Hi hope someone can help here So I've had 3 issues over the last month where my car will refuse to fire.. starter works fuel pumps buzzing, I have fuel etc. I drive it stop start etc then one random time it will just not fire over, last night after the football on way home stopped at mcd (as you do) will not fire. Drained battery and a recovery lorry again! It seems to be to be a electrical issue. Wiggle some wires and it fires into life..however this time it just won't, last time I wiggled ECU wires and fires straight up, time before that wouldn't start for a week and the one random day it just starts. Have checked gearbox earth lead cleaned etc New cap and rotor arm Cleaned coil contacts Not replaced coil was going to but it fired into life Checked air flow sensor, one wire slightly nicked joined still nothing. ECU, a little damp on wires. But contacts seem really clean... Now I do have a toad immobilizer fitted, was on the car when I got it.. could this be a issue? But I'm confused to why when stopped it won't restart but never cuts out when driving..? And Info greatly appreciated..
I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the damp issue. Although, has it fired after driving for a while when, in theory, everything should have dried out. Have you tried some Damp Start?
It fires after driving been driving it everywhere since the last issue, no problems at all no hesitation fires on the button.. I've not tried damp start as I believe it's electrical. But all this water we've had I can't help but think somethings not 'connecting' properly. But it could be anywhere... How does a coil go? Does it just stop? Same as ECU are their signs it's failing or do they just stop.?
Damp Start is for electrical issues. You spray it on electrical parts when they are dry and it seals them.
I had a similar problem turn the key after keying the immobilizer, the starter motor did not actuate. Changed ignition switch nothing changed starter motor nothing. Checked the feed from the ignition switch which meant moving the immobilizer junction box /control box turned the key to see if i had power from the ignition switch and the car started. I discovered it is a fault with the Immobilizer.
if its a ce2 theres a 5 pin plug just behind the ecu where the ecu loom plugs to main wiring back to fusebox, have a look at that. if its ce1 it has 2 plugs but they're further over to the passenger side, more prone to corrosion as well as unsealed spade plugs. the ce2 one is at least 'sealed' but corrosion can still get in eventually
When it won't start, have you checked for spark and fuel? Does the fuel pump prime? I have found that the pins in the hall sender socket can get a bit corroded, so worth checking. Failing all of the above, I'd start testing for continuity between the sensor pins and ECU plug pins.
So sorry for not replying back been away from work So far I have tested resistance of coil and reading about 0.8 which I heard is ok. Took all the wires off cleaned out back together she fired straight away, I have 12volts going to coil. Did it again in shop car park today, took leads of coil had me multimeter with me still a supply, however when I put wires back on coil I heard a click come from somewhere near the top left of the inlet manifold and hey presto she fired up again in the car park, both times it worked when pulling of and putting the connections on the coil back on, does this reset something?
you're probably just distrurbing the wiring on that side of the engine, must be a bad wire or connection going to the tci/ecu.
sounds like the wiring from coil to spark module needs looking at, could be simple as the spades needs buffing up or it could be the copper is all corroded away and you need to replace the wire(s) end to end. its pretty simple, the tci has 1 wire to ecu (tci spark trigger), 1 wire to battery (earth) and 2 wires to the coil (tci power and coil spark trigger)
Hi still having same problem cleared it's self for a while but now it's back, is there a wire diagram so I can rig up without my wiring to essentially bypass to see if that works ? Any help appreciated
So here's where I am.. Cars been running fine for a month plus, but yesterday refused to start, and been running today and again and hour later refuses to run. So I've done the following.. Replaced coil. Replaced coil connections, one was on by a thread, that's where I thought ive found it. Checked and volts between terminal 2 and 4 on TCI Which is fine Checked continuity between between terminal 1 on TCI and coil all good. Checked coil resistance. However not sure what I should be getting across coil terminals, reads about 5v when running. Hall sender connection reading about 2v and stops engine when disconnected. Is there something I can be missing, Is there a earth issue I'm missing. I'm sure their is a faulty wire somewhere but it's taking so long to try to find out which one. Also could it be possible that a relay is not clicking in and out properly? Or just tired and work making it intermittent? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
This is proper ballache, I would suggest the following: We will presume fuel is not an issue and it’s definitely spark related. Coil, cap and rotor have been replaced so we can eliminate those for now at least. How are HT leads - especially the one from coil? Do you have or could you get another TCI module just to eliminate that out of the list of suspects? I would also go back to the ECU and recheck everything especially the wiring, connector and the ECU connections- electrical contact liberally sprayed all over the connections is your friend. I would also suggest removing the ECU and bringing into the house to dry out completely for a few days as well - bastard dampness can do all kinds of funky stuff. @rubjonny can most likely point you to what specific earths to look at but I would painstakingly track down all the earths around the head and bay and check them all and confirm continuity and the absence of any rust/corrosion. I wish I had a silver bullet for this one but sadly I don’t
@costel1969 thank you very much for your comments, it is a ball ache, HT leads are good you assumed correct for all the above all leads earth's have been cleaned and new connections the cars garaged all week so mostly dry I have previously brought the ECU indoors for the week.. I am at a lost end, however yesterday I re checked the relays the one with 32 written on it in particular I pulled it out and noticed it was very very warm. Put it back in car started.. hello I thought.. with the car running I wiggles the relay engine cuts out, won't start so try to start and won't so wiggle relay it works.. took the relay apart one of the pins has come loose from the solder but still joined, about 1\100000 of a gap. Could this be a probable reason to why the car will not start and the intermittency of it all? I'm not sure what 32 relay does.
Hi John, Relay 32 is related to the fuel pump if I am not mistaken, if it is misbehaving it will cause a failure to start and now puts the focus on a fuel issue. Definitely worth getting a replacement if possible and take that out of the equation. RJ will confirm how the relay is supposed to behave but I am presuming it will stay energized to keep the underfloor pump running. If that is the case it will certainly be warm as the internal coil is constantly on until the ignition is turned off and the N.O. contact will be constantly carrying the fuel pump load. Being very, very hot doesn’t sound right mind you so I would definitely replace the bugger. Robert
Thank you @costel1969 it clicks on and off with the ignition just very warm so even when the car won't start the fuel pump still activates so I might need to re think. But yes definitely going to replace that one. Thank you for the help, will be having another look again 2moro the trouble with this issue is Its so intermittent and very hard to diagnose when it does it.
Very hot does not sound right - if replacing the relay doesn’t work check the blades where the relay plugs for evidence of arcing/burning. If you see that then it may be the board but I’m hoping it won’t be that as that’s more ball-ache on already unacceptable levels of ball-ache
the 32 relay is for the ecu, you can replace it with a mk3 golf #30 relay for earths you have 2 in the ecu loom off to the battery negative, plus another one to the side/rear of the head
@costel1969 @rubjonny After cranking the car over when not firing wobbled the relay, started everytime.. took relay out and apart one of the solder contacts had broken but still in place. Bought a new one.. fitted starts everytime and I've been trying it lots. I may (fingers crossed) have actually found the issue... I do very much appreciate all the help it's been 4 months of unreliability and sadness..and I do hope it's the problem.
