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cranking but not starting

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:20 pm
by phil
hi there i am having a bit of trouble with my 5th gen vtec, i have read 100's of cranking and not starting feeds on line, and eliminated quite a few symptoms, im very new to the seen, literally bought the car last october and its my first Japanese car, spending most my motoring life on german cars, thought it would be something different to play about with while i build me mk2 golf, so i am learning as we go along. so if anybody can help it will be much appreciated, ill list what i have already checked and gone over:

so on saturday 8th of april it failed to start after work, (cranking not starting) got the car home, pulled the plugs they were soaked in fuel, cleaned them cleaned the ports best it could, a couple of goes later it started.
next day same again, cranking but not stating. i checked dizzy cap rota arm cleaned them up, did a spark plug check. checked my fuel pump. every thing seemed fine.
stripped down the fuel real and injectors they all seemed fine.
had an auto electrician come round he checked the same things pulled the fuel pub circuit board and that seemed fine, he came back with it could possible be the temp sensor, the car ran that did then at 6 oclock when i went to work again cranking not starting.
so my mechanical mate came round last night checked everything over yet again, and got it started running fine ideals fine, we cleaned dizzy cap up roater arm and the plugs, he seems to think it could be leaking fuel from an injector and flooding the ports while over night ect.
so thins morning i cranked it over struggled a little at first but then started, i popped to halfords got some injector clean and then went and filled up.

so i am left with either a dodge temp sensor or injects, could anybody shed some light on any thing i have missed or advise on any thing else to check.

thank you
regard phil

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:37 pm
by NafemanNathan
Hi Phil. Welcome to the club :) Sorry it's not under better circumstances though :lol:

My first thoughts are either the Ignition switch or the Coil in the distributor. Both are common issues. Are you getting sparks when it refuses to start?

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:56 pm
by phil
Hay thank you nathan and im pretty used to old cars been a pain but with less tech on um lucky if my vdubs had power steering let along 4WS lol

Ok would the ingiton be the igniter on these? Ad yes still get a very strong spark

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:27 pm
by Drax
where do you live bud? may be able to get a forum member to pop by and help

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:32 pm
by phil
Ah sweet that would help, im from hull probably the only lude in hull like

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:19 pm
by NafemanNathan
phil wrote:Ok would the ingiton be the igniter on these? Ad yes still get a very strong spark
Ok, shouldn't be the ignition switch or coil then.

It could be the temperature sensor. That was causing me the same issues in a 3rd gen lude (1989) I had.

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:37 pm
by phil
Yeah thats what a few people have said, i can get one from euro parts for £59. If it is playing up would that couse it to dump more fuel on start up then?

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:23 pm
by NafemanNathan
phil wrote:Yeah thats what a few people have said, i can get one from euro parts for £59. If it is playing up would that couse it to dump more fuel on start up then?
Yes. That's crazy money though! You could probably get one from eBay for £10-15 ;) £59 for something that might not cure your problem is a lot.

I think there's a way to test your existing one as well. I'm sure someone who's tested one before will be on here soon :)

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:00 pm
by Max
If you're talking about the intake temp sensor the procedure basically goes like this, disconnect the temp sensor and pull it out of the intake, plug it back in, turn ignition ON (ii) measure the temp reading, is it measuring ambient temp? If no replace the sensor, if yes heat the sensor up with a hair dryer and measure the temp again, is it registering an increase 1c or more than ambient temp? If no replace the sensor, if yes its an intermittent failure and should be ok.

The sensor is a thermistor so unless you have a scan tool to check what its registering you will need to measure the resistance with a multimeter to get your reading. The scale is in the manual, best download it from the wiki, its all in section 11-62.

I haven't tested one before, just looked it up for you as im in front of the pc just now, hope that helps.

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:06 pm
by NafemanNathan
Not that one Max :lol: The one under the dizzy.