Not starting from cold

[Richim]

So, i drive 300 + miles from Essex to Cornwall for my holiday and the drive was pretty good apart from the the traffic which made the temperature rise. Next day the car won't start. Well it started but very lumpy then cut out when i put it in reverse.
I can hear the fuel pump priming and its turning over but won't fire.
I don't have any tools and am not very mechanically minded.
Is there any thing i could try
Cheers
Richard

[ianwayne]

If you're 300 + miles away form home on holiday, that's what breakdown cover is for.

It's turning over but could still be a multitude of things unfortunately. No spark (distributor, rotor arm, coil, ignition amp, immobiliser), no fuel (regulator, fuel supply fault).

Edited by ianwayne on Sunday 29th July 18:05

[N7GTX]

Try starting with the accelerator pedal flat down on the floor. Keep it there while you crank the engine to start. If it does start then it would indicate overfuelling but at least allow you to get the car moving.

[Belle427]

Sounds ignition related. If you could get it diagnosed by breakdown service and needed a spare coil etc i could overnight a spare to you as long as i had it back!

[Richim]

Thanks guys. i have tried the foot to the floor method no luck but have a local breakdown garage coming to me soon. I'll let you know how we get on.

[Richim]

So turns out that it was the blown 30 amp fuse to the coil. Something i should have been able to check. Anyway i suppose this means the coil is on its way out?

[Belle427]

Do you have any idea which fuse it was in the fusebox?

[Richim]

Sorry belle the mechanic said he had put the diagnostics on it and it had shown no feed to the coil pack and he had traced that to a blown 30 amp fuse which was replaced. Dont know the number. He couldn't see any obvious wiring problem but this was difficult to trace. He had repeatedly started the car up and no further starting problems occurred but thought the issue may be related to the need to change the coil.
When i get home, God willing, I'll try testing the coil for the correct resistance level.
Is there a test for the ignition amp?

[Belle427]

Its worth changing the coil and the amp as a maintenance job as they get a very hard life on these cars.
It’s also worth checking the wiring in the area too as it’s a bit of a birds nest in there.
I can’t help much with the fuse blowing, it can be very difficult to pin point problems like that.