car starts then stalls

[Andy_1984]

strange a 12v battery showing under c12.2 volts is only 50% charged!

i guess the plates are heavily sulphated a smart charger on recondition may recover it but it may be past its best

the alternators doing its bit thats the correct voltage

 

you might be right there, when i looked at the plates when i was topping it up they were slightly warped on the top edge (all i could see) with some white staining on the top of them. definetly gonna replace it asap.

[Andy_1984]

success at last! put on my original (genuine ford) ht leads and the misfire problem has gone. must have not been so bad that it wouldnt ignite the petrol but struggled on gas with a weak spark. one of the new cheap ht leads i bought had some sort of white deposit on the end that connects to the spark plug, that was the only one that had the white stuff so all good now

[Elton]

Excellent! I remember when my Evo used to splutter under load and all sorts ran through my head. Ended up that was just an HT lead, too. It seemed okay at idle, but must have broken down under load.

[Andy_1984]

Excellent! I remember when my Evo used to splutter under load and all sorts ran through my head. Ended up that was just an HT lead, too. It seemed okay at idle, but must have broken down under load.

 

yeah just a weak spark not firing so the piston doesnt do its thing properly(i think ) . when i started getting misfiring last year i replaced the spark plugs, ht leads and finally the coil pack. turns out it was the coil pack. didnt have much money at the time either so went the cheapest route which turned out to be the most expensive. got a garage to get me the coil pack at trade price for only £16 instead of the £30 if i went direct to eurocarparts. i was fearing it was the coil pack again this time.

[Elton]

The cost is a pain that you could have done without, no doubt, but take some comfort in the fact that you saved a packet by doing it yourself and taught yourself (and us!) something

[Andy_1984]

The cost is a pain that you could have done without, no doubt, but take some comfort in the fact that you saved a packet by doing it yourself and taught yourself (and us!) something

 

yeah your right. i never looked at it that way. didnt spend a penny this time

[Elton]

yeah your right. i never looked at it that way. didnt spend a penny this time

 

Even better Garage labour rates never fail to shock me.

[chesters1]

yay ,i;m lucky fault finding is far simpler its either fuel or spark ,now that modern cars have computers you need one to find outs wrong with it

leads are usually a problem area i have had brand new ones fail in less than a year but pukka volvo ones cost to much in one lump to buy

mine are different colours i tend to replace them when one goes bad ,a nice orange one from my VWgolf back up set went in the volvo last time

trouble is with spares how do you know the manufacturer isnt just re badging pattern ones especially when your car is 20 years old ,is it worth keeping spares for decades just in case you need them in the future or only stock them for a decade then buy in as needed from anywhere you can? even cheap ones? after all once they are fitted the odds are the car might die before the cheap part does at that age

 

its like cheese we bought a block at sainsburies once and on the reverse was a cheaper price and lable for another store

Edited March 8, 2011 by chesters1

[Andy_1984]

yay ,i;m lucky fault finding is far simpler its either fuel or spark ,now that modern cars have computers you need one to find outs wrong with it

 

i really dislike this about modern cars, soon mechanics will be replaced by geeks. loved my old(not that old really) cavalier. it was a breeze to fix things. didnt have to get through a plethora of electrics and wiring to get to the headlights and reving it from the engine bay was a simple case of "pull that wire" not plug in the flux capacitor and get ten friends to help.

 

ive been toying with the idea of getting an obdII reader (usb type that plugs in to a laptop) to use on the ford and its only £30 off ebay instead of ones at a couple of hundred.

[chesters1]

i havnt got the interface for a reader thats for the injection 240's i think