Non starter

[slimey]

It's a while since I posted here last, but I've got a new problem. My Micra won't start. It's an N reg 1.0l manual.

I had the AA out this morning, and he spent about 90 minutes working through things and in the end had to give up.

The car will turn over on the starter, but won't fire. We've confirmed that there's fuel going into the fuel rail (but none comes back out the return pipe). There's 12V at the injectors, and the injector fuse is good (I've had a problem in the past where the injector fuse had corroded). There's a good spark on the plugs.

We tried putting the ECU into diagnostic mode (short the two bottom-left pins on the diagnostic connector), but didn't get any lights flashing on the dashboard. We didn't manage to spot an LED on the ECU that the Haynes manual referred to.

Any suggestions on what to check for next? Is this likely to be an ECU problem, or a more simple electrical problem?

Thanks in advance,

Simon

 

[frank]

have you tried a drop of fuel down the throttlebody simon ?

 

[slimey]

The AA bloke sprayed some "Easy Start" in there, and it would attempt to start, and maybe ran (roughly) for a second or two.

Simon

 

[sleeper_ss]

On a 96 I expect you have NATS?
You'll know if you've got a "chipped" key,mine has red chips in the top of key.
Very prone to problems,my cars kicked in a few months agh & it won't show a code on testing equipment either.
Easiest & cheapest fix is to get the ECU modified ie.remove the NATS if that's what the problem turns out to be.ECU is in front of gearstick,easy removal & refitting & I know that someone on here does the business for about £100,have a fish around..

 

[slimey]

Fairly certain I don't have NATS. The key certainly doesn't look like it has a chip in it.

I've actually bought a replacement ECU off ebay today, just in case that's what the problem is - at least I'll have it to hand when I get another chance to poke at the car at the weekend.

Simon

 

[Pavel]

How do you know there's fuel going to the fuel rail? (And not just residual fuel in it?).

Have you checked that your fuel pump works? (i.e. makes a sound and all).

 

[andy]

i know its a ford site, have a look may help you

http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/faultfinds.htm

 

[slimey]

How do you know there's fuel going to the fuel rail? (And not just residual fuel in it?).

Have you checked that your fuel pump works? (i.e. makes a sound and all).

Fuel pump is running. You can hear it running.

We checked there's fuel getting to the fuel rail by removing the pipe from the outlet of the fuel filter and turning the engine over - fuel everywhere :blush:

The sparkplug was 'dry' when the AA bloke took it out to check it.

Checking that Ford site, there's definitely voltage getting to the injectors, but as far as I can see, they're switched on the negative side, so that doesn't tell us much.

Is there a way to test that the injectors are being switched correctly?

Thanks,

Simon

 

[frank]

yes they are signaled through earth via the ecu simon, you could take one out and crank it over eh (throttle open)
and easystart will compress ignite, i would try a drop of fuel down the t/b just to rule out a spark problem

 

[slimey]

Oh, the frustration. Got another chance to look at the car this afternoon. Turned it over, and it tried to fire. Realised I couldn't hear the fuel pump running, so gave the rear seat a good thump. Car started.

Oh, now I have no idea why it wasn't working the other day when the AA were here.

Probably have a sticky fuel pump, but otherwise it seems fine now.

*relieved*

S

 

[andy]

Oh, the frustration. Got another chance to look at the car this afternoon. Turned it over, and it tried to fire. Realised I couldn't hear the fuel pump running, so gave the rear seat a good thump. Car started.

Oh, now I have no idea why it wasn't working the other day when the AA were here.

Probably have a sticky fuel pump, but otherwise it seems fine now.

*relieved*

S

glad its sorted, bad connection?

 

[slimey]

glad its sorted, bad connection?

Good question. Just been out to Tesco, and it cut out twice on me, requiring more thumps on the back seat. The pump is really loud (the AA bloke commented on that, too) - likely to need a new pump?

S

 

[ferritboy]

Glad you found the problem in the end matey- its annoying not finding the problem, the AA and RAC i find just blag their way out of bigger problems and just tow you to the garage!