Car Suddenly wont start??????HELP!

[RolandGTV85]

Hey People need some help.

Drove to work yesterday and car ran a treat as usual, but when i went to start it up it wouldnt. After about an hour i couldnt get it to go so i tried a hill start which got her started, so I drove home and it ran a dream. Got home turned the car off and the next morning it wouldnt start again.... So all morning ive been trying to figure it out.

The engine turns over but i dont seem to be getting any fuel through. I changed all the plugs and the air censor (brown one at the back of the cam covers as per my mechanics advice) but still no joy. Its not the fuel pump but i cant think what else it would be... I can hill start it everytime with no problems but it wont start by itself????

Any ideas would be greatly appriciated...

[RolandGTV85]

Could this be an ECU problem??

[slideways]

Checked battery?

[RolandGTV85]

yeah battery is fine, definately not a bettery issue

[LittleRedSpirit]

You need to check your grounds. Look for little black spots around or under them like a weld that wants to start, that will be evidence of arcing which is what you get with loose grounds. You should have a cable from the motor to the body, and one from the battery to the same place on the body.

Remove the cables, Test their resistance, it should be next to zero.

Sand where they contact the body, clean the battery terminals, put some fresh demin water in the battery cells.

Ceck the starter trigger wire is still on the starter and has a good connection. Check that the starter cable is properly fastened and test its resistance.

If it runs from a roll start then its probably not a fuel issue, as that tells me the injectors are firing when its cranking.

You also have spark. Or it wouldnt run. Its just an electrical issue relating directly to the starter and its wiring. Do you have a starter relay installed?

Oh, you can also check the contacts in the ignition barrel itself.

Good luck, these issues aren't fun. I had a similar thing and got sick of push starting my car at servos real fast.

[RolandGTV85]

Ceck the starter trigger wire is still on the starter and has a good connection. Check that the starter cable is properly fastened and test its resistance

^^^this could be very possible, Ill check all these issues and let you know how I go. Thanx for the feedback!

[fantapants]

i had a similar poblem, took me weeks to figure out. once the car was warm, things were good, but leave it for an hour or so and it would run like shit.

turned out the fuel filter was blocked. and the angle i had the filter on meant all the bits collected at the fuel inlet and stopped fuel easily reaching the rest of the system.

First solution was dodgy... changed the angle on the fuel filter :) worked for a few months, then replaced when happened again. never had a problem since. :)

best of luck, hope its something simple :)

[RolandGTV85]

Well I gave up and finally went to an auto electrician. Turned out to be a faulty Crank angle sensor inside the distributor. Would have never have guessed......... Apparently it is very uncommon.... Had to buy a whole 2nd hand disributor just to get the part.

Anyhoo, anyone having a similar problem it may be worth checking out.

Thanks for everyones help

Cheers

[Nikkojoe]

Wow, never heard of that. That said i had a rwd dizzy missing the cap and rotor you could have bought, but good to see its working again :)

[H8CHIR6KU]

im not sure about this being uncommon.

this happened to me about 1yr ago. not only that i sold quite a few 86 distributors when i was working at bens too, more than any other sensor.