Kia Ce-ed won’t start reliably

[DanZac]

Is it starting reliably yet? What was wrong?

Wrong sort of apprenticeship and had to buy its own tools.

 

[stuvy]

I'm guessing that's probably due to the lack of training providers now.

That are any good

My college was rubbish(Bedford)

Current apprentice moved county’s to avoid going to my old college the current one he’s at mk is awful

One of our suppliers is building a uk training center to train the new staff in house as they are so dismayed by the local colleges

 

[OJCar]

That are any good

My college was rubbish(Bedford)

Current apprentice moved county’s to avoid going to my old college the current one he’s at mk is awful

One of our suppliers is building a uk training center to train the new staff in house as they are so dismayed by the local colleges

I presume you were at Mander College (became part of De Montfort Uni and later part of Uni of Bedfordshire).

That is a real shame, Mander College used to have an excellent reputation when I was there 1980 to 82.
I was doing a block release course in Telecommunications and Electronics and we used to have a couple of classes in the Mechanical Workshops.
Mander was training the Coachbuilder Apprentice from Aston Martin at the time and what he could do with hammer forming as an Apprentice in his first year was WOW!

 

[stuvy]

I presume you were at Mander College (became part of De Montfort Uni and later part of Uni of Bedfordshire).

That is a real shame, Mander College used to have an excellent reputation when I was there 1980 to 82.
I was doing a block release course in Telecommunications and Electronics and we used to have a couple of classes in the Mechanical Workshops.
Mander was training the Coachbuilder Apprentice from Aston Martin at the time and what he could do with hammer forming as an Apprentice in his first year was WOW!

That was a long time back

I did mine very early 2000’s it was a separate building in kempston then moved to a bigger site on the same industrial estate

They have a terrible reputation now and that’s including luton and Dunstable

My former apprentice who won apprentice of the year did block release at Bicester heritage or heritage engineering I think it’s called
They have a fantastic reputation for tuition

 

[Eric the chicken]

As I started this thread I thought I should give you all an update. It‘s a bit of an anticlimax. It appears that the our friend had put petrol in her diesel ce-ed hence the apparent starting problems.
Thanks for all your contributions.

 

[OJCar]

Bit embarrassing for the AA that their Tech could not diagnose mis-fueling !

Glad your friend's car is sorted.

 

[merryman]

Bit embarrassing for the AA that their Tech could not diagnose mis-fueling

So how would you have been able to tell? I get this regularly with quads as farmers don't always know what is in the can they are filling the quad from. Usually it is the smell, but that is masked, depending on the ratio of petrol to diesel. I once found it by spilling some "fuel" on my shirt sleeve, when working on the quad. When the petrol had vapourised off, I got a strong diesel smell from my shirt.

 

[stuvy]

So how would you have been able to tell? I get this regularly with quads as farmers don't always know what is in the can they are filling the quad from. Usually it is the smell, but that is masked, depending on the ratio of petrol to diesel. I once found it by spilling some "fuel" on my shirt sleeve, when working on the quad. When the petrol had vapourised off, I got a strong diesel smell from my shirt.

Drain it and there’s a colour difference for a start

 

[merryman]

How do you know to drain it? That would be a long way down my list of possibilities. Check if the plug is fouled and if there is a spark for a start. Next check fuel pump is working. Then check fuel filters, that is when you may get a sniff of diesel. Unless it has well over 50% red diesel in the mix you wouldn't notice the difference between amber petrol and a diesel/petrol mix in the filter. I get a bit fed up of people on here who recon they would have instantly known what is wrong with a vehicle which is running badly.

 

[OJCar]

Diagnosing a diesel that won't start, one of the first things to check is that it has fuel.
While checking for the presence of fuel, checking that it is the fuel it should be, is not hard at all.

I think you can go and join the list.

 

[stuvy]

How do you know to drain it? That would be a long way down my list of possibilities. Check if the plug is fouled and if there is a spark for a start. Next check fuel pump is working. Then check fuel filters, that is when you may get a sniff of diesel. Unless it has well over 50% red diesel in the mix you wouldn't notice the difference between amber petrol and a diesel/petrol mix in the filter. I get a bit fed up of people on here who recon they would have instantly known what is wrong with a vehicle which is running badly.

Out of interest are you a mechanic

Not picking a fight but just out of curiosity