Chery Hatchback Range

Cars don’t like to sit around for long periods. When they do, they often develop problems in the process, with everything from running problems to flat-spotted tyres and mould growing inside them.

When you say the car doesn’t want to start, does that mean it turns over when you turn the key, or that nothing at all happens? If it’s the latter, the battery is probably flat or completely dead and will need to be recharged or replaced depending on its condition. If the engine turns but doesn’t fire, you might have a tank full of stale fuel that will need to be drained and replaced. Modern fuel goes stale pretty quickly and can also foul spark plugs, making the engine hard or even impossible to start.

A full service with fresh oil, spark plugs, fuel and filters might do the trick and is a good idea for any vehicle that has been sitting around for a while.

In the old days, you’d probably be on the right track, but as a more modern car, your Chery doesn’t have a carburettor, it has electronic fuel-injection. But the symptoms align pretty neatly with a very common problem for fuel-injected cars; an electric fuel pump that has given up the ghost.

When that happens, there’s no way for the fuel to get from the tank to the engine and, as a result, the car simply won’t start. Pumps can fail suddenly and for no apparent reason, leaving you stranded where ever you happen to be.

I’d say about ten years is a pretty good innings for a fuel pump, so that’s where I’d start looking. Try this: When you turn the ignition on, you should be able to hear a faint buzz or hum as the pump starts taking petrol to the engine. If there’s no such noise, that’s another clue that the pump has died.

Of course, it could be something else – electrical, perhaps a fuse – but the fuel pump is a great place to start searching for the cause.

Try a Chery dealer. If that’s not possible an auto electrician should be able to help.