Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. I did, but with a little problem...

Here in the UK we've had some heavy snow for the last week and a half (well, heavy for our part of the world!).

A couple of times I tried to get my car off the drive, but to no avail. What this means is that (now I'm realizing stupidly) I started it, ran it cold for a couple of minutes, then switched it off again. Maybe three times in a week.

So when the snow cleared, I went to start it. Kicked in for half a second and then died.

And now, all I get is the starter motor cranking and it just won't kick in.

I called the AA out (I have home start), and even they couldn't get it going. It didn't kick in once. The guy tried a number of things, checking it wasn't the battery (so that can be excluded), fuses etc. etc.

Doing a bit of research on here, I'm thinking it could be 'Bore Wash', BUT the AA guy did spend a good hour trying a number of things cranking it loads of times, took one bank of spark plugs out, dried them, squirted them with something and put them back etc. etc.

So....

It's being taken to my garage on Friday. An initial chat with the mechanic (who is good but not a jag specialist - they are VV expensive!) and he says it could be any number of things.

The question for you all is - what are the likely culprits, and in which order would you have the mechanic test for them?

Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated as I'm sure it will save me hours in labour charges...

Look forward to hearing any advice,

thanks,

Joe

 

Suppose it's bore wash. The problem would be that petrol has washed oil off the rings etc so there's inadequate compression. You would need to get oil in there and under no circumstances more petrol before that. Messing with plugs can remove any leftover petrol but not add the oil.

The idea of WOT cranking is to get rid of any remaining petrol and not add any more but doesn't fix compression if that's the problem.

Now, oil generally seeps in slowly or you can add some. Your garage (or you) can try that.

Others who've had bore wash (and it MAY not be what you have) found that once they were past the early stages of the problem they could start with about 3/4 throttle. That has to be worth trying.

 

+1 on bore wash - if you rule the bore wash out - then begin looking at the fuel system, preferably a failed fuel pump.

 

Thanks for the feedback - I am hoping it is Bore Wash (and that the engine isn't damaged) as this seems much easier to fix than broken fuel pumps...

We did try to start it once more (just enough battery for a go) with WOT and there was a single 'whump' from the engine but then - again - nothing, just the cranking. Is this any further verification of the diagnosis?

Thanks again for your help!

 

Start looking into the fuel system - fuel pressure check with key to start - 40psi or higher.

Then look at your fuel filter - but I'm thinking your fuel pump is DOA. Good Luck...

 

And you'll need a fully functioning battery. The cars need a good one at the best of times!

 

Have had the same issue with my V8, as car was garaged during the snow. Learnt from my various V6 units that u cannot do a short warm up as engine will flood. Engine sounds like there is no spark, but is in fact flooded big time. As stated by JagV8 need a fully charged battery then start & keep cranking with throttle to the floor, do NOT pump the throttle. Engine should fire up after a good 10/15 seconds, then lift throttle but not let it rest in idle position as you need to clear the unburnt fuel. Then take car for a good run. Last time I fell foul of this, had just moved car to another parking spot. Took me 2 days to realise that engine was badly flooded, (after a whole load of checks) - got it running 5 mins later. Start up sucks inso much fuel, that if u do not get the engine hot, it can flood on switch off.