Thread: Won't start

I could be way off the mark here, my my V8i had an issue with an immobiliser loom in the dash just after I got the car. The bloke who fixed it told me that it's apparently a common problem with them and was a recall from factory.

Originally Posted by westonben

Had this problem twice before - I'm assuming the same.

First time, driving highway speed, stop, turn off ignition and leave for 10mins. Come back to start up and it won't fire - turn over sounds fine. Towed to the garage who informed that it was not getting fuel but they fixed it without any parts.

Second time, driving out of the dunes stop and inflate other guys tyres. Come back to the disco and it's died whilst idling. Will restart but revs v. low and then it dies again. Towed to main dealer. 2 days later they get around to looking at it but it's miraculously working now! They take it for 100km test drive with pressure guage attached and reported no problems with pressure.

Last night, testing it out again for idling issues (see other threads), struggles to start but gets 5 mins driving in, stop, turn off ignition and try restart. Turns over, but not firing.

I'm actually very keen to fix this problem as the worry with it has kept me out of the desert and SWMBO won't get in it!

So, it's 2 floors down in an underground apartment! I'd rather not get recovery if I can do some simple tests first. What's the easiest way to check if fuel is getting delivered and what about spark?

Any ideas what the overriding problem is?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post....

In one of the posts ... You said the mechanic played around in the throttle area .... and then it worked

1
The fuel pressure regulator is in this area at the back of the fuel rail
Could it be debris in the fuel rail sticking the valve open??

When the mechanics put the fuel pressure gauge on it to drive that 100k's ... was this regulator bypassed or removed for this test

2
Where are you located ... easier to get you to the right places .. instead of anywhere


3
1 thing you can do and is simple is this

Buy a can of "circuit board cleaner" ... Available a Dick Smith or a good Auto Store

When it dies ... Spray a "little bit" down the manifold "via a inlet breather hose" near the throttle body ... and see if it fires

If it revs then dies .... It's safe to say that it's fuel and you don't have to hunt for spark

4
Clean the wire mesh on the MAF with the circuit board cleaner ... It won't fix your problem ... but it will give you better fuel & idle performance (maintenance only)

5
To test spark

Grab a spare spark plug .... Put it in number 2 spark lead ...give a quick turn of the key of the starter motor ... and see if it sparks

Originally Posted by Boxer

I could be way off the mark here, my my V8i had an issue with an immobiliser loom in the dash just after I got the car. The bloke who fixed it told me that it's apparently a common problem with them and was a recall from factory.

Not entirely .... Spider Alarm??

I'm based in Qatar, so good mechanics are very hard to find out here!

I need to check whether the car has an alarm. It has remote central locking but no lights flash or anything when pressing. Being Gulf Spec maybe not. There's not much need to have alarms here, crime is almost non-existent.

Fuel pressure regulator is interesting, will wait and see how this pans out.....

I'm not sure about the way the pressure regulator was attached - sorry.

Will try to narrow this down to fuel tonight...

Looks like a factory system. Do they run a horn/alarm setup from factory? Mine is

Sorry to hijack thread

Faulty Fuel temperature sensor can cause this sort of thing.

on our v8 we had a similar problem was a combination of two things the MAF meter and the imobiliser

Originally Posted by westonben

I'm based in Qatar

Ok ... ya got me .... Where the heck is ?????