In 6 months, my DiscoV8'97 (with approx. 160k kms.) has hard started twice (fortunately, both occurred at home in the garage) - the first, a few months ago & second, a few weeks ago - the former was resolved by just leaving it overnight & the later required the battery to be recharged (drained it trying to get her started).

Sent the car to the repair shop both times but they have so far been unable to replicate the problem.

Recent work has been related to replacing the fuel pump, cleaning the IACV & adusting the base idling to fix an also erratic low idling/ engine stalling & consistently hard starting (refer to "Engine Always Stalls When Shifting from Neutral to Drive When Warm" post) which have since been resolved. Also recently did a cylinder compression test & all gave out acceptably equal readings.

Unsure whether this is related to the above but doubt it. This occurs randomly & infrequently, the only clue being she seemed to run just a bit rougher a day or two before. Otherwise, battery & starter operate normally (good crank) but no ignition. Wiring connections appear good & the engine is regularly maintained (including, changing of spark plugs). Also tried resetting the immobilizer by turning the alarm system remote control on & off again both times without any apparent effect.

Now looking to replace the fuel pump relay, had a similar problem once in my '99 Volvo S70.

Other then this, does anyone have a clue what else may be going on?

Thanks,

 

Crank shaft position sensor - when it acts up, there will be no spark. So carry a spare plug and attach to wire when this happens and test for sparks. Have mother-in-law hold plug... (no not really).

Fuel pump and relay can be performance checked by pressure gauge to that tire valve looking thing on the passenger side fuel rail, expect 32-34PSI.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Buzz.

Fuel pump is new so intend to immediately just replace the relay to discount that side of things (fuel supply).

New plugs & battery as well so if it happens again, will replace the crank shaft position sensor (without the benefit of the optional procedure of asking mother-in-law to hold the test plug. God rest her soul).

 

Don't replace it if you have spark.

And pressure test of the fuel rail confirms that pump, pump electric connections, fuel filter, and relay are all working. I'm not saying throw parts at it, unless you are a major league pitcher and can afford it...

 

Copy that, Buzz.

Only problem is, it ocurrs infrequently & when you least expect it to... will keep a tire gauge & a proxy for the mother-in-law handy to check fuel & ignition system when it does.

Any recommended brand/s of crank shaft position sensor (in case needed)?

 

You won't have a lot of choices, there have been posts about one from NAPA, etc.

 

Again, many thanks.