Hiya
I'm new here so thought I'd say hi, though I've had my old 2001 Micra SE for about 8 years now. She's been a great car but I'm now at the stage where I'm fearing she may be on her last legs...
Admittedly this is probably because I could be doing more to keep her tip top, which is why I am here, to learn more. I'm not completely daft when it comes to knowledge of under the bonnet, but I'm also very much a beginner, so please bear with me!
After a couple of years of trouble free driving (before that I had to have a load of welding done underneath, a new crossmember, a few other small things too)... the latest issue has been with the cam sensor.
I'd be grateful if anyone could shed any light on this for me please. Basically I was driving in crawling traffic a couple of weeks ago, and though the temperature was normal the engine suddenly cut out. It felt like I'd run out of fuel (unfortunately I was distracted enough to do this ONCE many years ago so I remember how that felt) however I had over half a tank. The car wouldn't restart and there was nothing for me to do but call for recovery. The garage couldn't find a definite problem, but he suspected the fuel pump may be the issue. After taking it out and cleaning it up a bit, then putting it back in place, the car started fine. He advised me to keep driving as this may be enough that it would never happen again, whereas to put in a new fuel pump would be a couple of hundred quid and given the age of the car he didn't think it was worth it.
All was fine until about four days later when I went out to my car in the work car park at about 11 at night to find it wouldn't start at all. I left it there, and returned the next day, ready to call recovery again if need be, but the car started first time! I drove to my normal garage, explained what had happened at what the other garage had said, and he said he suspected an electrical problem, sending me to another place for them to take a look. On the way there I stopped for fuel and the car then failed to start on the forecourt (wish I'd never stopped!) so as I didn't really have time to wait for recovery I left it again until the next day. The next day it started fine again and I drove it to the electrical garage.
They had it for a week, trying to find the problem! The car started successfully every day apparently and the electrician was stumped. Eventually he told me he felt the only thing left that it could be is the timing chain, in which case the car would really not be worth spending so much on... thankfully an hour or so later the car failed to start and he was able to track down a failed cam sensor relay.
He replaced this and *fingers crossed* the car has been grand ever since.
So, sorry for the very long post but really I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on all this please? Is it one of those things? Is it very unusual? Is it a sign that the car is on the way out, or should I stick with her? The MOT is due in a couple of weeks and we have our first baby on the way, so a reliable car is pretty important, but I'd be pretty gutted to lose this Micra.
Thanks!
I'm new here so thought I'd say hi, though I've had my old 2001 Micra SE for about 8 years now. She's been a great car but I'm now at the stage where I'm fearing she may be on her last legs...
Admittedly this is probably because I could be doing more to keep her tip top, which is why I am here, to learn more. I'm not completely daft when it comes to knowledge of under the bonnet, but I'm also very much a beginner, so please bear with me!
After a couple of years of trouble free driving (before that I had to have a load of welding done underneath, a new crossmember, a few other small things too)... the latest issue has been with the cam sensor.
I'd be grateful if anyone could shed any light on this for me please. Basically I was driving in crawling traffic a couple of weeks ago, and though the temperature was normal the engine suddenly cut out. It felt like I'd run out of fuel (unfortunately I was distracted enough to do this ONCE many years ago so I remember how that felt) however I had over half a tank. The car wouldn't restart and there was nothing for me to do but call for recovery. The garage couldn't find a definite problem, but he suspected the fuel pump may be the issue. After taking it out and cleaning it up a bit, then putting it back in place, the car started fine. He advised me to keep driving as this may be enough that it would never happen again, whereas to put in a new fuel pump would be a couple of hundred quid and given the age of the car he didn't think it was worth it.
All was fine until about four days later when I went out to my car in the work car park at about 11 at night to find it wouldn't start at all. I left it there, and returned the next day, ready to call recovery again if need be, but the car started first time! I drove to my normal garage, explained what had happened at what the other garage had said, and he said he suspected an electrical problem, sending me to another place for them to take a look. On the way there I stopped for fuel and the car then failed to start on the forecourt (wish I'd never stopped!) so as I didn't really have time to wait for recovery I left it again until the next day. The next day it started fine again and I drove it to the electrical garage.
They had it for a week, trying to find the problem! The car started successfully every day apparently and the electrician was stumped. Eventually he told me he felt the only thing left that it could be is the timing chain, in which case the car would really not be worth spending so much on... thankfully an hour or so later the car failed to start and he was able to track down a failed cam sensor relay.
He replaced this and *fingers crossed* the car has been grand ever since.
So, sorry for the very long post but really I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on all this please? Is it one of those things? Is it very unusual? Is it a sign that the car is on the way out, or should I stick with her? The MOT is due in a couple of weeks and we have our first baby on the way, so a reliable car is pretty important, but I'd be pretty gutted to lose this Micra.
Thanks!
