Movie question-how should a car fail to start?

[squirrel]

I'm involved with making a movie about robots, but the rest of the movie needs to be technically correct also, and I offered to help with the script. One scene has the teacher's car not starting, then the student goes and fixes it easily by doing something under the hood. Car is a late 90s/early 2000 model Volvo.

What is it that should break, that could break all by itself, but could also have been tampered with? It needs to be something that one would expect to cost some bucks to fix, but if you know the trick it's pretty easy to fix by messing with something under the hood.

Any ideas?

[Beagle]

I'm involved with making a movie about robots, but the rest of the movie needs to be technically correct also, and I offered to help with the script. One scene has the teacher's car not starting, then the student goes and fixes it easily by doing something under the hood. Car is a late 90s/early 2000 model Volvo.

What is it that should break, that could break all by itself, but could also have been tampered with? It needs to be something that one would expect to cost some bucks to fix, but if you know the trick it's pretty easy to fix by messing with something under the hood.

Any ideas?

on my old dirt bikes, happened all the time. Turn petcock... vroom. I guess some part of the harness could vibrate loose, not familiar with a volvo though. Chevy would be easy enough, dizzy power wire.

Whack the gas tank with a hammer, stuck fuel pump. Maybe a fuel pump relay? The inertia switch in Fords was always a fun fix.

Vega had a low oil pressure switch that if you knocked the wire off when you were changing the oil and didn't notice it, no start.

Was easier in the old days. Take the rotor out. haha.

[TheSilverBuick]

Singular plug to a distributor? Underhood relay for the fuel pump? A fuse for that matter.

[Whelk]

I had a Dodge with a bad starter relay. For months I'd pop the hood and whack the relay with the handle of a screwdriver. It would start right up then, but if it sat for an hour or so the relay would stick and not transfer power.

[BOOOGHAR]

Singular plug to a distributor? Underhood relay for the fuel pump? A fuse for that matter.

rotted vacuum line ?

[Ron Ward]

rotted vacuum line ?

Ah! You are familiar with Volvos! These cars have HIDEOUS vacuum lines!

[Beagle]

that'd be a good one. Fix a split vacuum line with a soda straw.

[Barry Donovan]

late 90s, no start.. and appearing to be a genuine problem under the hood... A sensor wire? disty.. what did those have in late 90s.

[squirrel]

Thanks for the ideas so far. I was thinking fuel pump relay wiring, but I think it would be good if the car just would not crank at all.

But I don't know a good way to do that, which makes it look like it should be an expensive repair, that can be "cheated" to be fixed cheaply. Whacking something with a hammer doesn't actually fix it, it just gets the car started that one time.

[milner351]

I've had a loose connection at the battery cause a no crank no start - and all it took to fix was literally twisting / pushing on the battery cable terminal to tighten it up a bit.

Loose wire connection at distributor or coil is always a good one.

[squirrel]

I'm looking for something that costs time and money, and a tow, to get fixed unless you know the trick. Something that would not be obvious to a normal person with some technical knowledge, but a street smart kid knows the trick.

[TheSilverBuick]

Neutral safety switch adjustment off or broken, though it's not under the hood.

It's a Volvo, it either works or it IS expensive to fix


You can use movie magic a bit on that one. Try and start it with the car subtly in reverse, giggle the shifter linkage on the trans under the hood if its FWD and magically start it up (back in park).

I drove my Thunderbird today, and I have to slightly lift up on the shifter for the neutral safety switch

[Aircooled]

Some hoodlums kept setting off the car alarm until it eventually fried, cutting power to the starter solenoid. Smart kid bypassed alarm wiring underhood and off they go.

[SuperBuickGuy]

pull the Schroeder valve out of fuel injection lines.... bonus of gas smell and the appearance of something bad going to happen.

[bulletproof]

oil pressure switch...put a paper clip in the wiring pigtail to bypass the switch..i drove a jeep around (350 tbi) for 6 months before I put a new switch in..