This is an annoying intermittent will-not-start problem in a 2.0 GL Mark IV. There is no problem with warning lights. When the car starts, it runs fine; has never stalled or died. There does not seem to be any relation to wet, dry, cold or hot weather. Battery is plenty strong. SYMPTOMS: On some attempts, the engine just turns over and nothing happens. On other attempts, the engine will fire momentarily, then expire. If we let it sit for a while (at least a half hour, sometimes longer), it may start the next time. I can hear the fuel pump running when I turn the key "ON", and, of course, it must be working properly, since the car runs fine, once it starts. We have replaced the Hall-Effect device on the distributor and had key codes checked. I have not been able to check if there is spark, when nothing happens; difficult to do by myself. Since the engine does sometimes ignite, my instinct is that there is a sensor malfunction that is causing the fuel pump to cut out, incorrectly thinking that the engine has stopped running. The sensation is certainly the same as when a car quits, when it has run out of gas. But, I don?t know what would be sensed just during the ignition process. Any advice?
- posted
19 years ago