I think my car is just fed up of the bad weather we are currently having.
It's not snowing or freezing like some folk get but it's just miserable.
Anyway, on Thursday the weather eased a bit and I went out and started the car. It fired up and ran smoothly with no fuss or bother at all.
Last night, I needed to go out in my car but the weather was back to driving rain, high winds and very cold. The starter motor turned over strongly but she wouldn't actually start which meant taking the Dragon Lady's car which didn't go down all that well.
Today, weather nice and dry with a hint of sunshine, I went out to see why she wouldn't start last night but she fired up on the first turn of the key.
I'm looking at a Mondeo :^O

 

Faulty crank sensor is a common problem and can be intermittent. relatively cheap and easy to replace.

 

Trako .... the Crank position sensor was replaced less than 50 miles ago.
I think it just dislikes going out when the weather is miserable, lol

 

Stevie,

With all my working life in the Spare Parts industry, "just because it is new does not mean it is always good", was a saying in the '60's, and is still relevent today.

MY opinion of course.

Just for giggles, I would replace the crank angle sensor with the "old one", and note any issues. Mine had a sensor die, in the driveway, new sensor fitted, all good for 3 days, then got hissy, so I refitted the old one, better, not right, but better. No idea why the old one decided to work again????.

Ordered another sensor, fitted, sweet, still in there 6 months later, returned the "dud" to my supplier.

Failing that, the spark plugs, and the coils are suspect. The boots that attach to the spark plug on those coils are starting to raise issues now, usually just due to older age.

Then the serious stuff begins.

 

I had a similar issue during a bout of wet/damp weather. I stupidly decided that I would replace a coil and after which there were no issues.

The next day she wouldn't start for the life of me. It took 45mins of tinkering and eventually I replaced the new coil with the old one and tired again...she started.
I did the coil swap again and no problems came about again until the next damp wet week.

I isolated the problem to water in the tank which is quickly fixed with STP water remover and since then *knock on wood* everything is great.

I would suggest adding a bottle of that to the tank and then checking the seal on the gas cap.

Cheers

Mike

 

Hi Mike,
I know I'm a bit slow off the mark sometimes but after some head scratching I have come to the conclusion that you mean that there is a can of stuff that removes water that has gotten into the petrol tank (by some type of witchcraft, I guess) so I need to buy a can, empty it into the PETROL tank and then check the seal on the PETROL cap to make sure that no more rain water can get in there.
Is that a fair translation?
Thank you very much for the advice,
Steve

 

Someone famous once commented that we are two people separated by a common language. The additive is usually alcohol which is soluble in both petrol and water.

 

Grant's right-about just because it's a new part doesn't mean it will work!

I'm in 'the industry' too, and a few times a year you can bet that a customer comes back ( not very happy usually, as well ) to have us redo a job we just did because the part's defective. If a customer comes back with the same complaint about a problem we just supposedly corrected I usually mumble :-) somethin' like, " I didn't make the part, I just put it in. If it's defective I'll replace it at no cost, other than the aggravation and inconvenience, to you. My apologies for that inconvenience"
I mean what else can you say? I'm usually more embarrassed and feel sorry that someone I did my utmost for is back ( and unhappy ) because of something I've no control over. ( meaning you can't possibly pre-test every replacement part you install )
It's hard enough to keep up faith and trust in this industry without this added hindrance to same.
I know I'd be leery if it happened to me so I do my best to assuage any angst my folks feel about the work we provide.

JonnyO in commiefornia

 

Another thought, I am a tad slow soemtimes, something to do with "older age" haha, or is the Johnny Walker,??.

Inside the RH fuse thingy under the bonnet is a BLUE relay. It is one of many IGN relays on the car. However this one supplies the crank angle sensor with its voltage.

It is well documented that it does have a hissy moment from time to time, mine did TODAY. Took her XJ-S V12 as punishment.

I have read about this and remembered it, strange that one.

So I volt metered the wire at the crank sensor, 3.5V and drifting a tad, mmm, pulled the relay, opened it up, carefully cleaned the contacts, they were DIRTY, all sweet now, a good solid 12V at the sensor, and best of all, the damn thing starts and runs.

Might not be your issue, but simple to pull that relay and give it clean, coz damp weather will have an effect on the contacts if they are grubby.