Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start

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Fri 6 Jan 2012 12:23
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - MCH

I changed the oil & filter (nightmare getting the filter off) and now it will not start. It turns over fine but will not fire.

I had started the car from cold the night before to put it in the garage, so it only moved a few yards. Am I right in thinking that rich fuel in the exhaust system is not allowing the car to start to protect the cat?

If this is the problem, how long might it take to "dry out" - I have left it 24 hours and still will not start.

Grateful for any suggestions, although I am now looking for mobile technicians with diagnostics.

Many thanks.

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Fri 6 Jan 2012 13:25
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - ChannelZ

Foot to the floor, crank for 5 seconds. Foot off throttle and crank 5 seconds. Leave it a few seconds and it should start on 3rd attempt. If it doesn't, it's not flooded.

Tip: The Duratec's EGR is stupid, so if you're doing short runs at cold, plant your foot on the throttle immediately after turning off the ignition, this clears the half burnt exhaust gasses out of the cylinders and EGR system. Or if you can cope with the EML on, just unplug the EGR, you won't have a limp-home trouble, and your engine will start first time, every time.

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Fri 6 Jan 2012 15:17
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - MCH

"Or if you can cope with the EML on, just unplug the EGR, you won't have a limp-home trouble, and your engine will start first time, every time."

Excuse my ignorance - I assume EML = engine management light, but what is EGR and where might I find the plug? Many Thanks.

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Fri 6 Jan 2012 19:22
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - sirionman

MCH,

Although not the same car but nonetheless a modern 2008 petrol, I have had the exact same problem when starting cold and then switching off very soon afterwards - such as moving the car a few feet.

It is definitely related to a start-up fuel enrichment not being allowed to burn off from the previous quick/short start. Quite what is happening within the modern car engine that is causing the no-start from that condition I would have no idea. Some sort of flooding though.

The first time it happened to me the motor cranked like a good 'un but just would not fire. It did eventually of course. The second time it hapened the penny dropped and I knew the cause and I opened the throttle up wide and cranked away until fired.

Good luck

Regards

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Sat 7 Jan 2012 09:09
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - MCH

Thanks for the suggesions guys - I have tried ChannelZ's method without success and will give sirionman's idea a go when I get home and the battery is recharged.

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Sat 7 Jan 2012 13:46
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - ChannelZ

EML is indeed Engine Management Light.

The EGR is to the right of the engine, just below the rocker cover. It's a little black plastic dome about 1" across with a small electrical connector on top of it, immediately infront of the coilpack. There's also a cooling hose going in to the EGR. Just unplug the connector, and the problem will go away.

I had another thought, when were the sparkplugs changed last? When I got my 1.8 Mondeo it was 4 years old with 50k on the clock. It was on occasion difficult to start. At 55k I had my neighbour (a mechanic) service the car including the plugs. The plugs were totally burnt out and seized in, he was convinced they had never been changed from new, despite the car having a full Ford service history.

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Sun 8 Jan 2012 16:23
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - MCH

Problem solved! It has now started - after three days of trying.

I went for broke and left it another 24 hours, gave it 3/4 pedal and cranked up. It fired after about four seconds and has run fine since. Many thanks for the ideas and advice from backroomers.

ChannelZ - the mileage is 36k and I have not changed the plugs - acquiring the car at 13k, so after reading your comments I will change them soon.

Moral of the story: I should have remembered what I had read some time ago here - DO NOT run a modern car for very short periods from cold. It cost me three days of messing about (luckily we have a second car) and a bit of stress. In future I will run the engine for at least a minute every time.

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Sun 8 Jan 2012 16:26
Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol 2006 - Help! will not start - MCH

Also grateful to ChannelZ for identifying the EGR. I was guessing that I had found it but didn't want to take the plug off in case I made things worse.

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