I have a Locost with a Zetec silvertop running standard management/injection. Little Odessey race battery.

Pump/filter in the engine bay along with a swirl pot.

During my IVA test some 6 weeks ago now I had a problem with the car re-starting when hot. During the IVA test the bonnet was off, but the car was very hot and the fan had come on 7 or 8 times. When I was asked to restart the car by the tester it simply wouldn't 'catch'.

Seemed to be turning over slightly slower but I couldn't be 100% on that.

Some 40 minutes later the car started OK and off the test went again.

So, in the interim from failing my first IVA and passing my second I spoke to a local Ford 'guru' who suggested that my issues sounded like fuel vaporization due to the pump getting too warm. I got home and let the car run until the fan came on, sure enough the hot air from the fan was being pushed straight on to the fuel pump. To combat this I wrapped both the fuel pump and filter with heat repellent material.

I carried out the same experiment and even after the fan had come on 4 or 5 times the pump/filter were still cool.

So, fast forward to this week and my first proper drives in the car - yesterday I took a steady drive over to Todmorden to see Mr Carbon Copies . On the way I was stuck in traffic and it was fkin sunny. Fan came on/off as before, no issues. Got to Todmorden, had a brew and a natter and got back home with no issues.

Tonight I went out for a drive in the cool air (<18deg). The water temp never went above 75deg and the fan never came on, but I was giving the car some abuse so things were 'hot'.

I got home and turned off the car. Pulled my daily off the drive and went to restart the Locost and it turned over veerrry slowly and just started. I pulled the car into the garage and turned it off. I immediately went to restart it and it almost wouldn't turn over and certainly wouldn't start. I pulled off the bonnet and checked the battery which showed 12.76v.

I'm going to try starting the car tomorrow night as I'm inside now, but has anyone any ideas what the problem could be?

Fuel pump/filter were still really cool, as was the swirl pot.

Any ideas? Alternator/battery getting too hot?

Help please; nowt more embarrassing than a car that won't start

Thanks in advance.

[Edited on 27/8/13 by daveb666]

Did you say your fuel pump is near your cooling fan? Your pump should be as close to your tank as possible, injection pumps need to have head of fuel to work effectively so below the tank is best.

It could well be a warm pump cavitating, was the pump noisey when you tried to start?

I'd be suspecting the starter.

But, swap out the standars things first, leads, plugs etc

Pump has always made a 'noise' on first ignition but certainly isn't noisy.

System is:

Tank
lift pump (by scuttle)
swirl pot
filter (side panel under inlet)
hp pump (side panel under inlet)
rail in

Are you saying I should move the pumps nearer the tank, every car I've seen with a swirl pot always has them mounted on the scuttle like mine is so surely the pump is always in the bay in these instances?

Something that was mentioned earlier was that the return from my swirl pot to the tank doesn't have a restrictor in it, but assuming the swirl pot is full all the time I don't see why this would stop the car from restarting.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xtreme Kermit
I'd be suspecting the starter.

But, swap out the standards things first, leads, plugs etc

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Andy is running the same set up and finding similar issues. Bt has suggested its the timing advance and he has given some very good info in the past.

Maybe your ford guy has some ideas.

Link

The starter was a recon and only done a few hours work. plugs and leads where also new. The race battery is tiny have you tried some "good" jump leads to see if that helps.

[Edited on 27/8/13 by big_wasa]

I'm not convinced its the battery; if it starts tomorrow night and know that's good.

I'll check the connections on the starter etc for tightness as that's an easy one; it's probably getting TBs fitted to it in the next fortnight so if it's something engine/electric related due to the standard management then that'll be going in the bin with the new loom anyway.

Low pressure pump feeding a pot then feeding a HP pump is fine, I assume your fuel regulator returns to the pot? (Not the tank) which is correct. It's not a bad idea to have a slight restriction in the pipe from the pot to the tank.

If the pump is quite during hot start cranking its probably ok, to prove if you could install pressure gauge.

Have you got good engine and chassis earths?

It sure wouldn't hurt to try an extra one.

Not got to the bottom of mine yet but almost identical symptoms. Just after IVA car simply would not even turn over, put jumper pack on and fired straight up. Let it cool down and starts perfect. Only when it has got real hot does it do it.

Im just about to refit my prop after doing a gearbox oil seal then I will have a look over to see if anything obvious.

[Edited on 27/8/13 by AndyW]

That sounds like a hot starter to me, could just be a matter of wrapping the started with reflective material.

If the starter is too hot why would using jump leads help if the battery is OK?

Talking to Doug the IVA tester, he said it could well be something like that. Where my starter is, the location within the engine bay has little ventilation around, exhaust above, block next to it and then closed in by ali panels. I need a new starter as my one is a little lazy at times anyway so will wrap it with something to try and solve. I was also going to add some bay vents to the side too.

If I get a result I will post it up, although wont be for a week or two before I get chance.

Mine is under the manifold and there are no vents on mine either.

I'll wrap mine this week as a starting point and report back.

This is quite a common Zetec problem and the only cure I came up with is a geared starter...

hi, i have simmular probs with mine, ok when cooled down, will try covering startter too, hope its the fix.

Andy

I had the same problem. It seemed like it was not getting fuel or low battery power or timing out. Turned over slowly and showed no signs of starting until it cooled. Tried a new standard starter but it did not solve my problem. Bought a Powerlite heavy duty starter for about £150 and it has always started since fitting it. Did not change anything else.
I'm running 2.0 blacktop, Omex 600 and Omex throttle bodies.
Bill.

Seems like it is most likely to be starter related then. I've already got some heat-wrap so I'll start with that as that fix is free

Wrapping the starter motor tonight and then going out for a hard drive so I'll report back later!

Well, an interesting evening for me.

Starter motor all wrapped up in it' little heat-proof blanket. Off for a drive, get to petrol station, filled up and it jusst started. Went to a mates, had a natter and decided to go for a drive and it started up perfectly; weird!

Go for a drive and park up at a butty van for a brew, come to start the car again and it turns over slowwwly! Mate gives me a push and it bursts into life. Finish off my brew and it's dead again, just a click!

Get a bump again and it doesn't start, just locks the wheels when I pop the clutch. On the phone to my dad who drives the 7 miles to pick me up and tows me to his house. Torches and borrowed spanners ensue and the starter is removed. Quick push down the road and the car bursts into life.

Upon inspection the starter is totally seized solid - guess I need to purchase a new one of those then!

Hi Dave,

Did you put a new starter on and did it cure the problem. Just finished putting mine back together and ran it up. Let the fan kick in and out and then switched off. Tried to start and nothing, it's as if the battery is flat. It did exactly the same a week ago ( not used it since).

I am going to whack a good charge into the battery and see if that helps, if not it may be a new starter of some description. I could do with a smaller one too, but don't want a lower powered starter.

Let me know how you got on please and thanks

Andy

Hi mate, taken from my project thread:

quote:

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Originally posted by daveb666

The starter motor was a Lucas (LRS707). For those of you that may need one of these in future, a company called Wood Autos in Huddersfield stocks a smaller, lighter replacement:

Description

The part number for your reference is STR50041 and it costs about £60.

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