Things That Can Keep Your Car From Starting
4 More Things That Can Keep Your Car From Starting
At Archer Volkswagen, we strive to provide comprehensive answers to all your auto care questions. We've already written articles about why your car might refuse to start after sitting for a short time, and why it cranks but doesn't ultimately start. These are still helpful resources, but we've only scratched the surface of what there is to know about car engines and what makes them tick. That's why we're always adding more information to our website. On this page, we've gathered four more things that can keep your car from starting. From bad piston rings and valve seals to engine camshaft position sensor problems, here are four more things to look for if your car won't start.
4. Bad Piston Rings & Valve Seals
On our other page, we focused on what can prevent your engine from getting the air, fuel and spark that it needs to run. But if you've got bad piston rings or leaky valve seals, there could be something getting into your engine cylinders that's not supposed to be. Namely, engine oil. All your engine's moving parts need oil to lubricate them for smooth, quiet operation. The piston rings and valve seals keep oil from getting into the cylinders during combustion. Over time, these seals can degrade and may eventually need to be replaced. If engine oil is getting into the cylinder, it can foul your spark plugs and prevent combustion from taking place. That means your engine won't start when you turn the key.
3. Warped Cylinder Head
If you're not already aware, you should know that engine overheating can cause severe damage! That's why it's important to pull over and let the engine cool whenever the temperature gauge gets into the red, or the oil temp warning light comes on.
When the engine in a modern car starts to overheat, it can cause the cylinder head to warp and even crack from heat. This can cause a failure in the head gasket, allowing coolant to get into the engine's cylinders. A little bit of coolant will burn up in the engine and may cause white wisps of smoke to come from the vehicle's tailpipe. However, enough coolant in the cylinders will prevent combustion from taking place at all.
2. Improper Engine Timing
The engine in a modern car spins at thousands of rotations per minute. That means the combustion cycle takes place multiple times per second in each cylinder. To achieve this, the engine needs to be timed correctly. The valves must open and close at the proper times and the spark plug must fire at the exact right moment for optimal fuel efficiency. If this timing is even minutely off, the engine may run poorly, sluggishly, may consume excessive fuel or may even stop working and refuse to start.
1. Bad Engine Position Sensors
Related to the timing system are the engine's crankshaft position sensor and camshaft position sensor (or sensors). These sensors detect where in the engine's travel the crankshaft and camshaft are located, so the engine's computer knows exactly when to activate the fuel injectors and when to fire the spark plugs. If one of these sensors should stop working, the engine's computer won't have enough information to know when to spray the fuel injectors and fire the spark plugs, causing the engine to run poorly, stall and even refuse to start.