9davelee Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Had a starting problem this morning, jumped into car as normal (it lives in the garage and is a daily) turned the key revs went up as normal then it just stopped after a couple of seconds. Tried to restart and nothing, so pinched the wifes car and went to work. AA man arrives and said it was flooded ? does this sound normal. He plugged in a Bosch and no faults shown. Any ideas has anyone had similar happen. Ive not tried it since being home will try in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gassy Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Yep sounds right to me,it's more common than you think.That said i am an AA Patrol. When it's cold/frosty I can get 2/3 fuel flooded vehicles in a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob350 Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 How would a car become flooded just because of the cold? Also how do you unflood it?? I'm intrigued Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9davelee Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 It wasn't cold, yes I live in Scotland but the car is in a garage and its been sat in Glasgow during the day all winter whilst I am at work and has never flooded ? before. Is it not automatic in its starting ie no manual choke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gassy Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Ok as soon as you turn the key and the ignition lights come on the sensors are feeding information back to the e.c.u,outside air temp,water/coolant temp etc.The colder it is the longer it will need to be on increased idle(the modern equivalent of a choke)hence more fuel being injected,sometimes if it dumps a little too much fuel in it saturates the end of the spark plugs with fuel.As soon as its flooded every start attempt adds to the problem as more fuel is injected so best to stop.A lot of people think no problem I will just leave it the fuel will evaporate this is not the case I have had people leave them a week (still flooded).Modern engines are also machined well so the fuel won't go past the piston/piston rings. As for rectifying the problem there are various ways: First thing I try is putting the battery on boost so it cranks quick with my foot hard on the throttle pedal,yes it's still injecting fuel but with the throttle pedal down cold air is drawn in and hopefully dries the plugs enough for it to fire. Second option remove the plugs heat the tips(burn the fuel off) Option three:yank out the fuel pump fuse and crank over until it ignites/uses the excess fuel in the cylinders. Option four if it's really really flooded,remove plugs and dry,disable fuel pump,pour a small amount of engine oil into each cylinder,refit plugs and crank,the oil makes a seal around the top of the piston which is good because the excess fuel washes the cylinder bore and reduces compression.You have to be really careful doing this as too much oil poured into the cylinder is bad.Plus using this method causes a lot of smoke from the exhaust when it fires up as it burns off the oil. Every car is different,most fire up by just planting your foot hard on the throttle,by far the worst vehicle to sort is Mazda Rx8 anything from 20mins-90mins fuel pump fuse out crank,fuse in crank,fuse out and so on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 After it cut out it would be flooded yes, but what caused the engine to cut out initially is still unknown. When a flooded engine is started/got going, it'll stay running and not cut out by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9davelee Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 After reading a bit more I think I know why it might have happened. Had the car out on Sunday to wash, after this I started it up and drove it 10 feet into the garage and switched it off straight away, for what ever reason this must have had something to do with it as its been fine since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Yes that'll do it. Another option to add to the above that I've done on a previous car is remove the plug and crack over. The excess fuel gets forced out the cylinders, refit plugs and you're good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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