please help me my car wont work for me!!!

went to go pick up the mrs earlier from her mum and dads (about 1 hour ago). car seemed to be spluttering a little changing gear and not a great deal of power. get to her mum and dads, pick her up (with engine running over) and gets her home.

see ive been paid and want to go get some petrol (over 1/4 tank remaining still) and get in her. start her up and, cough , splutter noises, little shaking and the revs drop form 1000rpm to nothing gradually and the car stalls. i try again about 4/5 times switching off all electrics like heaters, lights etc to see if she'll turn over... nothing, wont even rev when i put my foot down...

please help me!! is it my maf or clutch i have noo idea, not happened before...

cheers

andy...

 

alloy off here (andy to his enemies lol) said to reset my ecu via disconnecting the battery and holding the brake lever down for 10secs and reconnecting the battery...

anyone else done this by any chance?? could it be my ecu or is it my maf sensor thats buggered?

after letting the engine cool for 20 mins i tryed starting her again and she idles over at 500rpm up and down coughing and spluttering, either like shes being starved or flooded. its hard to explain.

if anybody has any similar experiences please put up your solutions if any!!!

andy

p.s. im gonna leave it and try in the morning as im worried by disconnecting my battery the toad 606ai alrm/immobiliser thats fitted will go scitz on me...

 

try unplugging the maf and see if it starts

 

ifi do that and it starts, do i then not need to reconnect it mate?

i changed the air filter in her two days ago, disconnected the maf switch to get access and forgot to connect it back. i tryed to set off and the engine warning light came straight on. i stopped asap realiseing what i had done and reconnected it.. no problems, engine light went off straight away and she drove fine. im wondering as i drove it in the torrential downpore last night for a while through some pretty deep puddles etc, has thet done something...

im going to try the maf thing, then the ecu reset, but as said before im worried about the alarm/immobiliser getting triggered off by unplugging the battery...

(why couldnt i have bought a simple easy car? - oh yeah the fun factor fixing it as much as driving it...)

andy

 

if it starts without the maf, do not drive it especially on boost as your fuelling will be out. It is just a test to see if your ecu has compensated for a failing maf.

Do a search on here for ecu reset so you dont have to disconnect the battery. Best thing to do is reset the ecu, go for a gentle test drive (if the car will allow you to) check to see if you get the cel, then read the error codes (sometimes you may get multiple codes but only one is the problem) fix problem, reset ecu and try again.

 

guess what... switched her on the morning... fine nothing wrong with her... so i let the rngine warm up for 5 mins annoying the neighbours with my decat and then took her for a drive to tescos for some "go fast" juice. nothing wrong... i dont get it?

if needs be il take a trip to scoobybits in rotherham or at least ask jason, as he seems pretty knowlegable (no dis-respect to you guys). if it is my maf... will it be unpredictable as it was a totally different scenario last night to this morning... ie the ecu last night gave in compensating but this morning started again?

very odd...

im going to try her again in 20 mins when i take the mrs to work and see if she'll even start...

so youre saying if i disconnect the maf when the car is off then start her up and she stalls its not the maf but if she does it probably is...

or do i disconnect when the engine is running.

ive done a search to no avail...


andy

 

right did the little test. popped the bonnet and un plugged the maf while engine was off. started her up, coughed spluttered shot too 200 revs and then dropped and stalled after a couple of attempts to keep itself running.

then replugged in the maf straight away... started her up, coughed a little but held at around 750 rpm... considering she was still warm from a 10 round trip to a petrol station...

what does this signify...?

 

it is safe to disconnect the maf when the engine is running.

Your best bet is like I have said, reset the ecu (do a search for saxonfield for a very good website that tells you step by step what to do), once reset see how it is. If you get a cel then read the error code(s), rectify, reset and you should be okay.

 

you will have to excuse me on this but where would i find the error codes? like where the cel is by any chance. think a 93-95 import wrx if it helps. il try the test now while shes running...

right did the test, and she stalls pretty much straight away within 2 seconds maybe... anyway this is a pic of what was showing after she stalled and before i replugged the maf back in...

 

sorry my other post took a little while to finish as am at work so you posted before I finished!
Cannot see the photo whilst sat work as the servers block it.

Check out this site

http://www.saxonfields.freeserve.co....iag%20Page.htm

It will tell you how to do everything there.

 

The fault code is via the flashing CEL light, check the saxonfields site for a detailed explaination.

One possibility would be a failing water temp sender for the ECU (not the gauge, that uses another one), usually they fail cold so the engine runs rich. Mine went and I had intermittant problems similar to yours.

 

had a mooch and it sems helpful but reseting the ecu... i havent the tools to do it etc. so ive been in touch with jase at scoobybits and im gonna have her a proper service in couple of weeks time, and just take it steady until then. maf seems fine and she idles ok now, so maybe wishful thinking but im hoping it was something to do with the horrendous conditions i drove in last night (not by choice) and maybe water in the engine. i just hope im not taking a bling eye to things...

 

works for me.

Copy the bit below and then in your browser type www.
and then paste the below

saxonfields.freeserve.co.uk/Scooby%20Page/ECU%20Diag%20Page.htm

 

the engine waarning light that you have had on is what we call the cel (Check Engine Light)

 

lol i know that much... just .

 

Sounds to me like you may have pulled in some water. On my old mr2 turbo, the car would often lose power, cough, splutter, and cut out in heavy rain due to the HKS induction kit that was fitted. Had to abandon it a couple of times and come back when it had dried out a day or so later - very annoying.

Do you have an induction kit fitted, and perhaps also the cover under the vent above the filter removed?

 

you dont need any tools to check/reset the ecu

 

nope no induction kit, just a decent k&n panel air filter. the three vents underneath the bonnet are also in place, nothing removed. im hoping it was water...

drove home at 7.30 pm from droping her off at mummy and daddies in torrential rain... really bad ie 12" puddles everywhere!! watched footie, went to pick her up at 10.30, got home at 11, car running ok but spluttering at junctions etc when idling. parked up at 11 and decided 5 mins later to get some petty, car wouldnt start... maybe it was water. but there isnt a turbo heat shiled there as it wouldnt fit over my decat... but it was starting the car that was not happening, instant stallage...

 

wah??? i went on the saxonfields thing and i needed some readers or something......... shows how much i know.

 

yours is the plug method, you connect 2 connectors to check the fault and 2 connectors to reset the ecu

 

im assuming the connectors should have come with the car... or am i on the complete wrong track here. im absolutly lost. should i be on the ecu at this stage ie with the plate off looking at it? **** this is gonna make me sooo thick

 

They are under the dash up near the steering wheel area. Its a hand and knees job to locate them. There will be 2 black connectors and 2 green connectors. These need connecting up and then follow the procedure on the saxonfield website

 

ah right so bsically the connectors are just there loose so to speak, you connect them up and take it from there. sorry for the hassle, i thought id have to take the dash board off lol.

 

depending on how high up the connectors are it is an option!

You can actually remove the cowling underneath the steering wheel (not the cowling attached to the steering coluum) for more visability, think there are 2 screws and some plastic clips.

 

The connectors might be tapered to the stearing column if they havent been used before

 

Just a thought but as you were forced to drive through large puddles sounds to me like the ignition system could have got wet, coil packs / HT leads etc, especially how it fixed it's self the next morning.

 

alloy said the same thing, as the spark plugs are quite low from the flat four engine, and the water flow from the wheeks was immense. maybe when stopping all the loose water dripped somewhere or plugged everywhere up as today its nice and dry and ive just done a 50 mile round trip in her on the mtorway...

andy (happyish again )

 

Had this on mine, turned out to be water coming in through the induction scoop and main scoop (I have a FMIC), I just spray all electrical connectors with WD40 once a month and not had the problem since.