Quote:
Originally Posted by hpservertech
Have you tried the DME relay? It sounds intermittent and that would be my first thing I would look for.
When it doesn't start, do you hear the fuel pump running? It's either not getting spark or fuel, my guess would be fuel.
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Good question: I have never heard the fuel pump running since I owned the car. And as I mainly drive it alone it always does this fault when I am on my own, so I can't get underneath to listen to the pump while it is cranking. I thought they were pretty silent anyway?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Laurence
I agree-- check the DME relay first, but if the fuel pump is running.......
Jeff
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Well it stopped doing it for quite a while, so of course I ignored it and hoped it had gone away - until it came back hard last week and did it a couple of times in quick succession.
So I had a word with Bert Gear of Berlyn Services (a very good source of advice and parts in the UK) and explained the problem, and the suggestions I had picked up here. Bert also fingered the DME relay as the likely culprit, saying that they are "notorious" to the extent that some people keep a spare in the glove box! This was news to me, but they are also pretty cheap, so it was no-brainer to try swapping that out first.
So far, after two days with the new DME relay, the problem has not recurred. Although it has done this before, so I am not certain that it is cured.
Looking at the old DME relay, all the solder joints are firm and there is not much sign of a problem. Just one wire to the upper coil looks a bit odd - purple in colour as if it has got hot.
This is the wire that connects the frame of the relay to the moving plate that does the switching to connect 87b to 30: my wiring diagram uses different numbers so I am not sure what these do. Other than that, the DME relay is a pretty simple device so I am not sure how it could produce the intermittent fault I was experiencing: But I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that it was!