Breakdown-of-the-Day

Headed to school today!

Anyway, went for a nice evening jog at ECP today with Zehan, ZJ, HJ and CPF! Fun! Had dinner at Kenny Rogers after that!

At night, my car broke down! Heh. My first car breakdown. The foot brake doesn't work when the engine shuts down so I only had the handbrake to play with. The engine died several times while the car moved and this time it died for good! I almost crashed into a plastic barrier. Luckily it didn't happen at a higher speed.. If not... HMM. Mugen's parked at some road on his own now.. Waiting to be towed later in the morning.

Anyway, my father came down in the AMs to save me. Teamwork.. Brainstorming. Communication. He pushed the car further into the bus bay under construction while I maneuvered at the wheel. Went to get more fuel to check if it was a fuel problem. Made a funnel out of a plastic bottle. Was trying to cut through some plastic to make a stick-like device to hold open the fuel tank and while I was wondering if I was too weak, the blade snapped. So found a shorter contraption to do the trick! Held the fuel tank open together with the funnel while my father poured petrol. It was messy and LOTS OF FUEL on my hands. I've been washing it with soap but it still wreaks of fuel. Hmm.. Basically, troubleshooting with very limited resources (whatever I had in my carboot) actually seemed rather fun.

Anyhow, appreciate the concern from my friends in the AMs. One of them even kind of stayed up until I reached home (like 4am). (",) Thank you, appreciate!!!

Hmm.. Let's take a look at the problem.. Here's my suspicion of what went wrong!

ENGINE CRANKS OKAY BUT WON'T START
(taken from http://www.aa1car.com/library/car_wont_start.htm)

If the engine cranks over normally when you attempt to start you car, but the engine does not start, the problem may be NO FUEL, NO SPARK or NO COMPRESSION. The engine needs adequate fuel pressure, a properly timed spark and normal compression to start.

To find why the engine won't start, remove the air inlet tube from the throttle body, push the throttle open and spray a small amount of aerosol starting fluid into the engine. Crank the engine. IF it has spark and compression but NO FUEL, it will start and run a few seconds before dying. If it does NOT start, it probably has NO SPARK.

Another method to check for spark is to pull a spark plug wire off of a spark plug (if it has plug wires, coil-on-plug ignitions do not) and place the open end of the plug wire near a metal surface on the engine. Have a helper crank the engine while you watch for a spark. DO NOT hold the wire while doing this as it can shock you. If you see a spark, the problem is not spark, but most likely NO FUEL or NO COMPRESSION. If you do not see a spark, the problem is in the IGNITION CIRCUIT.

Proper fuel pressure is critical for fuel injected engines to start and run. You should hear the fuel pump inside the fuel tank buzz for a couple of seconds when the ignition is turned on (no buzz means the pump is not running and the engine is not getting fuel). You can smell the tailpipe for gasoline vapors after cranking the engine. If you smell gas, the problem is likely not fuel but NO SPARK. You can also remove the plastic cap and press the schraeder valve test fitting on the fuel rail to see if there is any fuel pressure to the engine (not a very accurate test because fuel pressure must be at a certain level for the engine to start, for that you need a gauge). Even so, no fuel at the fuel rail would tell you fuel is not getting to the engine.

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”