasn't even a mark in the white corrosion were rotor was running.

Fingers crossed that is the only issue