Brava starting problems

[chris s]

My wife has a 96 brava 1.6 sx and is having a starting problem. We have been away for three weeks and on return started the car with no problems. The next day we went to start it again and it will only turn over without starting.I have tried the following.

1.charged the battery

2.cleaned the plugs

3.tried a battery off our other car (3 months old)

4.tried the fiat battery on our other car (starts no problem)

So it looks as if the battery situation is ok. There are no adverse warning lights although the key code light had come on and stayed on a few times before we went away ( this apparently is due to low battery).

any help appreciated.

 

[Tom]

Need more details.

When you say it turns over without starting does it turn over at the same speed it does normally or does it struggle?

Do you have a voltmeter?

 

[chris s]

seems to be turning over ok yes i have a voltmeter

 

[Tom]

Can you check the battery voltage and then take a reading while someone cranks the car over.

 

[chris s]

I'll try that and get back soon
Thanks

 

[chris s]

Checked the voltage

1.no load 12.3v

2.whilst cranking 10.2v

any help ?

 

[Tom]

OK, your batt isn't shot

Try this, put the throttle all the way down and crank it over for 10-15 secs.

 

[chris s]

did that seemed to drain the battery down. i have also had the plugs out cleaned them and checked for spark ( all ok). I have turned the engine over with the plus out and fuel is getting through.

 

[Tom]

You tried leaving the battery disconnected for a couple of hours?

 

[chris s]

I have already tried disconnecting it for about 1 hr prior to my original message

 

[Tom]

Odd! Try for a few hrs just to make sure.

 

[chris s]

ok I will do that.Do you have any other ideas what the problem could be ? Thanks for your help so far. Will you be about around 5 pm today if I have no joy.

 

[Tom]

About once a year my 1.6 won't start but I just hold my foot down and about 15-20secs of cranking fixes it. Only once did that not work and a few hrs with the batter off fixed it.

My only conclusion was the ECU gets its knickers in a knot.

 

[chris s]

finally got it going after leaving the battery off for about three hours. The injector light is now on although the car seems to run ok. The exhaust has been blowing for a while so it could be something to do with the lamda sensor. Thanks for your help

 

[Tom]

On constantly? You've probably got a loose wire under the bonnet now.

Remove and replug all the wires you can find.