Starter button / fuel pump doesn't kick in advice?

[Juddder]

Hi everyone

Went to take the Cerbera for a bit of a spin this afternoon, and the fuel pump / starter button process doesn't seem to want to kick in??

Alarm - on off with remote fine and lights flash once / twice
Doors - open and windows drop fine both sides
Lights - work fine
Horn - works fine

Checks:

Silver key in dash turned fully to the right - Check
Dashboard alarm light off when trying to start - Check

So basically I go through the whole standard pre-flight procedure - get in car, disable alarm with fob, check dash light is out, check silver key turned to the right fully, listen for fuel pump noise, press start button - but I don't get any fuel pump noise and the start button doesn't fire starter motor.

Any good ideas where to start to diagnose the problem?

Things I did notice:

Pressing the air nobs in turn them on doesn't have any effect (but guess this is because the car isn't started)
Steering wheel windscreen wiper buttons have no effect (but guess again that this is because the car isn't started)

The car was working fine when I last parked it, and the battery is registering 12.8V after being charged so don't think that's the issue.

Any advice much appreciated!

Alex

[Juddder]

A couple of other pointers to help the potential sleuths out there

- I _do_ use the silver key to turn off the battery / save power when I'm not using the car, and that whole bike key socket is slightly loose in the dash

- Neither the fuel pump or starter do anything which points at one of the cut-outs still being enabled, although the dash alarm light DOES go out so I don't think it's the alarm

- Fuel pump and starter are on different fuses according to the manual (13 Starter / Drivers door lock, 19 Fuel pump / Lambda heaters) and the door is locking so wouldn't indicate that a fuse was the issue.

So... my thoughts are maybe the silver bike key socket has a wire lose?

Any good tips how to get to the back of it to check (I can run a multi-meter over it tomorrow to check continuity if I can get to it :-) )

And thanks for the big fuse suggestion - manual says the biggest fuse is 25A so not sure where that one lives!

[Juddder]

Gazzab said:

As said don't touch silver key. It's a pita to fix.

B*ll*x

OK - I think the strategy tomorrow is going to be to pull the radio out (I fitted the current one so know how to get that out easily enough) and then I should be able to 'somehow' get my fingers down to the back of the SILVER KEY and try and un-tighten the locking bolt.

I can also pull the ash tray out on my dash (there's a secret cut-off switch in there too incredibly enough (earlier post on Piston Heads when I first got the car trying to work out WTF it was!)) and access it that way maybe.

If I can get the SILVER KEY socket out, then I might just replace it with a push switch - much easier if anyone else has done the same?

[Juddder]

dempsey said:

Having said that, I checked this and all the other possibles (relays, big fuse etc) and in the end
it was the black button switch itself which needed replacing.

Thanks for the advice Dempsey - which black button switch did you need to replace?

The only ones i can think of are the one by the alarm dash light (that I thought was to lock the doors and boot from inside) or the one on the key fob...

I've two key fobs so I'll try both (and will test disconnecting the battery and reconnecting, and turning the alarm on/off while trying to get some life from it )

I'll also check the fuses as per Mr Cerbera's advice and report back!

Final note is that the immobilise light DOES go out, so the immobiliser does appear to believe it has disengaged!

Edited by Juddder on Sunday 3rd February 13:07

[Juddder]

jackwibble said:

I think he means the starter black button on the steering wheel?

Ah.. Yes that would make sense

Forgot about THAT really important one

[Juddder]

sonnylad said:

Sounds more like silver key to me.

Well I took apart the Silver Key this afternoon by removing the ash tray, and carefully unbolting it from the back using fingers (zzzz...) and lo and behold one of the terminals has fallen off!



So I guess the good news about this is that it's nothing drastic (*phew) but the challenge from here is that those wires look like they were soldered onto the back of the lock, and trying to get at it to resolder it without pulling apart the dash board is going to be a real pain in the .. neck

One of the suggestions was to remove the dash pod, but that sounds like a really complex process?

One other thought I have is that my Cerbera has a "special" modification from a previous owner where they've added a secret kill switch and located it in the ash tray [as per shots below]

One thought is that because they've used a dual thrown switch, is to disconnect both wires from the silver lock, add small blade connectors and clip them on to the second pair of switch terminals on that switch instead.

That way I can just put back the silver lock for aesthetics, and the real job of keeping the car safe is by the secret switch (which nobody knows about of course )

Any errors in my madness?! Many thanks!

[Juddder]

dempsey said:

Glad you traced the problem. The moral being as already pointed out - 'Never touch the silver key' !

Forgot to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone for their advice - made me much calmer when it was sat there doing nothing

Will update how I go but thinking that if I can wire up one of these - if it fits - I can connect the LED to the power on the Fan lights and have a nice 'blue Tron' effect when the lights are on



It's a latching switch, so should do the push to on, push to off it needs, and is 16mm drill hole size which _looks_ like it will fit (will go and measure tomorrow)

Thanks again!

Juddder

[Juddder]

greenracing said:

Ha, silver key switch strikes again! Mine broke in my work carpark afer I accidently nudged it. I ended up just pulling the wires a little until the back of the switch actually came off then just bridged the connections using a piece of wire from the inside of my sandwich bag tie! Still like it now as I begrudge paying out nearly £20 for a crappy switch.

Yes - obviously not built to last (*sound familiar here anyone? )

So to update, with a torch, sharp knife, crimp set and other bits of tools I went off to the Cerb's underground lair on Saturday and re-wired both leads with crimp plugs, tested the connectivity of the 'hidden' switch and reconnected the wire pair to the spare pair on the dual throw switch.

Battery reconnected, checked and replaced and life!

A quick spin in the rain but all working great again and have ordered one of the above push to latch switches as the dimensions are 16mm (same as the hole for the silver key) and the front is 18mm so will replace perfectly.

I'll send some pictures when in situ and all lit up but thanks again everyone - pre-flight check and take off all working perfectly again

Judder

[Juddder]

c6erb said:

Sorry to bump this thread but this sounds like the trouble I am currently experiencing. My car is on trickle charge and I have even topped up the fuel. In two minds how to progress.

Can you give a bit more information?

If the alarm is disabled correctly, and the 'silver key' turned to on then you should be able to hear the fuel pumps start up (whirring noise behind your left)

If there's no fuel pump noise, it could be either the alarm, the silver key broken / not connected correctly or, I guess, a dead fuel pump?

[Juddder]

Incognegro said:

Another RESURECTION from me. How did the fitting of this go?

I'll be doing something similar (stainless steel version) with blue ring. Just hope. Can wire so light doesn't alway be on and drain battery.

It went well - still all working fine - and I think it is a 19mm latching switch that you need if I remember correctly. Something like this

I never actually got around to wiring in the light part, but my strategy was to connect it to the lights circuit, so would only light up when the lights were on rather than draining power etc.

Might actually get around to doing that now!