Hey all,

First visit here in quite some time -- not that I didn't have any issues, but I managed to solve them without asking for assistance

The car won't start anymore, and I'm assuming that it is a cylinder/bore wash issue but I'd like your input... On Friday I had to move it just a bit, and I shut the engine off after maybe 30s (I had done that before without issues).
Yesterday, it wouldn't start : cranking and trying to fire, to no avail, and again. -- no fault codes in the ECU.

The fuel pump audibly works and there were no issues whatsoever before that (misfires, rough idle or difficulties on a cold start).

By the look of it, I suspect a bore wash then, but my engine is from 2000 and it's not the Nikasil version I believe -- in my understanding the bore wash only affected those ?

Another possibility is that there was no more fuel : the car is parked on a slope, rear down, and there was very little fuel left -- range was like 10km. I added fuel after the first attempt to start, but maybe it was too late and it still wouldn't start.

If anyone can confirm, before I start pouring oil in my cylinders and worsen the situation...

 

First try the procedure from the manual: Press pedal to the floor which shuts off fuel. Then turn engine over for several short bursts. Finally ease pedal off the floor part way attempt to start.

 

Got it. I'm away today but will try that tomorrow and confirm whether it worked or not.

 

There is a dedicated fuel injector relay that would prevent any fuel to the cylinders

You also need the ignition positive relay to close along with the EMS relay

The fuel pump will only run for 4 seconds then off by design

It will come on again from the Crankshaft Posion Sensor seeing engine rotation for the duration of your drive

If you have a leaking injector < bad check valve in the fuel pump , or a bad fuel pressure regulator you will not have the trapped 43 PSI fuel to initially fire off some cylinders and carry on forward

Check the test port on the left bank for holding this fuel pressure

You have dedicated camshaft position sensors ( CEL code P0340 ) that are only used to aid the starting sequence

 

The "ran it for 30 seconds" thing has been identified here before.I think the engine goes cold/rich and bore wash occurs.

I've started 2 such cars.

I removed plugs, squirted several oz of oil into each bore, spun the engine to rid excess oil, put in cleaned or new plugs, and started it up.

Rob

 

Ok well this option didn't work -- in fact, now it's only cranking and doesn't even attempt to fire.
Smells like gas though.
Guess I'll have to start removing the spark plugs. Meh.

 

I have had more wash twice this winter on different cars it helps have a good battery your motor will sound like a drill motor no compression would turn it over and even be surprised if it’s getting 35 pounds of pressure. I got lucky by charging up one car Before I tried to start the car it’s a challenge to get them started even during this process the oil pressure apparently Hass to come up and get into the cylinder walls to give it any compression

 

I bet I’ve had this phenomena 10 different times sometimes you go buy a new car and they sell it because they can’t get it started when dumping the oil in the cylinders if you have to go that route the more you put in the more smoke has to come out after you start it and it can take a while when I do this I have to wait until after dark and then go find a mountain to drive up it’s smokes so bad

 

there's a schrader valve. check your fuel pressure

 

Will do.

A friend lent me the equipment to remove the spark plugs, surprinsingly I never had to change those and I actually don't know how old they are (over 7 years for sure). Maybe it would be a good idea to do that, too.
I removed the coil packs on the driver's side already, and noticed that 2 of the plug wells have dirty oil in them. Perhaps the plugs weren't tightened enough. Odd, anyway.

And yes, I have a battery charger and will use it before attempting to start. The battery, while only 3 or 4 years old, is actually on the weak side and on a cold start I usually briefly get the ASC and ABS messages on the dashboard.

 

Next to starting up the car and moving it out of the way and shutting it off 30 seconds later, a weak battery is going to be the #1 cause of this situation. I’ve done the whole “charging of the batteries” and it was a total roll of the dice if it worked or not. After dealing with all that aggravation, new batteries were substantially more successful.

 

Ok so, yesterday I pulled the plugs and poured some oil in the cylinders.
Couldn't start still, because the battery seems to have died on me, so there's that. Been charging all night, I'll see if any better today..

Another thing I noticed is that the plug are clearly very old and worn. And now, looking for replacement, I'm a bit lost : they are NGK PFR5G-13E which are pretty expensive.
Some autopart website are proposing Beru Z170 instead, or some other brands/models which are said to be compatible but the specs are clearly different (the gap, especially).

Any pointers on which model is actually a good fit ? Also the NGK don't require antiseize apparently, but all others do ?

 

Anti - seize does not hurt but the lack of anti - seize does

as long as you don't have access go beyond the threads

You can find it in little packets at the auto parts store hanging at the cash register

The worn or thin look on the plug may be because they are iridium plugs ( not sure if you do )

Never reinstall the battery in backwards , positive post goes in positive direction of car travel or fwd

Check fwd of the battery that the power fuse terminal nuts are tight , they have a history of coming loose

A fully charged battery will be 12.75 volts , 12.0 is around 80 % charged

There is a false bulkhead battery cable terminal nut fwd under the hood that others would know more about , maybe a picture

 

I ended up ordering Denso IK16TT, can't hurt changing them.

The battery was nearly 14V this morning, but the car still wouldn't fire. Perhaps I'll have to do the whole process again once the plugs are swapped.

(haven't checked the fuel pressure yet, i'm lacking the equipment)

 

You can place your finger on the fuel injector, ignition positive and EMS relays and feel for them to click closed

Do you hear the fuel pump run for 4 seconds only then off by design ?

You can also place your finger on that fuel pump relay that it has the correct close command

 

As long as the cylinders have not fired off and run the oil treatment you did before should still stay in place

But if you did get fuel into the cylinders it could have bore washed off so it depends

 

Yes, I can always hear the pump, so for now I'm ruling this issue out (i'll check the pressure if nothing else works).

As I should receive the new plugs tomorrow, I removed the old ones already and will let the car sit overnight. There was a strong gas smell coming from the cylinder (so perhaps the oil was washed again indeed) so I'd say that the injectors do work as well, but I'll check the relays anyway.

On the bright side, I managed to get rid of the oily crap inside some of the plug wells by fitting a small tube to a vaccum cleaner. I really didn't feel comfortable at the thought of these debris falling into the cylinders...

 

So I managed to get it up and running, after a second attempt (including the oil again).
Still didn't start and the battery was getting weak so I charged it for an hour, then tried again and it started instantly.
So perhaps letting it sit a bit did help.

I'd call it a complete success, had I not yelled something in the line of ''I'm back, bitches!", right when the dignified old lady living down the street walked by.
I'm not getting any ''good day to you, sir'' anytime soon, I reckon.

Thank you all for the worthy advice, as always!

 

Oil in the plug wells is caused by leaking cam cover gaskets. As you’ve already got the ignition coils off, it would be a good time to fix that with a cam cover gasket set. Letting the leaks continue will eventually cause damage to your ignition coils.

 

Yeah it's in my to-do list.
Nevertheless, it was old and dirty oil, not sure it's a current leak.