Car won't start after a month on the drive

[babaton]

Hi,

Had my car on the drive for a month and now it won't start. The battery seemed ok, it turns over fine but just splutters.

I charged the battery anyway to be sure, the charge shows the battery is fully charged...still won't start. I can tunr it over and over until the battery starts to fade and nothing. Every now and then it sounds like it's going to start but nope.

What should I check next?It's got to be fuel or sparkplugs right?

Isn't there a spray you can get to help cars start?

Cheers for any help

[10126 Torino]

What type of car ,petrol ,diesel ,what age ?

More detail will help.....

[twocolours]

I had a similar issue late last year - car had been sat for a few weeks, seemed to turn over but not start and eventually the battery died after a few tries. Was convinced it was fuel or spark but tried a new battery and it started first time. Is it a new battery? Mine was about 5 years old

[sherman]

If there is even a small discrepecy in the voltage it wont start. If its less than12v it wont start. It can take 14 or more volts to initially start an engine.

[Olas]

If it will jump start or push start then suspect battery, then;
Pull a spark plug and see if it smells like fuel - this will tell you if the problem is fuelmor spark related.

Remember that fuel goes stale if you leave it too long..

[sherman]

Olas said:

Remember that fuel goes stale if you leave it too long..

That takes years not weeks

[Penelope Stopit]

babaton said:

Hi,

Had my car on the drive for a month and now it won't start. The battery seemed ok, it turns over fine but just splutters.

I charged the battery anyway to be sure, the charge shows the battery is fully charged...still won't start. I can tunr it over and over until the battery starts to fade and nothing. Every now and then it sounds like it's going to start but nope.

What should I check next?It's got to be fuel or sparkplugs right?

Isn't there a spray you can get to help cars start?

Cheers for any help

Wait until dark, open bonnet, get someone to crank her over, look for HT tracking

[StoatInACoat]

Water got into something it shouldn't? Some cars are more susceptible than others to this but I'd pull the coil pack(s) and see if they're covered in orange crap and check nothing important (ECU, fuses etc) is living in the scuttle drains and has had a lovely bath.

[babaton]

thanks for the replies, it's a petrol, citroen c4 picasso btw...

[babaton]

sherman said:

If there is even a small discrepecy in the voltage it wont start. If its less than12v it wont start. It can take 14 or more volts to initially start an engine.

It's a new battery, I'll get a meter on it and see what it reads though, thanks.

[babaton]

Penelope Stopit said:

Wait until dark, open bonnet, get someone to crank her over, look for HT tracking

HT Tracking?

[steveo3002]

does the fuel pump buzz when you turn the ign on ?

or a quick squirt of easy start into the inlet and see if it starts for a few seconds

[steveo3002]

babaton said:

HT Tracking?

broken insulation on plug wires causing the ign spark to go elsewhere , can sometimes be seen in the dark as sparks flying about , doubt it would cause the car to not run at all

[GreenV8S]

This time of year a car left standing could have accumulated moisture under the bonnet which would find any weak insulation in the ignition system. A light spray of WD40 on the outside of the HT components and leads can help get rid of that.

[paintman]

babaton said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Wait until dark, open bonnet, get someone to crank her over, look for HT tracking

HT Tracking?

High voltage current going other than where it's supposed to.
Can look a bit like lightning or particularly with plug leads an odd glow on the outside of the lead(s). Usually associated with spark plugs, plug leads, coil etc
Random youtube showing it arcing from a plug. The current isn't going where it's supposed to & this one results in a misfire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYW8i8JiDE

I dealt with one some years ago for a friend (No, not me!) which only occurred in damp/wet weather. Vehicle wouldn't start.
A quick check in low light showed that the end of the coil was covered in crap & the current was taking the line of least resistance down the damp dirt & to earth instead of going to the distributor.
A good clean restored normal running.
Long term this can burn a groove in the plastic & the only cure is then to replace the component - common on distributor caps.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 29th January 10:38

[Desiderata]

paintman said:

babaton said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Wait until dark, open bonnet, get someone to crank her over, look for HT tracking

HT Tracking?

High voltage current going other than where it's supposed to.
Can look a bit like lightning or particularly with plug leads an odd glow on the outside of the lead(s). Usually associated with spark plugs, plug leads, coil etc
Random youtube showing it arcing from a plug. The current isn't going where it's supposed to & this one results in a misfire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYW8i8JiDE

I dealt with one some years ago for a friend (No, not me!) which only occurred in damp/wet weather. Vehicle wouldn't start.
A quick check in low light showed that the end of the coil was covered in crap & the current was taking the line of least resistance down the damp dirt & to earth instead of going to the distributor.
A good clean restored normal running.
Long term this can burn a groove in the plastic & the only cure is then to replace the component - common on distributor caps.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 29th January 10:38

A modern(ish) car like the C4 will have coil pack rather than a separate coil and HT leads, no visible tracking to be seen.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Have you checked its got Petrol in ?

[Order66]

start with the simple things - have you checked the fuses? Particularly the one for the fuel pump.

[Olas]

sherman said:

That takes years not weeks

It’s seasonal - cold weather petrol and warm weather petrol have very different volatilities and compositions. Have you ever tried to use summer fuel in the winter? Latent heat of vapourisation and Reid Vapour Pressures for starters. Sealed tank vs. Vented tank and myriad other variables including ethanol being hygroscopic. Give it enough time for phase separation to occur and try and start an engine on the ethanol/water mix that has sunk to the bottom of the tank and saturated the pickup.
Years...pah!

[Philvrs]

Any immobiliser error messages on the dash?