[vartakavi]

Thanks once again to all those who have taken the trouble to suggest a solution to the problem I am facing with my Tata Indigo.

I can check out the problem with a different battery only when I travel out of station again, which will probably be after a couple of months. Meanwhile, the car is due for service. I have been giving my car for Service at Concorde Motors so far but they are too busy to pay attention to such odd problems -- their service levels have deteriorated of late and I am thinking of switching to Carnation (multi-brand service), about which I have received good feedback. I will talk to the Carnation Service Advisor about servicing the starter motor.

[vartakavi]

I got the Starter Motor serviced at Carnation when I gave my Indigo for service last month. I could feel a distinct improvement in cold starts in the city once this was done.

I returned from a long distance trip of about 2500 kms last week, most of it at reasonably high speeds (100 kmph) on the NH7. Lo and behold , the car started without fuss even when the engine was hot!

It was a relief to be able to take chai breaks without worrying about the car not starting.

Thanks to all of you who took the trouble to reply to my Post and suggested the solution.

[dhanushs]

I believe you have not changed your battery?

[vartakavi]

No, I did not change the battery. It is an Exide battery, nearly three years old, still going strong.

[tanwaramit]

what did you do to solve this issue ? I have been facing this issue after a few months every time.

More details on my thread here, http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-when-hot.html

I am tired of this problem now. Neither the Hyundai service engineers have been able to solve this problem, Nor the frequent change in battery is helping solve the case.

[atheistrical]

I believe that this question belongs to general technical section. However, since I myself own a Gypsy, and hence cannot speak intelligently about other vehicles, I have posted it here.

I understand that every engine requires "cranking" and this is facilitated by the "starting" motor (which is powered by the battery) while we start an engine under normal conditions. The path may be drawn as follows:

Battery→Starting Motor→Flywheel→Engine

The same "cranking" may also be performed by pushing the vehicle and engaging the gear while the wheels are rolling. This time, the cranking comes from the wheels instead of the motor and follows this path up to the engine.

Wheels→Differentials→Gear-Box→Clutch→Flywheel->Engine

(I hope that I am correct so far) Now, time for my question.

Why does the engine sometimes fail to start using the starter motor (or by using the ignition key) even though the battery and motor are in perfectly good condition; whereas it always starts immediately when kick started (Dhakka Start)?

I have this experience not just during the start of the day, but in the middle of journey when the engine is hot and battery is fully charged. Kick start always works the first time.

Thanks for reading this long and curious post, and I hope to receive enlightenment soon.

[vipul_bscity]

Hi all,

I have a 2005 Honda City CVT which I have been driving with great pleasure.

In the last few months, a problem cropped up which is experienced only during hot weather - hot months and during afternoon. The car will start sputtering as if short of fuel and eventually come to a stop. If i try to restart the car immediately, the starter keeps whirring but no life in the engine. If i give it a few minutes rest, it starts up again. Then within a short distance, the car will again stop. If I accelerate a bit aggressively, I can literally feel the engine sputtering to a halt.

My A** looked at the problem and said "it's a fuel pump issue. It's fully electronic and we can't really troubleshoot it". He arranged a second-hand fuel pump with the promise to look at it again in case the issue was something else. This was back in June and I drove the car during monsoons with no problem whatsoever. Now with hot weather returning to Pune in the last few days, the problem has surfaced again.

Car runs fine in the morning and evening but in the afternoon, if it's a hot day, after a few kms of running, the problem comes back.

What could it be?

Thanks in advance for your guidance and advice.

[TB16]

Do you see any warning lights on the display? I think your car won't be having an independent engine temperature gauge, but there will definitely be a warning light, which comes on, if the engine is getting hot.

[2000rpm]

I faced similar experience with my Palio when it overheated, did you find any symptoms of the same?

Do not rely completely on the gauge as it can be faulty sometimes. I am not a expert about this but its worth checking out as this thing is happening only in hot climate.

[vipul_bscity]

TB16, none of the check lights come on. The car has been for a servicing as well and they did not find anything else wrong. They said it should drive fine with the replaced fuel pump but that's proven to not be the case!

[vipul_bscity]

Any inputs from the experts about this? See my post above for details of the problem.

Thanks and Regards.

[sgiitk]

I faced the same problem with my Santro. No problem in the morning, if stopped will not restart, but will laboriously crank after 30 secs or so. It was a weak battery.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I faced the same problem with my Santro. No problem in the morning, if stopped will not restart, but will laboriously crank after 30 secs or so. It was a weak battery.

Plus one to this. Faced the same problem with my ikon, had to wait for the car to cool down before it could start again. After mechanics suggested everything from alternator to clutch issues, it turned out that the batt was weak and wasn't producing the right amount of current needed. Changed it and bingo, no probs for last 12 months at least.

[vipul_bscity]

Sgiitk, sammyboy,

was it that your running car would sputter and stop and then give problems restarting? Or was it that once you stopped your car, then it would give problems restarting?

If the battery has the problem you mention, will it cause my running car to stop in the middle of the road? That's the problem I'm facing, the car slowly sputters to a stop, as if fuel supply is cut off. Could that still be caused by the battery?

[cryshnon]

I have one theory that might sound weird but if all other possibilities have been ruled out, this could be the cause.

Low coolant level!

Assume your phone barely has any charge left in it. You put it on a charger and then aggressively use 4G. It is likely to get discharged and die in a little bit of time.

The solenoid is designed to produce only so much power and the motors are HUGE power drainers. When the car's coolant starts leaking or gets to extremely low levels and with the air conditioning on, the radiator fan would have to start spinning extra. With the cabin fans, headlights, radiator fan - all running, the alternator has no scope to be also charging the battery. A fully discharged battery needs several hours of charging from the alternator alone with minimal use of electrical components like headlights and cabin fan. The radiator fan and the coolant pump together drain a considerable amount of power and when the car is halted and the engine is super hot, the radiator fan still keeps running draining the battery of whatever juice is left in it. Again, it depends upon the model of car. Some models disconnect all electronics when ignition is off, others allow radiator fan to continue running to enable cooling the engine. With the battery supplying power to several components, it loses the ability to provide the necessary power to start the vehicle.

When a similar thing happened to me as described in this thread, I opened the bonnet to notice a burning smell like some rubber or plastic was being melted. The radiator cap was cool but the fan kept running. When I opened the cap and poured water into it, it exploded out and splashed on my face with steam and all. Thankfully it only pushed out the fresh water I had poured and I didn't suffer burns. A passerby helped me jump start the vehicle and I went home. I filled it with 2-3 litres of water for the time being and intend to go to my FNM (friendly neighbourhood mechanic) over the weekend.

I am presuming this isthe problem and would keep you posted on what happens next. I am hoping I wouldn't have to change the battery or solenoid or starter motor. It hasn't even been two months after I had to pay a good sum over servicing and other usual useless parts changing that they usually do to ensure you get a 5 digit bill.