Engine won't fire up on my Chim

[v41ley]

I'd appreciate any help on this one.
Went to start car, engine fired up then stalled as I went to move off.
Now the engine won't fire up. Engine turns over, plenty of battery power, fuel pumps prime but no joy.

Anyone get any ideas what the problem might be.

[Hughesie2]

Hot Engine or from Cold ??

[parrot of doom]

Just to be absolutely sure, remove the silver relays from the footwell (above battery), and replace them both. Then try again.

[Ballistic Banana]

Also not teaching you to suck eggs but try and keep off the the throttle when trying to restart as you may have flodded it, tis common

BB

[v41ley]

parrot of doom said:

Just to be absolutely sure, remove the silver relays from the footwell (above battery), and replace them both. Then try again.

Starting from cold.
What do these relays look like ? Thanks.
I disconnected the ECU but made no difference.

[dodgyviper]

Two relays to go for (both are cube shaped and about an inch to a side.) Blue and grey IIRC

One is the fuel pump and the other is the ecu.

Disconnect both and then turn the engine over. If the engine is flooded then the turnover will empty the cylinders of fuel but becos the fuel pump relay is out, no additional fuel is injected.

Then reconnect the relays and fire her backup.

[Shnozz]

have you checked the main fuse?

[v41ley]

Shnozz said:

have you checked the main fuse?

Main fuse ?
Scnozz - could you elaborate. Cheers

[targarama]

If it flooded it will probably start fine by now. Otherwise def try the 2 metal relays mentioned in this thread, the car may run for a second then cut out. Turn off, put relays back in, start up, drive off.

[Shnozz]

v41ley said:

Shnozz said: have you checked the main fuse? Main fuse ? Scnozz - could you elaborate. Cheers

if you do a search under "main fuse" it'll pull up a huge number of threads but heres one to start you off...

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140087&f=8&h=0&hw=main+fuse

[v41ley]

Shnozz said:

v41ley said: Shnozz said: have you checked the main fuse? Main fuse ? Scnozz - could you elaborate. Cheers if you do a search under "main fuse" it'll pull up a huge number of threads but heres one to start you off... Thanks mate. I'll look at this and the 2 relays, mentioned previously on this thread. The irony is that it's going to Silverstone on Wednesday for a service. Had planned to drive there to pick up the courtesy car etc - looks like now I'll be going on a low loader !!!! www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140087&f=8&h=0&hw=main+fuse

[v41ley]

Shnozz said:

v41ley said: Shnozz said: have you checked the main fuse? Main fuse ? Scnozz - could you elaborate. Cheers if you do a search under "main fuse" it'll pull up a huge number of threads but heres one to start you off... www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140087&f=8&h=0&hw=main+fuse

[tvrgit]

You need to be systematic and start eliminating possibilities, or else you'll end up flitting around guessing and replacing things -

first ensure there's a spark when the engine is turning. If other electrics are working, but no spark, then it's the ignition side - switch, coil, distributor, leads and wiring etc.

If there is a spark, check that fuel is reaching the engine - you should be able to smell it on the plugs or in the exhaust after you've tried to start it. Note that the pump working doesn't necessarily mean it's reaching the engine through the injectors!

That narrows it down to the fuel or ignition side - then you can test and eliminate further until you find the culprit.

[v41ley]

The power of PH.

Removed the 2 relays last night, let the engine turn over then reconnected (wrongly the first time !!).

Car fired up although it sounded like on only 1 cylinder and slowly gathered idling speed. Once happy the car would not stall, bit of right foot, big cloud of black smoke, running normal.

Give car a good run out to clear any crap. Looks like I'll be driving to Silverstone tomorrow as originally planned.

Thanks for the advice.

[Chris Smith]

Mine had something similar when I first bought it: if you stalled it after starting, it took forever to restart and then ran rough before clearing its throat and running fine thereafter. I ended up giving the (very dirty) stepper motor a good clean and it has run like a dream ever since.

[dodgyviper]

Nice result - happy

[the dodger]

So, flooded then?

I did this - once (on a Wedge) and it took me hours to get it going again. Similarly on 2 cyls to start then gradually more and spitting black smoke until it cleared.

Glad it's OK now.

- another lesson!