Technical It won't start and it's hissing at me!?

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Technical It won't start and it's hissing at me!?

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Dec 22, 2010
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Hope this is posted in the right place and apologies if there is a similar thread (I can't find one)...

My Bravo (X reg) won't start... When I put the ignitition key in and try to start it revs and then dies and emits a loud hissing noise from somewhere underneath!

In the last two weeks I have had a new battery and a new starter motor and it can be bump started?

HELP!
 
Check inside the engine compartment for a snake :p.

It comes from underneath or behind? Cause if it comes from behind it might be the fuel pump.

The car jump starts? Or doesn't start at all. Maybe, (if you have an catalyst converter), the ceramic linig it's broken and thus not letting exhaust fumes out. You could take off the converter and shake it, if it's full of pieces there it is.
 
Are you standing on its tail? They don't like it you know!

I am going with Corvinus on exhaust related - Could well be exhaust, a blockage somewhere in the system either the cat or the back box may have disintergrated inside and blocked the system, the hiss may well be the presure being released possible through a joint or the flexi under the car around the rear of the engine area.
Try giving it a few good bangs with your hand underneath see if you ca nhear debris inside moving also the bang my jolt the rusty bit and give you some straight through flow for a while.
 
The hissing sounds like it's coming from underneath in the middle!?

It won't jump start - or it wouldn't last week... I got the new starter motor on Wednesday last week and it worked fine until Monday morning this week when I had to resort back to public transport!!

I have no idea if I have a catalyst converter or not...

If it's any help my car is blue, light blue... :D


P.S. There's no snake, I checked :)
 
I had a hissing sound which slowly faded away about 2 weeks ago. It was the first really cold nights at minus 16 and it didn't want to know in the morning which was unusual as it normally fires up no bother in the cold. It would try to start and then die and the hissing sound came from underneath. This happened on the second morning too, when i got home from work in the afternoon i tried it again and it ran roughly for a while and i blipped the pedal revved it up and whoomp something fired out of the exhaust and all was fine.
I can only think the exhaust got clogged and frozen in the snow and the hissing was the pressure releasing itself and the whoomp noise was it freeing itself.
Two weeks on and no ill effects.
 
I am still leaning towards a blockage of some kind in the exhaust, if it has then it will not start no matter what, it needs to be able to "breath" through the exhaust, they also need a bit of back presure to idle, which is why if you have ever tried to run a car with no silencer on not only is it LOUD but it wont idle well at all if at all, having to much back presure i.e. blocked does the same apart form it wont start, or it may but only run for seconds, you get similar when you reverse upto a bank and the exhaust goes into the bank, car cuts out and wont start.
Think hose pipe, you have a gun on the end, turn on the water it only fills the pipe to the gun then stops, same could be happening in your exhaust, to much back presure, car suffocates on its own gasses, and will not start, the hiss could be the presure trying to escape. As I said have a bang around the system see if you can hear anything loose, you might also dislodge it slightly, or could be as drumdmc said ice inside it.
 
I think I remember seeing a thread on here quite recently about the same problem.

Turned out there was something frozen in the exhaust, which when melted let the car start right up and run fine. Although as you said it worked for a few days between not starting so it wont be that but could well be an awkward bloke in the exhaust system somewhere.

Edit: Ahh, might make sense to read the previous posts in the thread first!:p Was drumdmcs thread I was thinking off.
 
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