It's been raining for days here in the East, my Outback has been sitting for days as well. Went to start it, it will crank but wont turn over. I had a similar problem six months ago had it towed to a service station where they replaced the timing belt. Could this be the timing belt again, or some electrical ghost? Help appreciated.

When turn it to on can you hear the fuel pump come on?

 

Anyway - if a modern fuel injected car sits for 'some time' the pressure in the fuel system can decrease requiring more time for the pump to pressurize.

 

Or possibly the wet weather is shorting the high voltage system.

 

Maybe someone else has a guess.

 

It would be nice to have more deatils on age/condition of the car and if a CEL came on.

 

Carl

Thanks Carl, the lack of pressure seems interesting. When I turn the key on there are some noises, fuel pump could be one of 'em. How might I keep the pump going to get the pressure up? What is a CEL? Are there any tricks to determine if it is a short? The car is a 1996 Outback with 180,000+ miles, no major problems except the similar issue six months ago.

Thanks Carl, the lack of pressure seems interesting. When I turn the key on there are some noises, fuel pump could be one of 'em. How might I keep the pump going to get the pressure up? What is a CEL? Are there any tricks to determine if it is a short? The car is a 1996 Outback with 180,000+ miles, no major problems except the similar issue six months ago.

 

i don't know about that "losing pressure" jive. a car would have to be sitting for a couple months before it has a hard time starting up.

 

CEL - Check Engine Light, AKA; MIL - malfunction indicator lamp

Ooo Kick start it!

i don't know about that "losing pressure" jive. a car would have to be sitting for a couple months before it has a hard time starting up.

 

CEL - Check Engine Light, AKA; MIL - malfunction indicator lamp

 

you're right - for some reason I thought he said sitting 'for some time' or ???? lol!

 

guess i was dreaming..........

 

At that mileage, you could have several sensors giving you problems in addition to coilpacks, wires, etc.

 

If the C heck E ngine L ight (CEL) is on, having the codes read and recorded, then cleared, and a new restart attempted to see if new codes are set might be VERY helpful. Unfortunately, our favorite suggestion of "take it to Autozone and they'll read the codes for you" is gonna be tricky if it won't start.

 

BTW - does it 'turn over'(crank) and no attempt to start, does it just sit there not even spinning the starter, or does it TRY to start but won't idle? Also, if it tries to start, is there a gas smell or any smoke?

 

 

Carl