Bora would not start this morning.

[chrisa66]

Hi guys , i got into my Bora (2001 V6 4motion 144000ks) this morning , went to start it , it fired for a fraction of a second then refused to start , turning over fine , but not firing up. Has any one experienced this problem , or got any ideas ? Any help would be greatly appreciated .

Cheers Chris

[william]

sounds like a spark problem coilpack

[qsilverza]

yes, could be coil-pack related try pulling them one by one and check though it should still start.

Where are you from ? It's been quite cold in melbourne..weird but it could have zapped your battery while it may be turning over maybe not enough to get her going.

May be fuel related, check that you can hear the fuel pump

Try removing the MAF could be sending the incorrect mixtures.

Are there any fault codes on the dash ? Possibly the Throttle body isn't opening or something.

[chrisa66]

Thanks guys , yes i do live in Melbourne - freezing here today , turned over strongly @ first but battery seemed to lose power quickly.
I can hear the fuel pump .
Pardon my ignorance , but what is the MAF ?

cheers chris

[Manaz]

Thanks guys , yes i do live in Melbourne - freezing here today , turned over strongly @ first but battery seemed to lose power quickly.
I can hear the fuel pump .
Pardon my ignorance , but what is the MAF ?

cheers chris

Mass Air Flow meter - measures the amount of air (by measuring its mass) entering the engine so that the ECU knows (when combining the MAF readings with other readings such as intake air temperature) how much fuel to inject. If its sending incorrect information to the ECU, you'll get either not enough or too much fuel (the latter is preferable!), and combustion will not be able to occur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_flow_sensor

Disconnecting the sensor will force the engine to work to pre-programmed maps which should allow the engine to at least start and idle.

[dubbed]

I'll throw coolant sensor into the mix...

[gavs]

And i'll throw the source of the problem when I had this happen the other week, the immobiliser not dis-arming as evidenced by the flashing "car with a key" symbol on the dash. Did you have this symbol flashing on the dash?

[chrisa66]

Well , just got home from work , gave the bora another try - started 2nd try ran rough for 20-30secs and then idled normally . Took it for a burn - smooth and powerful as usual .
Thanks for all the advise guys , i will see how she goes tomorrow .

[Golf4]

Car running fine still? Did you have a look at the MAS? I've got the same issue, once in a while it cuts out after an attempt at a rough start, second attempt it works every time.

[McDub]

my car wasn't starting a while back after i left it for 2 weeks unused.
turns out it was something about not enough oil presure for the hydraulic lifters that start the engine...
solution was just to turn it over constantly for like 20 or so seconds and eventually it started to kick in.
Problem may have been due to my oil which had gone ****ty, combined with just sitting there for a period of time.

[moniker]

I'll throw coolant sensor into the mix...

Yeah agree, although usually (when mine was faulty) my symptoms were difficulty hot starting (usually hot day, drive, stop car at shops for 5 mins - get back in - car cranks and cranks and cranks, foot to the floor and she'll eventually start in a plume of smoke)

After replacing the sensor all's been good