Hi all,I own a 1997 3.2 x300 with 60,000 miles on the clock. Just a baby in milage terms. The car gets very little use (2000 miles last year) but always gets a start on Sundays. Has always started 1st turn and runs like a TagHuer. Recently though she has become harder to start ( three cranks) until yesterday were it wouldnt start at all. Can hear fuel pump priming etc etc...left alone 24 hrs and started second crank this morning,with no missing or rough idle!
It is Sunday here so maybe thats the answer.... Any clues?

 

How old is the battery? The starter will rotate the engine below the voltage required for the electronics.

 

Yeah ,though of that too. Put it on o/nite charge and came up good. A little low but not totally gone by any means. Thanks.

 

Yeah ,thought of that too. Put it on o/nite charge and came up good. A little low but not totally gone by any means. Thanks.

 

If that 60,000M is genuine, the car's hardly run in. I had one with 155,000M on the clock, no oil consumption at all!
You say you don't use the car very often, and if mine was anything to go by (it was run on propane lpg all the time) you can get clogged petrol injectors VERY easily. Why? Because I wasn't using the petrol at all, and after a few months, had trouble with misfiring when I went onto petrol due to a lack of lpg. Taking injectors out and having them ultrasonically cleaned is the best answer, next best is to use a cleaner in the fuel, or one of those "super" fuels by BP ultimate or the Shell version that have cleaner already added for you. It's only a few extra coppers.
Leedsman.

 

P.s. During cranking, a good battery will maintain about 9volt at the terminals if you check with a digital voltmeter (only about a fiver in the cheap shops). And as someone here said, if you go too low with the voltage, it will spook the fuel metering computer (and create false readouts). Also make sure the hot-wire in the mass airflow metering isn't clogged or has a bug stuck in it. If you block it with your finger, the engine will cut out immediate.
Leedsman.

 

Thanks guys, i appreciate your comments. Yes the 60000m(106000k) is genuine. The car has full history and was a real find. Country town, 2 hours west of Brisbane. I have taken to starting her every night after work. Starts 1st/2nd go. I do suspect battery, but is cranking at 9v.On multimeter at rest 12.8v. I run her on 95ron caltex, but will give her a drink of 98ron BP this weekend and go for a country run. Thanks again.
P.s Gas prices here gone through the roof. Currently $5usd/gallon!

 

You think $5 per gallon is through the roof? You're still in the loft matey, in Britain we're now paying well over £5 a gallon (but you get full measure of 8 pints) even though it's priced in litres. Diesel is more expensive than petrol. I'm told the Swedes have it even worse. This has NOTHING to do with the REAL price of petrol/diesel! The real price is still around a third of what you pay -- the rest is TAX. In Britain we actually have a tax ON a tax for petrol/diesel. Am I annoyed? Yes I am; because it won't stop here. After our election in 2 months or so, where we have to decide between three identical parties, we are going to see even more hikes in tax, not just on petrol either. And because most countries have a fiscal deficit bigger than the black hole in centre of our galaxy, YOUR petrol is going to get progressively dearer and dearer. Apologies for pessimism, but this type of problem won't go away, it's all happened before, many times. When will we ever learn?
Leedsman.