Hard to start and smoking.

Got in the Micra to drive to work this morning and it took ages to start, when it did it was bellowing smoke (oil i think) out of the exhaust and running very lumpy (possibly only on 3 cyl). Turned it off went back in and asked the wife who driove it last if she has a problem, to which she replied that she found it hard to start and it wasnt running right.

My guess (i'm no mechanic) is dizzy cap, rotor arm or HT leads?

Seemed fine when I drove myself yesterday back from work.

Dont have the car with me now as i took the Maverick in the end, but wife needs it later and I have told her to take the dizzy cap of and clean it inside.
 
i had the same symtoms with a vauxhall corsa. does it only bello smoke out on start up? mine was the headgasket. check the oil cap for mayonaise type stuff. could be wrong but thats what mine was lol
 
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Had a closer look as i am on half day, sarted her again and the smell was petrol so i guess she was a little flooded. Oil was fine nice and clean and clear with no milky stuff, water was nice and clear also.

Only thing i did notice was pressure in the head, when i took off the oil cap off with the engine running it was spitting oil at me. Now, I have has this before, albeit with a renault clio and it turned out to be the water pump propellor broken so water was not circulation properly. did not really see too much movement in the water this time either.

how does the diagnostis sound tou the experts?

wife called she said the car seems to run ok on the flats but struggles up hills and is drinking fuel. any ideas? Still really hard to start
 

butta

Kicked in the Member
nah the timing chain is under the oil cap so if you take it off with the engine running oil goes all over the place
 
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Ok so oil normally spits out of the oil cap on micra's?
Im pretty confident its not a HG as no bubbles in the cooling system when on fast idle and as stated above oil and water look fine.
My thoughts are something relating back now to something to do with the electrical side (coil, dizzy cap, rotor arm, HT leads or plugs)
 

jowley

Ex. Club Member
sounds like a temp sensor fault to me mine was like that but didnt get as bad ended up fittin g a modified temp sensor wiring loom to cure it
 
Did you move the car the night before and only run it for a very short time?
This will cause it to flood and you will get smoke from the exhaust when it eventually starts due to unburnt fuel.

The fix is either run it for at least 5 mins or fit the modified loom.
Very common on the Micra
 
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no my wife drove it some distance the day before and when i got in it it still smoked. Have been out with the soldering iron this morning re-heating the wires on the throttle to see if that makes a difference. Have noticed a small hole in the exhaust near the join from the middle box to the back box. havent had a chance to run the car but its sounded better when i started it after the solder job, but the idle was fluctuating a bit once the car came off choke.

whats the opionson the spark plug? looks like it needs replacing to me but does the condition just show age or another problem
DSCF0503.jpg
 
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Update. Changed the Spark Plugs, HT Leads, Air Filter & Dizzy Cap.
Its deffo feel up on power, but does still seem as if it not quite firing on all cylinders. The car is still a ##### to start. Really annoying me now as its my work car and I cant walk the 20 miles to work.
Exhaust has a very small hole near the join from the middle to rear box but i am sure this cant be all the reason the exhaust sounds like a chuggin diesel.
On top of all this went to put in more fuel and about 5 quid of it went on the floor, so must now have a hole in the pipe from the filler to the tank.
Starting to become my biggest heap of trash car ever owned. Waste of 500 quid, should have bought a Mondeo
 
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I tried the throttle mod, but tbh cant be sure i did it right. I got access to the joint then using a soldering iron got the existing solder hot again. Is this right?
 
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