Starting trouble with my i10

I am facing starting trouble with my Hyundai i10 -IRDE vehicle. This is particulary happening after the car is idle for more than 8 hours.

Example: I started my car early in the morning today. Engine gets started. However with in few seconds Engine compartment starts shaking and the RPM meter just drops to zero. Apparently Engine also stops. Now if I restart the engine it will start as if nothing happened. Also I observed that during initial start-up, engine is leaving out Petrol Smell which it doesn't do when I start the engine second time. Can anyone help me what could be the problem and how to get it rectified? I have shown it to Service Center. They were also clueless about it.

Regards

RadhaMadhav

Clueless service centre? How old is the car? Hope it is still under warranty. If yes then hound the auth. serv. centre till they fix it.

Assuming that there's enough petrol in the tank, there could be one or more of the following problems:

1. Bad fuel quality - this is the least checked point but will lead to the next two problems.
2. Fuel pump bad/weak
3. Fuel filter clogged
4. Leakage of fuel in one or more of the parts between tank and injectors (basically all places through which fuel flows)
5. Clogged injectors
6. Air filter is clogged too much - though this will cause bad mileage instead of stalling
7. Spark plugs and related electricals (wiring, distributor etc.)

Madhav,

1. What is the age of vehicle and service status?
2. What is the speed at which it idles when running properly? is it low?
3. When you start for the first time in the morning, does it get along OK if you revv the engine for some 15 seconds? (say like 2000 rpm for 15 seconds, and then let it idle on it's own)
4. When it starts the second time, what is the RPM it shows? (first off is there a tachometer to take care of these questions?)

Rohit, this kind of behaviour is not possible to be replicated at the ASS, so naturally ASS is clueless.

Mentioning service status will clarify most answers sought by Rohit.

Krishna, regarding the ASC - they should have proper knowledge of the symptoms (as narrated by the owner) and possible cause. Agreed that the problem may not be replicable but then problem with first (morning) start-up should be a well-known or documented symptom.

If the symptom is repeatable and consistent then there should be an explanation.

My car is about 2 years old. Recently the service center people have cleaned the air filter. The symptom got reduced for about a week or so. Later it started troubling me again. I have observed one more thing like when the engine is started for first time the RPM shoots up to 3000 and falls to about 1000 gradually reduces to zero within 10 secs. Moreoever this occurs when I move into Gear 1  instantly after starting the engine. When I restart the engine the RPM moves to about 2500 and gradually comes down to 500. One more observation I made while driving in Gear 2 - The RPM has to be stable at 500 if I don't give any acceleration i.e 10 KMPH (Car used to work this way during initial days of my purchase). However it is now falling to as low as 400 i.e about 7 KMPH and thus forces me to press the clutch to bring it back to Normal. Hope this information will provide some clue about the issue.

If I idle the engine for about a min before moving into Gear 1, the engine adjusts itself although I can make out the fluctuations in vibrations. This time engine doesn't turnoff. However the acceleration become extremely difficult for 10 to 15 mins after vehicle starts moving. Apparently my vehicle pick-up has also reduced drastically now a days. Could this be a problem with Clutch or Gear box or transmission mechanism?

Do you feel any sort of shuddering/sputtering or jerking of the engine/car whilst accelerating or when you let the car be in gear without pressing the accelerator?

Moreover, do you engage 1st gear by quickly taking your foot off the slutch pedal or gradually taking your foot off. If it is the former case then that's what is stalling the engine. If it is the latter then try giving a little accelerator whilst releasing the clutch pedal. See if the car works normally. If yes then I don't see a problem. If no then try changing the petrol pump where you fill up the tank. See if that solves the problem.

A wild guess - Rat. Check for rat/rodent remainings inside engine bay. 

HI Radha_erm,

I am also facing the same problem for the last 2 weeks, not everyday but intermittently. Did you figure out why this is happening. Please share the details.

Thanks,

Santh

Hi Santh,

This problem can occur in two situations

(1) Your Timer belt lost elasticity or gained elasticity than it should have

(2) Faulty Oil Filter also results in this case

In my case it was resolved after Timer belt has been changed

Regards

Radha Madhav

Hi Radha Madhav,

Thanks for your reply. I will ask the ASC to check both. My car is only 1.5 year old. will it have the timing belt issue? Interesting!!!

Santh