Ocassional poor/slow starting

[colsy 0]

Hi All,

 

Around the begining of the weekend, I noticed that my VR struggled starting (usually fires second/third rev of the starter motor) this time it was more like a dozen or so!!! it fired in the end, it does this maybe 1 in every 5 starts??? :confused4:

 

Its certainly not a poor battery, you can hear the starter motor, its not struggling at all, nice and strong, not lazy!

 

My friend ( A motor mechanic, who hasn't really looked at it yet) suggests it might be the fuel pump thats on its way out, I initially thought dirty injectors/engine speed sensor???

 

What are your thoughts? anyone experienced similar problems?

 

Cheers,

Col.

[ZippyVR6 0]

Check the condition of the battery. Mine was intermittantly rubbish just prior to the battery going down.

[VR6 0]

The search would help a lot as well.

[colsy 0]

Cheers guys,

 

Tried the search, pages and pages of threads with the word 'starting' in.

 

Not sure about battery, as I said, the battery powers the starter motor adequatley, very strong, no sign's what so ever of struggling, the starter motor is certainly doing its part, it must be something else? :scratch:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The VR6 needs a very healthy battery for consistently good starting, but yours sounds OK if the starter is "whup whup whupping" fast enough. That's a techincal term for cranking :D

 

Sluggish starting is usually down to an ageing crank sensor. The ECU will not power up the injectors or coil until it receieves a strong enough signal from the sensor. As the VR's crank sensor an inductive one, it can lose voltage with age. Once running, a certain amount of weak or skipped signals are catered for, but for starting, there MUST be a strong signal, or it'll take a dozen cranks as you say.

 

it could also be a dying fuel pump, a simple fuel pressure test will confirm that. If builds and holds 4 bar quickly when you turn the key, it's not the pump.

 

Another thing you can try, which is cheap and easy, replace relays 167 (Fuel pump) and 109 (ECU).

 

167 in particular is under a lot of load and they can burn out.

 

Replace the plugs aswell. Another cheap fix. VRs are quite fussy with plugs, in particular gaps and when fouled with oil or carbon.

 

I knew Crazy Marcel quite well and he wasn't shy of replacing the pricey bits. Look through the history as I'm sure he's been down this road before?

[colsy 0]

Thanks' Cheesewire, I will check as you advise. Its a shame its only started while I'm trying to sell :-((

 

Col.