My 1998 Felicia 1.3 MPI would not start today so I called the AA out and after he checked for a spark and all was OK, and I had fuel going into the engine.

After more investigating he found the the coolant temp sensor on the top the thermostat  one with the yellow band on it was faulty I had a new one in my shed after it fitted all was well, he said it was wetting the plugs sending the wrong message to the ECU. 

Any one had this happen and I thought the the temp sensor had nothing to do with starting.

Car has now covered 100203 miles and the sensor about15000 miles car has a lot of noise from the engine (and I mean a lot of noise) beside the fact I have had the car from new and it has had a lot of TLC all its life.

Your thoughts on the sensor.

59 minutes ago, mikefelicia said:

I thought the the temp sensor had nothing to do with starting.

The temp sensor gives  the EMS information which is used to determine how much (if any) cold enrichment is required.

Well it was short lived the AA repair, the car struggled to start on 4 cylinders I took it to the garage and it was running very rough the engine in neutral was reving up and down on its own in the end there was a lot of noise and engine stopped and would not start. So now it is in the garage for a strip down looks like something is very much wrong with the engine and going to cost me a lot by the looks of things.

Ho well it is too good to scrap at the moment and another car is out of the question cost wise, 2022 so far has been a very bad year for my family one way and another thing can not get any worse and I don't mean the car.

The engine no start and running rough when it starts is potentially related to a bad coolant sensor. As Ken said, engine start is highly dependent on the coolant temperature. Wrong sensor, bad for the engine.

 

Mike, can you record a video of the "lot of noise" part? Or at least describe it better? Compare it with other noises. That is the important part of the problem the engine has.

One other thing. Was the issue at hand sudden? Or did it progressively develop in time through a harder and harder to start problem?

Thank you RicardoM for your reply, at the moment the car is in the garage waiting for repair. I do not find it easy to disscribe but I will try, the engine has been making a ticking sound for a long time it seemed to come from the top end I checked the tappets and all was ok over time the engine has got more noisy performance was ok and starting. 

Then on Monday 18th the car would not start I called the AA home start out he found the temp sensor was faulty I had a new complete one in my shed as stand by but I think it was a chinese copy any way he fitted it and car stated ok, the next day the car was relutant to start going on 2 then 4 cylinders I took it to the garage and the guy came out and the car was in nuetral and the engine just reved up and down on its own then stopped and would not start so I left it there at the garage. 

Sorry I cant be more help a lot has happened in my family at the moment.

One last thing the garage offered me £250 pounds for the car as it was saying there may be problems with the engine and would cost a lot I do not wish to get rid of her but it my come to it I told the garage I had a budget of £1,500 ponds he said he will get back to me I will let you know how I go on.

Thanks Mike.

1 hour ago, mikefelicia said:

I told the garage I had a budget of £1,500 ponds he said he will get back to me

 

Not the smartest of moves, the sudden failure you describe sounds like fuelling, idle by pass valve or an air leak, could be the mixture leaning out from a dodgy CTS, whatever it is is very unlikely to cost anywhere near the figure you mention in an honest garage but after being told how much you want to spend it probably now will.

2 hours ago, mikefelicia said:

I told the garage I had a budget of £1,500 ponds

Mike, you are a wise man at your age. Why telling them how much money they can steal from you? The normal process is this: pay for a thorough diagnosis (in your case, that would be to check for errors in the computer/ECU, compression test, cylinder leak down test, eventually use a borescope to look at piston and valves) then assess the damage, then come with a quote. Just listening the engine is no diagnosis.

As for the noise, unless there is a loud mechanical noise (like bangs, rattling, screeching, etc.) or there are coolant/oil leaks, you don't have to worry YET.

Your car should last another 100,000 miles easily if proper maintained.

PS I hope the timing chain is OK. Have you ever changed it?

Yes the timing chain was changed about a year ago I did post on it, now I just sit and wait for the garage to phone me. Thanks for reply.