Fiat Marea ELX Weekend Getting hard to start

Dec 10, 2006 2 Replies

Has anyone any ideas please. The car is a 1.8 Litre petrol and although the engine turns over quite heathily, occasionally it can be very hard to get it to "fire".



Once running there is no misfire or anything abnormal and the engine runs perfectly. In fact most times the thing will start at the first turn of the key.



The problem can occur at anytime and engine temperature does not affect the fault.



The car has just been serviced also.


Is this a common problem? Can anyone suggest a reason/ cure?



HN



First thing to do is to try resetting the ECU.

Disconnect the live terminal of the battery and hold the lead against the negative post of the battery for a minute. This should drain all residual current from the car's circuits and force a 'cold reboot' of the ECU. Make sure you have your radio code handy as you'll need it when you reconnect everything.

If that doesn't clear things, then I'd be checking the crank position sensor and coil packs.

Many thanks, I'll give it a go.

I do usually drop the thing into a garage but from past experience an intermittent problem is like presenting a blank cheque :-(

Regards

HN

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required