Chevrolet Spark 2005: Starting issue

Hectic

Hectic

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My daughter started work as a teacher yesterday and the car broke down yesterday.

She is not an experienced driver and apparently the car was parked in 1st gear. When she started the car she did not check the gearing and the car lurched forward and stalled.
From there the the car did not want to start.
A friend tried to help her but could not get the car started.

This is what we know:
The starter motor was apparently a bit warm.
The cables going to the battery was a bit warm as well.
The radio was reset to to 00:00?
The engine does not swing when the ignition is turned.
When the ignition is turned, a noise comes from the fuse box in the engine bay. (I will try to post a sound file)
I've traced it to the Fuel pump relay, yet last night it was traced to the ignition relay. When the relay is removed, there is no noise. The r three relays are the same and I've swapped them around, but the noise persists and the engine does not start.
We tried to push the car to get it going, but does not help.
The battery was charged, but did not help.
The starter motor is somewhere at the bottom of the car and is very awkward to get at.
I've checked a couple of fuses, but they seem okay.
The lights on the dash and instrument panel does come on when the ignition is turned on.

My daughter nly started working yesterday and it might take a while before she receives her first salary and I'm pretty useless when it comes to engines.
Any advice as to where we should look?

Relay sound:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/110688768/Chevrolet Spark/Relay sound.mp3



Screenshot_2015-04-14-14-12-11.jpgScreenshot_2015-04-14-14-06-13.jpg
 
Last edited:
Sure the real mechanics will come and advise soon enough,

Had something similar once when my sentra overheated and didnt want to start,
Similar to yours, clicking radio reset ect....

What eventually got it going was push starting down a hill, and then let the engine charge the battery, im assuming a manual chev spark you got?

What else, oh yes, fuel pump cutoff switch activated?

Inside the car, might have to refer to the manual is a button that trips in case of an accident, to prevent fuel leaking and catching fire

Sometimes its activated with a jolt, or small collision, try locate it and reset it,
 
eg2505 said:
Sure the real mechanics will come and advise soon enough,

Had something similar once when my sentra overheated and didnt want to start,
Similar to yours, clicking radio reset ect....

What eventually got it going was push starting down a hill, and then let the engine charge the battery, im assuming a manual chev spark you got?

What else, oh yes, fuel pump cutoff switch activated?

Inside the car, might have to refer to the manual is a button that trips in case of an accident, to prevent fuel leaking and catching fire

Sometimes its activated with a jolt, or small collision, try locate it and reset it,
Click to expand...

Incidentally im not even sure where its located on my car a kia picanto....

Maybe somebody can advise?
 
Have you tried disconnecting the battery, leaving it for a few minutes, and then connecting it again?
 
eg2505 said:
Sure the real mechanics will come and advise soon enough,

Had something similar once when my sentra overheated and didnt want to start,
Similar to yours, clicking radio reset ect....

What eventually got it going was push starting down a hill, and then let the engine charge the battery, im assuming a manual chev spark you got?

What else, oh yes, fuel pump cutoff switch activated?

Inside the car, might have to refer to the manual is a button that trips in case of an accident, to prevent fuel leaking and catching fire

Sometimes its activated with a jolt, or small collision, try locate it and reset it,
Click to expand...

Yes it is a manual.
Hmm didn't even know about the button.
I bought a PDF manual. Will search for it.

Thank you for the reply.
 
Its a little pushbutton, usually in the passenger footwell, disconnecting the batt has no effect on it,

Might have to remove a cover to get to it
I remember in a honda jazz where it was, quite hard to find it,

As its the dealerships money maker, spend 8k towing your car to them, only for them to push a button only they know of......

8k pure profit just like that....
 
eg2505 said:
Its a little pushbutton, usually in the passenger footwell, disconnecting the batt has no effect on it,

Might have to remove a cover to get to it
I remember in a honda jazz where it was, quite hard to find it,

As its the dealerships money maker, spend 8k towing your car to them, only for them to push a button only they know of......

8k pure profit just like that....
Click to expand...
Yoh!
But if it disables the fuel pump, shouldn't the engine still turn over, even if can't start?
 
Read again your post, definetly is that pushbutton,

You had a jolt, did she hit anything?
Even very minor, no damage at all,

Is enough sometimes to trip that switch,
And i think thats what happened here,

If you get it going let us know.....

And maybe somebody will tell me where mine is? In case it happens to me one day....
 
spyketdog said:
Hi there

I know how it feels. First does she have a immobilizer alarm on the car. Because sometimes this is the main problem.

However check this out. Hope it helps http://www.allpar.com/fix/stall.html
Click to expand...
Yes, but the lights are flickering the same sequence as before apparently, but I don't know if that means anything.

Will check the link, thank you.
 
eg2505 said:
Read again your post, definetly is that pushbutton,

You had a jolt, did she hit anything?
Even very minor, no damage at all,

Is enough sometimes to trip that switch,
And i think thats what happened here,

If you get it going let us know.....

And maybe somebody will tell me where mine is? In case it happens to me one day....
Click to expand...
Not a major jolt and not hit anything.
My wife drove to Spar and left the car in gear. My daughter wanted to drive home, but never took the car out of gear or used the clutch.

She just turned the key and the car just moved a bit. She is still a learner driver and her "Ruk & Pluk" sessions, as she called her practice sessions, were probably worse.
 
Hectic said:
Yoh!
But if it disables the fuel pump, shouldn't the engine still turn over, even if can't start?
Click to expand...

The idea is in an accident where theres petrol in the ground, to not make a bad situation worse, so the switch activates locking the fuel from going into the engine and starting a fire.

Very good safety feature, but potentially confusing, as they dont recommend pushing that switch if you smell or see petrol on the ground to prevent an explosion

In your case there was a jolt, maybe it was hard enough to trip it?
 
Hectic said:
Not a major jolt and not hit anything.
My wife drove to Spar and left the car in gear. My daughter wanted to drive home, but never took the car out of gear or used the clutch.

She just turned the key and the car just moved a bit. She is still a learner driver and her "Ruk & Pluk" sessions, as she called her practice sessions, were probably worse.
Click to expand...

I hear you, but even so
If you've ever tried to move a car with the starter, its quite violent and rough,

Might just be the car thought its an accident, and locked the fuel pump......

As its a g shock sensor that gets tripped, and quite sensitive sometimes.....
 
Hectic said:
No.
I don't know where it is. Maybe it is disengaged?
Click to expand...

Look carefully inside the passenger well , see any red buttons sticking out? Or anything that looks like it goes in?

A torch might help.....
Usually its on the passenger side, but might be somewhere else in your case?
 
eg2505 said:
Look carefully inside the passenger well , see any red buttons sticking out? Or anything that looks like it goes in?

A torch might help.....
Usually its on the passenger side, but might be somewhere else in your case?
Click to expand...
I have never driven the car and my daughter says she have never pushed or activated anything before.

She thought that the key deactivated the immobiliser?
 
It does deactivate usually the immobiliser,

Kind of hard googling for fuel pump cutoff switch dahwoo matiz

Some suggest its under the back seat, next to the tank, or sitting deep inside the passenger footwell, as a recessed pushbutton near the floor, very hard to get at.....

Question for you, when you turn the key to acc, can you hear the pump prime?
Ie a very silent whine that comes on and then goes off very quickly?
Or after switching off after 2min, can you hear a click when the key removed?

Try it out with a quiet garage, or by putting your ear nearby to the passenger footwell and listning closely....

Still think its this, but maybe one of the other petrolheads has a diffrent opinion, trouble is there all asleep, so leave it until the morning and sleep on it....
 
eg2505 said:
It does deactivate usually the immobiliser,

Kind of hard googling for fuel pump cutoff switch dahwoo matiz

Some suggest its under the back seat, next to the tank, or sitting deep inside the passenger footwell, as a recessed pushbutton near the floor, very hard to get at.....

Question for you, when you turn the key to acc, can you hear the pump prime?
Ie a very silent whine that comes on and then goes off very quickly?
Or after switching off after 2min, can you hear a click when the key removed?

Try it out with a quiet garage, or by putting your ear nearby to the passenger footwell and listning closely....

Still think its this, but maybe one of the other petrolheads has a diffrent opinion, trouble is there all asleep, so leave it until the morning and sleep on it....
Click to expand...
Thx, will see if I can find out more.
 
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