Is this a petrol or diesel? Petrol Cas is at the gearbox end. Diesel behind the front crank pulley.

No. Does not register revs.

I just cranked it and the needle does not move off zero.

Thanks v much for the help so far.

I removed the cam sensor and tried the one from my partner's Fiesta 1.25 and my car still won't start.

The fuel pump primes when i turn the ignition key on and i get a click from the fuse box area behind the glovebox just as usual. I smell fuel when i crank the engine so i guess the pump is supplying fuel.

I checked for spark today. There is a spark but it seems very weak. I really have to look close to see it. Also when the battery starts to get a little sluggish after a few cranks the spark disappears. Is that normal?

Also, my car will not start with a jump start now either. Sounds like it wants to but then does not fire up.

Any ideas? This is starting to drive me mad!

If we go back to your original post,you say the poly vee belt started to shred .Is it possible that some of the belt has found its way behind the plastic cam belt cover?If it has,then it is possible that the cambelt timing has been affected. For info,a cam sensor fault will not cause a no-start..Also the crank sensor must be ok,otherwise there would be no spark.A weak battery will cause the ignition system to give a poor ignition spark. One last question,did you attempt to undo the crankshaft bolt when replacing the belt.?

Thanks very much for the reply.

I did not try to undo the crank bolt. I just used it to crank the engine around to stretch the belt on.

I don't think a piece of belt has got behind the timing cover because the car started 4 days ago and i drove it for 15 miles round trip. It started right away after visiting friends and drove faultlessly all the way home.

When cranking it does sound sluggish though. Could a starter motor pulling too many amps cause a no start? A couple of times in the last 6 months i came to start the car and it did nothing when i turned the key.A few turns of the key and the car started..

Thanks for the reply. I will check and let you know.

Is it worth pulling the starter and bench testing it?

Blimey 16 year old starter motor and still working? Maybe the carbon brushes are failing if they still have them hence the intermitant fault. I remember that if the starter failed you could try bumping it with a stout piece of wood which often worked in the short term

My car has been starting fine for the last 2 days. Doesn't seem to be sluggish anymore whilst cranking and fires up within a second or two.

I have not touched anything since the last time i tried to start it.

I don't understand why it is now starting fine.

I have noticed there is a big split in a pipe that is connected to the inlet manifold and looks like it goes to engine. It is a short pipe. Could this cause hard starts? Is it a breather pipe for the engine?

Hi AGAIN!

After a few weeks with no problems starting and running i have problems again.

Today the car did a big misfire and since then runs rough at idle....misfiring i guess.

On arrival home i lifted the bonnet and was met with an acrid burning smell and slight smoke from below cam position sensor at the rear of the engine. Any ideas what it could be? I don't want to drive it for fear of fire etc.

Thanks in advance.