Hi,

Not sure if anyone can help me on here but it's worth a try.

My recently purchased Mazda 323f won't start. Only had it a couple of days

Since having it, it's started fine everytime and drives perfectly. I know the previous owner and they have never had a problem starting the car. MOT was done Dec 2010 and there's no major issues that they know of.

I left work and the car started fine. I drove 500 yards to pick up my girlfriend, engine off for 5/10 mins and when I came back, it wouldn't start.

The brake down guy came to pick me up last night, he found a green vacuum hose that wasn't attached to the engine and thinks that could be the problem? He couldn't get his hand in there to attch it.

The car turns over fine but just won't fire. Another friend suggested the immobilizer could have something to do with it? Although it doesn't seem to be working when I purchased the car.

I have very little knowledge of cars and very little money to pay out for hefty garage fees to get it repaired. Just wondered if anyone else has come across this problem?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

If its a 95 car it may not have an immobiliser - easy way to tell is if you look at the ignition barrel. If the barrel has a grey flat circle around it, then you have no factory immob. If you have a black raised ring around the key slot, you do

I think on the BA it cuts off the fuel pump rather than stopping the starter turning over - so if you do have an immobilizer and its gone funny, that might explain the non starting. But it could be a number of other things too.

Also you'll have a security light on the dashboard that in theory should stay on if you have a factory immobilizer and it has a problem. Hope that helps, I'm sure others will post up some answers soon too

I'm not sure if it's factory fitted, i'll check with your advice when I get home. When I came to insure the car, they automatically grey out the fitted immobilizer as standard. So that's why I assumed it had one factory fitted on this model.

I don't know if this makes a difference but the radio was flashing when the key was in the ignition and would play any sound. Again, that's why i'm thinking it might be an issue with the immobilizer but to be honest, I don't have a clue!

I did find a Vacuum Hose Routing Diagram on another post. Any idea if one of these hoses has come out it would stop the car from starting? The hose is green and from the diagram is named VRIS Solenoid valve.

p.s I love this forum by the way

This may seem like a silly question, but your key has a chip fitted to it, which if lost will not allow the car to start. Check your key, think there should be a red plug at the top of the key which is the plug to retain the chip. If that has gone, then your chip has gone and could be the reason for not starting.

If you have the spare key to the car, try that one and see if it will start.

Just got the key infront of me now. It looks like a standard key to me, I don't see any red plug on it at all??

An original Mazda key has the chip embedded inside with no red plug With my car I got one original, and one that had been cut, which does have the red bit on top. But as Shayne says - if you have a spare, give that a go in case

[quote="zutekh"]

I did find a Vacuum Hose Routing Diagram on another post. Any idea if one of these hoses has come out it would stop the car from starting? The hose is green and from the diagram is named VRIS Solenoid valve.

p.s I love this forum by the way [/quote]

I don't have a V6, but I don't think the VRIS would stop it starting, it essentially changes the header length to optimize power or some magic at certain RPMs. So while the hose probably should be connected to get the best out of the engine, it should still start and run fine.

Ps. Welcome Hope you can get it sorted easily

Have you checked there is a spark and fuel first before delving into the electronics ?

Could be something so simple. . .

Stu

[quote="Sloth"]An original Mazda key has the chip embedded inside with no red plug With my car I got one original, and one that had been cut, which does have the red bit on top. But as Shayne says - if you have a spare, give that a go in case [/quote]

Ah ok, I do have a spare. It seems odd that I only drove 500 yards and it happend. Could it really be the key??

Good tip guys, will defo give it a try with the spare when I get home.

[quote="_stuz_"]Have you checked there is a spark and fuel first before delving into the electronics ?

Could be something so simple. . .

Stu[/quote]

Hi Stu, yeah i put half a tank of fuel in the night before, still showing on the guage.

The breakdown guy checked the plugs, all fine.

[quote="zutekh"][quote="Sloth"]An original Mazda key has the chip embedded inside with no red plug With my car I got one original, and one that had been cut, which does have the red bit on top. But as Shayne says - if you have a spare, give that a go in case [/quote]

Ah ok, I do have a spare. It seems odd that I only drove 500 yards and it happend. Could it really be the key??

Good tip guys, will defo give it a try with the spare when I get home.[/quote]

It's possible if it was a cut / non OEM key that the chip may have fallen out, but it could be a number of other things like Stu says. Investigating time.

Did the breakdown guy check to see if you were getting a spark when trying to start the car?

[quote="Sloth"]

I don't have a V6, but I don't think the VRIS would stop it starting, it essentially changes the header length to optimize power or some magic at certain RPMs. So while the hose probably should be connected to get the best out of the engine, it should still start and run fine.

Ps. Welcome Hope you can get it sorted easily [/quote]

I hope so too! I'm starting a new job on Monday which is in the middle of nowhere and the main reason for buying a car

[quote="Sloth"][quote="zutekh"][quote="Sloth"]An original Mazda key has the chip embedded inside with no red plug With my car I got one original, and one that had been cut, which does have the red bit on top. But as Shayne says - if you have a spare, give that a go in case [/quote]

Ah ok, I do have a spare. It seems odd that I only drove 500 yards and it happend. Could it really be the key??

Good tip guys, will defo give it a try with the spare when I get home.[/quote]

It's possible if it was a cut / non OEM key that the chip may have fallen out, but it could be a number of other things like Stu says. Investigating time.

Did the breakdown guy check to see if you were getting a spark when trying to start the car?[/quote]

Yeah he checked them all and said they were sparking while I was turning the ignition. The top of the key is just moulded plastic, I can't even see how a chip could fall out??

Check to see if there is an over-ride switch for the Immobaliser, usually a round hollow key, if there is an over-ride fitted, over-ride the immobaliser and see if that makes a difference.

Okay, so getting a spark narrows that down a bit. I guess fuel would be the next thing to look at I suppose to see if its getting to the engine, but I haven't a clue on that so I'll leave that for someone else.

Re the key, if you can't see a hole in it or a missing bit from it then its likely the chip (if it has one) is still there inside. Best thing to do to rule that out is try a spare key if you've got one.

If the car has an Immobaliser, which I think Sloth said this model doesn't, where would I find it?? Sorry, i'm a complete Mazda noob

I'll give the spare key a go when I get home too

It may or may not have, but either way if it does have a factory fitted one, it's built into the ECU.

My post up above shows how to tell if you've got one

Just borrowed this pic from Stu:

[img]http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s272/caggiegc/mazda%20v6%20ba/IMG_3125.jpg[/img]

His car doesn't have a factory immobilizer - you can see around the key hole is just a flat grey plate. If this is black and raised somewhat, you do have one.

Aftermarket immobalisers are normally fitted in the drivers foot well, or the pasengers footwell,and the over-ride could be anywhere on the car, check with the previous owner if one was fitted, they may know.

[quote="zutekh"][quote="_stuz_"]Have you checked there is a spark and fuel first before delving into the electronics ?

Could be something so simple. . .

Stu[/quote]

Hi Stu, yeah i put half a tank of fuel in the night before, still showing on the guage.

The breakdown guy checked the plugs, all fine.[/quote]

What I meant by checking fuel was checking at the fuel rail to see if fuels is present, if not it could point to something like fuel pump and if it does have an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser then one of the most common places to use to stop the car from starting is. . . . You guessed it the fuel pump

Hope we can help get you on the road

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=37177

turned out to be krank/camshft position sensor

I would do what the earliest posts in that post tell you.

Firstly, find out if you have an immobiliser. If you're using a standard key with a mazda logo on the black plastic bit, you don't have an aftermarket immobiliser. Switch the ignition on, does an orange light appear in the bottom left corner of the dash with a key and "security" written on it? If so, you have a factory immobiliser, if not, you don't. That's that sorted, next...

Open the oil cap, and have someone try to start the engine while you look in the oil hole. If you see the cams moving, the cambelt is fine so that's not the problem.

Crank the engine for 4 or 5 seconds, then go and sniff the exhaust - does it smell like petrol? If so, fuel shouldn't be a problem. A more thorough check for this is to disconnect the fuel rail and try cranking, if fuel squirts out, you have fuel.

If the engine isn't starting, you're missing one of the 3 things key to getting a bang - fuel, air, ignition source. Test each one Air is easy, you're not in space, so you have air

he may not have air, if there is a blockage

I'd think anyone would notice if the intake pipe was blocked, with it being 70mm in diameter - would take a fat squirrel to block it

a fat squirrel. . .

Morning! Cheers for the advice guys - I tried the sapre key, not the problem. The car doesn't have factory fitted immobilizer. I'll see if I can run the tests that hughie suggested, i'm still not sure what i'm looking for so will try and find some diagrams or videos. Failing that, it's off to the garage

If you end up sending it to the garage, tell them to check the crank position sensor

The mobile mechanic has just left. There's no spark, he tested the main feeder which seems to be the problem. If that sound's right? He said it could take hours r even days to find the wiring problem?? Also, he mentioned the crank position sensor culd be the cause of the problem but needs to take it into the garage on Monday.

Any thoughts guys?

Crank position sensor sounds most likely, however if you have anyone with a V6 nearby, you could ask them to swap distributors and leads, to make sure that's not at fault. If that isn't the problem, 90% sure its the crank position sensor. The "main feed" would be the signal going to the distributor. If the CPS is dead, it won't send a signal.

Have you got an oil leak on the offside of the engine? (driver side)

[quote="HughieW"]Crank position sensor sounds most likely, however if you have anyone with a V6 nearby, you could ask them to swap distributors and leads, to make sure that's not at fault. If that isn't the problem, 90% sure its the crank position sensor. The "main feed" would be the signal going to the distributor. If the CPS is dead, it won't send a signal.

Have you got an oil leak on the offside of the engine? (driver side)[/quote]

I know it has a slight oil leak from a rocker cover gasket and has done for a few years as previous services have made mention on the invoices

This sounds too familiar