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Intermittent no start :(

2K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  exsquaddie 
#1 ·
Hopefully someone can help as i'm not far off N with handbrake off and into the canal ... with myself in it. ishift 2006 mk8 se, been having intermittent spluttering before startup then finally starts up. Thought it might have been serpantine belt not gripping as it was the factory one as far as i know, Bought some belt spray and still same problem. Then maybe alternator or battery. Car finally cut out on me with battery sign on dashboard with smell of burning rubber from the under the hood. Towed to a garage and found out it was the AC compressor bearing had seized up so a supposedly full diagnostic, a new ac compressor pump plus fitting and im down £620. I asked if the alternator and battery was ok and they said all good. 5 days later and car cut out outside work, had full lights on the dash, juice in the battery but no starting. Its an ishift so brake pedal went stiff and nothing, pushed the start and nothing happening. Got a mate to jump start me and the car kicked over as if brand new. Rang garage to ask if they'd changed the ac relay wich they said no, not even checked it under diagnostic but had the grace to tell me i needed 2 new back tyres and corrosion on shocks but no check of the ac relay that controlls the ac compressor thwat they'd just charged me a lump for. Anyway they told me to take car in for another £60 diagnostic ... but i didn't. I changed the ac relay just incase i had a parasitic drain , all good and checked alternator and battery with multimeter under full load and nothing. I've done nothing but chuck money at this car for 4 years and she's given me nothing but hell. when she's good she's a nice drive, but im getting to the end with it. I dont know what else to try except for a flamethrower ... but seriously am stumped, i dont know what else to try without throwing more money at it. Does the ishift have a starter relay ??? intermittently Theres no start, i have power from battery but nothing. If the battery is jumped it kicks in fine ... any ideas ???? Thanks in advance :(
 
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#4 ·
Yeah that's correct. Every now and then it'll be hard to start but more often than not it's ok. Battery is only 6 months old if that. As soon as my workmate put leads on it fired up instantly. The garage that did my ac compressor said alternator and battery are fine.. Its an annoyance as if I drive out anywhere I'm on eggshells thinking about not getting back. Could a bad starter cause intermittent problems maybe ??? Its just that when my mate jumped the battery it fired up like new.
 
#5 ·
A working alternator should be around 13.6-14.4 . The civic has an intelligent alternator so wont always show 13.6-14.4, but on load it should be putting out a charge. You should still have seen voltage at the battery, when testing, regardless.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, that's what it was reading. I'm going to go through it again over the weekend. I swapped out the ac relay just incase it was causing a drain. I just don't want to keep chucking money at stuff that might not need fixing. If battery is good, alternator is good and there's no voltage leaks, where should I look next??? Are there other relays besides the ac relay???
 
#8 ·
Could a poor chassis / battery grounding be the problem ? .. because although it wouldant start up, as soon as it had jumper cables on it fired up ? .. Maybe its something to check ? Do you know if the grounding points are accessible without removing things ? ..Thanks
 
#10 ·
Thanks, think I'm going to get a grounding kit to see if it makes a difference. Do you know where I can find the starter relay??? And what I'd be looking for to replace it because when I search relays all that I seem to find is the relay for the ac compressor.
 
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