Help - Non Starter
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Rebelmatic

Original Poster:

136 posts

284 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Hi all,
hopefully someone can shed a little light on this.... got stuck trying to leave the golf club last night. put in the key, hit the immobiliser and could hear the fuel pump prime, but turning the key to start...absolutely nothing!! gave the 12v cable to the starter motor a clean, and it fired up once.... tried it again, and its back to being dead. Called out the RAC.. he checked the voltages and said that there was nothing hitting the starter motor. battery is good, so he ran a direct feed from the battery to fire up the starter motor so i could get home.
strange thing is... i got back, put her in the garage... tried the key a few times and it started fine... tried again this morning and its dead again.. nothing on the key turn.

any ideas?? i'm not really the mechanic type (i know..why do i own a Tiv then lol) seems symptomatic of a broken cable, or do we think it could be something worse???

cheers chaps.

Reb.

ChimpofDarkness

9,637 posts

209 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
This is an extremely common problem, often reffered to as the hot start problem this title is a bit misleading.

It's actually the starter relay inside your immobiliser failing, TVR wired the immobiliser back to front so the relay points have a short life especially on the higher amperage starter circuit.

The problem is often first revealed When the car is hot, this is because the resistance goes up in the wiring as things get hot, you can improve things with the hot start kit but this is just an additional relay.

I dont care what anyone tells you, the hot start kit will not fix your failing relay buried inside your immobiliser, it may however mask the problem for a while.

As such it is not a permanent fix, to really fix the starting issue permantly you basically have a couple of choices.

1) Replace the immobiliser/alarm system for £500 +

2) Bypass the starter circuit that's looped through the immobiliser for £0.00

If you choose the bypass option the car will still be secure as the fuel pump circuit will still be looped through the immobiliser.

You will just find you can crank the car without disengaging the immobiliser, but it won't start because there will be no fuel.

If you want details of the bypass please feel free to PM me.

hurststeve

101 posts

229 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Agreed, though replacing the immobiliser/alarm system needn't be quite as costly as £500.

Having said that, I replaced the complete Meta system recently with a Hornet Maxx1, but once in a while, when hot - fuel pump runs but nothing to the starter motor. Leave it a few minutes (just long enough to get a parking ticket as it happens), come back and all's well.

Head scratching.

Rebelmatic

Original Poster:

136 posts

284 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
cheers guys.

PM on its way.

Prizam

2,447 posts

171 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Is bypassing the immobiliser for starter motor something that could be made public? I feel that this is my next job on the car

FlipFlopGriff

7,144 posts

277 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Rebelmatic said:
Hi all,
hopefully someone can shed a little light on this.... got stuck trying to leave the golf club last night.
Oh dear!!
FFG

MADMAX2

2,336 posts

224 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
FlipFlopGriff said:
Rebelmatic said:
Hi all,
hopefully someone can shed a little light on this.... got stuck trying to leave the golf club last night.
Oh dear!!
FFG

Yes indeed... Oh dear anywhere but a golf club

Phoenixcat

93 posts

174 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
MADMAX2 said:
FlipFlopGriff said:
Rebelmatic said:
Hi all,
hopefully someone can shed a little light on this.... got stuck trying to leave the golf club last night.
Oh dear!!
FFG

Yes indeed... Oh dear anywhere but a golf club
That's the problem with having a large boot, plenty of room for golf bats!

ChimpofDarkness

9,637 posts

209 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Prizam said:
Is bypassing the immobiliser for starter motor something that could be made public? I feel that this is my next job on the car
IT WILL NOT BE MADE PUBLIC.

But the truth is any 13 year old budding car thief could have it away with a Chimp or Griff in less than 3 minutes.

They're not the most complex thing to half inch rolleyes

angry jock

1,005 posts

229 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all

Least it gives you somewhere to sit if its a nice day while waiting for the RAC wink

TVR Beaver

2,874 posts

210 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Always worth a quick pic with the trolley....



Taken at last years Chimp-Fest hehe

MPoxon

5,329 posts

203 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Rebelmatic said:
Hi all,
hopefully someone can shed a little light on this.... got stuck trying to leave the golf club last night.
rofl

Ant.

5,254 posts

311 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
MADMAX2 said:

Yes indeed... Oh dear anywhere but a golf club
Dont help themselves do they !!!

5.0ltr

2,835 posts

229 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Oooops, only firing on `FORE?` Could be the wire on the ignition amp where it TEE`s OFF. PUTT simply I hope you get DRIVING again soon

TOV!E

2,016 posts

264 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
Quote:This is an extremely common problem, often reffered to as the hot start problem this title is a bit misleading.

How can it be a hot start problem he spent 5 hours paying golf.

bsdnazz

762 posts

283 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
There are two different failures which sometimes get misdiagnosed as the other. They are:

  • hot start problem
  • faulty immobilizer relay
The hot start problem, as I understand it, is typically caused by the starter motor solenoid getting hot and jamming. The relay kit bypasses something and delivers enough current to the solenoid to get it to do its thing.

The faulty immobilizer relay stops the electrics activating the solenoid at all. The relay can fail fully or intermittently. I spent about 12 months with a faulty relay before finaly understanding the problem and getting the immobilizer replaced.

The key things that helped me diagnose the relay were:

  • happend randomly
  • car could be hot, cold, warm
  • slapping the underside of the passenger dash while holding the ignition key in the start position would start the car!
The immobilizer is in the passenger dash and a good slap seemed to 'encourage' the relay to close and allow the car to start.

A trip to Carl Baker (www.tvruk.tv) for a new immobilizer and all has been well since.


MPoxon

5,329 posts

203 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
5.0ltr said:
Oooops, only firing on `FORE?` Could be the wire on the ignition amp where it TEE`s OFF. PUTT simply I hope you get DRIVING again soon
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Green is good

80 posts

207 months

Friday 3rd August 2012
quotequote all
My car did this (nowhere near a flog club)several times. I discovered that if I held the key in the start position and slapped the dash top hard it would fire up immediately. Try it, you never know it might get you home. Circuit now bypassed and no more problems. Good luck.