car won't start

zenno

hello.

I have a mitsubishi colt gl 1999. to start off i will say this car was fine until the really cold weather kicked in 2 weeks ago. I went out to start the engine and it wouldn't start. the ignition was fine and the battery was fine but it was just cranking but sounded like the fuel was not getting in to start it. so i called aviva breakdown assistance and a guy came out and cleaned the spark-plugs but the car would still not start then after an hour of trying different things he opened the air filter and told me to squirt this bottle of easy-start stuff into it while he was starting the ignition and after a few goes the car started but alot of water came out of the exhaust.

this was almost two weeks ago and the car has been driving ok sinse. but today the car will not start again and it sounds the exact same as the problem i had before. battery is fully charged but it will not start. i was wondering if any of you have any suggestions on what could cause this problem. thanks oh and the coolant is full, oil is fine and break and power-steering fluid is fine.

Wheelnut

zenno wrote: »

... oh and the coolant is full, oil is fine and break and power-steering fluid is fine.

I presume that bit is for the guys who are going to suggest putting anti-freeze in it.

Your car will have fuel injection rather than a carb. It sounds like the Aviva guy got it going by squirting some sort of easy-start into it. That plus other things in your story could suggest low compression which means a major engine job. Would it not be possible in the first instance to contact the guy who got it started and ask his opinion?

zenno

Wheelnut wrote: »

I presume that bit is for the guys who are going to suggest putting anti-freeze in it.

Your car will have fuel injection rather than a carb. It sounds like the Aviva guy got it going by squirting some sort of easy-start into it. That plus other things in your story could suggest low compression which means a major engine job. Would it not be possible in the first instance to contact the guy who got it started and ask his opinion?

i asked the guy that got it started what he tought it was but he said he didn't know he just said he got other cars started using this method. i will have to get a mechanic to look at it tomorrow i'm sure that cold spell we had done something to it because it was driving perfectly fine up till then.

thehamo

Just a question, how do you know the battery is fully charged?

zenno

thehamo wrote: »

Just a question, how do you know the battery is fully charged?

i had my neighbour do a test on it and the battery is fine. anyway the battery is new it's only 3 weeks old and i was driving a fare bit all the time. like i said this problem is the exact same as when the aviva guy came out to fix it. the thing is when the aviva guy did get it started alot of water came out of the exhaust pipe it looked like about a litre of water. and there was no oil in the water either. ps. he actually sprayed the easy-start into the air filter.

zenno

well thats strange. i went out earlier just to try and start the engine and this time i turned the key once without cranking the engine and waited 3 seconds for the engine light to turn off and the car started first go. i drove it a few miles and it's driving fine so i don't know what happened there. strange car.

caseyann

The car was angry at you for not starting her up over the cold weather period :mad::D
Joking aside do you think the petrol was not going through due to freezing fuel lines?

zenno

caseyann wrote: »

The car was angry at you for not starting her up over the cold weather period :mad::D
Joking aside do you think the petrol was not going through due to freezing fuel lines?

well the first time it happened it was -12 and the fact that a load of water exited the exhaust pipe when the aviva mechanic got it going made me think of the freezing fuel lines. but it was alot milder lately and it didn't start so maybe there was still water in the fuel line somewere. i don't know very much on mechanics at all though. i did hear that it is better to wait till the engine light turns off before starting the engine so it can finish it's quick engine diagnostics.

stevenmu

It could be a fuel pump issue, or possibly something clogging the lines like above. Giving it a few seconds after turning the key before trying to crank the engine could be allowing it to prime properly. Most cars seem to start most of the time without the pump priming fully, but if the pump is somehow impaired or impeded it might not ?

zenno

i will see how it goes for a few days and if ok i will get a service from my mechanic. but i really don't fancy getting a service straight away and when he does it this problem comes back because i really cannot afford any more than a full service.

zenno

i just started the car just now without waiting for the engine light to turn off and it started first go. do you know how much it would cost for a new fuel-pump if that was the case ?

Intermittent fault
Disaster, hard to have confidense in the car starting. I doubt it is low compression related if it starts and runs fine. If it started with a spray of damp start in the air intake it seems the mixture in the cylinders was too lean. Wouldn't worry about liquid pouring out of the exhaust, common enough that is.

stevenmu

A cheap option would be to run a can/bottle of fuel system cleaner through it and see if that helps. They can be picked up in halfords or any motor factors for a few euros.

zenno

will look into that cleaner system stuff. i brought it for another drive there and when i turned off the engine i notice a click every 5 seconds and this is with the engine on and when the engine is off. never heard that before.