BigJimnyMeet (North) 2024 (12 Jan 2024)
14th July 2024
Parkwood Nr. Leeds
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Difficult to start, then lots of white smoke
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I have had my Jimny since June and all has been well so far until this morning when I couldn't get it to start. It seemed to turn over fine but it wouldn't spark. I left it for 5 mins, and tried again while pumping the gas and it eventually started with a huge puff of white smoke from the exhaust. It was running very rough and felt as though it was going to cut out so I held the gas on for a bit. It smoked more but not as much. I turned it off, came back to it 15 minutes later and it started absolutely fine with no obvious smoke at all.
Any ideas what the problem could be? I'm worried it might be the HG so I'm reluctant to drive it for the time being, even though I think it would probably drive okay. There is no gunk around the oil cap and the coolant looks fine through the outside of the overflow tank, however it was a little bit dark when I looked inside the tank even though I changed the coolant in June when I bought it. The coolant doesn't seem oily though.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary
Gary
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E.
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2013gary wrote: I couldn't get it to start. It seemed to turn over fine but it wouldn't spark. I left it for 5 mins, and tried again while pumping the gas and it eventually started with a huge puff of white smoke from the exhaust. It was running very rough and felt as though it was going to cut out so I held the gas on for a bit. It smoked more but not as much.
Pretty much describes exactly what happens the next day if you started it up to move it on the drive, and turned it off before it had warmed up properly.
Any chance that you have done that?
Otherwise could be anything, wait and see if it does it again.
If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
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Elaine wrote: White smoke. Isn't that usually fuel starvation?
I was getting the impression that it wasn't getting enough fuel to start.
facade wrote:
2013gary wrote: I couldn't get it to start. It seemed to turn over fine but it wouldn't spark. I left it for 5 mins, and tried again while pumping the gas and it eventually started with a huge puff of white smoke from the exhaust. It was running very rough and felt as though it was going to cut out so I held the gas on for a bit. It smoked more but not as much.
Pretty much describes exactly what happens the next day if you started it up to move it on the drive, and turned it off before it had warmed up properly.
Any chance that you have done that?
Otherwise could be anything, wait and see if it does it again.
Oddly enough I did pull it forward a bit on the drive yesterday - it was only running for a few seconds. I'll take it for a spin tonight so that it can get up to temp and see what happens.
Thanks both for your advice
Gary
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2013gary wrote: Oddly enough I did pull it forward a bit on the drive yesterday - it was only running for a few seconds.
That'll do it.
Never start up a car and switch it off again after a few seconds. If you try that with A Really Expensive Car it can cost hundreds for a specially trained technician to fly in by helicopter and strip the whole car down to clean the 'plugs
If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
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facade wrote: Never start up a car and switch it off again after a few seconds. If you try that with A Really Expensive Car it can cost hundreds for a specially trained technician to fly in by helicopter and strip the whole car down to clean the 'plugs
I've had my Jimny for over 7 years now, and have started it up for just a few seconds many, many times. Never had any problems... Nor with our really expensive cars.
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If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
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Some Suzukis and a bunch of motorcycles.
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facade wrote: Jaguar XJ8 V8s are renowned for it, and it takes 2 hours to change the 'plugs if you can't start it by keeping the pedal flat (which puts it in "no fuel" mode) to clear the engine.
Aaah, never owned a Jag. They're not a make that appeals to me... I prefer relatively rare sporty cars.
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I think over fuelling where fuel is still injected after shut down is the issue. So the plugs are wet. Wide open throttle gives more air and balances the over fuelling.
Mine has done it a number of times but not lately. I am conscious of it though so let it run for a while. I have a clip to connect my garage keys to the ignition key to be able to separate them and lock the garage with it running.
I've not had a problem the day after though.
I would run it as normal locally and keep an eye on it with regards to oil and coolant levels and oil in the coolant or vice versa and maybe change the spark plugs unless you know they're newish.
It could be spark plugs on the way out.
If it persist and there is no obvious cause I'd start to investigate further. A compression test then perhaps coolant temperature sensor replacement and throttle body / air flow meter clean.
I think it's just one of those quirks though in all honesty.
Kirkynut
The underdog often starts the fight, and occasionally the upper dog deserves to win - Edgar Watson Howe.
My Jimny Thread Here: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/8-my-ji...on-continues?start=0
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I think kirkynut may be right though as I did start it for only a few seconds the day before, which is something that I never normally do. Now that I am aware I will probably never do it again. If it wasn't for that smokey start up then everything would be normal so I'll just carry on as normal but keep an eye on the levels. Thanks again for the advice though.
Gary
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