I wondered if anyone could tell me what may be wrong with my car before I take it to a garage and spend a fortune!
I have had the car since Feb 02 and it has been fine until this week. Two days ago I got in it and it didn't want to start. I eventually got it started, drove about ½ mile and the engine died. I left it at the side of the road, went back in a few hours and it started straight away. It was fine yesterday also, but failed to start again this morning. The engine is turning over but it just won't fire up. Someone has told me to take the HT leads off dry the leads and the plugs and spray WD-40 on them, but someone else has told me that this would probably cure the problem in the short term but make it worse in the long term!
Has anyone else had this problem and how did you fix it. The car has been fine all year so I'm assuming that it a problem caused by the damp/cold (the car seems to suffer with a lot of condensation, which is why I thought the leads / spark plugs idea might have been the one). The car has an automatic NOT manual choke if that makes any difference and it is not a "short run only" vehicle!
|
If it was my car I would like to know that the leads cap and rotor arm were in tip top condition at all times. If you purchase these parts . Push the new leads into the new cap. Make sure they are in exactly the same place as the ones fitted to the cap and leads on the car it is probably worth numbering the leads to avoid any confusion when fitting the cap to the car. Undo the two screws that hold the cap in place then when you have removed it pull off the rotor arm and push the new arm in place. You should really replace the plugs points and condenser at the same time but see how you get on with leads rotor arm and cap.
|
|
|
|
How many miles has it done in total, and how many miles since the last service ?
|
|
I,ve known the metal spring in the points break on these Micras -could be starting to give way?
|
|
|
|
Jeannie
just to reiterate what carl says, if you take the HT leads off, it is important to be able to put them back - you need to be able to number each lead and identify which sparking plug it when on and which connector on the coil it connects to.
there has recently been a panicky posting in a maintenance newsgroup from somebody who took all the ht leads off and then realised he didn't know what went back where.
IMHO the best way to replace them is one lead at a time, then there is less scope for confusion
hth
Mike
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
|
|
|
|
When was the last time you filled up with Petrol? Did the problems start shortly afterwards? To cut a long story short, I'm wondering if you've got water in your petrol.
|
|
|
Entering "nissan micra starting problems" in to the search field at the top of this site brings up the following 3 links, which are worth looking at, just to check other possible solutions to your problem.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=87...6
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=79...1
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=24...5
Good luck. Please do post news of any progress with this problem.
|
|
|
Here are the answers to the questions posted:-
The car had a reconditioned engine in December last year (with new points, plugs etc.) and was serviced in February just before I bought it. I bought it from a friend so I know that this is true.
I filled up with a full tank of petrol on Saturday and then drove approx. 90 miles on Sunday so I don't think that water in the petrol could be the problem as it was fine until Tuesday this week and the car still has petrol in.
The problem only seems to occur in the mornings. If it won't start in the morning and I leave it till dinner time and try again it will start straight away. It has run perfectly well for 9 months and has only just developed this fault which leads me to believe that its the damp / cold weather thats affecting it rather than anything else. I looked under the bonnet this morning and the engine did have a lot of water on it, although the car as a whole suffers from a disproportionate amount of condensation compared to other cars I have owned. Could the damp engine be the problem as if so, this would explain why it will start later in the day when some of the water has evaporated. If this is the reason...how do I fix it? I have just seen the links posted above and will look at them next (I did search this forum before posting my original question but seem to have completely missed those!). Thanks for all your help so far.
|
Jeannie,
Based on your latest post, yes it would seem that dampness could be the problem. You could try squrting the HT leads with WD-40, but IMHO this is only a temporary measure. It will however help to prove whether it is the leads at fault or not. Ultimately the best thing to coat the leads with is a fine layer of silicone grease, rubbing any excess off with a cloth afterwards.
|
|
|
|
