steveo825

hey
yesterday i was gettin into the car(MY94 WRX) after work and it wouldnt start. thought this may have been the immobiliser so locked the car again then unlocked it tryed again still not starting? the car drove fine to work with no problems then parked the car then this happened. i tryed reseting the alarm but still no luck. had to get it towed home. Can any one help me or give me an idea of what may be wrong??

Thanks

Steve

steveo825

Any One?

andydavies

I think you need to be a bit more specific if you want any answers!
Is engine turning over but not firing?
Can you hear fuel pump priming?
etc etc.

steveo825

yes the engine is turning over, just not firing up. not sure bout the fuel pump though how can i check that?

chrome

crank sensor/cam sensor

both worth looking at asap.

That was my car's problem..

Rally

Did the Check Engine Light (CEL) stay on / flash when you were trying to start up?

What about checking CEL fault codes? - plenty of threads on here if you dont know how to.

When mine went through a phase of not starting it was the water temp sensor.

steveo825

i have been in touch with a few ppl and they have all said it is probably the immobiliser and have had this prob before, 'the best thing is to take the imobiliser out'.
Thanks for your input on things, will let you know how things work out
steve

cjwinternet

I just got the same, or very similar problem on a 94 WRX. I twas running fine until one day, at the petrol station, it just wouldn't start.

The engine aranks over fine. It got recovered to a garage that managed to get it started, and a new uprated fuel pump was fitted and a new earth fitted.

It's still really lame at starting, again it cranks over but doesn't seem to be firing. Seems like the Toad immibiliser, any suggestions? I really daren't take it out when it's like this.

cjwinternet

Anyone?

It's a lot, lot worse starting up from warm, starts within a second from cold it appears.

Any suggestions?

pslewis

Temp Sensor??

Pete

cjwinternet

Thanks for the reply. From reading the other related posts I thought it might be that. My questions are .. what is it, where is it and what exactly does it do? Would I see any other symptoms? It generally shows the engine temperature at what you would expect.

cjwinternet

I just tried starting it from cold - it's still a bag of crap.

pslewis

The Temp Sensor sends a signal to the ECU so it knows the time duration of the injector opening. I may be wrong, but I would doubt its the same one as used for the gauge.

If you know what you are doing you could substitute a resistive pot in place of the sensor, with a suitable static resistor in the line, and adjust it to mimic a cold/hot/warm engine.

If the sensor is disconnected it is essentailly open circuit, so the ECU will take that as if the car is trying to start in a Siberian winter .... this would normally be a problem when the engine was warm though.

The CEL should be illuminated if the ECU is having to input its own signals.

Check ALL wiring and make/break all connectors under the bonnet ..... it is normally a poor connection.

Good luck!

Pete

cjwinternet

Thanks Pete

I don't have the experience to carry out a proper repair. In fact I don't know where most of the components are yet. Is there a good manual available?

What's the CEL?

Regards

Chris

cjwinternet

I disconnected and reconnected as many leads as I could, and tried a cold start. As usual it cranked over and eventually fired up. Under the bonnet I noticed the radiator fans kept turning on and off repeatedly, when the engine was running cold, almost immediately. This would seem to indictae some temperature sensor problem.

But now what, where exactly does this component live please?

GONZO

There are loads of possibles for this - however, my '94 WRX had the same problem, and after replacing the fuel pump, I still had the problem, which turned out to be the wiring to the fuel pump. When you turn on the ignition, you should get a two second pulse from the fuel pump to prime the system. Check this first - it's a lot easier than taking out the plugs to see if the fuel is getting through. My pump did not pulse when the ignition was turned on, once it had broken down. My problem turned out to be the wiring under the rear seat - the plastic connector had been arcing out, and had melted, giving an intermittent problem that was almost impossible to trace, and resulting in the car running fine for 100 or so miles at a time, before dying completely. Several calls to the nice AA man with a low loader resulted. At least this is an easy check, and will not cost anything to try.
Good luck,
Mart.

cjwinternet

Thanks for the reply Mart. That was the first thing that was wrong, the fuel pump was not priming. I have replaced this with an uprated Walbro 255 pump, and now you can clearly hear the pump come to life when the ignition is turned on.

GONZO

Just because the fuel pump is priming now - do not assume that replacing the pump has cured the problem - on mine it didn't, although it ran trouble free for over a week, before breaking down again. Like I suggested, a check on the wiring is easy, and free - undo the two bolts below the front of the rear seat, and out she comes. My black connector was melted, and intermittently shorting on the bodywork underneath, causing the pump not to work. However, opening up the boot, and clouting the top of the pump area with a spanner, somehow managed to cause enough movement to solve the problem until the next time. Having two kids fighting in the back used to help or hinder sometimes as well !!!

Cheers,
Mart.

vindaloo

CEL=Check Engine Light.... In the shape of an engine, an amber light on the dash. If there's a problem, it flashes a code, short and long flashes. There's a guide to reading them ...erm... somewhere...

It reads as if the car knows there is a problem (fans starting/shutting down).

Have a look here: ECU codes

J.

cjwinternet

Well, now it eventually pathetically started, ticking over at about 200 rpm, radiator fans going full blast and the check engine light is on. I'm completely lost as to where to start now.

cjwinternet

Thanks for the ECU troubleshooting info. I carried out the tests as decribed and report that I have error code 21 - Engine coolant temperature sensor.

So where does the sensor live on the engine, what route does the wiring take, where does it terminate?