Car Starts Like An Old Man!

[leonardo]

Hi, need some advice on a problem I've had for the last 2 weeks. My car has struggled to start in the morning, and also if if the engine is left cold for long periods during the day. I know its been raining in Colombo but the last few days have been fine and its still struggling to start. What happens is that the engine idles very roughly a couple of times and dies. I try it again and the same thing. The third time it always starts fine, and there's no problems in traffic either. It runs very smoothly and never stalls. I've cheked the obvious things like the battery, any other suggestions? The car is barely 3 years old and I do my best to maintain it so this is quite annoying!

[Hola]

  leonardo said:

Hi, need some advice on a problem I've had for the last 2 weeks. My car has struggled to start in the morning, and also if if the engine is left cold for long periods during the day. I know its been raining in Colombo but the last few days have been fine and its still struggling to start. What happens is that the engine idles very roughly a couple of times and dies. I try it again and the same thing. The third time it always starts fine, and there's no problems in traffic either. It runs very smoothly and never stalls. I've cheked the obvious things like the battery, any other suggestions? The car is barely 3 years old and I do my best to maintain it so this is quite annoying!

whats the car?

which year?

pertol? diesel? lampu thel?

[Thusha]

clogged fuel filter might cause ...

[The Don]

or injectors for that matter, or maybe your ignition system, if you take your car for a tune up and tell the people the problem I am sure they will know it straight away,

in older carburettor cars the above problem was most probably the injector either being clogged or being too small, but yours sound very new.

The Don

[Elvis_Pil]

Can even be the spark plugs or battery.. sometimes after market alarm systems can drain even good batteries just a slight bit over night.. On the other hand like Don said it can be a block in the fuel system.. Our petrol is filthy lol

[leonardo]

  Hola said:

whats the car?

which year?

pertol? diesel? lampu thel?

Its a Primera P11. Petrol of course. Thanks for all the advice. Like another poster here said, I suspect the spark plugs and fuel filter also, but been a bit too stingy lately to spend on getting them changed. But its long overdue.

There's never enough $ to keep your car maintained. My shocks also need replacing so I'm dreading my next visit to A*W!

[sharkster]

  leonardo said:

Its a Primera P11. Petrol of course. Thanks for all the advice. Like another poster here said, I suspect the spark plugs and fuel filter also, but been a bit too stingy lately to spend on getting them changed. But its long overdue.

There's never enough $ to keep your car maintained. My shocks also need replacing so I'm dreading my next visit to A*W!

ahh welcome nissan owner...a replacement of a fuel filter n spark plugs are not a reason to take ur car to A*W...very straightforward work that u can get done anywhere...n if ur worried abt genuine parts...buy em from Pioneer Motors cos im a regular customer there n as a matter of fact A*W buys parts from there too wen they'r out of stock...i'll guarantee u'll save a huge percentage by gettin lil jobs done outside...ofcourse for critical engine mingling i wont recommend any1 but A*W for the primera n beyond...

[MRM]

  sharkster said:

ahh welcome nissan owner...a replacement of a fuel filter n spark plugs are not a reason to take ur car to A*W...very straightforward work that u can get done anywhere...n if ur worried abt genuine parts...buy em from Pioneer Motors cos im a regular customer there n as a matter of fact A*W buys parts from there too wen they'r out of stock...i'll guarantee u'll save a huge percentage by gettin lil jobs done outside...ofcourse for critical engine mingling i wont recommend any1 but A*W for the primera n beyond...

hi skaky,

good morning,

can you tell me where is poineer motors ??

cos i need to buy my brake pads

last time when i took it to MAW for brake pads, the bill as follows,

disc pad kit - 7,317.45

pad kit disc brake 11,152.70

seal kit disc 8,051.15

piston (2 no's ) 9,001 each = 18,002.10

labour - 2,990

total - Rs 47,513.40

due to the above i'm scared to send the car to A*W

thanks in advance

[noaim]

  MRM said:

hi skaky,

good morning,

can you tell me where is poineer motors ??

cos i need to buy my brake pads

thanks in advance

Panchikawatte, its a big building, hard to miss..

[sharkster]

pioneer motors is close to the panchikawatte roundabout a few blocks from commercial bank...i highly recommend them...spk to a gentleman calld cader or saibu (spellin??) and tell them jamaldeen (thats me) gave u the contact...they might take a lil time to register the name tho lol...

[MRM]

  sharkster said:

pioneer motors is close to the panchikawatte roundabout a few blocks from commercial bank...i highly recommend them...spk to a gentleman calld cader or saibu (spellin??) and tell them jamaldeen (thats me) gave u the contact...they might take a lil time to register the name tho lol...

thanks machan for the details, i will go there may be tommorow or friday

for this i owe you a

thanks again

  sharkster said:

pioneer motors is close to the panchikawatte roundabout a few blocks from commercial bank...i highly recommend them...spk to a gentleman calld cader or saibu (spellin??) and tell them jamaldeen (thats me) gave u the contact...they might take a lil time to register the name tho lol...

thanks machan for the details, i will go there may be tommorow or friday

for this i owe you a

thanks again

  monamonu said:

Panchikawatte, its a big building, hard to miss..

thanks machan

[leonardo]

  sharkster said:

ahh welcome nissan owner...a replacement of a fuel filter n spark plugs are not a reason to take ur car to A*W...very straightforward work that u can get done anywhere...n if ur worried abt genuine parts...buy em from Pioneer Motors cos im a regular customer there n as a matter of fact A*W buys parts from there too wen they'r out of stock...i'll guarantee u'll save a huge percentage by gettin lil jobs done outside...ofcourse for critical engine mingling i wont recommend any1 but A*W for the primera n beyond...

Thanks for the advice. Will check out Pioneer motors, but shouldn't you do a tuneup once you replace the plugs and filter and isn't A*W the best bet for that? Also if you can let me know a few reliable garages you would recommend to get this done and maybe even get my shocks replaced it would be much appreciated. Have only used A*W for the last few years!

[sharkster]

  leonardo said:

Thanks for the advice. Will check out Pioneer motors, but shouldn't you do a tuneup once you replace the plugs and filter and isn't A*W the best bet for that? Also if you can let me know a few reliable garages you would recommend to get this done and maybe even get my shocks replaced it would be much appreciated. Have only used A*W for the last few years!

well i personally dont think u need a tune up the instant u replace ur plugs...besides u can change the plugs urslf n take it to em for the tune up...that way u wont hav to pay em for the plugs...mind u they chargd me 12k to replace 6 platinum plugs so there's no way im goin there for DIY jobs!!!and this was 4 yrs ago!!! however id recommend u change the fuel filter with the tune up cos there isnt much of a price difference...and yes i'd recommend A*W for the tune up cos they hav the diagnostic computer...expect to pay abt 3-4k for the tune up n maybe abt 2k for the fuel filter...

as for recommended garages to do ur shocks...cant really help u there cos i jus go to my local garage n sit there while they do my work...someone else here might b able to help u on that...

[ash]

  Pilawoos said:

Can even be the spark plugs or battery.. sometimes after market alarm systems can drain even good batteries just a slight bit over night.. On the other hand like Don said it can be a block in the fuel system.. Our petrol is filthy lol

Ahh... I got the answer for a question of mine as well.

I'm not using my car regularly these days because the shocks needs to be replaced, and using the other 1, When I tries to start the car (once in every three days) the battery is almost dead every time. There shouldn't be anything wrong with the battery. Now I know the reason. Remote system.... Thanks Pila.

[porkster]

  leonardo said:

Thanks for the advice. Will check out Pioneer motors, but shouldn't you do a tuneup once you replace the plugs and filter and isn't A*W the best bet for that? Also if you can let me know a few reliable garages you would recommend to get this done and maybe even get my shocks replaced it would be much appreciated. Have only used A*W for the last few years!

Hi,

You can get quite a few Nissan parts at Pioneer or at GS for decent prices, they are located close to each other at Panchikawatte just ask, the agents are incompetent rogues don't take your car there unless they put a seasoned mechanic on it. Usually they have the tech school trainees making a mess of things.

As the other members have suggested you probably need a tune up and I suggest you get you air cleaner filter changed, the air in Colombo is filthy and it tends to clogged quite fast.

For your tune up you can try D*MO they are relatively competent. Shouldn't cost more than 10-12K max. That is with the new fuel filter, plugs, throttle decarb cleaning, A/F adjustment and idle adjustment. They have wideband O2 sensors to do a proper tuning.

Shocks if you don't want to buy new ones u can always pick up some decent used ones from Delkanda or you can go for the OEM direct replacement ones from KYB, they are damn good, cost less than the Nissan brand and are suited for our roads.

G'luck buddy

Cheers, Porky

[The Don]

Hi,

Personally I do not even think its necessary to buy Branded shocks such as Toyota Nissans etc and this goes for a lot of the parts. If you want the original item, just look at the existing shock absorber and apart from the brand name of the manufacturer of the car, there would be the brand name of the shock absorber manufacturer, and most of the time it is KYB though I am sure Tokimo supplies some of the cars too, and then buy from the dealers of the OEM supplier. But from a reputed place though cos there are a lot of fakes arround,

I would not recommend buying used shocks though, because of our road conditions shocks tend to wear very fast and we have no way of knowing the wear and tear of used shocks and plus the condition of the seals etc on them, and though shocks are not cheap to replace, me thinks its a worthwhile investment.

any good mechanic should be able to deal with problems like shocks and suspension issues, though with modern day engines and electrics letting people who dont know what they are doing mess about can be very dangerous, if you tell us where you live, I am sure one of the members would be able to reccomend a place close to your place to get small DIY jobs (like shaks said) done,

And about getting work done from agents and places with a whole load of electronic gizmo's like MAG, Macro etc etc, methinks its not an issue of equipment but an issue of who is operating them, and I am speaking from personal experience. Very recently I had some electronic problem with my car, and plugging to the scan tools revealed various problems, and experts came up with various proposals and quotes for what needs to be done, but somebody I know (is an expert though) had a look and with a few fine adjustments sorted the problem out and didnt even take money What I had was a rough idle problem, I was quouted for replacement throttle bodies, throttle position sensors, idle controllers etc etc ........ so you see my point

The Don