I've just had a Basil Fawlty moment...

[skellyjohn]

For the 2nd time in less than 7 days, my car didn't start tonight. The fuel pump didn't make the usual whine and when I turned it over, it would start. Plenty of spark and battery but it would kick!

My local spanner man tried to fix the fault by cleaning up the relay and by getting rid of the inertia button altogether. Seemed fine for the best part of a week .... until tonight.

So ANY suggestions would be appreciated.

The battery is fairly new so I think I can rule that out as well.

[Andy G]

crumbs....might be a Robin question??

[robin]

For the 2nd time in less than 7 days, my car didn't start tonight. The fuel pump didn't make the usual whine and when I turned it over, it would start. Plenty of spark and battery but it would kick!

My local spanner man tried to fix the fault by cleaning up the relay and by getting rid of the inertia button altogether. Seemed fine for the best part of a week .... until tonight.

So ANY suggestions would be appreciated.

The battery is fairly new so I think I can rule that out as well.

The above is a bit confusing.

(1) When you turn the key, the engine does turn over healthily, yes?

(2) You don't hear the fuel pump whine, and it doesn't start, yes?

(3) Not sure what "kick" means, and not sure you mean "does" or "doesn't"!

I would guess at the immobiliser relay having burnt out, or at least the connectors at that relay.

If the fault is permanent, it's easy enough to diagnose with a multi-meter.

If the fault is intermittent you will need to drill off the anti-tamper cover rivets and then inspect the connector for signs of heat damage.

You should put your inertia switch back in circuit ASAP. It's there for a reason!

Where abouts are you?

Cheers,
Robin

[skellyjohn]

Hi Robin,

It seems intermittent. The inertia switch was taken out temperarly to try to track down the fault. It's not that though so it can go back in.

When I say 'kick' I mean start. It turns over but does't actually start.

I'll take the car to the spanner man I use - if i can start it. The immobiliser still SEEMS to work - it flashes the hazards and the 'alarm' light goes off. But that's the first thing I'll get him to try.

And I'm in sunny Glasgow.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how I get on.

J

[skellyjohn]

It started first time this morning.

[Stephen]

I have had problems like this before. Does the car ever stutter when driving?
Something to check is the low voltage side of the coil.

[skellyjohn]

OK so it started first time, took it to the petrol station, filled it up and then....

Nothing!

It's still turning over and it sounds like it wants to go. But it doesn't! So it's now siiting in the not so nice area of Springburn overnight


PS SPOTTED... The other S1 silver in Tescos that seemed to work fine.

[Dominic]

Just read your post.

Do you need your car rescued? I live on north side of Glasgow, and have a car trailer.

Give me a call if you want me to give you a hand to recover it.

Dominic 07967 603033

(best to call as I wont be on line much longer)

[skellyjohn]

Thanks for the offer Dominic.

I got a mate to tow me to the garage at 3am. The car started on a tow.

So it's now in the hands of the mechanic who will hopefully fix it. I've forwarded on the suggestions from here in case he was stuck.

[Dominic]

Thanks for the offer Dominic.

I got a mate to tow me to the garage at 3am. The car started on a tow.

So it's now in the hands of the mechanic who will hopefully fix it. I've forwarded on the suggestions from here in case he was stuck.

No problems. Always willing to help

One thing I wondered about, is if the alarm / immobilizer is faulty? Try setting alarm, leave it for a minute, then dissarm it & try starting the car? Having said that, if it was the alarm / immo, then it would not start when being towed.

Dominic

[mac]

Could be the MFRU too.



Mac