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Hi, I am relatively new on this forum and this is my first serious problem I’m about to describe. Which I might have crated on my own 🙁
The other day I was working on my car, adjusting valves on the driver side. Before I took a valve cover off I’d sprayed brake cleaner all around the cover to remove dirt and dust (I should have used a rug instead :(). And I saw that I sprayed a little bit too much and some of it got on the crankshaft sensor position.
Here is a question, Could by any chance, brake cleaner interfere with the sensor? If so, what kind of problem might it cause? Because when I assembled everything back car wouldn’t even start.Initially the sound was as if the engine was about to start but just for a second and then died. Further attempts were pointless.
Interestingly that, when I turned key into first position everything looked o.k, but when I turned into the second I saw that AWD and AT Oil Temp were blinking simultaneously then went off and the rest of lights started fading away as though the battery was dead, which wasn’t. Turning key didn’t make any sounds and taking key out of ignition made alarm lights, the yellow ones blinking for a while. (I don’t know in English a correct name for them)
It’s first time when I came across with a such problem 🙁 There were neither symptoms nor signs for fail start, car was running real good.I hope that I didn’t toast (as Eric would say) anything in my car. I just assumed that it could have been the sensor or even fuse, don’t really know. There weren’t any other explanations for this.
Thanks in advance.
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1. Test battery voltage and connections.
2. Pull the codes. Post your results to the forum.
3. See if you can force your vehicle to start: with the key in run, jump the ‘B’ and ‘M’ terminals of your starter.
The following video shows a starter solenoid mounted in the engine compartment, yours will be located on the starter itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnbbKIi1h3c
Consult the starting circuit schematic for electrical testing:
Sensors:
Follow Eric’s tips for troubleshooting a crank/no-start:
It’s also possible that your vehicle is detecting a rich condition with the introduction of brake cleaner in the intake. Use a scan tool to observe short term & long term fuel trim.
Thank you.
The Battery is new.
Only code I have and it popped on just one day ago is p0420.
I was trying to take codes but all lights on dashboard were just fading away and then completely turned off.
Tomorrow I’ll try method with the starter.Hypothetically, Could that what I described above have killed something in the car and caused no start?
You have a Code P420 resulting in a fuel delivery issue.
Here are some possible general suggestions:
Check for exhaust leaks at the manifold, pipes, catalytic converter. Repair as required. Use a scope to diagnose the oxygen sensor operation (Tip: The oxygen sensor in front of the catalytic converter normally has a fluctuating waveform. The waveform of the sensor behind the converter should be more steady). Inspect the downstream heated oxygen sensor (HO2S), replace if necessary Replace the catalytic converter.
One hypothetical: If you have a clogged cat, your engine will crank and crank and not start for example… drain the battery, cause lights to dim.. etc.
Q: did you have to remove any ground cables to perform your valve adjustment?
Hypothetically, Could that what I described above have killed something in the car and caused no start?
I am taking this into consideration, but I believe it’s important to address all aspects associated with a crank/no-start condition. We need to properly categorize your crank no-start as poor/weak ignition, mechanical failure, or fuel delivery.
I believe you should pull any stored codes (and not clear them) that may have occurred since experiencing the crank/no-start. This can be done “key on” without the engine running. This is also important since you suspect sensor failure as this will throw a code.
I would lean more toward an electrical issue at this point… While damage may have been done by cleaner, I would doubt it… Check battery connections are clean and tight, and ground connections are clean and tight…
Also a P0420 is a Catalyst inefficiency code (usually a poorly performing Catalytic converter) but on occasion it can be a bad downstream O2 sensor… While I am not 100% sure about Subarus, when most cars throw this code, it does not effect drivability or change anything in the way the ECM does business… but maybe a Subaru is different.
Look for any ground wires that may have been disturbed when you removed the valve cover, also inspect the wiring as well… Check fuses and relays….
JMHO
-Karl
Couple of easy things you can do in the meantime…
try a jump start.
test fuel pressure.
test your ignition with a spark tester:
Take a good diagnostic approach: start testing and ruling things out.
Here I made a little video to show what I meant
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7uuE3dRgvQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]I stick by what I initially said before… It looks like an electrical/low power issue… Test the battery (load tested, not just for voltage), check the battery connections (clean and tight), wiring and grounds….
-Karl
[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=109315]I stick by what I initially said before… It looks like an electrical/low power issue… Test the battery (load tested, not just for voltage), check the battery connections (clean and tight), wiring and grounds….
-Karl[/quote]
I agree that it is an electrical issue. Today I checked everything I could with no luck. Tomorrow I’ll have it checked by an electrician.
Well, it was a lot simpler than I’d thought. Today I did one more check which I should have done in the first place. I checked the battery with the key on(I did without key on and it looked ok) and a multimeter showed that the battery was half dead. I have no idea how I managed to kill it over one night considering that everything in the car was turned off.
I am glad that I finally dealt with it. Now I’ll be trying to figure out p0420 problem. I assume it’s either o2 sensor or exhaust leakage. Car has 122k km (75 k miles) so I don’t think it s a bad CAT.
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