Early in the morning, freshly shaved and full of great plans, you hop in the car, «key to start» and... What the hell?! One more time. More... Nervous manipulations with the key in the ignition and pedals do not bring success. The day is ruined from the start. Plans and mood «down the drain».
Take it easy. No need to rush under the hood in an English suit and, smearing dirt with a tie, try to make a diagnosis. In five minutes, most likely, you will not cure. Take another car, and leave the treatment of a sick friend until the evening. And you better entrust him «doctors» with a good reputation, especially if you are not an expert. That will be cheaper. Well, if your friend is well known to you and you consider yourself a healer - well, try it yourself, if you are not too lazy to get dirty or there is no other way out.
To determine the diagnosis, you must proceed calmly: mentally study the symptoms. First - «twists» whether the starter? If yes, how cheerful? You already know the answer - remember what happened when you first tried to start the car. If you don't remember, try again.
If the starter does not turn at all and does not even click the traction relay when the ignition is turned on, then it is either faulty (you can close the hood and follow the above advice: «Get another car..»), or the starter power supply circuit is faulty (battery is dead or dead). Only on rare models can the starter power circuit be protected by a fuse. It is easy to find, especially if you know in advance where it is. If the battery is to blame, then in addition to the starter, as a rule, all electrical equipment does not work either. The simplest and easiest case is that one of the terminals has fallen off, dirty or oxidized, but the battery is in order. Tighten the terminals on it and on the starter (if there). If it turns out that the battery is completely dead (forgot to turn off the lights at night), You can still leave, but with outside help. Here, as they say, options are possible. You can try to start from a push, slide or tug. However, make no mistake: a car with an automatic transmission or electronic fuel injection (if there is an electric fuel pump) these methods will not work. Have to «light up» at a neighbor. However, for some machines, this can lead to damage «computer» – the central block of the electronic engine management system (read the manual for the car).
If the starter turns, but sluggishly (it happens in summer, winter is a subject of a separate discussion), most likely, the battery is almost completely discharged. This will be seen by the weak headlights or the work of the sound signal. In this case, the above options for outside assistance come into play.
If the starter turns briskly, and the engine does not respond to attempts to start it, feel free to exclude everything related to the battery from further consideration. Check the ignition or fuel supply system, you can't go wrong. In diagnosing and treating «disease» each of the systems requires a systematic approach. It is best to start with the ignition - in this system, problems are more common, especially in wet weather.
So, it is necessary «look for a spark». Your machine is equipped with an electronic non-contact ignition system that can be integrated into the electronic engine management system. In any case, the ignition system consists of three parts. Part one - low voltage (a special sensor plus a box with electronic filling that forms a spark). Part two is a step-up transformer, referred to in the world as an ignition coil. Part three - high voltage (mechanical or electronic ignition distributor and high-voltage wires of the ignition system, through which high-voltage current is supplied to the candles). And, of course, the candles themselves. Checking all this economy should be carried out in stages and it is better to start «from the end».
Stage one. High voltage part of the system. Check if there is a spark on the center wire - this is the one that connects the ignition coil to the distributor. The tip of the wire must be removed from the distributor cap and brought close to any part that has good contact with «weight» (bodywork) car (whether it's painted or not doesn't matter), and fasten so that there is a gap of 5–7 mm between the tip and the selected part. It is necessary to fasten the wire especially securely: if it falls on «mass», electronics instantly «will tell you to live long». For the same reason, you can't «strike» body wire. We don’t recommend holding it with your hand either, not even your own, it will shock you great.
Stage two. Turn the engine over with the starter. At the same time, look at what happens at the tip of the wire. There are two options. More favorable - there is a spark. Powerful, accompanied by a loud click. This significantly narrows the field for further searches.
The first step is to remove the distributor cap. Under it can be damp and dirty. According to this «conductor» the spark willingly jumps anywhere, but not where it is needed.
Wipe, scrub and dry. At the same time, it is harmless to clean the contacts of the distributor, for example, with a fine sandpaper. Check out the so-called «slider». If you find a dark trace of electrical breakdown on it or on the distributor cover, the part will have to be changed. In the most biased way, check the wires coming from the distributor to the candles. Wires and their lugs must be dry and clean. If, in your opinion, everything is in order with them, you can put the cover back in place, reconnect and try to start the engine. If the fault was hidden under the cover, the engine would start, or in the worst case, at least start to sneeze. The symptom is also favorable - you are on the right track. True, you will have to turn out, clean and dry the candles: in an attempt to start the engine, you filled them with gasoline. If the engine does not even sneeze, the candles will still have to be turned out, cleaned and checked. It's easier if you have a spare set.
If you have already reached the stage of turning out the candles, you can quite effectively (and spectacular) check the ignition system as a whole. Having connected the high-voltage wires of the ignition system to the turned out candles, collect the candles in a bundle, like carrots, and wrap it around the threaded part of the candles with a soft bare wire. Make sure the wire is in contact with each spark plug but not touching their center electrodes. Connect the free end of the wire to «weight». Having placed a bunch of candles in a place convenient for observation from the passenger compartment, turn the engine with a starter. Between the electrodes of the candles in turn (in accordance with the order of operation of the cylinders) merry sparks should fly. If so, then the entire ignition system is working. The sound of the engine in this case will be very unusual, but do not be alarmed, because it is spinning with the candles turned out. Don't spin for too long. Worse, if at the second stage of the test there is another option: sparks between the center wire and «weight» No. So, it's not about high voltage circuits. Further searches will be more difficult, evaluate the supply of your time and desire. If both are available, proceed to the third stage.
Stage three. Check if voltage is applied to the ignition coil. This is easy to do with a tester, and if not, you can use the engine compartment lamp. True, you need a couple of wires to connect it to the coil. You need to connect the light bulb between «weight» and primary winding input.
At the third stage, as usual, two options are also possible: voltage is either applied to the coil or not. If it is supplied, the coil is to blame - breakdown or short circuit, which, however, happens extremely rarely. The coil will need to be changed. More often there is a bad contact in the connection of wires to the coil. Or the same wet mud, through which the spark flows out to no one knows where. Sometimes the coil is polished to a shine, but underneath it remains an invisible, very narrow strip of dirt - a good conductor.
If at the third stage you made sure that the coil is not energized, the electronics or contacts and unreliable connections in the low-voltage part of the ignition system are to blame. with electronics (switch and less often a sensor in the distributor housing) you can't handle it - you need special equipment to diagnose them. You can only pull the sensor connector on the distributor housing - suddenly it will help. The voltage at the connector pins is only 12 V, so you can pull it fearlessly. If tension appeared (when the contacts are pulled, the light flashes), restore everything unscrewed and disassembled, start the car and, maybe, still have time to go about your business. If the engine does not start, but at least sneezes, turn out the candles and...
It may also happen that the entire ignition system was checked, it is in order, but the engine, even if you crack, still does not start. This means that there are problems with another of the previously mentioned systems - the power supply system, that is, the supply of fuel to the engine.
If you have an injection machine (fuel injection system), don't touch her (to the system). You can only come to the conclusion that it is she who is faulty: there is a spark, the fuel is suitable - that means she is darling. Treatment only in a hospital. At home and with handicraftsmen, repairing it is useless and even harmful.
We saved the rare but most unpleasant diagnosis for last. If the starter is working fine, and you have already spent a lot of time and made sure that the ignition and power are in perfect order, but the car still does not start, it is worth inspecting the camshaft drive belt. However, decide for yourself: this check can be carried out at the beginning, especially if the engine has traveled more than 60 thousand km. The difficulty is that you have to remove or at least partially bend the upper part of the plastic or metal casing covering the belt. The belt may have sheared teeth (belts, like people, lose teeth from old age). In this case, the camshaft does not rotate and the engine will not work. It is clear that the toothless belt needs to be replaced. The procedure for replacing the belt is simple, but rather troublesome. It is carried out in a hospital. Well, if everything is limited to replacing one belt, and not bent valves or the entire cylinder head - this also happens.