My car wont start - And i dont think its the battery

witnessmenow

I have an B model (00) 1.0l Opel Corsa

This morning i tried to start it and it started ok, but conked out imediatly (I had my foot fully on the clutch). And now its not even getting to that stage anymore.

Battery seems fine as it does seem to be trying hard to start, all lights/heat/wipers are still working.

As i said its trying to start, but I dont know how to explain it but its just not kicking over.

Any advice on what it could be, and how much it would be to fix?

Thanks in advance

thebull09

it sounds like the immobliser , in your key there is a little chip open the key and give it a clean worked for me,

silly to ask but is there petro in the tank?

witnessmenow

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah plenty of petrol, over half full anyways.

Im pretty sure my key is just a key, no imobiliser (afaik)

Kid Nothing

It probably is the battery, even if the lights, etc are working. They only use a fraction of the battery power but when you start the ignition the battery needs to be able to pull all it's power to start the engine. It's common in this weather for batteries to die unfortunately.

witnessmenow

Thats true, and i am suprised that my car hasnt had problems up to now with the weather! But the car had started, and conked for no reason (not somehting that has ever happend before iirc). Wouldnt the battery have been finished his job at that stage

JohnThomas09

witnessmenow wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah plenty of petrol, over half full anyways.

Im pretty sure my key is just a key, no imobiliser (afaik)

If you open the key you will see the small chip.Its probably the problem.

biko

See if you can get someone to jump it, to rule out battery issue,

Kid Nothing

witnessmenow wrote: »

Thats true, and i am suprised that my car hasnt had problems up to now with the weather! But the car had started, and conked for no reason (not somehting that has ever happend before iirc). Wouldnt the battery have been finished his job at that stage

They never tend to die completely. Think of a normal battery, say in your MP3, when it dies it's no longer able to play your music but if you put it into say something like a TV remote which uses far less power it might still work for a bit longer. It's all dependent on how much power the battery needs to provide.

You could try to get it jump-started which will probably get it going but if the battery is on it's way out like it sounds, it'll be a far more common occurrence that it won't start for you. Your best option is to get a new battery to be sure.

If is started and ran for a second or two I would agree with the OP in saying it's not the battery, more so when they mentioned that it is trying to start. As mentioned though a jump start would confirm however me thinks it isn't the battery. Investigations along the lines of spark and fuel would be worthwhile once the battery being fine is confirmed. Would be great if it was the battery though, easy fix and all.

If the battery is still strong crank it for ten seconds with the accelerator floored, then stop for 30 seconds or so and repeat once or twice more. If it keeps cranking and still won't start you know it is most likely ignition or fuel related then.

colm_mcm

if you have a spare key then try that.

witnessmenow

I would love so much if it was the battery as i can change that no problem!

Jumping is the right idea to rule that out, will see if i can rope someone into to doing it.

I'd be 95% sure my key does not have an imobiliser chip, my spare key at home split apart and all that seemed to be in it was a battery and a LED

Thanks for the advice so far guys

EDIT: Spare Key is in Athlone, I'm in Limerick. But sure I'll get it posted down to rule it out

Vegeta

My 97 corolla floods itself if it is not started in a particular way. It is so "delicate" that I cannot let my girlfriend attempt to start it from cold or it will perform exactly as you describe above. Of course if let sit for a while this clears up but the quickest solution is often a push start or if I am lucky and parked it on the hill in our estate, a hill start

Would it be possible to try a push start? Any friends there who could give it a good ol' shove?

unkel

Did you check electrics? To rule out it's a fuel pump fuse / relay issue.

zilog_jones

thebull09 wrote: »

it sounds like the immobliser , in your key there is a little chip open the key and give it a clean worked for me,

Is there not some indication if the immobiliser is accepting the key or not? I don't know about Opels but in my car (Ford Fiesta) there is a red light by the clock on the dash - when there's no key it flashes slowly, if you try to turn on the ignition with a codeless key it flashes quickly, and if you use a correct key it stays illuminated for a few seconds then turns off while the ignition is on.

witnessmenow wrote: »

I'd be 95% sure my key does not have an imobiliser chip, my spare key at home split apart and all that seemed to be in it was a battery and a LED

I'd be very surprised if a car from 2000 doesn't have an immobiliser, except in the very unlikely event that it's a Japanese import (it'd be called an Opel Vita among other things).

iamskippy

Did you try starting with the car in neutral and without touching clutch or accellorator

witnessmenow

RoverJames wrote: »

If the battery is still strong crank it for ten seconds with the accelerator floored, then stop for 30 seconds or so and repeat once or twice more. If it keeps cranking and still won't start you know it is most likely ignition or fuel related then.

Tried Twice, no joy

colm_mcm wrote: »

if you have a spare key then try that.

On Route

unkel wrote: »

Did you check electrics? To rule out it's a fuel pump fuse / relay issue.

How would i do this?

iamskippy wrote: »

Did you try starting with the car in neutral and without touching clutch or accellorator

Yes


There is Plenty of petrol too.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

I'll try jumping it as soon as i can. Somebody asked if I had a few mates who could give me a push, it would be a real test of friendship to get someone to give you a push in the weather we are having in Limerick!!

In fairness to the car I almost have it 5 years and its never really given any trouble other than the battery once or twice. So its hard for me to be cross at it

thebull09

zilog_jones wrote: »

Is there not some indication if the immobiliser is accepting the key or not? I don't know about Opels but in my car (Ford Fiesta) there is a red light by the clock on the dash - when there's no key it flashes slowly, if you try to turn on the ignition with a codeless key it flashes quickly, and if you use a correct key it stays illuminated for a few seconds then turns off while the ignition is on.
quote]


in my corsa b it has no flashing light ,
im almost certain it has a immobiliser if you do open the key IF there is a chip in the key be very careful not to lose it ,its very small

iamskippy

How did you get on? did it jump? Or what was the issue?

witnessmenow

Got it sorted last night.

Rang quinn to check if i had breakdown cover, and i do

They sent someone within half and hour /45 mins.

He hooked up a booster battery and went to start the car. He was turning the key for a good minute i'd say when the engine kicked into life. (RoverJames you were right, i just wasnt brave enough to keep trying!)

Thanks for the advice.