any ideas please - wont start

[DOUG GRIFF]

i still have not had a chance to look at my wiper motor & was hopefully going to get round to it this week but now ...........

i jumped in the car today disarmed the imobliser & pressed the black button - nothing. totally dead. i have disconected / reconnected the battery , same with the ECU . checked all the fuses , including the 100Amp 'big' fuse & all looks ok. thats about all i can think of . have i missed something i can check -

any advice will be really appreciated -

[grumbledoak]

You seem to have checked quite a bit already, but you don't mention the good old flat battery? What happens when you turn the key?

[DOUG GRIFF]

thanks for your reply.

i keep the car on an Accumate trickle charger & the battery was replaced a couple of months ago. the windows & boot etc all work ok.

after doing the imobliser & pressing the button - nothing happens at all. normally it would fire up on the button , but now its just totally silent, not even a click.

thanks .

[DOUG GRIFF]

sorry although my user ID is Doug Griff ( i have had 2 Griffiths ) i have a 97 4.2 Cerbera.

thanks

[FarmyardPants]

Sounds like the immobiliser.

Your best bet is to give Carl Baker a call, he's a renowned expert on these matters. Search the PH forums or google.

Sometimes it may help in this situation to hold down the black button for a long time (like a few minutes), after which it bursts into life. Weird I know, but you could try it for a laugh. If that works, the problem is with the immobiliser I believe.

Good luck..

[grumbledoak]

I've not had a Cerbera, I'm afraid, so I'm not at all familiar with your starter system. If she can open windows at normal speed but doesn't even click when you try to start her, I'd guess that the battery isn't your problem.

Best of luck. I'm sure someone will be along.

[Scrooloose]

Does the ignition come on?

[JensenA]

Have you accidentally knocked the Silver 'Never Touch it' Key near the cig lighter?

[Ireland]

Shake the loom where it enters the immobiliser.

Most likely the starter motor circuit going through it has started to fail.

You'll probaby end up changing the immobiliser or by-passing the faulty circuit.

But shake the loom to begin with and see what happens.

[ridds]

My money's on the immobiliser too.

Does the fuel pump prime?

If not, disconnect the immobiliser and plug it back in.

Has worked on mine numerous times.

[Byker28i]

JensenA said:

Have you accidentally knocked the Silver 'Never Touch it' Key near the cig lighter?

That'll be my guess as well. Try turning the silver key

[THE BIG DOG]

After you un-immobilised it try keeping your finger on the start button for a while. Don't take your finger off and if it fires up after 30seconds - 5mins it your immobiliser

[DOUG GRIFF]

thanks for all the replies.i feel a bit stupid - the silver key had been turned . thats what you get when you put your 14 month old daughter in the car while you try to look at the wiper motor - i had checked everthing else but as i never touch it i had forgotten all about it.

thanks again for your help.

[Byker28i]

LOL - we've all done it. In my case an Indyu I only used once decided to turn the key and remove it and put it on the key fob. It took me a while to work out

[DonnyMac]

I've had the same sinking feeling too.

Polish car wash, drove around through the different cycles, turned engine off so they could clean the inside.

Got back in, wouldn't start.

They pushed me out shaking their heads - took me 15 mins to work out they'd turned the DO NOT TURN key.

[Ireland]

I guess you'd better leave the immobiliser alone so.

[DOUG GRIFF]

i have never used the 'key ' since i had had the car ( around November last year ) & had forgotton all about it. i was a bit worried that something else expensive had happened - at least it was an easy fix !

i wont get caught out with that again. thanks for your help , i got carried away thinking the worst.