Hi,

I'll probably get some flak for starting a new thread for what seems like a common issue, but I'm hoping someone maybe be able to point me in the right direction as the other threads seem non specific.

My 2007 1.9 multijet has an intermittent starting fault. The fault is very predicitable - it occurs after the car has done a shortish journey - less than an hour, and has then sat for more than an hour but less than say...10 or more.

If I do a short journey, and return to the car within an hour, it starts instantly. If the car has sat overnight it will usually start fine.

The car cranks over fine, at what seems like a normal speed.

The AA checked the battery and it is apparently fine. I am still thinking the battery could be a prime suspect?

I know the crank sensor is another common culprit, but I'm not sure if a faulty one can cause these symptoms?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I suffered the exact same fault as you on my punto, on short journeys, ( 2 mile trip to a shop/move car for driveway access ) it would struggle to start... Sometimes cranking for 8 seconds before she would fire up and sometimes even had to wait for 15 mins and try again!!

I eventually got a multimeter ( and a friend ) to test across the battery upon start up... My battery actually dropped under 7 volts during start up although it tested 12.7 volts after being sat over night...

I eventually got so fed up with this I went a got a Sparta battery from www.batterymegastore.co.uk as this was the cheapest online for a high spec battery...

Ever since I've installed a new battery I've had no problems what so ever!!

Pay attention to the cold cranking amps if you decide on a new battery... I think standard the battery's are 540cca and the updated Sparta that I got was 610cca

Interesting, could well be the battery then!

Thanks for the advice.