2005 petrol Fiesta - stalls, then won't restart

[mikeiow]

Hi there,
We have a 32K mile 2005 Fiesta. In general, it runs just fine, has been in the family since new, all serviced regularly (although the last couple have been a local garage rather than Ford specialist).

However, just recently, it has a habit that if you stall (& our daughter is learning, so on occasion it happens!), it won't restart for some time. Sometimes quite some time - last time we had to get a lift and leave it....2 hours later it was fine. Hence she is unwilling to drive it now in case it leaves her stranded at a junction (which I can understand). I have tried all the regular ways to restart (foot slowly to floor, release etc). it turns over but won't fire.

Sounds to me like a mixture problem - flooded engine - but anyone here got any thoughts, & why it has just started happening?
In particular, since I am unable to solve it (mechanically challenged!), are we best to take to a regular Ford dealer or a tuning specialist?
(any good ones recommended in Leicester?!)

thanks for any ideas!
Mike

[S0 What]

Flooded engine start procedure is hold the pedal to the floor whilst cranking, has it had plugs recently? modern plugs dont recover from flooding as easyly as older ones did IME.

[bearman68]

May be a coil breaking down. Any codes on it - that's a good place to start.

[btcc123]

My son is learning to drive in a Toyota Yaris that we have in the family and when I took him out for a drive if he stopped and turned the ignition off or stalled it sometimes would not start,We push started it and always started that way.

The car was an 03 reg so 12 years old and had the original battery that was showing as charged but I was not convinced so replaces it with a Halfords one (4 year guarantee) for about £60-70 and now always starts hot or cold.

[mikeiow]

Thx for suggestions, yup, tried flooded engine procedures....no idea about codes (guess I need to take it to a Ford dealer). It was serviced fairly recently, but we are a little....loathe to return to that garage.
Battery is sound

[btcc123]

Did you find out what the problem was.

[S0 What]

dont go to a ford dealer, the dash will tell you the codes,
Insert Key but do not turn it on
Press and hold the Trip Meter Reset Button
While holding the reset button, start your car and continue holding the button
Within 10 seconds, the display should change to "test" in LCD font and the needles will do a full sweeping. Release the Button
Pressing the button will now cycle through some 17 different modes

1Gauge Sweep
2. all 8's on the LCD (LCD TEST)
3. Illuminates all the bulbs on the dash
4. Displays hexadecimal value for ROM level
5. Displays the hexadecimal value for EE level
6. Shows DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Codes)
7. Digital Speedometer - mph
8. Digital Speedometer - kph
9. N/A
10. Digital tachometer
11.Fuel volume
12. Engine coolant temperature
13. Battery voltage
14. ABS fail
15. Electronic brake distribution (EBD) failure
16. Illumination
17. Crank Sense


The issue could be the VSS, either in the gearbox or 1 of the ABS sensor/rings bad depending on the build date but try the above and see what comes up.

Edited by S0 What on Sunday 22 November 20:45

[Jadonjadon]

Hi - Sorry I know this is an old post but did you find out the problem?

I'm having the ax act same issue. If I stall or stop the engine briefly (going in to a shop etc), the the car won't restart.

Engine turns over but doesn't start up, although it's easy to jump start it.

Really frustrating...

Thanks

[TommmmyD]

Hi All,

Similar to the above. Did you manage to find out how tor rectify this issue? I also have a 2005 Ford Fiesta which struggles to start after either stalling or after a short stop.

Thanks,
Tom

[njw1]

At risk of repeating myself this sounds like a battery issue, especially if it starts ok with a jump start.

[TommmmyD]

Think I am planning to change the battery over the next couple of days. However, I did notice a flickering noise coming from the glove box when cold - which doesn’t seem to happen when it’s warm, wondering if this could be the problem area.

I can hear what I think is the fuel pump as I turn the ignition to first setting, both hot and cold, so can only assume this is not the issue (although I’m not a qualified mechanic!)

[TommmmyD]

Did a bit of research on the issue and some people had suggested that the inertia switch may need to be reset. This supposedly controls the fuel , therefore it made sense to give this a try.

Just tried reset the button on the inertia switch and the car started fine - so would recommend anyone with the same issue try resetting it. It’s a yellow switch behind the glove box - takes seconds and costs nothing to reset.

If you push the top of it you should feel a click - if not, then it’s probbaly not your issue.

Cheers
Tom

[Shiv_P]

Had similar problems but it would usually start with a little bit of gas until Sunday when it refused to start at all
Had to call recovery but it was just a fked battery so replaced it on Sunday
Original battery on a prefacelift 2005 1.25 so it hasn't done badly