[V6-12v] No start fault

[The CyberPoet]

James, how old is your battery?

An intermittent behavior like the one you describe could be caused by  
bridged plates in the battery (particles in the bottom of the battery  
bridging them -- towing would have raised the car, causing the  
particles to slide backwards in the battery casing and possibly  
stopping the gapping), or by a weak battery (where warmth and/or time  
permitted a larger charge to build).

Cheers,
=-= Marc

On Dec 19, 2006, at 1:48 PM, James Whitehouse wrote:

> OK, new development - even more aggravating is the fact that as  
> soon as the
> car was in my mechanic's shop, the darn thing started right up.  
> This is
> mystifying, since the roadside assistance mechanic had also tested,  
> and
> confirmed, that there was no spark at the point before he towed me  
> to the
> shop.
>
> This is worse than if it hadn't started, as I now have an  
> intermittent,
> undiagnosed fault that could recur at any time and leave me  
> stranded. Plus
> this is the engine being swapped into the new car.
>
> I tried doing the 'dirty paper-clip' method of pulling the fault  
> codes, but
> didn't get anything on my engine check light. In fact I noticed  
> that I don't
> even see the engine check light when I start up the car. I seem to  
> recall
> that there's another way, with a bulb, to pull the codes. Does  
> anyone have a
> link to this procedure?
>
> Any other ideas? I hate having a car I can't rely on 'til I track down
> whatever caused the no-start condition...
>
> Cheers,
> James