This Morning Car Wouldn't Start...

SquirrelMadness · 13 Dec 2023 at 14:20

Tried starting car, horse noises but no start.

Went back in for breakfast.

Tried again hour later... still no start. Got pee'd off so smacked the brake pedal whilst cranking... car started.

Tried again just in case fluke, same thing repeated.

Went for drive, come back, turn car off... started normal without having to push brake pedal.

Anyone know what could be failing here so I can keep an eye on it before gets worse?

EDIT: forgot to mention battery was fine... windows, dash light etc all was working.

Thanks

Firegod · 13 Dec 2023 at 15:28

How old is the battery?

snapdragon69 · 13 Dec 2023 at 15:44

What car is it? What engine? Age? I think the brake pedal is a red herring. As cars that require the brake pedal to be pressed don't crank without it. The only think the brake pedal may have done is the master cylinder pull or release a little air from the intake manifold (depending on car/engine)

dave28 · 13 Dec 2023 at 16:05

battery too low to start the car properly maybe, lights came on but not enough strength to start engine

i would charge it anyway

BUDFORCE · 13 Dec 2023 at 16:15

snapdragon69 said:
I think the brake pedal is a red herring.

Agreed.

I can think of no reason why pressing the brakes would affect the starting of the car.

SquirrelMadness · 13 Dec 2023 at 16:44

Battery pic:

Car = 2009 Golf

hood1971 · 13 Dec 2023 at 16:50

I had similar issues with a diesel car and it was the glow plugs. Was worse on cold days.

SquirrelMadness · 13 Dec 2023 at 16:56

hood1971 said:
I had similar issues with a diesel car and it was the glow plugs. Was worse on cold days.

I did mine in 2020... maybe they need replacing. Can't find the socket.

Diddums · 13 Dec 2023 at 17:20

What's a morning car? :confused:

Nasher · 14 Dec 2023 at 08:43

Usually this is a French car thing lol. You could almost hear my Renault complaining in French at having to start on frosty mornings.

Non non non non, merde

Hagar · 14 Dec 2023 at 08:44

I would still get the battery checked, possible cracked cell.

bobuk · 14 Dec 2023 at 10:38

Battery looks good. still green in the tell tale, but would still get it tested, strange that it started by banging on the brake pedal, may be a connection under the dash fault.

MrRockliffe · 14 Dec 2023 at 11:09

Diddums said:
What's a morning car?

A car whose parents have passed away

Terminal_Boy · 14 Dec 2023 at 11:23

Nasher said:
Usually this is a French car thing lol. You could almost hear my Renault complaining in French at having to start on frosty mornings.

Non non non non, merde

That’s the way they’ve implemented glowplug pre-heating. The engine cranks to get the oil moving, but doesn’t inject any diesel until the plugs are warmed up.

My old Megane is “Putain, c’est plus froid! Atttend! Presque… Presque… Voila!”

john_smith · 14 Dec 2023 at 11:25

SquirrelMadness said:
Tried starting car, horse noises but no start.

Did you goto your stable rather than the garage by mistake?

Semple · 14 Dec 2023 at 11:28

bobuk said:
Battery looks good. still green in the tell tale, but would still get it tested, strange that it started by banging on the brake pedal, may be a connection under the dash fault.

Are those even trustworthy?

I'd get a voltmeter and test the battery that way. Plenty of guides online on what to look for.

If that's the original battery then that's definitely time to replace.

moon man · 14 Dec 2023 at 17:34

I've had similar in the past, first time it was indeed the battery seemed to turn it over ok but hard to start, tbf i only changed it when it failed completely but then noticed how much easier it started.

another time it was the immobiliser that would randomly stay on ,moving the steering wheel would sometimes cure it ,obviously the light being on is a giveaway
think it was either a wire or a solder connection in the dash , did the easier thing and had my immobiliser deleted (it was an old car) cost me £90 at a tuning place although ebay sell plug and play ecus (insurance void job probably if they ever had checked)

Removed User 345456 · 14 Dec 2023 at 17:44

Semple said:
Are those even trustworthy?

I'd get a voltmeter and test the battery that way. Plenty of guides online on what to look for.

If that's the original battery then that's definitely time to replace.

The brand is decent and all Honda's use them/sponsor Honda in the BTCC too, but that sticker design looks old, they've been grey sticker or grey housing and sticker with red/white logos for many years now, so I'd say that's well out of date, they FWIW come with a 5 year warranty, so I'd go replace it for one with an even higher CCA (cold cranking amps) than the oem one, which is exactly what you want for cold days.

Also bare in mind if you continue to use an old or weak battery it will shag your alternator and starter motor... For the sake of £90-135 and a fresh 5 year warranty I'd pop down to halfords/eurocarparts and get one, although I hate halfords, they do literally have pretty much every battery ever in stock at most big stores ready to go.

Failing that, if it sounds slow to try and start, then it is your starter motor

also check all ground points to the engine/gearbox/chassis rails/cam cover/battery terminal - where it starts and ends on all of them, you can easily take each one off spray the ends with wd40 to clean them and wipe them off, as well as a cheeky bit of sand paper on the terminals/grounding surface/end of each grounds connector or looped section that the bolt goes through.

Barry Smalley · 14 Dec 2023 at 20:47

If it’s cranking with ease, it’s not your battery. If it starts first time when it’s warm and not when it’s cold, it’s likely to be your glow plugs.

happy_2008 · 15 Dec 2023 at 09:41

Had this earlier on the year when the Jazz would either start normal or be completely dead. Turns out that the battery fitted in 2019 had a problem and was replaced by AA for free, I have now purchased a battery booster in case this is ever an issue again.