does the immo light stay on when the ignition is on or does it go out, if immo is ok (stays on) then it will be fuel running back most likely, an injector leak off test might also be required if the above are ok,

 

When you put the key in the ignition the IMMO light is on and stays on when the coil is heating, as soon as you try to start the engine the IMMO light goes off

 

OK so the AA (well the mechanic who is subcontracted by them) has been and apparently there is no compression - therefore the car is going back to the garage who removed the head tomorrow

 

And so it continues - car taken back to garage on 12th January - compression fine, garage agrees to go over car to find out what the problem is - 15th January told it is a fue filter problem, but going to keep car over weekend to make sure it keeps on starting before returning it to me.

So - what is the problem you ask -

Monday 18th - 1.30pm collect car from garage, starts first turn, drive less than a mile to work and park car. three hours later car starts first time for journey home (11.5 miles).
Tuesday 19th - 6.30am car starts first time although it is minus 4 degrees, drive to work (11.5 miles) and park car. 3.30pm car starts first time to go home, drive home 11.5 miles. 90 minutes later go to start car to return to work for Governors meeting - f*****g thing won't start. Eventually get it started and drive back to work for meeting. 2 and a half hours later car starts on second attempt to go home.
Drive 12 miles and then stop at petrol station to fill up with diesel. Car then won't start to leave petrol station. Open bonnet wiggle a few wires to see if I can see anything obvious - try to start car - car starts - I have absolutely no idea what I did to cause car to decide to start -

ANY ideas gratefully received for me to suggest to the garage to check when it goes back AGAIN

 

Have you checked the fuel tank for something blocking the fuel pick up or is the vent to the cap/tank blocked causing vacuum in tank and fuel starvation.

 

Will get the garage to check your suggestions, Thanks

 

with common rail systems there has to be a minimum fuel pressure, if the fuel pressure drops below this minimum then injection is disabled, the most common cause is an injector leaking internally, but before you go down that route replace the filters and examine the tank filter, if it still does not start then do an injector leak off test to see which one is leaking badly,

 

Car serviced July last yearTank and tank filter replaced in August (tank delamination warranty issue)Fuel Filter replaced on Friday.
Glowplugs replaced beginning of January (head needed to be removed to enable seized plugs to be removed)
New battery fitted October last year

Just thinking but if it was a fuel vent issue why wouldn't it start immediately after filling up.

 

As the tank was replaced, I wonder if the fuel lines were checked, to see if they were clogged up with tank liner material. This may cause low fuel pressure at start up, but pull enough through whilst engine running.

 

Ok so update of sorts, fuel tank, filters and fuel lines all checked and fine. fuel injectors fine.

Now here is the weird bit - the car will start almost immediately after a generous spray of Easystart, not in the air filter box but on the other side of the engine.

I am beginning to wonder if I have the last car off the line on the last Friday before a shutdown for holiday

 

what makes you think the injectors are ok, for it not to start it can only be one of three things,either the immo is not working, (easy to check)
there is air in the system and it has to bleed it self to start,
there is an injector leaking internally, leak off test required, easy to do, use the best one as your base line for the rest,

 

what makes you think the injectors are ok, for it not to start it can only be one of three things,either the immo is not working, (easy to check)
there is air in the system and it has to bleed it self to start,
there is an injector leaking internally, leak off test required, easy to do, use the best one as your base line for the rest,

The garage has tested the fuel injectors and found them to be fine
Immobiliser has been checked and found to be working fine

When you say 'air in the system, where do you suggest starting to look

If it starts with a heavy dose of EasyStart - in your opinion what does that suggest is the main issue.

It's the randomness of the failing to start that is causing the confusion, no two occasions are the same

 

Would like to point out that the garage is as exasperated as I am - to be fair to him he has loaned me his own four year old hardly used Audi TT to use whilst he tries to fix my 10 year old car as he doesn't have a courtesy car to offer. Whilst the initial fault has been paid for he won't charge me anything until we are both certain that the fault is fixed.

 

was it fine before it had the glow plugs replaced or was it getting bad to start before you had them done

 

I had the glowplugs replaced as I was having trouble starting it on a cold mornings, I had not had any trouble beforehand.

This issue is driving me nuts

 

I have not seen EGR valve mentioned. Has this been taken out and checked for sticking open or valves seats corroded. when I had mine they were corroded and I had to replace it.



Another long shot as he is running out of ideas.Lift the front carpet passenger side and check for damp as ECU is located underneath. If damp disconnect battery,unplug and put a low heat hair dryer on the unit for about an hour to dry any moisture out.DO NOT OVERHEAT IT THOUGH.
Edited by: BIRDMAN

 

Thanks Birdman,

I'll ring him in the morning and suggest this - nothing is too much of a long shot at the moment, especially as all the 'Hail Marys' don't appear to behaving any difference.

 

it sounds like fuel is running back after it has been standing, a quick way to test this is to get a couple of pipe clamps, after you have had it running ok stop it and nip closed both the fuel feed hose to the filter and the return hose back to the tank from the filter, this will isolate the fuel system at the engine stopping any fuel from draining back to the tank, all you need to do is to remove the clamps and try it for starting,

 

Hi guys, meant to post this earlier but wanted to make sure everything was fine before updating you - I got the car back about 4 weeks ago, in desperation the garage have one by one replaced the injectors to double check their effectiveness, and one has shown up to be faulty, so they have replaced it (weirdly it had shown up as fine on an earlier test) - the car - touch wood - is now running ok.

I now have only a few minor niggles to sort out and then should have a decent car

 

glad you have it sorted Kia15


Edited by: dmc