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[Closed] What's wrong with my car/anyone know an mobile mechanic in Edinburgh?
Bangernomics issue! A couple of months ago I picked up a G reg Peugeot 205 auto for buttons as it was advertised as having an intermittent starting problem. It ran fine for about 6 weeks, a bit sluggish idling on start but that was "solved" by gunning the engine for 20 seconds each time. Since then I've not been able to get it to start at all, I can hear the starter motor ticking over but it won't fire up. I've never had a car with a carburetor before so I'm not sure if it's likely to be that which is the issue?
Failing any specific advice - can anyone recommend the holy grail of a cheap, reliable mobile mechanic in Edinburgh who can work on older cars?
If starters not turning and battery is good suspect starter dead. If cranking strong and not starting check for spark at plugs if no spark possible coil pack. Spark and no start carb could be blocked a good clean will sort. If plugs are covered in fuel think auto choke dead try operating by hand to get started to confirm. All else fails hit with hammer.
Take out spark plugs, find online diagnostic pics of spark plugs and compare: eg, sooty plug = too rich mix, burnt plugs = too lean mix, wet plugs = (probably) no spark, excess gap = close gap to correct size, that could be the problem - etc. Amazing what you can tell from the plugs.
So is the starter just ticking, or is it cranking the engine?
Regardless, find where the battery earth strap connects to body work, and also the one from engine block/gearbox, and clean/refix both ends of each strap.
Or if they look good, get a jump lead and connect the battery negative to the engine block (creating a new earth) and see if this solves the problem.