shreddedmeat
Active Member
Well, after 3 days of happy A2 ownership, we have this
Parked car up late Monday night and it was fine. Went out to the car Tues afternoon, hopped in and it wouldn't start, just kept turning over
It reminded me of a battery issue I had once with a Toyota Aygo, so I checked in the boot and it was dated Jan '03; i.e. car is still on original battery. I noticed the drivers side map light was on, so I thought I'd probably left it on all night causing a power drain. On top of this, i'd wound down both electric windows and turned on the radio before trying to start the car, so I though maybe this had drained even more. Called my dad up to bring over his jump leads - we tried and failed to jump it off his Volvo.
Next step, call in RAC. I had to leave, but got my dad to wait in for the RAC - so what I know has been relayed through him
Mechanic confirmed that the battery wasn't at fault if all electrical fixtures were still working (makes sense). He connected to the car's diagnostic port and it was reporting 8 faults, but he thought these were prexisting over the lifetime of the vehicle, so he 'cleared' them and reconnected, and it reported no faults. Puzzling
This is when it gets stranger. Mechanic began to check fuses etc. in the footwell when the car just started on its own! (although I don't know whether he was trying the ignition at the same time). He had no idea how he fixed the problem; all he could suggest is a loose connection...
Car has been started, stopped and restarted about 7 or 8 times without issue, and starts fine after driving for a short time. He recommended that if it happens again, I go to a dealer so they can run a full scan on the car but that it was likely going to cause some headaches. Have driven today and it seems fine, started 3 times on the the first turn of the key...
I've searched, and it seems crankshaft speed sensor and faulty ignition barrel are common problems, but Im not sure they apply here.
Any ideas? I don't want to be stranded totally at random sometime in the future if at all possible!
Parked car up late Monday night and it was fine. Went out to the car Tues afternoon, hopped in and it wouldn't start, just kept turning over
It reminded me of a battery issue I had once with a Toyota Aygo, so I checked in the boot and it was dated Jan '03; i.e. car is still on original battery. I noticed the drivers side map light was on, so I thought I'd probably left it on all night causing a power drain. On top of this, i'd wound down both electric windows and turned on the radio before trying to start the car, so I though maybe this had drained even more. Called my dad up to bring over his jump leads - we tried and failed to jump it off his Volvo.
Next step, call in RAC. I had to leave, but got my dad to wait in for the RAC - so what I know has been relayed through him
Mechanic confirmed that the battery wasn't at fault if all electrical fixtures were still working (makes sense). He connected to the car's diagnostic port and it was reporting 8 faults, but he thought these were prexisting over the lifetime of the vehicle, so he 'cleared' them and reconnected, and it reported no faults. Puzzling
This is when it gets stranger. Mechanic began to check fuses etc. in the footwell when the car just started on its own! (although I don't know whether he was trying the ignition at the same time). He had no idea how he fixed the problem; all he could suggest is a loose connection...
Car has been started, stopped and restarted about 7 or 8 times without issue, and starts fine after driving for a short time. He recommended that if it happens again, I go to a dealer so they can run a full scan on the car but that it was likely going to cause some headaches. Have driven today and it seems fine, started 3 times on the the first turn of the key...
I've searched, and it seems crankshaft speed sensor and faulty ignition barrel are common problems, but Im not sure they apply here.
Any ideas? I don't want to be stranded totally at random sometime in the future if at all possible!