Tried to fire up my 380 this morning and I could hear what I "think" was the starter motor - but the engine would not start - it didn't even sound like it was trying to start. Couldn't get it to work at all for a few minutes.

Then I pressed the accelerator a few times and turned the key whilst pressing the accelerator (something I know I shouldn't do with a fuel injected vehicle). It fired up pretty quickly that way .

Drove lots today - shut down and restarted probably 8 or 9 times and the car is back to normal. No problems starting at all !

No errors on the dash.

The battery is less than 12 months old and is well used so I rule that out.

I did wash the car quite thoroughly yesterday and whilst I didn't wash the engine bay - I did use a high pressure hose on the front grill as well as in the wheel arches. Perhaps I got water somewhere it shouldn't be?

The only other thing I can think of is bad fuel. The tank was quite low - less than 10 litres of fuel in it so if there was any crap at the bottom of the tank like water that could also cause problems starting.

Any other ideas what it could be? I have the K&N filter but I have never oiled it (it has the factory oil on it) and it was installed 20,000kms ago.

what's the CCA rating on the battery? maybe it was just a bit too cold. Mines rated 520 IIRC and it doesn't like starting at 3AM when its 10 degrees outside. just a thought.

hi it is 610cca - yeah it has been cold in Melbourne recently - 5 or 6 degrees.

Jut plugged the battery in to my car charger and it is showing 100% charge so I don't think it is that.

I expect as it's an electronic throttle, pushing the accelerator won't do anything during the start - I'm guessing the ECU won't pass on your pedal position to the throttle butterfly. I could be wrong though.

Sounds to me either water where it shouldn't have been, or a starter motor which is on the way out and won't throw.

Hello there, I recently had a problem with my 380 that may or may not be the same as yours and I will share it with everyone to see if it helps. My car simply did nothing when I rotated the key to cranking (start) position and had progressively got worse over a couple of months, I changed the battery after reading many suggestions on here but it was not my problem. The solution was on the back of the ignition barrel where the plastic wiring connector snaps to the metal barrel, it was rotating a couple of millimetres and not making contact. Now all I did to fix this was to use a plastic tie around the cable leading to the connector and the steel steering shaft, this simply supports the whole lot ,there is only one screw holding it together and I start and stop my car many, many times a day.
I hope this solution will help some users out there Cheers Kev

I have noticed early morning starting "hesitation" in Sydney's recent coldsnap - I can tell the starter is cranking the engine over - then find a touch of accelerator seems to work - maybe causes extra fuel to be injected even though the e-throttle may not add more air??

Any other ideas?

Coil possibly?

Try turning the key to ON and waiting five seconds, then hit the starter.

Turning the key around to start immediately in cold weather may not be allowing enough time for fuel pressure to build from the fuel tank.

If this seems to fix the problem, your fuel pump may be on the way out.

Is not coil as there are 6 of them

Could be a pump issue as the returnless system is a bugger to bleed quickly if a loss of pressure occurs and air gets in but my bet would beneither dirty battery terminals or battery

Is pretty damn obvious whennengine is ceanking compared when it is not

I often get them from auctions and when i hit the key is plenty of power to crank engine but not to start. Throw the jumper on and immediate fire up. As the cars have been sitting a few months the battery drops a little charge and the system will not kick in. Similar to a cold morning