Graham Dean

After leaving my 850 T5 for a couple of weeks I came back to a flat battery
(perhaps discharged through
the alarm?). Not a big problem I thought - I put the battery on charge over
night, re-fitted, and wouldn't
start... After replacing battery, plugs and distributor cap it has finally
started - but not well at all. It seems
to require keeping the starter motor going for anywhere between 10-20 secs
before it finally fires and runs.
Once running it seems to run fine and smooth. Previously it wasn't brilliant
but always started reasonably well.

Any advice / pointers?

Best wishes,
Graham

Tim..

"Graham Dean" <g.dean@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:de4krq$r45$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
> After leaving my 850 T5 for a couple of weeks I came back to a flat
battery
> (perhaps discharged through
> the alarm?). Not a big problem I thought - I put the battery on charge
over
> night, re-fitted, and wouldn't
> start... After replacing battery, plugs and distributor cap it has finally
> started - but not well at all. It seems
> to require keeping the starter motor going for anywhere between 10-20 secs
> before it finally fires and runs.
> Once running it seems to run fine and smooth. Previously it wasn't
brilliant
> but always started reasonably well.

Sounds abit like valve stick to me? Very difficult to determine without
witnessing the car. Are you using the correct oil in the sump?

10w-30 or 10w-40 is right for the 5 pot.

Also are you driving it fairly hard from time to time? Very gentle low speed
driving doesnt do this engine any good at all.

How many miles on the car, and what has the previous service history been
like??

Tim.
(UK)

Graham Dean

"Tim.." <the.farm.hates.spam@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:de5pqv$sv1$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>
> "Graham Dean" <g.dean@tesco.net> wrote in message
> news:de4krq$r45$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>> After leaving my 850 T5 for a couple of weeks I came back to a flat
> battery
>> (perhaps discharged through
>> the alarm?). Not a big problem I thought - I put the battery on charge
> over
>> night, re-fitted, and wouldn't
>> start... After replacing battery, plugs and distributor cap it has
>> finally
>> started - but not well at all. It seems
>> to require keeping the starter motor going for anywhere between 10-20
>> secs
>> before it finally fires and runs.
>> Once running it seems to run fine and smooth. Previously it wasn't
> brilliant
>> but always started reasonably well.
>
> Sounds abit like valve stick to me? Very difficult to determine without
> witnessing the car. Are you using the correct oil in the sump?
>
> 10w-30 or 10w-40 is right for the 5 pot.
>
> Also are you driving it fairly hard from time to time? Very gentle low
> speed
> driving doesnt do this engine any good at all.
>
> How many miles on the car, and what has the previous service history been
> like??
>
> Tim.
> (UK)
>
>

Hi Tim,

Thanks for pointer - yep, I think it could well be sticking valve. I'll
check oil grade.
Yes re driving - the turbo gets kicked in properly now and again...
Car's done 160k, unsure on service history tho. Perhaps worth a complete
service inc
oil change etc?

Cheers,
Graham