Strange‌ ‌Starting Problem‌ ‌With‌ ‌Maruti‌ ‌Alto‌ ‌LX‌ (2005)


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
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Location
Shimla
Dear Team Members

I decided to reach out to you all here in order to discuss a strange issue with my 2005 Maruti Alto LX. Sometimes the car refuses to start after being driven and the engine check light starts glowing. No matter how many times you turn the key it refuses to buzz and there is no activity with the starter motor. The car does fires up when given a push in the second or third gear, the engine light at this time keeps glowing which goes away after a few hours/days.

There is no specific pattern of this issue cropping up sometimes there will be no problem even after driving long-distance and sometimes the issue may surface even when I am out to run some errands nearby. Here I must also say that it never stops or dies out of the blue when being driven the problem only happens once the engine is switched off.

This vehicle is my daily drive for the past 15 years and has reached a milestone of 2.5 lakh kilometres. I have maintained my car immaculately and it gets serviced regularly at a reputed MASS here in my home town Shimla but even they have failed to identify the root cause.

The following troubleshooting has been done so far to probe and isolate the failing component but there was no success:
  1. Battery replacement done
  2. OBD scan done but no error found
  3. Distributor replacement done
  4. The entire lockset including the ignition key was replaced
  5. I had installed an Autocop car security system about 10 years ago which had the engine immobiliser too, got that completely removed
  6. Starter motor servicing, which by the way is working fine as per my car electrician
  7. Complete wiring check for any cuts, rat bites or any fraying
So far there has been no success and I am not sure what to do. I am emotionally attached to it and I want to keep it for a longer period of time but this problem is really spoiling my experience. With COVID and some tough times going on I really do not want to spend on a new car. We have a lot of intellectuals here on the forum having in-depth knowledge about automobiles so I am sure someone might be able to help me out here and guide what to do in order to fix this problem.

Looking forward to your inputs.
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
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Early in the morning before starting the car record battery terminal voltage. After starting the car what is the terminal voltage. Did your alternator checked? does it giving rated current output, if you have DC clamp meter, once car started you can clamp to negative battery wire and meter reading should show at least 20 amps. What is the ambient temperature there in the morning.
 

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