Car had trouble starting, then turned off at stop or low

[Coilspring]

Dave. said:

Just put some god damn new plugs and leads in it already!

It'll cos you fk all, take 10mins, and rule them out if it doesn't fix it, at which point get some new coils or a coilpack, again, costs buttons and will take 5mins.

That doesn't matter though.

He isn't listening. And for that reason, I'm out.

In fairness I never really got into this 1.

[stevieturbo]

Coilspring said:

That doesn't matter though.

He isn't listening. And for that reason, I'm out.

In fairness I never really got into this 1.

The place is going downhill badly. And it really wasnt that far off the bottom to start with !! lol

[GreenV8S]

Coilspring said:

In fairness I never really got into this 1.

Really? I think that's a very unhelpful attitude. It's perfectly reasonable to check for timing problems by pulling on the ancillary belt if your engine won't turn on. Pulling random wires off plus a bit of common sense and deductive reasoning will certainly get to the root of the problem.

[cornflakes2]

Well some people are helpful here and some people are just bored and have nothing better to do than to waste time.

If you are the latter, by all means, please do move on. That will be a very helpful to me than if you actually post some "filler" comments to pet your own egos.

Back on topic, if the car will ever start again (waiting for the wet weather to pass and dry/hot conditions to return), I'll be taking it back into the shop to proceed to the next step. Hopefully it is something as small as just spark plugs issue. Obviously I couldn't get anything done for the last few days because I was supposed to wait and drive it around a bit so they could find where the oil leak is coming from (whether that has anything to do with the non-starting issue or not).

[cornflakes2]

I also found this: an english manual of the car (Daewoo Matiz). Wow! It's nice to have an english manual so I can actually read something.
I always thought you had to pay for this but it looks like this has all of it (1184 pages).

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1212501/Daewoo-M...

Edited by cornflakes2 on Monday 22 July 01:52

[E-bmw]

Dave. said:

Just put some god damn new plugs and leads in it already!

It'll cos you fk all, take 10mins, and rule them out if it doesn't fix it, at which point get some new coils or a coilpack, again, costs buttons and will take 5mins.

I told him that over a week ago now.

[Dave.]

E-bmw said:

I told him that over a week ago now.

I know, but this thread and the OP are driving me mad!

You can lead a horse to water....

[E-bmw]

Dave. said:

E-bmw said:

I told him that over a week ago now.

I know, but this thread and the OP are driving me mad!

You can lead a horse to water....

Yes, I know, I was banging my head on the wall a week ago also.

I think we just need to let him carry on, I mean let's face it venting off a/c gas he is lucky not to do himself an injury, maybe he will sort it by logical deduction...….Maybe he will end up in hospital..….. Maybe he will do some serious damage to the car, who can tell?

[WinstonWolf]

When I was young I tested the HT lead on my C50 by putting my finger in it and kicking it over as 'it's only a small spark'...

[cornflakes2]

Haha, sounds like the frat party are having an amusing time at my expense.
Well no problem. I'm glad at least there are places like this where I can ask questions for free
and I appreciate any responses that are on topic.

I'm glad to learn those parts had nothing to do with it. But my logic and deduction work is about to take a huge
turn in my favor against all the odds.

I've been onto this "moisture" thing that none of you have spotted/missed.

Every single day / time when the engine would not start up but only crank, it was during moist/damp wet conditions (such as early mornings
and wet/rainy days). I've now counted it and it's exactly 4 days in total that it didn't start in those conditions. The 3 times it DID suddenly start after
not working were also during very hot/dry conditions. Now it's possible it could still be a crazy coincidence that all 7 times it was just coincidence but I doubt it. There is something to this clue that for some reason, it works and starts up fine when the weather is hot and dry and it doesn't start when it's wet/damp.

So that clue should help some of you "experienced" members hopefully to help narrow down what the problem might be.
I was going to take it into the shop this morning but it didn't start as it hadn't for the past 2 days when it rained all weekend here.

Then I came home from work after today's weather was nice and hot (no rain) and lo and behold I went to start up the car and it started like normal.

I said from the beginning I don't have any training or experience in auto mechanics, but even without it, I know how to use deduction and logic and simple reasoning to find problems and issues...but I don't have the technical know-how and knowledge of the parts which is what I was trying to figure out.......those are two completely different things comparing technical skills/knowledge/experience vs simple logic and deductive reasoning.

[cornflakes2]

just found an excellent answer to my issue and a couple of you did mention the obvious
which was just replace the spark plugs and wires but didn't explain it this way in relation to moisture:

"If you mean the engine cranks over normally, but doesn’t fire up, the problem could be with the secondary ignition system. The secondary ignition system comprises of the distributor cap, rotor, sparkplug wires, sparkplugs, and the ignition coil.

As these components age and break down, they become sensitive to moisture. So an engine will start fine in sunny/dry weather, but fail to start when it’s raining or even foggy outside.

So if it’s been quite awhile since the secondary ignition components have been replaced, or you don’t even know when the last time the secondary ignition components were replaced, I’d start there.

Tester"

I love this explanation. So simple and clear. Now I can see better and understand how it fits together....the moisture is the dead giveaway that the issue is the secondary ignition system. I'll get those replaced hopefully if the car starts up tomorrow and run it for a few days and see how it goes

[Coilspring]

cornflakes2 said:

just found an excellent answer to my issue and a couple of you did mention the obvious
which was just replace the spark plugs and wires but didn't explain it this way in relation to moisture:

"If you mean the engine cranks over normally, but doesn’t fire up, the problem could be with the secondary ignition system. The secondary ignition system comprises of the distributor cap, rotor, sparkplug wires, sparkplugs, and the ignition coil.

As these components age and break down, they become sensitive to moisture. So an engine will start fine in sunny/dry weather, but fail to start when it’s raining or even foggy outside.

So if it’s been quite awhile since the secondary ignition components have been replaced, or you don’t even know when the last time the secondary ignition components were replaced, I’d start there.

Tester"

I love this explanation. So simple and clear. Now I can see better and understand how it fits together....the moisture is the dead giveaway that the issue is the secondary ignition system. I'll get those replaced hopefully if the car starts up tomorrow and run it for a few days and see how it goes

The damp issue is pertinent.

But you have been given advice about what to do that takes that into account.

Why are you fighting the advice given ?

[OnTheEdge]

OP, have you checked the offside rear wheel bearing for excessive play? It's the next logical step...

[Dave.]

OnTheEdge said:

OP, have you checked the offside rear wheel bearing for excessive play? It's the next logical step...

Stop being ridiculous, it's clearer the left hand wiper blade!

[jas xjr]

Years ago I had a similar problem.it was a b!locked fuel filter caused by a rusty fuel tank.

Fuel tank and filter were replaced.
As others have said ,check for fuel and spark. Check for a good earth,there may be more than one.

[E-bmw]

OP.

I told you to do this over a week ago, and you wonder why I was banging my head on the wall the day after!!!!

[jas xjr]

Would spraying the leads etc with wd40 make any difference? Just to keep the damp off before the op started spending money at a garage

[Mexman]

Just scrap the bloody thing.
Come over to Blighty for a holiday, and buy 5 of them for a grand.
Win, win, a holiday and 5 Daewoo Matizizzzzzzzs.
Sell the other 4 back home for a grand each, keep one, everyone's a winner.
There's logic in there somewhere

[cornflakes2]

jas xjr said:

Would spraying the leads etc with wd40 make any difference? Just to keep the damp off before the op started spending money at a garage

I was thinking this as well, as I have read on other articles about this issue that WD40 could help if the issue is moisture on the secondary ignition system parts.

[cornflakes2]

E-bmw said:

OP.

I told you to do this over a week ago, and you wonder why I was banging my head on the wall the day after!!!!

Yep, and I am also banging my head as well because these garages here are incompetent IMHO.

I dropped the car off 2 days ago and they still haven't checked my car. I told them clearly to just check it as they told me to come back
after they had cleaned the oil leak so they could see where it's coming from. I told them not to do any work on it until they first text me/call me back with a list and estimate of all the repairs and parts and see how much it comes to. They still haven't been able to do that in 2 days?
Call me crazy but this is something they could easily have done in 10-20 minutes.....I'm going to pick up my car today or tomorrow and take it to another center a bit further away. I don't trust these guys. They charge me 33 bucks just for washing my engine bay, and 15 bucks before that just to top off my oil....I am not going to pay anything this time if they make some excuse like they had my car for 2 days or something.

I forgot to mention, the other time that I had taken it in and clearly told them it was an ignition issue (no startup), the mechanic took both my front tires off and started telling me I had better change the brake discs and pads....I was swearing in my head cuz I couldn't believe what a stupid advice that was when I told the guy this car is probably going to be scrapped and I just want to know can you or can you not find the problem with non-start issue and if its plugs related, how much to just change the plugs/wires or possibly distributor cap/rotor? Why the hell is he telling me to change my brake discs and pads when that's not even the issue....if the car doesn't run, then it's pointless to check my brakes and remove the tires. Yes, my logic tells me this garage is shady and incompetent.

I can't get anything done because these guys a) taking their precious time for whatever reason, b) telling me about other things of the car, c) not focusing on what I told them, just find the issue about non-startup and quote me what it costs to fix/replace the parts. HOW HARD IS IT? So yes, I'm banging my head too because it's taking over a week so far and we haven't gotten anywhere. My own deduction and logic has gotten me farther than this shop has because even I have deduced that it is not a problem with the battery or transmission, fuel system, but it is clearly an issue with moisture and that has to do with secondary ignition system only. Outside of that, the car runs fine, it always has, and there's no immediate problem with anything else. I'm not going to bother to fix other parts. When those other issues fail, I will scrap the car as it's a 2001 and cost me just 1 grand. I believe the startup issue can be resolved/fixed for a couple hundred range and that should be enough to last me another 5000 km or so out of this car which is all I need. I'm not expecting to have this car much longer anyways.

I'll keep you updated on the next shop and how much better they are or not. The dude on the phone told me it's a battery issue and I laughed inside and forgave him because I know it's not a battery issue but since he hasn't seen the car personally, I didn't blame him for making such a poor judgment call even though I told him it starts up fine in warm/dry weather but doesn't start up in wet/moist weather. *banging head*. Since I work until 7:30pm everyday and their shop closes at 7pm, I now have to wait until the weekend to go and visit them.

Thanks for joining me on this crazy ride haha, I'm glad it's amusing to some of you We all need a good laugh at someone's expense now and then to get by our boring humdrum lives eh? So, I'll add to it. My logic says I should just stick my finger up my bum and suck my thumb and everything will be ok

Edited by cornflakes2 on Wednesday 24th July 04:08

Edited by cornflakes2 on Wednesday 24th July 04:33