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Old 2nd January 2010, 13:39   #21
Lynneth
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Default Same problem

I have had my car for almost two years and have had absolutely no problem, but twice over this festive season, I have gone to my car and it has not started.

However, thinking about it, on both occasions, I went to my car, put the key in the ignition and started it, then remembered I needed to do something, so turned off the car, did what I needed to do and and quickly returned to the car. It then would not start.

There was no engine action at all (all ignition lights came on).

On the first occasion, we left it overnight and it started normally in the morning. Today, I could not get it to start. My husband left it for a while and then it started, then it wouldn't, then it started.

I am really concerned that I am losing confidence in my car. I want to be sure that when I go to it, it will start.

Any help would be really appreciated

Thank you
Lynne
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Old 2nd January 2010, 15:59   #22
David3807
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Hi Lynne and welcome to the club.

So that a more specific reply can be given can you let us know what model you have ?? Diesel ?? Petrol ??
If Petrol what engine - 1.8 ? 2.00 V6 ?? 2.5 V6.
Automatic or manual ? How old is the car and mileage.

EAch model can have different likely causes of non starting.

However one thing common to all is the battery. If the car is over six years old and is on the original battery then its on borrowed time.

Did you notice if the headlights flashed when you tried to start the car and failed ?? The cars computer (ECU) checks the battery power level every time before starting the car. If there is not enough in the battery the ECU will not allow the starting proceedure to continue and to let you know this will get the headlights to flash at least 3 times.

If this is the case and the battery is over six years old then it could be new battery time. If the battery is fairly new then it could be that you do a lot of short journies which has not given the battery enough time to recharge properly. Think it takes about 5 to 10 miles of running to replace the energy of ONE COLD start. A decent long run (once the car is running) or useing a battery charger every now and again might cure things.

HTH
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Old 2nd January 2010, 16:20   #23
bl52krz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny2R View Post
I bought my Rover 75 CDT in July 2006 and, after some initial problems with injectors, it has been a delight. Three times in that period, though, it has completely failed to start, and the worst and most serious instance was a couple of days ago. When I say failed to start, I mean it turned over OK, but nothing more, not so much as a cough. Normally it starts straight away without a problem.

Now, each time this complete non-starting has occurred, I believe I have, immediately prior to the non-start, done something slightly different from normal as regards unlocking the car - maybe accidentally re-locking it and then immediately unlocking it again, or something like that. Each time, the car has eventually just sprung back into life as if nothing had happened.

The other day, I had been for a short walk, then got back into my car and felt sleepy, so, deciding a short snooze might be in order, I pressed the button to lock all the doors. I then realised I probably wouldn't be able to sleep so decided to head off anyway and attempted to start the car, but no joy. I immediately thought "Ah, it's that old immobiliser mischief again", so did every permutation of locking, unlocking, getting in and out, etc, I could think of, but it still wouldn't start. I thought it must be something different this time, so called out the recovery people. Anyway, the guy couldn't work out what the problem was and could only determine that no power was getting to the under bonnet fuel pump (certainly I wasn't hearing the normal burring noise before starting). I took a look to see if the ECU was wet but the plenum was dry as a bone. Anyway, just after I'd put the ECU back into place, the recovery guy tried the ignition on and off three times in rapid succession, and bingo, it sprang back into life as if nothing had happened.

Now, it strikes me that this is likely some kind of immobiliser quirk, some bug to do with some sequence of actions which causes it to misbehave (unless there is some other explanation which someone can think of). Has anyone else come across such an immobilisation problem? And is there some way of effectively resetting the immobiliser, some sequence of key fob presses perhaps, that tells it to pull itself together and stop being silly?
hi johnny. dont know if this logic is any good:you were going to have a kip. you "blipped" the doors to lock them. you then decided to drive off anyway. you again "blipped" the doors to open them, but did you open the drivers door before you tried to start the engine?
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Old 3rd January 2010, 01:32   #24
Lynneth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David3807 View Post
Hi Lynne and welcome to the club.

So that a more specific reply can be given can you let us know what model you have ?? Diesel ?? Petrol ??
If Petrol what engine - 1.8 ? 2.00 V6 ?? 2.5 V6.
Automatic or manual ? How old is the car and mileage.

EAch model can have different likely causes of non starting.

However one thing common to all is the battery. If the car is over six years old and is on the original battery then its on borrowed time.

Did you notice if the headlights flashed when you tried to start the car and failed ?? The cars computer (ECU) checks the battery power level every time before starting the car. If there is not enough in the battery the ECU will not allow the starting proceedure to continue and to let you know this will get the headlights to flash at least 3 times.

If this is the case and the battery is over six years old then it could be new battery time. If the battery is fairly new then it could be that you do a lot of short journies which has not given the battery enough time to recharge properly. Think it takes about 5 to 10 miles of running to replace the energy of ONE COLD start. A decent long run (once the car is running) or useing a battery charger every now and again might cure things.

HTH

Thank you so much for replying

I have a Rover 75 1.8 petrol car.

I did not see any flashing of headlights, although it was daylight on the two occasions it failed, so may not have noticed.

Also, as previously mentioned, on both occasions, the car did start with no problem, then after stopping the engine for a short while (and removing the key from the ignition), it refused the start again because of the immobiliser.

As far as travelling is concerned, I travel long distances (all over the country) as part of my work, so there is no problem with that.

The car is six years old, so not sure if the battery is the same age as the car or not. It certainly does not seem to have been a problem, and has started every single time since I bought it - until recently. The car has done 60,000 miles (it had 33,000 miles when I bought it) and is manual.

Thank you very much
Lynne
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Old 3rd January 2010, 10:22   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David3807 View Post

The cars computer (ECU) checks the battery power level every time before starting the car. If there is not enough in the battery the ECU will not allow the starting proceedure to continue and to let you know this will get the headlights to flash at least 3 times.
Urban Myth I'm afraid.

The car has lots of computers, and the one that drives the headlights (light switch module) has nothing to do with starting the car (EWS and Engine ECU).

Besides which, it's almost impossible to measure the battery condition by voltage alone. The voltage profile of a battery from fully charged to low, and the effect of loads and temperature on that battery make it way too complex.

The effect you see is the system trying to bring in the starter solenoid. This current draw is enough to drop the voltage far enough to reset the cars systems, which includes the light switch module which causes the lights to flash, and the EWS (immobiliser) which means the starter solenoid is not actually pulled in.
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Old 4th January 2010, 14:37   #26
David3807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynneth View Post
Thank you so much for replying

I have a Rover 75 1.8 petrol car.

I did not see any flashing of headlights, although it was daylight on the two occasions it failed, so may not have noticed.

Also, as previously mentioned, on both occasions, the car did start with no problem, then after stopping the engine for a short while (and removing the key from the ignition), it refused the start again because of the immobiliser.

As far as travelling is concerned, I travel long distances (all over the country) as part of my work, so there is no problem with that.

The car is six years old, so not sure if the battery is the same age as the car or not. It certainly does not seem to have been a problem, and has started every single time since I bought it - until recently. The car has done 60,000 miles (it had 33,000 miles when I bought it) and is manual.

Thank you very much
Lynne
I am still thinking battery just about to fail. The batteries on both my 75's failed at 6years 2 months.

Your first start is OK but depletes the battery so much that a second start is prevented by the ECU.

Really cold weather wont help either.

Would suggest getting the battery checked out first.
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Old 4th January 2010, 21:08   #27
Ian V
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Hi Lynne
I work with your husband at Dunlop. As David says it could be the Battery on the way out . Mine Failed last winter at 5 years old .If you have never had the Plenum drain checked for water ingress I would check this because water will kill your ECU. I am off shift this Saturday and Sunday if you would like me to check your Plenum drains. Just Pm me and i will give you my address in Habrough.
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Old 15th January 2010, 16:19   #28
Lynneth
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Thumbs up Think I have found the answer

Had the same problem last night - car wouldn't start at al - and this time I was in Tesco car park at 10 pm. Called the AA, who had it going within about three minutes. He said it is a common problem with Rovers and Peugeots. He said that it is a bad connection on the starter motor. He took off the connection, cleaned it, sprayed it with WD40 and it started. He said I should have no more problems.

Hope it is the naswer to everyone else's 'immobiliser' problem

Thank you to all who replied. I really appreciate it

Lynne



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynneth View Post
Thank you so much for replying

I have a Rover 75 1.8 petrol car.

I did not see any flashing of headlights, although it was daylight on the two occasions it failed, so may not have noticed.

Also, as previously mentioned, on both occasions, the car did start with no problem, then after stopping the engine for a short while (and removing the key from the ignition), it refused the start again because of the immobiliser.

As far as travelling is concerned, I travel long distances (all over the country) as part of my work, so there is no problem with that.

The car is six years old, so not sure if the battery is the same age as the car or not. It certainly does not seem to have been a problem, and has started every single time since I bought it - until recently. The car has done 60,000 miles (it had 33,000 miles when I bought it) and is manual.

Thank you very much
Lynne
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Old 17th January 2010, 04:08   #29
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Default intermittent starting problems

I spent hundreds of pounds, and the car spent weeks in a series of garages trying to find out why it started fine sometimes, and other times all you got when you turned the key was a 'click'. Eventually it was my mate who found the problem, it was a loose battery post. The connections to the battery were fine, but you could shoogle (move back and forwards) one of the posts.
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Old 20th October 2010, 09:19   #30
dunkydoo
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The phantom non-starter has struck me again too! Last night (getting a bit frosty) the alarm went off. I went and reset it, but it blipped as if there was a door open. I closed all of the coors and the boot, and it reset without a hitch. 2 minutes later the alarm went again and I was unable to reset it as it still thought somewhere was open. I had to leave the car unlocked because I was unabel to start the car! It turned over, but wouldnt start (no coughing or spluttering). I left it, and this morning I have the same problem.

This occurred last year and I removed the bonnet sensor switch as it wasnt working, and I have sealed the ends of the cables so that the circuit cannot complete, so I know it isnt the bonnet. I cannot see why it will not start, but again this happened last year, and as soon as I removed the bonnet switch and reset the alarm (no blip) the car started fine.

Any advice on how I can fix this? Im getting to the end of my tether with this car and I think it is going to have to go once I have sorted this out. Head gasket, stereo, cat converter and exhaust have al had to be replaced since I bought it in November last year, and now this!!!

(its a 75 1.8 petrol turbo, 53 plate)
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