General engine questions/issues that aren't specific to the other categories
By Thatdankid
#286504 So where i am its just recently gone into what we call the we season (rain all the bloody time and colder than usual). Now i got into my car to go to work, it had been raining all night. went to start it and nothing. it was turning over, but wasn't starting. confused i left it for a bit and went back a couple of hours later when it was a bit hotter, and it started instantly O.o?

now it did this for a number of days so i took it to the mechanic, and they got rather confused with it. it wouldn't start, they would hook everything up and it would start perfectly? (WTF)

while it was running they did a couple of tests, and found i had a good spark, fuel pump was working perfectly. so those 2 are out of the question (kinda)

they think its probably electrical.
so the question is have any of you had the same problem as this? and if so what the hell did you do to fix it cause i kinda want my car back to normal haha :/

ps. Happy Christmas :D!
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By -paul
#286561 Welcome to the forum!

When I had the same problem as this (after I had done some work to my old engine that I had), the problem was the main earth cable bolted from the chassis to the gear box. It wasn't bolted tight enough.

Might be worth just checking all your earth leads and fuses, ignition leads and make sure everything is on securely etc. Definitely sounds electrical to me, it's just annoying when it's intermittant like this as it's hard to get to the cause of the problem.

Good luck! :thumb:
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By Apexracing
#286563 could be moisture getting in the distributer cap. Check it for cracks.
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By eg-guy
#286564 since it's raining where your at check the inside of the distributer cap for condensation. This can cause your car to not start.

If ^^ is not the cause and you have spark and gas, check the icm first(autozone will test the icm for free) and the coil inside the distributer.
By Thatdankid
#286613 thank's for the info guys :D,
yea it was getting quite confusing when it would start like a brand new car every time they had stuff bolted on haha. ill definitely check all the earths ect.

i checked the distributer caps both times in the morning and they were all dry, for good measure i sprayed a little bit of wd40 in it but it didn't make a different.

im taking the car back the mechanics after this Christmas week, so ill definitely tell them to check the icm and the coil.

moment this is all fixed i can get my car all prep'd for its new paint job ><
By tegpower18
#286641 Check ur relay it could be sticking also when u try to start it in the mornings and it wont run does it have spark or fuel.?
By Thatdankid
#286672 will do. and im not too sure, it sounds like it does every other time i start it, but it doesnt start if u get what i mean ? haha
By tegpower18
#286802 yes which is a good thing it means your keeping compression and such so that is why its most likely spark or fuel your losing or both
By jpnzbtl
#288915 Have you tried adding another ground wire to the engine? Could be the existing ones are a bit corroded.
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By ALLMPGcivic803
#292584 a good way to test your distributor is hit it with some wd40 and put the cap back on if it immediatley starts and you have no other issue for a few days then you probably need a new cap but a ground sounds very likely as well when my grounds went bad on my wifes toyota it would cut out while driving just cleaned them all and been fine since