Hi All,

I am seeking for your help once again. Looks like the problem on my '97 Fiat Brava 1.4sx has come back to haunt me after a year !

A couple of weeks back, I was driving home one rainy day, the car just came to a stop at the side of the street. Tried to restart it, the engine tries but it did not want to crank (turn over). The next day, it restarted again until, yesterday, it was raining heavily and thundering again. I drove my car home ok until I just came to stop at home and reversed park. Then the engine just came to a stop. I tried to re-start it, and the engine tries, but just does not want crank. I hear a little "thump" noise every so often which sounds like one of the spark plugs is not firing.

Today, I took out the plugs leads and notice 3 of them were wet. The only one which was dry was the one at the drivers side. Looks like some water got into those 3 spark plug holes somehow. I can't really understand how water can get into there, as everywhere around it appear dry (including the plug leads). I also checked the oil cap and oil dip stick, and there is no sign of any mayo-type substances, so it does not appear like a blown head gasket. It does not appear like I am loosing coolant fluid either. There is no indication of any problem on the dash instrument panel.

When I had the problem a year back, I could only put it down to condensation and damp as once I got it started then, it has never given me any problems until now. At that time, the car failed to start on a Monday morning after I gave the car a wash on a Saturday and left it standing over a weekend without driving it (maybe just a coincident).

I tried changing the spark plugs today, and it is still the same problem.

The only major thing done to the car is cambelt & drive belt change in March, but as it has been running fine since the change, I can't see why that would be a problem (unless it snapped). Apart from that, just normal general maintenance: oil change every 6K, brake pads, etc..

Anyone with any fixes on these types of starting problems (even common known problems in this area) how I could go about checking what may be wrong before taking it to a garage ?

Is condensation a common problem with this model ? My friend mentioned perhaps "dizzy" maybe damp - is this a possibility ?

I am not sure if changing the plug leads back to the originals on the car will show any different (they were replaced a year ago with new "Bosch silicone"-types and haven't given me any probs).

If it really a condensation issue, looks like I will need a really good blow dryer to fry the plugs, plug leads and holes out.

Your advice greatly appreciated...

Chuck

I don't understand when you say "the engine tries but does not want to crank"
Is the engine turning over ie cranking but just not starting ?
Or is the starter not turning the engine overat all?

Have you changed/checked the plug leads?

Do you have an engine top protective cover on? Is that wet underneath?
Have you tried the car without the protective cover on? often it'll prevent moisture from actually getting away

It sounds to all the world like you have a damp/electrical problem but why it should be so severe to cut out ignition you'll have to investigate

Done any mods like air filter, induction kits? Is the bonnet and front grille standard?

You don't have a "dizzy" ie distributor on your car but it'll be similar things like plug leads, coil packs, plugs causing a cranking but no starting in the wet fault

The Bravo is a pretty dry car and not prone to allowing the weather in to the engine compartment. Unless you try driving in the surf at the beach as on the adverts I can't see a problem, Where do you live Iceland?

Hi Deckchair5,

Sorry, looks like I got my words the wrong way round. It's like as you say.

When I turn the key and keep the key in that position, I can hear the engine firing up, but never get to the running stage. Normally the engine would run and I would let go of the key. But the engine just cranks (fires up) and does not run.

The car (Brava 1.4sx) has not been modified at all. However, when the car was bought, there was no spark plugs cover (looks like previous owner removed/broke it off).

I have changed the plugs but same symptoms. I will try changing the plug leads later on and see what happens.

I totally agree with you that no water could get into that part of the engine department, which is why I am also confused why there is water into the spark plug holes. Further, the car was driven for the previous 30mins (10 miles) at least, so why it decided to cut out is so strange. I would have thought the engine would be hot enough to dry up any droplets of water. Perhaps it is getting into the engine bay from the bottom, though I do not think I went over any puddles (despite it had been raining (& thundering) quite heavily that day).

I will try drying that area up and see what happens.

Thanks for your reply.

Once you get it started mate buya product called wet start you can buy it from most car places even halfords will sell it. it is a spray that seals your plugs and leads to stop water getting in that way if it happens again you can rule out the water coming in through the top

Hi,
The car is up and running again. I ended up with 1) replacing those Bosch leads with the original ones that came with the car; 2) Clean the spark plug holes; 3) Clean & blow dry all the the spark plugs.

I checked out the Bosch leads (Bosch B818), and although they were recommended for Brava (and costs more than standard Halfords ones), it says they are for the Marea 1.4. Compared with the original ones, these Bosch leads are really soft and flexi. I just wonder if these are the wrong ones for the Brava 1.4 SX. Anyone with suggestions which are the more compatible plug leads (apart from ones from the Fiat dealers) for the Brava 1.4SX ?

Hi Gaz2005,
Thanks for your reply...I will definitely give that a go if I can find it. Do you recommend a specific manufacturer of this wet start stuff...so I get the right can. I was thinking of WD40...do you reckon this would do a similar same job ?

Cheers

i dont think wd40 will do the job but wetstart is made by a company called holts and it costs around £4.99 for a can im not sure where you live but if u live in beds or bucks if you go into a
TMC (motorist center)
Halfords
7 day autos
A-Z

pretty much every car shop lol

Cheers Gaz2005,

I'll try Halfords.

Was speaking to my nice mechanic lately and dunno about performance but apparently Fiat leads were cheaper than the generic/ branded ones.....

Hi Helz,

How much did your mechanic say Fiat ones are ?

When I bought the Bosch leads, I had the choice of Bosch ones (double silicone...blah blah blah..) at £20 or Halfords ones (7mm core) at around £10...so I took the Bosch ones thinking it should be better quality.

The one thing I notice with these generic leads is that they are so flexible, like they'll melt once the engine gets hot. My old leads are actually a lot stiffer (not flexible at all), and a lot thicker too !!! - in fact looks like they're moulded into exact shape (...or perhaps they've gotten really old and should actually be changed )...but heh, at the moment, they're doing great job.

What I do not know is what type of leads are the Fiat originals ? Perhaps, the Bosch ones aren't suitable for this type of car. I wonder if the Halfords 7mm copper core are any better ....

....guess I'll never know until I next drive in thundering rain and lightning...

Seems the recent wet weather caught a few of us out.. If your leads are going stiff it means that there is arcing within the leads which leaves behind carbon. This still conducts the electricity but is stiffer. Not a bad thing until you realise that as it happens more the lead will eventually start earthing out all over the place.

Properly installed and dried the bosch ones should be better. If you were feeling very generous you could treat your car to a set of Hotwires available from halfords.