2006 Gen II Won't Start

[Mike Aldea]

Tried to start my 2006 Gen II, after not using it for six weeks, last night. Initially when I tried to start it I thought it fired once then "coughed" and then made a "huffing" sound as the engine turned. I thought it might have been turning over a bit slow so I decided to charge the battery and then see if it would start.

Charged the battery for 21 hours with my trickle charger. Now when I try to start it, the engine seems to be turning over quite quickly but I don't hear the engine firing. It seems to me that would eliminate the possibility of there being a problem with the ignition switch or the starter motor. Those are the two common reasons I found for a non-starting motor on the forum.

I need suggestions on how to trouble shoot this issue and any ideas anyone has as to what the problem may be. Thanks!

 

[RossKean]

Fast starter syndrome. Flooded. Crank with WOT 10 to 15 seconds. If it doesn't start, try again after a minute. May take a few attempts. Battery needs to be in good shape and fully charged.

 

[Mike Aldea]

Thanks Ross! Matthew LaComb, among others, provided the same advice on the facebook FJR Owners page. It took me four tries of 10 seconds at WOT to finally get it to start but that appears to have solved the problem.

Reminds me of the Fiat 124 Spyder I had in the late 70's. I don't know how I figured it out but I had to pump the gas pedal 10 times before I turned the key for it to start. But then it would start immediately without fail.

Thanks again!

 

[RossKean]

Good stuff! Reserve the use of throttle while starting only for this situation. No throttle needed 99+% of the time.

 

[Millrat]

Glad to hear your starting issue is solved. Sorry to hear about the Fiat Spyder. My wife had a '79 that vibrated parts off.

 

[Mike Aldea]

Glad to hear your starting issue is solved. Sorry to hear about the Fiat Spyder. My wife had a '79 that vibrated parts off.

I loved

my '70 Fiat 124 Spyder

and drove it till it had 120,000 miles on the clock. Unfortunately at that point it was falling victim to corrosion that prevented it from being a good candidate for restoration & upgrade. In the early 80s I put a girl friend in a '79 but the way that car had evolved meant it wasn't as nice as my '70 had been. Still she drove it till it had 110,000 miles on the clock and got stolen. Getting to over 100,000 mile on any car in those days was an achievement.

When Fiat announced that the 124 Spyder was coming back I was excited. But unfortunately it is a warmed over Mazda designed by Fiat in-house instead of by Pininfarina S.p.A. like the original. The lack of a backseat being one of the most obvious practical flaws in the design. I'd buy the Mazda version before the Fiat version now if I wanted a small two seater.