I have a 99 Lantra 1.6 which very occassionally won't start from cold; just goes on cranking. The only solution is to leave it for about half an hour or even until the next day and try again. I would say its only 1 in a hundred times but can be very inconvenient if its an important journey ! I met someone else recently who has the exact same problem on his Lantr 1.6 so it must be some common ailment.
I also notice that often when starting, the engine does not catch until the point where I release the key from the starting position and it then starts from its own momentum; like its not getting enough electricity to fire with the engine turning over under the starter motor. Compare this with my sister's Rover metro which fires up at the slightest touch of the starter.
I have run an extra earth cable from the battery straight to the cylinder head which seemed to help but I have still had the problem since then.
Once started it runs fine and has not been a problem when starting from hot.
Is there any particular relay or connections that I should clean to help get more juice to the coil or any other reason for this problem?

Hi, Ed!

Can you hear the fuel pump buzzing just before starting?


cheers,
Mark

Yes, I hear the fuel pump prime for a few seconds when the key is turned to the second position. Also after a lot of cranking it smells of petrol i.e. flooded; just doesn't seem to fire up sometimes. Its had new plugs and leads recently too. Its like there is just not enough power in the ignition to make a spark under the load of the starter motor cranking.

I think I found the problem. The new HT leads have double the resistance of the old ones e.g. the new longest HT lead is 7K ohms whereas the old one was 3.2K ohms. I also noticed that the new spark plugs are the resistive type. Take all this resistance plus the voltage drop on the systen due to cranking the engine into account and hey, no spark at all ! I changed the leads for copper cored (self made) and now the car starts while cranking instead of just firing as I turn of the key ! Brilliant. Resistive HT leads are such a pain; always cause trouble. I think the manufacturer goes all out to reduce emf emissions which works very well if I can't even start my car !
Here is how I made the copper cored HT leads. The problem is of course the fittings for the coil pack and spark plugs which cannot be bought. To get around this, use the fittings from the resistive HT leads. Chop the cable off right next to each fitting. Screw in a self-tapping screw (I used a 1 inch one) half way; then saw off the head of the screw; file or grind the end to a point and screw on the copper cored HT lead ( you can buy this from car accessory shop). When both ends have been assembled, I mixed up some araldite and applied around the join to seal it and strengthen it. I'm not sure araldite is the best stuff to use as it can crack up in cold weather. Maybe some silicon sealer would have been better.
I have noticed no interference on the car radio; although the leads are now copper cored, the plug caps and the plugs themselves are resistive so this helps with supression.