Not starting

[AllenG]

Hi, drove the car a few weeks ago, no problems starting or driving. Parked in garage for two weeks, no tinkering nor work done on the car and today went to start it up....nothing. Battery is fine, all dash lights come on but no ‘buzz’ from the fuel pump, engine doesn’t turn over, nothing.Have had a look at the various fuses and these are ok. Any hints or thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Rambo]

Battery has discharged. What is the reading across the terminals and/or on board voltmeter ?

Or..... have you activated the inertia switch accidentally ?

[AllenG]

Battery fine, 12v showing on car dial and inertia switch checked...plunger in down position. Electrics are working in that lights, horn, central locking, dash lights, Heater fan etc all good. Only electrical item not doing anything is fuel pump and engine not turning over. I’m now thinking it’s mysteriously developed an immobiliser problem. Or if there’s a fuel pump problem, would engine still turn over?

[Fredjohn]

I agree, sounds like the battery, even though it's reading 12v. Put a charger on it for a day or so and then try it.

[tb10]

What alarm system do you have? PM if you don’t want to post on a public forum.

Regards

John

[AllenG]

Hi John. There is an alarm system, but I have no idea which one it is. Not sure how to find out.

[Rambo]

If you drove the car a few weeks ago and it has been standing there is the likelihood that certain things ie alarm/immobiliser, radio etc...have been draining the battery and there is just insufficient power to activate fuel pump/turn engine over ...

I know it's not always possible depending where you live, but it's better for the long term health of the battery to attach it to a conditioner, particularly if you aren't using the car for a few days or weeks

[Rambo]

Allen - another couple of thoughts I just had which maybe worth checking out which are fuel pump specific

Is the fuse OK for the fuel pump ? If you have an SE the fusebox is located on the LHS, lowdown in the passenger footwell. From memory, I think it is fuse 3, 7.5A, but don't quote me in that

It is also worth checking the fuel pump relay in the battery compartment

PS you can eliminate the 40A maxi fuse that is associated with the fuel pump as you say that your lights and horn are working OK

[AllenG]

I’m reasonably sure it’s not battery, have had it on charge for 18 hours, tried again this morning but just the same results.have checked fuses, but not relay. Will give that a looking at. Thanks guys

[tb10]

Hi John. There is an alarm system, but I have no idea which one it is. Not sure how to find out.

I had the exact same problem with one of my M100's with the ignition lights coming on but no yellow dash light or fuel pump priming. I thought that the electrics had got wet and there was a wire or wires that had corroded, thus not picking up the alarm fob signal. I periodically looked into possible causes for 3 - 4 months (yes, that long!) and then thought to myself that there may have been a failure in the handshake between the alarm fob and the alarm itself (as the alarm worked but wouldn't switch off). I then found that if you held down both buttons on the fob for 10 seconds (assuming you have two buttons - hence the question what alarm is it) and at the same time connect the battery terminal, the fob and alarm reconfigure themselves and the central locking activates. The car then started. It was that simple. I hope this can be done on yours too. It appeared that the loss in battery and the subsequent total drain of power confused the alarm ecu.

I hope this helps?

regards

John

[AllenG]

Thanks John, I’m thinking along similar lines re the ‘handshake’ between the immobiliser and ignition, and perhaps the alarm. I’ve had the alarm turned off (key behind drivers seat) for over a year now, but that’s not to say it isn’t still playing a part in this problem. The immobiliser key on my car has no buttons, it’s seems to be a very antiquated ‘key’ similar in appearance to a jack plug. This gets inserted into a socket just behind the ignition switch, then removed before using the ignition key to start the car. Haven’t had a chance to look at the car today but plan to get ‘stuck into this tomorrow’. Think first stop will be checking relays in the system, then trying to ensure the immobiliser ‘key’ is being recognised, though not sure how to go about this other than disconnecting the battery and try to force a ‘restart’ of the system.
Thanks for your input, it’s much appreciated

[tb10]

Is your fob like the one in the attached photo?

If so, I think that was a factory fit option as I have that on the N/A and the picture is actually my electronic fob which also fits into an oblong recess (but not a jack plug) by the ignition switch. I've never used it as there is another alarm (Serpi Star) installed but I don't think they are linked. Have you checked the wiring behind the steering column for breaks or even if the other end has been pulled out of the alarm (or location where it ends up)?

Regards

John

[Rambo]

I'm still on the goosed battery wavelength but I think you also had immobiliser problems a year ago so maybe 2 separate problems

[AllenG]

Didn’t have immobiliser problems as such, I had been asking if anyone had seen the type of ‘key’ that was on my car. The battery is less than 18 months old and maintained through the winter on a trickle charger. To date the battery has held a charge. I’ve tried the battery from my sons 6 month old Renault this morning, same results, dash lights, no amber light, no noise from the fuel pump and nothing when the ignition key is turned. It is behaving exactly as if I hadn’t used the immobiliser key.

[AllenG]

So, a frustrating day. Steering column cowl removed, nothing obvious ref wiring, hood stowage base removed, all fuses removed and checked, relays removed and swapped around, wires checked for anything loose, that I could tell all seemed ok. Panel behind drivers seat removed to check wires on the alarm key switch.....alarm sounded, so that seems ok. Head under bonnet for a rummage around for any loose wires....all seems ok. Still no further forward and confused as it ran perfectly then......dead.
Checked all electrical items on the car ie lights, horn, indicators, brake lights etc all work. Even hooked the wife’s Evoque battery to the Elan, same same. Think I may have to try and find a auto electrician locally who makes house calls.

[Simon_P]

If you check the wiring for the fuel pump you should be able to identify what is preventing it from working.

[GeoffSmith]

I wouldn't be surprised if the aftermarket alarm has locked out the fuel pump and starter relay supplies. As a first step, I'd remove the relays and try a link across the switch connections on the socket then work backwards. Circuit diagrams are on the Wiki:
http://wikilec.com/images/e/e9/MJ25-05_Fuel_Pump.gif
http://wikilec.com/images/7/79/MJ25-02_ ... nition.gif

[AllenG]

Will check these tomorrow, thanks guys. Should have said that when ignition key is turned, get the handbrake light, brake light, oil light, battery light but no engine check light. Long hard think last night trying to retrace my steps from working on the car. The last thing I did, before driving it a few times was to use a paper clip and turn the potentiometer back a few turns to lean the fuel (was running rich). Today I will start with a look behind the glove box to see if anything has come adrift. The car has been driven a couple of times since doing this without any issues......but perhaps something has been disturbed?

[AllenG]

Is your fob like the one in the attached photo?

If so, I think that was a factory fit option as I have that on the N/A and the picture is actually my electronic fob which also fits into an oblong recess (but not a jack plug) by the ignition switch. I've never used it as there is another alarm (Serpi Star) installed but I don't think they are linked. Have you checked the wiring behind the steering column for breaks or even if the other end has been pulled out of the alarm (or location where it ends up)?

Regards

John

download/file.php?id=26489&mode=view

This is the immobiliser’key’ on mine

[Rambo]

That looks like one of those dead key things that shut the engine off/on. It looks like an aftermarket thing (usually bad news) Well, I've never seen one on any SE I've owned or any S2's I've had a look at. Perhaps someone else can confirm ???