Morning all,

My '93 WRX wouldnt start tuesday evening. Jumped it, started fine.
Charged the battery overnight... all was well in the morning.
Same thing happened wednesday night. Again, jumped it and it was fine.
Worked okay on thursday, although it struggled a wee bit to start in the evening.
Went to start it again this morning, and hey presto you can hear the starter motor going but it didnt start...
the battery light remains illuminated during the attempt to start... i cant remember if this does it normally???

im going to charge it again tonight, then take it to the Battery centre and get it tested...
any thoughts though?

Im hoping its the battery and not the alternator / anything else!

oh, just to add... when i stuck a multimeter on the battery after it didnt start the first time (and it had been jumped), it was showing 13.1v when not-started and 14.05v when idling.... seemed okay to me?!

Chris

 

Dont know if you have seen my post.....

Apparently a tracker is often the problem....

 

Havent got a tracker!

hmm, hope its not the immobilser...

although if it was that wouldnt explain why it jumps okay...

 

just had the battery tested and it is fine, putting out 465A
The charging system is also okay...
Im well confused now.... any thoughts?
Could it be a connection somewhere that is contracting in the cold?!

?!?!?!

 

Did they "drop test" the battery ? and specific gravity test it with a hydrometer ?
I'd bet on the battery m8,your alternators putting enough out but there maybe bad cells in the battery or not enough reserve capacity.
Had the battery stood before the tests or was it off the charger ?

Just read your post it again....Is the engine turning over you say you can hear the starter ?

 

no, he just plugged a battery tester into it, which checked the cranking amps and the alternator etc.... didnt do anything else....
battery had been stood... i actually managed to get the car going so i drove it to the battery centre...

yeah engine is turning over, just not firing!

and when it does fire, it struggles for a few seconds to get up to fast idle speed... thinking this might be a sticky idle valve... dunno if this is related??

 

Thats a different story then,
So it turns over but will not fire then it fires up struggles then runs fine...
Check the cranshaft sensor

 

cheers for that morpheous....
what can i do to check it? it isnt showing any fault codes...
also, where is it?!

 

just did a specific gravity test on each of the cells and it came out as:
(cell)
(1) 1.25
(2) 1.26
(3) 1.26
(4) 1.26
(5) 1.23

The meter i used went from orange to green at 1.25.
So most of the cells are borderline and one is below it.... any idea what it should be? Reckon this is low enough to explain my problems?

Ta

Chris

 

bttt!
(help!)

 

ive had trouble starting mine for ages now would only start from cold if i got someone to spray cold start in to the airfilter after this it started fine, so i changed the ecu tonight for one off a legacy turbo i had lying around and it started first time. Im gonna try it again tommorow night if it starts straight away again looks like it was simply the ecu thats buggered and i need a new one. dont know if it helps you but it might be worth a try

 

cheers Scoobyturbobug...
hmmm, hope it isnt that... havent got access to a spare ECU...!

I wish the plugs were easier to get to... check if the spark is getting through...

It isnt jumping at all now... tried it off a couple of different cars!

grr!

 

mine was the same try starting it with someone spraying cold start spray or even brake cleaner in to the intake, not the best way to start your car i know but but it gives it an extra kick to get it going, if it starts like this i suggest you try a borrowed ecu.