I'm having an issue with my '63 Diesel Civic. I realise it's not a Subaru but these forums are some of the best when it comes to technical know how, so hoping someone might shed some light on it.

I went to turn the key today and nothing happened for around 1 second. Doesnt seem long but at the time it certainly did. I turned the engine off and it then started perfectly. When I got home I tried it again. The first 2 attempts the same thing happened, I turned the key and it paused for 1 second before starting. Two more turns later and it started fine, then back to being delayed. The following 5 turns it carried on without issue.

First of all...any ideas as to what is happening?

Secondly, could this be related to other oddities I've noticed. Last month I had 2 days of the indicators not ticking (been fine since), then I had a day of the rear windscreen wipers carrying on when I turned them off. The car is fine most of the time but has these moments. The manufacturers warranty runs out in 5 days but when I present it to the dealer they can't find any fault (although I don't think they go much further than just seeing if it works at the time).

Any help is much appreciated.

...edit* I should add that it has only done 7,500 miles.

 

Glow plugs warming up ??

 

It's being possessed by a scuby demon which is telling you to trade it in for a Subaru boxer diesal

 

Lol, I always have a soft spot for Subaru, but I've been led to believe that the Civic is a lot more reliable... Hmmm

 

Wouldn't this be consistent or at least show some pattern,eg. When it cold starts or on each new start up etc rather than the sporadic delays that it is doing?

 

Dodgy starter relay or starter solenoid won't belong now.

 

I suspect it might be. Seems pretty poor for a car that's done 4 figures of motoring. Could the fact that it's hardly been used for the first 3 years of it's life have anything to do with it?

Just wondering whether it could it be a failing battery? If there are other strange electrical behaviours it's seems a bit of a coincidence. A battery would tie them altogether. You can hear the click and then the delay comes after that. Hopefully the dealer will be able to see it this time.

 

Battery would or could have a lot to do with it modern day diesels are very severe on batteries and need a good one. Batteries don't like not being used either. The lifespan can be dubious too.

 

what don clark said

 

I have been turning the ignition to position 2 and waiting to allow the glow plugs to warm up but it still does it. The car is booked in for early Saturday so will see what they say. I just hope that it does it.

 

Heater plugs won't be operating at this time of year unless your in Alaska

 

UPDATE
Went to the dealers today. The technician asked me to start the car, which it did perfectly. He then asked me to stop the clutch from being fully depressed. Then came the delay, I turned the key, it waited 1 second and then started. Very puzzling as, I knew exactly how this looked. I had to reassure him that this had been a frequent occurance, but only over a couple of days and not something that is happening infrequently over a longer period of time i.e. not because I wasnt fully depressing the clutch.

He agreed to run full diagnostics and told me that if there were any faults in causing the pause in starting it should have logged and flag up. He came back telling me that there was a slightly low battery charge but that was it. He suspected that any issues was caused by the battery having a hard time over the last 3 yeas with only covering 6000 miles. With increased use it should sort itself out and get back to normal.

We will see. I have been reassured that with the reported fault being logged while it was under the manufacturers warranty and the fact that I have the approved use warranty until September 2017 any development should be covered without issue.

Thanks to everyone's help and advice with this.