cars not starting, any suggestions?

[swinie]

hey all,

just back from a week away, got up this morning about to go for a nice drive in the country and, it wont start.
No surprise that my dad said last night, "theres not a special way to start your car is there?"GREAT!!

so whats happening is its ticking over fine, but its just not starting. usually it ticks over  until you press the accelerator but even with the pedal down it doesnt start. Is this just a simple problem, need jump-started or something, or are we talkin fuel pump or sparks or something?

thanks all

mike

[Judderi]

Check the simple 1st. Have you got fuel? Is the pump priming when you turn the ignition?

[swinie]

yeh, definatley got fuel. How do u no if its priming or not?

[rubjonny]

When you turn the key you should hear the fuel pump run for a second or so, if it doesn't or continuously runs then check the relay then the ECU

[rowlers]

My fuel pump runs continuously, but I don't have any problems starting or idleing??

Is the pump/relay still faulty??

[rubjonny]

btw I mean when you turn the key to the first click, not all the way to start the car

[swinie]

ok, first click, cant hear any sound, but after ive ticked the car over a bit and turn the key back there as a noise coming from the back of the car. i can only assume this is the fuel pump.Where is the relay and what exactly am i looking for cos theres nothing standing out to me thats broken. another question is could it be something to do with the distributer??

cheers

mike

[Judderi]

The relay is located in the fuse box in the bottom right hand corner of the dash. When you turn the key 1 click to ignition you should hear a distinctive click from the relay, and if you put your finger on it you can feel it click too. If it doesent then it needs replacing. Why do you ask about the distributor? Is there some story behind this fault?

[swinie]

ahhh i see. I did have a look at them but couldnt see anything out of the ordinary, but i didnt check them when i turned the key.ill give that a shot and see if its thats the problem.
Similar thing happened on my mums car and it turned out to be something to do with the condensor i think, on the distributer. Just a wild guess.

[swinie]

yep, theres a click!think this is gonna have to be a job for the mechanic.Is theres anything else you reckon it could be, if not im just gonna send it in. muchos thanks for the help though.

cheers

mike