>On a side note is it still a bad thing to start a petrol engine from cold and just move car a few yards before
>switching off.
When starting a petrol engine from cold the ECU enriches the mixture slightly. This can leave unburned fuel in the cylinders if the engine is sitched off quickly before it has warmed up and the mixture has reverted to normal. The problem with this is that the fuel can then run down the bores past the rings and wash away oil lubricating the bores and sealing the rings. This reduces compression and can stop the engine starting again. Some engines seem to be more affected than others.
Happened to me years ago with a 1998 XJ8 I had. AA man knew exactly what the problem was as soon as I told him what I'd done. He removed all the sparkplugs, put a small shot of engine oil into each cylinder, wound it over on the starter for a couple of seconds then put the plugs back and she fired up straight away with plumes of smoke. We waited until it had warmed up a bit and then he removed the plugs again and cleaned them. After that I always waited until the temp gauge started moving before switching off.
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