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[midlands al]

Goor Morning Folks,

I'm hoping to pick some of the vast wealth of knowledge you have from your brains on my car. The story so far..

I drove home from work the other day and the car was fine.

Nipped indoors to pick up some cash and came back to the car, went to start it and got 'click' from the starter motor solenoid and that was it.

I was literally gone a couple of minutes.

When I turn the key into 'Ignition Position' i get an engine symbol with an electrical flash through it with the usual warning lights. This stays on continuously and does not go off until key off.

The car does not make any attempt to crank or anything. When i go to 'Crank Position' the warning lights go very dim but no attempt to crank.

Does anybody have any ideas so far..any help would be much appreciated as i'm blagging lifts at the moment.

Cheers

[henryd]

could just be that your battery has died suddenly,try a set of jump leads from another vehicle and see what happens,failing that it sounds like your starter

[Welung666]

Where in the midlands are you Al? I'm local(ish) if you want a hand

[midlands al]

Thanks for the responses.

I swapped over the starter motor at the weekend (I spent something like 15 hours replacing it) and tried again and i got 'click'.

I connected a jump lead from the starter body to the battery negative and tried again and i got 'click'.

Whilst 'fannying about' swapping the starter motor i had the battery on charge and tried it again with the replacement starter motor, this time the battery was at 13.8 volts and again 'click'.

I borrowed an OBD scan tool from work and plugged it into the port. Put ignition on the scantool said it couldn't even see the car let alone read it.

Oh the other thing i did was replace the battery in the keyfob (2 button type). I put it in the ignition for and after 30 seconds (as the manual says) tried the central locking whilst in and it worked.

I'm located in Rugby and thanks for the offer.

[Welung666]

Thanks for the responses.

I swapped over the starter motor at the weekend (I spent something like 15 hours replacing it) and tried again and i got 'click'.

I connected a jump lead from the starter body to the battery negative and tried again and i got 'click'.

Whilst 'fannying about' swapping the starter motor i had the battery on charge and tried it again with the replacement starter motor, this time the battery was at 13.8 volts and again 'click'.

I borrowed an OBD scan tool from work and plugged it into the port. Put ignition on the scantool said it couldn't even see the car let alone read it.

Oh the other thing i did was replace the battery in the keyfob (2 button type). I put it in the ignition for and after 30 seconds (as the manual says) tried the central locking whilst in and it worked.

I'm located in Rugby and thanks for the offer.

Not all that far, I'll figure out what I'm up to at the weekend and send you a PM

[midlands al]

I'm away on holiday for a week from friday and get back late the following Saturday. I've then got to get something sorted for Monday 

  For the offer so i'll take you up on that. I've got a strange feeling it's going to be something really silly and simple, something connected with the immobilizer.

What does the engine symbol with the lightening flash mean? It's not the MIL is it?

[Andy B]

I'm away on holiday for a week from friday and get back late the following Saturday. I've then got to get something sorted for Monday 

  For the offer so i'll take you up on that. I've got a strange feeling it's going to be something really silly and simple, something connected with the immobilizer.

What does the engine symbol with the lightening flash mean? It's not the MIL is it?

The light is your Engine Mangament light. Not turning over on the starter is NOT an immobilser fault though, it should still turn over. If you had an immobilser fault, the EML will flash as you turn it over.
Unless you've replaced a faulty starter with another faulty part ... unlikely/unlucky .... what's the wiring like between battery/starter/alternator? You could have a dodgy connection somewhere.

[Welung666]

Al just had a thought, follow the link below and do a paperclip test on it, report back with the codes

[midlands al]

My MIL lamp comes straight on and doesn't change condition until i key off. When attempting to crank it just sits there, glowing and teasing.

I did a couple of simple checks yesterday -
 
I have continuity between the body of the starter motor and the battery negative.

I have battery voltage at the battery terminal on the starter motor.

I have a voltage at the starter motor solenoid terminal when I go into crank position.

I'll go through tonite / tomorrow and double check them and check the alternator battery terminals.

I'm going to try the 'paperclip' test tonite / tomorrow and see what or if anything flags.

[Andy B]

....
I have battery voltage at the battery terminal on the starter motor.

I have a voltage at the starter motor solenoid terminal when I go into crank position. .....

You have voltage, but is there enough contact/connection to give the required current? 

[midlands al]

I've been looking at the paperclip test for my car and i've found conflicting info.

I have the 16 Way Diagnostic connector in the fusebox under the steering column and one document says short out pins 4 & 6 on the connector and another says 5 & 6.

It is definitely the 4 & 6 isn't it with the 2 digit codes?

Thanks for everybodies assistance in this so far.

[henryd]

get someone to measure the voltage across the battery while you are trying to crank,if the voltage stays at 12-13 volts your starter is not taking/getting power

[Dave DND]

If you have a set of jump leads to hand, try connecting one of them from the negative terminal to the engine block itself

If it starts, then could be down to a faulty earth cable from the engine to the chassis that is failing under load - not uncommon and would certainly give the fault you are describing for the "click"

Stumped on the EML light though


Also worth giving the crank a quarter turn with a big spanner just in case engine is "locked" in the position its in

 :-/

[midlands al]

Hi Dave,

I've tried with the jumper lead to the battery negative to engine block, tried it and made no difference.

I've spun the engine through 360 deg with a spanner, tried it and made no difference.

Ahhhhhh

[Dave DND]

Sounds like a knackered starter that you have just fitted then ?

If it were me, I`d be pulling it out and trying it with the jump leads out of the car.