My old man's Chimaera hasnt been started for a while so went to start it today. It wouldn't start as the fuel pump won't prime. As soon as I turned the ignition on I noticed that I couldn't hear that the noticable whine of the pump priming. I've checked the inertia switch and it's in the correct position. I think the fuse for the fuel pump is ok, and the relay beside the battery seems to be fine. Ended up having the AA out, and they couldn't find it. Might need to get it taken to the boys at Xworks.

It's been parked in the Garage and was driven in, so I'm a bit perplexed as to what could have gone wrong while parked in there. The car has been on charge so the battery is fine, and the starter turns over with no problems. Just no fuel pump priming - so no starty...

I was hoping someone might have some suggestions, perhaps some kind of immobiliser issue?

It's a 94 Chimaera with a Toad alarm, and no remote button. Only a Toad fob which activates / deactivates the alarm and immobiliser when locking/unlocking the car. The alarm deactivates ok, not sure whether immobiliser is or not.

check the connections to fuel pump, mine meeded good clean up and then all was well :-)

It that the funny sound from the front you hear when turning the ignition off?

Any of the relays that can be accessed from the footwell seem fine. The ECU and fuel pump relays are ok. It just seems that there is something I cant access that is causing the problem. That's why I'm thinking immobiliser fuel pump relay.

Yes,connections seem ok. Have also now put 12v across pump and it runs happily. So pumps is ok.

I tested the connections from the fuse, then the relay to the pump and they are fine too. What I did notice was that there is no change in signals at the relay connector whether ignition is on or off. So it doesn't look like the relay is getting any signal to power the pump.

Yes it's good, tested that while getting ready to run the pump.

I have a horrible feeling I'm going to have to take the dash off the check the immobiliser relays.

I'd found this when I looked about last night. This morning there was much banging and much hoping going on in the TVR, all to no avail.

I'm a bit stumped at the moment, going to call Xworks tomorrow and get their advice.

I know the one, after looking in the Bible I found it and checked it and it's fine. Every from the fuel pump relay to the pump seems fine, as does the inertia switch. It seems to be further up the chain, thats why I'm thinking immobiliser.

I seem to have picked up some sort of electrical jinx though. Bike headlights failed while on way through to Edinburgh tonight as it was getting dark, looks like a fuse there though and whatever the cause is at least reasonably easy to fix.

You might have the earlier (Pre-cat) layout that uses a 3d relay to power the fuel pump before the inertia switch circuit. It's on the fuse board and used by the immobilizer to cut out when it's alarmed. Mine was bypassed, because the immobilizer relay didn't ground this relay properly.

Hope this helps,

Peter

Have you tried swapping the two relays around on the umbilical cord in the footwell? They're the same, so should work either way; however, if your fuel pump primes after swapping, you have your answer. A two minute test to completely rule it out before moving on to the more expensive immobiliser issue.